What Will the Homes of the Future Look Like??

The answer?? Pretty cool looking

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London Assembly - The impact of planned change-of-use classes

This week the London Assembly heard from planning representatives on the potential impact of government plans to allow offices to be converted to residential use without planning permission. This planned action is an obvious attempt to simultaneously ease housing pressures, while increasing urban densities, regenerate failing areas, and converting under-used space. However, the scheme has been criticised with Richard Pestell of the RTPI warning of the "huge unintended consequences" of the changes. 

It is estimated that around 4 million square metres of office space will be at risk from changes in central London alone, accounting for nearly a quarter of that area's total office space. The buildings typically likely to be affected will be older, cheaper, and often not in prime commercial location. Not only have such spaces traditionally been home to the burgeoning and creative industries, but by reducing commercial space the effect will be to push up rents, leading to potential job loses. 

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Old Photographs of Mexico (1952 - 1973)

Via Vintag.es a collection of photographs from Mexico documenting urban life from 1952 to 1973.

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Big Sur Glass Yurt - 1976

With an increasing trend towards tiny houses, smaller scales, and more sustainable living, it is interesting to look back at the designs which where forerunners in these fields. In the 1970's Mickey Muennig built a brick, wood and glass yurt in Big Sur. This structure features a round floor plan favoured by our ancestors, which through its simplicity remains timeless. 

via Inthralld.com

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The More You Know: 3D Printing

Much attention has been paid to 3D Printing recently, but with these advances heralded as a revolutionary and disruptive technology questions must be asked on how these printers will truly affect us. PBS have released a short to explain this technology and its potential impact on issues of consumption, creation, and copy-write.

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Designing for the Flood Plain - Baca Architects

Baca Architects have gained planning consent for a flood-resilient house in the village of Sutton Courtenay in Oxfordshire. Sitting alongside a small brook the design was developed to be contemporary, simple in form and profile, while preserving the character of the conservation area and finding a sage solution to flooding. 

The timber-framed house is conceived as a series of interlocking buildings, clad in a mixture of timber, glass, and steel to reflect the appearance of nearby converted barns. The structure is designed around a wooden-decked outdoor space, which raises the building above the flood level allowing water to flow underneath it during times of heavy rainfall. The surrounding landscaping is sculpted to accept encroaching flood water while both gauging and diverting rising water levels.

 

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