Modwalls Puts Punches of Color into Home Tile

Irwin Weiner ASID - Are you in the market for some clean, contemporary tile resources? Modwalls, modern tile makers, may have the solution you're looking for. They feature glass, cork, porcelain, bamboo, and handmade ceramics. Their glass subway tiles are really fun, and come in many bright colors, and as shown in the top photo, are appropriate for creating your own patterns and colorways.

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Video: Doshi Levien Expresses the Joy of Fine Design

Irwin Weiner ASID - How refreshing to hear two designers talking about their work, stressing the importance of joy and fun in their designs.

Yes, good design is functional design, but form doesn't have to always follow function. Looking at cookware as an expression of culture and tradition, looking at shoes as a wrapping of materials around the feet, and drawing attention to the decorated backside of a usually-hidden part of a sofa - this is the wit that Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien bring to their Doshi Levien collaboration.

Design without a sense of humor is a sterile, bad business. Steer clear of it, and always look for that tongue-in-cheek touch for any design project to elevate your mood and put a smile on your face.

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Come See the Houses of Tomorrow!

Irwin Weiner ASID - There's a lot of Disneyland thinking in designing a futuristic home - and we're not talking your run-of-the-mill contemporary architecture. We're thinking of Tomorrowland, the Jetsons, Star Trek, and the house that just landed in your neighborhood from outer space!

I'm fascinated with what houses may look like in the future, and for decades there have been numerous attempts to design and build the future of family homes. Here is a sampling of my favorites; click on each photo to learn more about them.

For more futuristic housing wonders, see Design2Share's Scrapbook Collection of Photographs: Favorite Housing Innovations.

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Trendspotting: Homes of the Future

Irwin Weiner ASID - Hats off to the architects, contractors, and city planners who are forward thinking enough to encourage dramatic bursts of new home building that, shall we say, totally breaks the mold.

We're used to seeing the vernacular box house with pitched roof and porch and a yard with the usual outdoor rooms. But today's "homes of the future" are anything but traditional. 

Here are some trends worth noting:

1. Many new communities are being built with low or no carbon footprints. Rainwater gets recycled, sometimes dramatically so as in Meixi Lake, China - a high-rise eco city filters the water that goes into this planned community's lake (below, bottom photo).
2. Dynamic modern architecture from top residential designers (top photo, home designed by architect Mark Koehler and second photo, glass house on stilts designed by Benthem Crouwel) is showcased in planned cities of the future, like beautiful Almere, Netherlands.

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