living work : art, home & gallery : donald judd’s loft at 101 spring street : new york

essay by donald judd photography by elizabeth felicella via somewhere i would like to live

101 Spring Street, the building in Soho where Donald Judd lived and worked for years, is currently being renovated by Architecture Research Office. Before the project began, the New York photographer Elizabeth Felicella photographed the cast-iron structure. We are pleased to present an essay about the building written by Judd in 1989, along with a selection of Felicella’s images of its interior spaces                                                                                                                                           .

architecture excursion with miquel subiràs #2 : architects home : montagut

our second stop was miquel’s own home. he told us about many restrictions given to home builders in the area, of size etc. from the street we could see a raise metal box, as we walked down the space under opened up into his studio. from the staircase we ascended into the main part of the house, yet remaining outside. a simple box, had been cut twice to separate the two bedrooms on either side, leaving the space feeling either completely open and free or easily closed. from what is a small home, the feeling of space was amazing. the other beautiful detail was the mesh veranda top that could close to encapsulate the whole building, yet still let in the air and light.                                                    .

somewhere i would like to live : the home of designer tracy wilkinson : interview : freunde von freunden

with her undone blonde locks, oversized white T-shirt, and her loyal dog companion simba, designer tracy wilkinson could pass as the epitome of a californian girl. but born in the rural surroundings of yorkshire in northern england, life didn‘t always look so sunny: “when you grow up in a quiet place and you are shy and introverted, you develop a fairly elaborate fantasy life,“ says tracy about her childhood and the origin of her creativity.

 

growing up, her interest in fashion and the act of creating something quickly began to spark. she attended every rummage sale and visited every oxfam store she could find, in order to create her very own form of expression through clothing. with a lot of free time on her hands, she started not only to sew clothes for her dolls, but eventually came up with patterns and cuts for her very own outfits. being more and more certain of having found her creative outlet, she studied fashion design at the royal college of art and worked in london’s fashion field before a fateful letter from a friend who migrated to the US, should change her destiny for good.

 

as life in the US seemed way more exciting than in her native england, without looking back she packed her belongings and moved overseas. almost 20 years later, she now lives in a beautiful house in mount washington, overlooking the L.A. hills and spends her days exploring different types of handcrafts, ranging from pottery to blacksmithing and weaving. when you look at the materials tracy chooses to work with – clay, natural cane, wood and cotton, you see that her artisanal artworks not only breath the free spirit of the 70s, but always remind us of the imperfection and the beauty of life. photos : brian ferry  for the rest of the interview : freundevonfreunden via : somewhere i would like to live                                                                                                                                                                   .

one family, one room : architecture & home : yrjö kukkapuro & eero paloheimo : apartamento magazine : photography : osma harvilahti

 this is the one room house that ida kukkapuro grew up with her grandparents,  interior designer yrjö and graphic designer irmeli. built in 1968 and designed by yrjö himself and his close friend eero paloheimo. now they have a second little house close close by where they sleep. one day i would love to visit them. to read the story by ida kukkapuro, take a look at apartamento magazine #9. photos : osma harvilahti. via : somewhere i would like to live                                                                           .

concrete paradise : architecture : ricardo bofill : home & studio : photography : richard powers : barcelona

 i have written many times about ricardo bofill, from the muralla roja to his housing in paris. i have also written once before about his home and studio here in barcelona. when a friend of mine passed me this link from ArchDaily, with amazing photographs courtesy of ricardo bofill and richard powers, i had to write again. these beautiful photos not only show the majesty of the ‘palace’ that bofill created nearly 40 years ago from a disused cement factory on the outskirts of barcelona, they also show the serene rooms and private spaces. from a building that is enormous, there are a magnitude of space, from rooms to entertain and intimate spaces held in the silos. it is beautiful to see the photos from just after completion. now if you pass by it is completely surrounded by trees.

“in 1973 ricardo bofill found a disused cement factory, an industrial complex from the turn of the century consisting of over 30 silos, subterranean galleries and huge machine rooms, and he decided to transform it into the head office of taller de arquitectura. remodelling work lasted two years. the factory, abandoned and partially in ruins, was a compendium of surrealist elements: stairs that climbed up to nowhere, mighty reinforced concrete structures that sustained nothing, pieces of iron hanging in the air, huge empty spaces filled nonetheless with magic” ArchDaily                                                   .

an open space : home for photographer and director of apartamento magazine , nacho alegre : by arquitectura G : el putxet barcelona

i discovered arquitectura G just after i had arrived in barcelona. this small, young practice have a made a few refurbishments in barcelona, that have changed the spaces completely and the way to live within the space. this basement space is for nacho alegre, photographer and one of the directors of apartamento magazine. i like that the space has been opened out completely, one angled wall hides the sleeping space from the living, another hides the wardrobe and bathroom, while leaving all open to take the light from the garden windows. simple and clever. nacho told me that in the springtime he will take some photos of how it is now, with him living in there. looking forward to it. all photos josé hevia. more posts about arquitectura G , nacho alegre and apartamento magazine                               .

a swim in japan : photography : anne frémy : les cashiers purple : france

so from finding les cashiers purple, inside, in an article about japan, i saw a black and white photo of two men swimming in a pool. i was spellbound. the men seamed to be floating in air. so poetic. i found out the photographer was anne frémy. i contacted her and bought a copy. now i have them in colour, floating on my wall. this photo was taken from her kyoto journal. photo : andrew trotter

moving home : openhouse meets openhouse-project : barcelona

this is what you get when you close a shop and the only place to put everything is in your home. it took me a while to get everything organised before the last openhouse project event took place  .

 

holland at home : book : dutch architects and their houses : mirjam bleeker . frank visser . santje kramer

last week i had one of the biggest compliments paid to me. a lady walked into my shop and said ” hi, i’m mirjam bleeker, im a photographer, and i’ve been following your blog” she came with her friends, we chatted a lot, and i showed them the openhouse gallery at home while taking a coffee. she gave me a book that she had made with frank visser and santje kramer, “dutch architects and their homes”, and said that maybe we can collaborate in the future. here are a few photos from the book which can be ordered here                                                                                                                           .

los angeles : take a dip : home : marc atlan : the hills

the beautiful home of creative director marc atlan in the hills of los angeles. see the interview at freunde von freunden    .