A nice board series from Alien Workshop based on the Ishihara Colorblindness Test. Looking forward to checking out Mind Field, AWS videos never disappoint.

How’s this for one crazy house – situated, I’m sure, among 99 other crazy houses. Villa 24 is a part of the Ordos 100 project, a development of villas in Ordos, Inner Mongolia – an autonomous region of northeastern China. Ordos 100 includes 100 villas designed by 100 architects from 27 countries, all chosen by starchitects Herzog and de Meuron. The master plan was designed by FAKE Design, AKA Ai Wei Wei. Each architect is responsible for a 1000 sq. meter villa.

This particular villa was designed by Multiplicities, a New York City based design firm. The building is oval-shaped in plan, with curved exterior walls made from black brick. The ovular form, called the Black Skin by Multiplicities, is bisected by an x-shaped central void (coined the White Lung) that is made from white quartz. All of the interior spaces are organized around this x-shaped void. I’m jealous of whomever gets to live in this development…

In Multiplicities’ words:

white lung + black skin = ( ) + X = (X)

(X)
The “( )” is imploded by the “X” that expands and contracts from within, creating a dramatic void and multiple terraces at different levels from which to view the surrounding river landscape.

The “( )” is made of black brick while the “X” is made of white quartz white plaster. Both elements change their density by allowing different types of screen to filter the sun, water, light and air inside the inhabitable spaces.

The white lung takes and bounces light and air inside the house to keep the black skin healthy. The black skin absorbs heat and gives protection and warmth to the lung as well as varied activities, providing different programmatic thicknesses creating buffer zones wherever it is necessary.

Entering the villa through one of the “X’s” funnels, residents and visitors encounter the void that works as an atrium throughout the house. The first patio is the main access to the small living room that overlooks both voids. The second patio is directly linked to the pool and the sauna which at times can overflow inundating the patio in a seasonal basis. We think that this will perform as a huge humidifier during dry seasons. The voids “infect” the house with terraces on all levels providing different gardens and atmospheres making possible a vast range of living conditions.

Via Dezeen.

In case you haven’t heard, we’re in a recession. But the Matix – Mannysac and Timbuk2 – Beer Koozie have you covered. Why buy beer at a bar when you can haul your own around? Just don’t shake them up too much. I think Mr. Sam Jackson approves.

Katie O’Rourke introduced me to her mini-design series, Designing Minds. Each video features an interview with a designer (or designers in some cases) and takes an in depth look at their artistic process. Designing Minds is a great resource for getting to know some of your favorite designers better. Some of my favorites – Stefan Sagmeister, Marion Bantjes, and Julia Rothman (above).

Above are two of the more complex maps at The Hand Drawn Map Association. They are running a contest for a few monoprints, so draw up a map and send it to them! Most shown are quick doodle maps, but they show how people think of space when documentation is limited to a very small set of information.

The PA Press recently republished Paul Virilio’s Bunker Archaeology, a collection of images and essays on military, historical, social and architectural aspects of the The Atlantic Wall, the German WW2 bunker system at the ocean coast of France through Norway.

I saw Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons’ Abandoned Comb Amulet over at Notcot and am in love! The 18k gold comb necklace was cast from a honeycomb sculpted by honeybees on a Brooklyn rooftop, and is encased in honey inside a sugar-glass pyramid. Packaged in a glass dome with a rubber stopper, “the usefulness of the Abandoned Comb Amulet is defined by the resulting choice of a Solomonic dilemma. One must either forcefully exhume the honey drenched gold by violently shattering and eating the casing, or find value in the object’s current form and care for it as it deteriorates on its own.” Amazing and limited in edition – only 30 of these were made. 25% of proceeds will benefit local beekeeping efforts by The Brooklyn Bee.

Girl Skateboards recently released their second partnership board with the charity (RED). This time it’s another two-board piece by Andy Jenkins for Mike Carrol. I think it’s great that skate companies are now pushing to give back in a very public way. Tons of companies came out to support Leukemia research through the story of Johnny Romano. And I hope that the heads of the companies will continue to get behind causes around the world.

I don’t have much information to go on, but I like Lab::Istanbul’s Merduban shelves – a modular ladder shelf that can be configured to meet your storage/display needs.