Arch.itect.us

Shoppers eager to nab discounted furniture at cut-rate prices may soon be able to bypass Craigslist and head straight to the mother ship of cheap home furnishings: IKEA. A few days ago on August 28, the Swedish furniture company started selling second-hand Ikea products online in Sweden and they intend to extend this idea to other foreign outlets. Here is what Peter Agnefäll, CEO of IKEA Sweden told the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter about this innitiative : “It is about taking an environmental responsibility for how our products are used in the longer term and making it easier for our customers to do their part for their responsibility towards the environment.” We can say that this is a nice step toward sustainability, but in the same time we’re wondering about the quality of the pieces that will be sold. Finally would you buy second-hand furniture from IKEA ? And what do you think about this idea ? – Via - Time

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House 6 comes from Studio MK27 and it is an impressive architecture project located in São Paulo, Brazil. Meant to redefine the traditional veranda area, this house is composed of two impressive rectangular building entities joined together at different ends. This way they form a charming home outdoor gallery beneath which serves as an entertainment space for the people inside. The stacked volumes are also a very original way to separate the levels of the residence. This house is as beautiful looking as it is diverse. The first floor- the one connected directly to the outdoor pool- houses the living, kitchen and dining space. Large windows provide a good relationship with the exterior and soothing views. The second floor hosts a kitchen extension, a bar and a beautiful entertainment room (the one with the TV in the photos below). How’s this for a showcase of contemporary living?

ground floor

first floor

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For today we decided to show you this bright and charming apartment located in Gothenburg, Sweden. This beautiful crib consists of three rooms plus kitchen and has a total surface of 108 square meter. The loft has a generous 3,1 meter ceiling, large rooms and a vintage but very stylish fireplace. The living room is the focal point of this home and features a large sofa perfect for having friends over, a cozy reading corner, fresh flower arrangements and wide windows that ensure a large amount of natural light. The kitchen has a welcoming dining table, plenty of storage space and unobstructed views of the city. A king-size bed, deep window niches and built-in storage space turn the bedroom into a peaceful retreat.

- via Alvhem -

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The Hunter Fanaway Ceiling Fan is an innovative ceiling fan that has a stylish design which features clear retractable blades. Yes you’ve heard me …retractable blades …when the Fanaway fan is turned off the blades retract and are hidden so you are left with a modern pendant light fixture. Isn’t it cool ? The Fanaway ceiling fan is made from recyclable materials and has a sleek, energy efficient design. The WhisperWind motor is built for quiet operation and to produce a powerful airflow of 4186 cubic feet per minute, also known as CFM. This fan also features low-energy lighting. If you’d like to see how this fan works, and especially the retractable blades take a look at the video attached at the end of this post, I’m pretty sure you’ll love it. You can buy it from here. Thanks Melissa O’Connor for the suggestion.

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This unusual pavilion is called BOXEL and was designed by the students from the University of Applied Sciences in Detmold, Germany. Henri Schweynoch, together with his architecture team won a local competition with this project which is soon to house college concerts, presentations and other type of events. The surprising thing about this small arena is the fact that it is not built using common materials, but it consists of beer boxes. That’s right, in order to host campus events, 2000 beer boxes were temporarily “sacrificed” and were given a fun shape and a new meaning. We think the overall geometry of this pavilion is original and surprising. We salute this idea and awaiting more and more student projects on Freshome, hopefully involving recycling as well. -via Arch Daily

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