Colorful Lofts in Texas Fuse Art and Architecture

This is East Village Lofts in the Revitalization District of East 11th Street in Austin, Texas. The structure, designed by Bercy Chen Studio, makes a bold statement about the intersection of art and sustainability with a multifaceted facade of colorful steel panels. The panels, as you would imagine, double as a shade device and guardrails for condo balconies. 

East Village Lofts, or Block 19, was shortlisted in the Design for All competition held by Design Boom and Seoul Design Fair 2010. 

[via Jetson Green]

The Money Issue - September/October 2010 - Sample

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Recycled Pallets-Material of the Moment : Palettenpavillon by Matthais Loebermann

The Palettenpavillon by Matthias Loebermann is a structure made entirely from shipping pallets, ground anchors, and tie rods. Designed to be easily assembled and dismantled, and then entirely recycled at a later date, the resulting building is intended as a temporary meeting place.

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Freegreen.com Design Competition Asks Competitors to Define the Design Concept of Affordable Luxury

Freegreen.com is challenging you to help define the design concept of Affordable Luxury. Gone are the days of free-flowing mortgages, and multi-million dollar McMansions. In this “new normal” home owners still desire livable, ascetically pleasing, and luxurious homes, but now need these same concepts implemented into smaller more affordable residential structures. This creates the perfect opportunity for the design community to take charge of this challenge and be the first to create new home designs, and design delivery methods that meet today’s restraints and requirements.

Competitors will select one of two user profiles ("The Modern Retreat" or "The Traditional Family") and design a single family home that fits their chosen profile. Competitors will be able to design for a lot of their creation, but will be asked to identify the Climate Region that their entry is designed for, which will help the public and the jury better determine performance benefits. Affordability and Constructability is a key in this contest so all entries should be targeted for an eventual construction cost of $220,000 to $410,000 (The Range of Regional Average New Home Costs, U.S. Census, New Residential Sales Data, 2009).  

Registration Deadline: September 1st, 2010, Submission Deadline: September 3rd, 2010

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World Architecture Festival 2009 Video - WAF 2010 Coming Soon

WAF 2010 ticket drawing at our FORM event tonight at Palecek showroom/LA Mart Design Center.