Side Note: O (Omicron) Video

What do you get when you mix an amazing laser light show, an electronic contemporary orchestral music piece, an a 99 year old concrete dome structure? 

O (Omicron). An amazingly modern supernatural experience.

(Or at the very least, a really impressive video for those that can't get there - such as myself.)

The permanent installation, by Romain Tardy and Thomas Vaquié, was created in Hala Stulecia (The Centennial Hall), an incredible concrete dome structure located in Wroclaw, Poland. Designed by the German Architect Max Berg, Hala Stulecia was, at the time of construction (1913), the largest reinforced concrete structure on earth, and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 

The show:

O (Omicron) from Romain Tardy (AntiVJ) on Vimeo.

The making of:

O (Omicron) / Making of from Romain Tardy (AntiVJ) on Vimeo.

Architect: Atelier Tekuto

Atelier Tekuto is an architectural practice with focus on architectural explorations and investigations. They have a strong academic mindset and while some of their work is not always 'in tune' with my own personal design styles, (mine being much more grounded in natural and raw materiality), their work is always very intriguing, thought provoking and quite successful. I truly appreciate that each of their projects is very unique, and created as part of an deeper exploration of something, be it a building material, or concept, and it's always done in concert with the owners needs.

Atelier Tekuto

Lucky Drops House, 2005
Skin House Project No. 7
Tokyo, Japan

This is the house that first caught my attention for Atelier Tekuto. Built on an incredibly constraining site of a long, narrow trapezoid with 3.2m frontage, 29.3m depth, and 0.7m at the end of the site, couple this with the 0.5 meter setback for external walls from adjacent land and you've got some serious constraints!

To create a house on such conditions the team stretched the building out, used a playful and light steel structure, created a transparent skin to allow ample sunlight in, and took advantage of underground space, as it was not limited to the 0.5 meter setback rule. To further expand underground, instead of a thick concrete foundation wall, they used 8mm thick steel plates with anticorrosive, heat insulation and waterproof treatments.

Talk about innovative solutions, and an incredible structure. Though at 660 sq.ft. perhaps a little tight for the four in my family…

Lucky Drops House - Atelier Tekuto

Canada Day!

We had an AMAZING Canada Day celebration. It was a busy, fun filled day complete with a range of emotions that ran a full spectrum. I suppose the last part is kind of standard around here, our little guys know how to go from surprised, to crying, to happy and laughing in a total of 0.03 milliseconds. We know, we've timed it. With a "little" preparation the night before that included Loreen baking and decorating a gorgeous cake, and some T's by yours truly (granted, the idea was researched by Loreen), we managed quite a successful day. The basic rundown of our super Canadian Celebration went a little like this:

Architect: Rick Joy

Rick Joy has been producing stunning buildings from his office in Arizona for close to two decades now. Much of his work exists in the desert, which he considers a "…dreamlike fantasy of a landscape…", I agree, and his projects work to compliment it. His architecture has a remarkably strong presence, it is linked so closely with the landscape that it seems almost as if the land or earth has put forth the buildings itself. He is able to invoke powerful sensory experiences and harnesses the strength of craftsmanship and powerful material use throughout his projects. Enjoy the eye candy!

Rick Joy Studio & Residence

Desert Nomad House
Outside of Tuscon Arizona

Desert Nomad House

Side Note: The Third & The Seventh

I came across this video about a year ago, and just revisited it the other day. It is still just as striking as the first time I saw it. It visits some of the most important Architectural works of our time, from Satoshi Okada's Mt. Fuji House, to Exeter Library by Louis Kahn. Alex Roman did everything from the direction, to CGI, to sound production. Wow. He made the video 2 years ago, I'd be really curious to see what he's been up to since then. 

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Side Note: Golden Gate History

I came across this interesting video on the making of the Golden Gate Bridge from Archdaily and found out that it just turned 75 years old in May, 2012! Happy birthday my International Orange friend! (That is the official color of the bridge). I thought it was a really unique look into the past, and reminded me that 'creatives', or 'dreamers' always have, and always will be met with 'nay-sayers' and public challenge, but with perseverance in pursuit of their ideals, these dreamers has the power to change the world.

Artist: Michael Shapcott

Michael Shapcott is an incredibly talented portrait artist from Connecticut. He is known for creating these emotional charged portraits usually consisting of a graphite base, with oils and acrylic paints over to bring them to life in a contemporary and beautiful way. I first came across his works as his prints can be purchased from society6, an online print shop for artists.

From his Kickstarter Project

I came across a kickstarter project that he put together a few months ago, and it's been in the back of my mind for quite a while, I just revisited it the other day to see how he's doing and I found out his project has been funded, which is awesome. He was hoping to get $10,000 and was funded a total of $62,736! Way to surpass the expectations! 

Una © Michael Shapcott

Side Note: Climbing Back on the Wagon

Now that my birthday month is well and truly over (I was taking a break to just bask in the glory of design-fatherhood life without the recording of it over the month of May, and I somehow let it creep a bit into June). Well, as my excuse of the 'birthday month' is gone, it's high time I to get back into the swing of things here at Design Dad.

I've decided to break away from my previously restrictive schedule of posts, as I was finding it not only daunting, but restricting me from posting some of my neat/random finds, or other miscellany. I see many more SIDE NOTES happening in the future! I will still try to cover essentially the same topics, and in a similar manner, just going to throw a little monkeymoo in the gears. 

Now where am I...

Keiran will help me piece it together.

Side Note: The Manhattan Project

Found a beautiful video of New York by Cameron Michael, set to an awesome song by Blackmill. It brought me back to many of the place I visited on my trip there. Now I want to go back even more than I did before!

Enjoy!



The Manhattan Project HD1080P from Cameron Michael on Vimeo.

Side Note: Venice in a Day

Little video by Joerg Niggli to start your Tuesday.

Makes me want to go to Venice and watch the world go by...