The first ever submission from Egypt in next year’s solar decathlon is remarkable in its ingenuity.

Temperatures in Egypt’s deserts can range from 114 F in summer to 32 F in winter. This is a passive solar house that can be adjusted to work as a passive solar house in both the heat of summer and the extreme cold of winter.

The house is based on the slide out design of the humble matchbox. The double-layered screen also uses an ancient desert cooling technique, the Mashrabiya screen, a core element of traditional Arab-Islamic architecture – allowing for privacy and controling how much light and heat enters the building.

But in this case, making this mobile is key. The slide-out perforated facades are part of a passive solar scheme that make it possible to regulate temperatures inside by sliding the exterior faces across each other in various combinations.

In winter, it is a passive solar house warmed by the sun. The perforated screen of the exterior of the building is slid to each side to maximize solar gain through the huge south-facing glass greenhouse curtain wall. The sun’s heat is stored in thermal mass flooring of concrete.

To cool the same space in summer, the south side is closed off to reflect heat back out. The double facades are positioned so as to prevent heat or light getting in from the south, while allowing in light from the north.

The same thermal storage in the concrete floor now acts to retain coolness through the hot day. A ceiling vent helps hot air escape.

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Egypt’s First Entry in Solar Decathlon Based on Matchbox

How do you salvage an old damaged rug and turn it into something special? Numerous carpet companies have hit on an idea.  We’ve seen it up close and think they’ve got something.

ABC Carpet and Home, for one, has overdyed vintage rugs and called them “Aquasilk” as part of the store’s Color Reform Collection. They’ve taken faded and worn vintage Turkish and Oriental rugs that have definitely seen better days. They’ve bleached out all the color and then infused a pop of electric color over what’s left. These are the results:

This would seem to fit neatly into the reclaimed and recycled furniture trend that we’ve been seeing in recent years. Having examined these rugs in person, we think they can fall into one of two categories: either they work brillliantly, or they miss terribly. The dye pattern on some of these rugs looks just a wee bit too runny (hence the aqua name) like a rug that’s suffered water damage. This is particularly true of the rugs that don’t boast much of a contrasting pattern underneath the overdye. But on the right rug, this technique looks really cool and could be the perfect modern interpretation of a tradition. Plus, pink, turquoise, purple and royal blue rugs are always fun.

Problem is, these rugs don’t come cheap. A rug of about 7 x 8 feet runs between $8-$10,000 at ABC Carpet and Home. Check out their collection here. Also, will these rugs stand the test of time, or just seem like a really bad trend a year or two from now? If you’ve plunked out $10,000 for a rug, you better hope it has staying power! Even so, we were wondering if there’s something in this idea that might work for the craft-minded at home. Why not take an old sunbleached, faded rug and try overdying in a pop of bright color? If you’re lucky, you might get these results:

We did a little research and discovered, alas, that the bleaching and dyeing process takes a lot more work than most of us could handle at home (hence the $10,000 price tag on these rugs). The bleaching process requires harsh chemicals that demand good ventilation and special breathing equipment for anyone near by. You will need an acid dye for the overdying and also a stainless steel vat big enough for the carpet and the appropriate amount of hot water which must maintain a temperature of at least 140 degrees farenheit. You will need a carpet steamer to set the dye after overdying. Few of us have the kind of set up at home required to dye an 8 x 5 foot carpet, and the bathtub just won’t work. However, that being said, there are those who have tried it at home, with spectacular results. If you’re interested in reading more about overdying and how to it at home, check out this blog post. Good luck!

Images: ABC Carpet and Home; designholeonline.com; dgpublications.com.

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Design Dilemma: Turning Old Rugs into Art

Costa Rica’s Hotel Punta Islita earns rave reviews from Miss Ecoglam – a jaded professional reviewer of eco hotels – who abandons the resort she should be writing about to enthuse about this one, a spread-out series of small villas comprising a luxury eco resort in Guanacaste.

Raves Miss Ecoglam:“I actually should be blogging about the Peace Lodge right now, which was where I was for the last few days but I am now at Punta Islita and had to write about this place straight away! Oh my god!  This place is incredible!  Hands down wins ‘Best Beach Resort’ from me!

Miss Ecoglam especially loved the cool water Jacuzzi that offers a refreshing dip in the tropical climate, the free mangoes fallen from the trees and looking so pretty on the sandy ground, the yoga class in the treetops…

…and that each cabin gets its own private lawn for naked romps (!)

Hotel Punta Islita has been the recipient of numerous eco awards including Condé Nast’s Most Excellent Eco-Resort.

But most importantly, the resort has earned a 4 leaves rating in its groundbreaking Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST) from the Costa Rica tourism board for:

1- Proper stewardship of our natural and cultural resources;
2 – Improvement of the quality of life of the local communities; and
3- Economic success, that can contribute to other programs of national development.”

CST isn’t an ecotourism seal. It is a set of performance-based standards that create guidelines that any country would want their development to follow, whether based on an ecotourism model or not.

Developing real eco tourism without destroying natural beauty demands imagination and hard work, and the government of Costa Rica has put long-term sustainability and social justice at the forefront of its planning.

Costa Rica has decided to use its resources to preserve, rather than exploit, the riches it was endowed with. As more and more travelers are looking for natural areas to visit, Costa Rica is reaping the fruits of its far-sightedness.

Over a million people now visit the country annually, and part of what they’re coming to experience is one of the very few nations in the world that is run on almost 100% renewable energy.

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Another Eco Hotel in Sustainable Costa Rica

This amazing open-air bedroom could only be in the tropics. Full length windows slide all the way back to make sleeping completely open to the air.

The contemporary treehouse in Nigeria is audacious in its embrace of completely open air architecture throughout, with a roof that hovers above the structure itself. So, what does hold the roof up?

The amusing idea of the house is that the roof canopy is supported by the “tree trunks” like the top of a tree — and is entirely unsupported by walls.

In fact, some the interior spaces do have glass clerestory windows, but their generous proportions, and the fact that they continue around the entire house, gives the impression that the open balcony continues throughout.

Both wood and metal are used sparingly, to define a structure that refers to a canopy of trees above.

The kitchen is spacious, but spartan, at the far end of the upper floor which spans from the open balcony at the front, continues through the open stairways to the lower floor, the living space and art gallery, and ends here at the kitchen at the back.

On the middle floor suspended underneath are the bedroom and bathroom, still close to the adjacent jungle.

These afford the opportunity for a bath luxuriating in the open air, yet in complete privacy.

On the ground floor is just the garage, and a cool sliver of a lap pool. The exterior is clad in blue slate tiles and a chalky white limestone cools the feet as you enter the water. Above can be seen the bedroom and bathroom.

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This Jungle Treehouse Apes Trees

A revolutionary modular housing invention from Mima Architects could change the way we buy houses. The approachable appeal of clean universal design is just one aspect of the genius of their invention; the MIMA House.

Their beautiful prefab – inspired by the traditional Japanese house, the perfect paradigm for lightness, flexibility, comfort and pleasing lines – is very easily re arranged, in any way that you want, to change the layout.

The exterior window panels can be interspersed with solid panels, in any combination.

The restrained order of Japanese standardized building components appealed to MIMA architects. Based on the modular Japanese Tatami mat, Japanese construction is informed by a deeply rooted culture, confirmed over the centuries, that can easily adapt to new requirements.

Mima have come up with something revolutionary. Finally, a house you can practically put together yourself in an afternoon or two. Really. The MIMA House is modular (see the grooves in the floor?) Walls just snap in. Then the rest is about the details. You can paint the walls yourself. If you are looking for some painting tips check out the vancouver painting guys.

Extraordinarily, the quality of the component parts is superb. Mima was determined to create a flexible, light and cheap yet high quality product, that could be put together quickly.

MIMA starts from the clean sophisticated design and bright open spaces of the IKEA-like sensibility of sensible democratic frugality.

The exterior shape, a simple square, cannot be changed. But the complete flexibility of the internal walls and windows mean that the house can be customized to work in any site.

The idea was to try and launch a house which could cost as little as a mid-range car.

It’s not much bigger than a car either. At just 36 square meters, the dwelling is pretty compact.

But as a result, the MIMA House is a starter home that will not have you in hock to the bank for the rest of your life.

Via Dezeen

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You Just Snap Together the MIMA House

How to design a luxurious and large vacation home – that only gets use for a few months each year? It needs to be securely locked up when not in use.

The architect, Jose Kos, makes use of one of the most industrial of solutions to zip it up when not in use – the roll up industry-sized garage door. Several huge rollup doors completely seal up the home like a gigantic warehouse.

Sited near the city of Rio de Janeiro, the house sits on a hillside sculpted into flat lawns so the family’s children can play games.

It is a perfect white cube, at 10 meters by 10 meters by 10 meters, perfectly proportioned.

When the house is in use, there is no hint of the stark rollup garage doors.

It is simply a large and elegant architectural home set on a generous rolling flat lawn designed for the games of children.

The transitional space shaded by a concrete pergola expands the dwelling spaces through the huge windows out to a sheltered two story porch area.

Interior fittings are unadorned industrial steel to match the fold up doors.

Similarly, the windows are framed in commercial window casements.

With the three rollup doors up, there is no hint of a garage-like space within. But this entire space is enclosed when they are closed up.

The interiors all are aligned facing the best view, towards the rising sun, making it easy to close up the house till next year.

The entrance is marked by a bright green retaining wall, which links an existing rock to the upper site limit, celebrating the entry, while while separating the house from the rainy winds and the neighbors’ views.

For ten months, between visits, the vacation home is closed up securely.

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White Cube Vacation Home Zips Closed When Not in Use

You’d think you couldn’t go wrong choosing a selection of beiges to coordinate throughout your home, right?

But then you get those beiges on the wall, and somehow they manage to clash horribly. Or they clash with your beige couch, or your beige carpet.

Why does this happen? In a word, undertones.

Every paint color, even neutrals like whites, beiges and grays have tones. These include mass tones and undertones. Mass tones are the predominant color you see when you look at a color.  So the predominant color you see in a beige might be beige. The predominant color you see in a white might be white. But the undertone is the color that is the hint of another color you may see peeking through that first shade.

In a seafoam green, for example, a mass tone might be the green. The undertone is blue. In an olive green, a mass tone might be green, but the undertone would be yellow.

Can you see the undertones in the gray pictured below?

If we were to take a guess from the picture (undertones can look different depending on the time of day and surrounding colors) we’d say this was a warm gray with yellow/green undertones. That’s why it works so well with the accent colors of ivory and yellow in the room.

Most color schemes work best when the undertone is the same. And when you pair colors in the same family that seem to clash when combined together, what you’ve got is a clash of undertones. That explains why some pinkish beiges just don’t seem to work with yellowish beiges or greenish beiges. It also explains why some warm whites with a hint of yellow look odd when combined with cool whites with a hint of blue. It also explains how you can take a certain gray couch, pair it with a gray wall and feel that the color of each has completely changed. Because when you see different colors in the same family paired together, the undertones tend to come jumping out.

Here’s an example of a room with clashing undertones:

The comforter on the bed is yellow with yellow undertones. The taupe/beige walls have pink undertones. While you’re not likely to go screaming out of the room due to its decor, you may feel that something is “off” if you spend time in the room.

How can you learn to recognize undertones in paints before you make a big mistake?

1) Try spreading paint out very thin on a drop cloth. The undertone becomes more apparent as the color becomes more sheer.
2) Compare the color to other shades. Grab a color chart and compare different reds to each other and to a “true” red. You will quickly see that some reds have undertones of yellow and will appear closer to an orange red, while some reds have undertones of blue and will look more violet.
3) Compare your hue to complementary hues. Complementary hues intensify each other. So a great way to tell if a beige has pinkish, yellowish or greenish undertones is to compare it to other hues, like red, yellow or green. If your beige has pink in it, it will appear brighter next to a green than a red or yellow. If your gray has blue in it, you will see it more clearly when it is compared to an orange.

It may take a little practice, but once you’ve learned how to see undertones in paint you’ll find that you can coordinate fabrics, accents, rugs and paint combinations without fear! One other note about undertones: while maintaining consistent undertones is a great rule of thumb, remember that all rules can be broken at the right time and with the right intention.

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Design Dilemma: Understanding Undertones in Paint Colors

Curved houses can be at risk of being just a little hokey. But here is one from Sarasota, Florida, that carries it off. There is nothing hobbit-like about this confidently executed structure.

From TOTeMS, this guest-house is sited overlooking a wide river and it offsets a bold, modern curved roof with squared-up structure at the ground level.

There is an element of the “rockabye cradle in the tree tops” here in this mezzanine bedroom, open to the living room behind the bed. What a superb bedroom!

Like an upended boat, the bed appears to be surrounded by water. But the sleeping room is high and dry, way up high in the treetops.

The view of the trees is intimate, up close.

The living room below, on the ground floor, shares the mezzanine bedroom’s view over the river. To get the big curved roof, glue-lam beams were used.

This floor offers a treetop deck as another way to meld with the surrounding.

The bathroom and kitchen are in the forested end at the back of the structure, leaving living and sleeping for the front and the  river view.

So how does this avoid the hippie look of curved houses? I think it is because the house is confidently executed. It is as if the architect is saying, –yes; we humans are part of nature. We embrace curves and randomness like nature.

But we are also sentient beings; it is part of our logical nature to create the linear, straight lines of most architecture. It is natural for us to inhabit both worlds; the natural and the man made.

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Curved-Roof Guest House Avoids the Hobbit Look

Marwan Al-Sayed Architects designed this interesting, stark and forbidding-looking concrete house in Paradise Valley, Arizona that looks as harsh and uncompromising as the desert landscape that it inhabits.

The house is conceived as an archaic thick mass casting, say the architects. The concrete mass cools the house while cutting off views to the non-descript suburban houses that surround it.

Integral white cast concrete walls create a modern update: a new classic, Mediterranean wall.

The colors reflect the subtle colors of the native planting used throughout. The palette is restricted to a monotone – reflecting the subtle grays, silvers and green casts of the desert landscape.

The architects used a reversed living plan that makes sense in the hot dry desert climate of Arizona. Bedrooms and bathrooms are underneath, on the ground level, and are semi sunken into the earth, affording privacy, shade and immediacy to the desert floor which surrounds it – rooms stay cool and intimate.

Cool light blooms deep down into the private interior spaces via deep stairwells lit by skylights above. Thick 20″ walls insulate and cool the house naturally.

Then on the upper floor above the bedrooms, the upper level affords the spectacular views of the surrounding topography, as well as participates in the constant light show of vast sky, clouds and colors that so typifies the urban desert experience.

A large shaded outdoor living room, that is cooled by concrete above and below is open to the natural desert foliage.

For the landscape, only indigenous desert vegetation is used so the demand for water is minimal. The plants are low water use plants.

An anonymous blank wall faces the neighboring houses affording complete privacy for the residents.

Almost like a sand dune baking in the hot sun, the house has an eerie sense of vastness and peace that comes from the use of the earth-derived materials, just concrete and glass, both essentially dry; one from sand, one from rocks.

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Desert Concrete is Forever

When I saw this image, I immediately recognized the distinctive quality of Mexican architect: Sebastian Mariscal.

We have covered his work on the Southern California Green Solar House as well as his experiments with charcoaling wood to get this interesting silvered blackened wood that you see used here on the exteriors.

He takes the simplest of life’s moments and imbues them with such peace through design.

His extremely restricted palette of colors and the natural richness of darkened wood is a traditional Japanese theme.

The simplicity wakes you up, and forces you to experience life right here, in a traditional Japanese approach to design, rooted in ancient philosophy, that is needed more than ever in today’s frazzled world.

By not grabbing for everything he achieves a distinctive purity of line and serene peace. Much of the view is shut off. This enables a focus on the here and now.

He shows respect for the creators of the world’s most sustainable material, wood, by providing an opening in the wooden fence for the trees to continue to manufacture building material…

He makes the human participant in nature, sleep utterly open to the warmth of sun and sky in Southern California.

But essentially, he designs homes for families to share and experience the beauty and joy of life.

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Sebastian Mariscal: Loving Design for Humans in Nature