All posts from minusfive

From Hometta’s press release:
This summer, modern home-buyers will gain unprecedented access to design quality with the debut of Hometta, a modern home plan company offering modest, green home designs from internationally recognized architecture studios. Entirely Web-based, Hometta is on a mission to make great design accessible and affordable to a large cross-section of prospective homeowners. Along with home plans, Hometta will offer a complete array of educational resources to empower subscribers throughout the home-building process.
Hometta is an international collective of designers, architects, builders, writers and editors who have banded together to improve the way residential architecture is designed and delivered today. The company was founded by Mark Johnson, a Houston-based green home builder, and his frequent collaborator Andrew McFarland, a Houston modern architect.
We think it’s a tragedy that 98 percent of American home-buyers cannot afford the services of an architect” says Johnson. “Our singular purpose is to improve the design quality of single family houses being built today.
Johnson and McFarland enlisted four “core” architects, all known for highly innovative work, to establish the vision for Hometta’s development. The core architects—James Evans, Dawn Finley, Brett Zamore and Blair Satterfield—in turn recruited the more than 20 talented firms who will contribute designs at Hometta’s launch.
As someone who believes that architecture’s responsibility to society begins with the dwelling, I am very happy to be associated with Hometta,” says Wes Jones, principal of Los Angeles-based Jones, Partners: Architecture. “Hometta takes the mystery out of building a new home. By combining a transparent process with access to a large pool of talented architects, Hometta makes good modern home design available, without risk or complication, to folks who might never have considered real architecture to be an option.
An Uncompromising Vision
Hometta’s plans adhere to a prescribed set of criteria, uniquely interpreted by each studio:

Modern: The homes are stunningly modern, offering all the design, livability and ingenuity of a custom home.
Small: Capped at 2,500 square feet, the homes are smaller than the national average. Their size makes them more affordable and efficient, creating a new market between large, custom houses and mass-produced tract homes. Smaller homes also supplement and support, rather than compete with, the architects’ core businesses.
Sustainable: By virtue of their smaller size, the homes will use less energy and produce less waste. They will employ sustainable design methods and materials, including hydronic heating and cooling, passive ventilation, and planted or solar-paneled “sides,” that boost efficiency and energy performance without adding excessive cost.

Web-based Tools
Visitors to Hometta.com will be able to view all home plan design renderings, as well as original editorial content: professionally produced audio slideshow and video podcasts, educational articles, and a blog with exclusive content from Hometta contributing architects. Web-based tools will be accessible by subscription. The Design Subscription ($9.95 per year) gives access to the interactive, professionally edited Construction Guide, with its detailed resources and advice on the entire home-building process. The Build Subscription ($99.95/year or $19.95/month) allows users to review all the builder plan sets and receive guest logins for their selected builder(s). The actual plans range in cost from $1195 for a studio-sized house to $3195 for a three-bedroom.
Architects Contributing Plans
The following firms are partner studios that will contribute home plans for Hometta’s launch:
Barry Price Architecture Woodstock, NY
Borden Partnership Los Angeles
Brett Zamore Design Houston
Collaborative Designworks Houston
davidclovers Hong Kong
Dufner Heighes New York, NY
FAR frohn&rojas Los Angeles / Cologne, Germany / Santiago, Chile
Garofalo Architects Chicago
Guthrie+Buresh Architects Ann Arbor, MI
HouMinn Practice Houston, TX / Minneapolis, MN
Interloop—Architecture Houston, TX
Jones, Partners: Architecture Los Angeles, CA
Karl Wallick Cincinnati, OH
Keith Krumwiede New York / Los Angeles
Kiel Moe Boston
KRDB Austin, TX
MANIFOLD.ArchitectureStudio Brooklyn, NY / Mainze, Germany
Mike Jacobs Architecture Brooklyn, NY / Los Angeles
Min | Day San Francisco / Omaha, NE
over,under inc. Boston
Project_ Brooklyn, NY
Roger Sherman Architecture Santa Monica, CA
Studio Terpeluk San Francisco
WEATHERS Chicago
Zoka Zola Chicago
For more info about Hometta visit their blog.

The clean and striking IF Mode is aimed at commuters of the mobile generation who, until now, may have not considered cycling or folding bikes to be an option. IF Mode avoids oily chains, complex tubes with hidden dirt traps, and the clutter of traditional bike features. Meant for city commuters rather than bicycle warriors, it looks at home folded up on a subway or in an office, like other well designed accessories in your life. It also performs on the street like any lightweight, well-balanced full size bike.
Areaware is a New York City based company renowned for unique design products with an emphasis on forward thinking technologies and original expression. Our products are decorative but go beyond ornament. Each has an underlying meaning which we believe can deepen the relationship people have with the everyday objects in their lives.
Designer’ Bio:
Mark Sanders is the Principal of MAS Design – a product design and engineering consultancy established in 1984. He was an early graduate of the Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) course at the Royal College of Art/Imperial College, and has followed the same holistic design principles in business. He is now a visiting tutor on the IDE course and runs MAS Design from a self-built home/office/workshop. MAS design specializes in integrating engineering and industrial design. Its product portfolio includes a wide range of award-winning patented products from kitchen tools to operating tables, industrial valves to folding bicycles.

[ via Areaware, MAS Design, Yatzer ]

Our talented mexican friend will be showing these stunning, very original design pieces at the upcoming ICFF in New York (more info about this on his website).
This is what Joel had to say about his new pieces:
Just as if they were dancing together, the carpet and the table are inspired by Mexican Traditional Dances and Dresses.
The goal was to design something inspired by Mexican’s culture and folklore, so I look at some of our dresses and colors and try to capture the shapes made by dresses in movement in order to design the Dancing Table and the Dancing Carpet.
THE DANCING TABLE is a rigid surface with small waves in the exterior, which leaves plenty space in the center for a lamp and small things.
THE DANCING CARPET is one big surface with soft waves in different vibrant colors; acting like one big dress in movement on the floor.