Sometimes student work really is the best! Check out this cool project Swiss project titled “Evolver”:

There’s a cool, if not a little Sprockets-ish, video here:

Project via space invading via archinect

Oddly enough, I’ve been to that very spot, about 25 years ago when was eleven years old. Catch a ride up there in Zermatt.

images by Joel Tettamanti

Wallpaper*’s October issue was so good this month that I headed straight over to wallpaper.com to check out what they had going on. They have Cool Hunting as a guest editor (I have to say, I much preferred Cool Hunting to Karl Lagerfeld’s spread). They have tons of cool videos like this one of the straw barn being constructed. They have slideshows from far away fashion shows and furniture and design fairs that I would never otherwise be able to “attend.” Here are just a few of my favorites:

A slideshow of The Chabot Museum in Rotterdam. I was sure when I saw this it was designed by Corbusier, but it was designed by Gerrit Willem Baas and Leonard Stokla in 1938 as a private residence.

The slideshow of landscape hotels, entitled Cabin Class, has me yearning to take off for the woods. This is my kind of camping:

• Top image is Paolo Navone for Reichenbach, as seen at the Maison et Objet Fair in Paris
• Second image by Jannes Linders
• Third image by Jae Feinberg

Yesterday I mentioned reading an article and I could not remember where I’d seen it. When I picked up today’s New York Times I remembered that it was in the Home section last week. Dan Phillips of East Texas builds homes from the castoffs of others. One of my favorite move was how he made this beautiful ceiling from leftover frame shop samples:

To view the entire article and the fascinating slideshow of his creations, click here.

photo by Michael Stravato for The New York Times

I was watching Mad Men the other night, and I loved the scene where that scumbag Pete Campbell was trying to woo the Madison Square Garden developers to let him provide their P.R. and squash the nutball commie preservationists who were trying to save Penn Station (McKim, Mead, and White, 1910). I love that Mad Men focuses in on these pivotal points in history, and evokes a feeling of being on the cusp of momentous change. A phoenix of historic preservation rose from the ashes of Penn Station; its demolition was the catalyst that brought people like Jane Jacobs, Ada Louise Huxtable and a slew of like-minded architects together to fight the good fight for preservating historic buildings and better urban planning. The episode inspired me to take a moment of silence to honor this Beaux Arts Masterpiece.

all images from newyorkarchitectureimages.com

If you didn’t pick up a New York Times today, check out the Home Section online. Here are some links to my favorite features this week:

1) I’m loving the slideshow of this modern Sag Harbor home (here’s a sneak peek, the interior floor is actually outdoor decking):

Isn’t this photography as crisp as the architecture in this one? I absolutely love it! The photographer is Michael Weschler.

2)If you like your coastal home a little more beachy, try shopping with India Hicks, queen of the shells.

3) If you’re still depressed about Flint Michigan after watching “Roger and Me,” find a little bit of hope by reading this article.

4) More hope from some industrious interior designers who are riding out the recession is here. Personally, my favorite e-decorator is Vanessa De Vargas. For more information, click here.

top photos by Michael Weschler for The New York Times.

Flint photo by Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times.

I was just flipping through Wallpaper* and caught a glimpse of Palazzo Bartolommei, a gorgeous penthouse apartment in Florence. I am getting the urge to return to Italy and this newly-redesigned space is causing serious daydreaming distraction. From what I can tell, it starts at 1000 Euros/night, but it has five bedrooms, a fully outfitted kitchen, a terrace (from which you can hear concerts at the nearby church) and marble bathrooms. Grab a bunch of friends and it can work out to 1000 Euros for the week!

Ilaria Miani has done a beautiful job on this redesign of this 17th-century space. Look closely at that steel trunk used as a nightstand in the photo above.

Find out who the freak in your group is by seeing who picks this bedroom as their first choice:

images from here.

It got me thinking about my favorite vernacular architecture in the USA – our barns. As small farmers become scarcer and scarcer, these beautiful structures that dot the rural landscape are falling into ruin as well. If you are interested in helping to preserve America’s barns, check out The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Barn Again! effort.

photograph by flickr member im pastor rick

The funniest thing I read all week, well at first it was a guy saying he had ten cigarettes and coffee before this dance class, but then even funnier and so perfectly put was Douglas Coupland (you know, the artist who wrote Generation X) calling the current tear down house replacements in his neighborhood “Carmela Soprano meets Arts and Crafts.” That describes almost every new house in my historic neighborhood to a T.

Check out the full slideshow of Coupland’s home: The man has got an eye for primary colors and shapes like none I have ever seen. The pictures are much more clear and there are a few bonus ones online that were not in the print edition.

To learn more about spandex Sweaty Sunday dance class, click here.

To see great photos of Coupland’s interiors, click here.

photos by Martin Tessler for The New York Times.

I was perusing Maine Home and Design the other day and fell upon an ad for an architecture firm I just love. Van Dam Architecture and Design does absolutely beautiful and thoughtful work, with careful consideration of site, context, and materials in each project. You can check out more images here, and here are a few of my favorites:

I was in Cincinnati for 48 hours last week and while I didn’t get a chance to check out the exhibit of his newly found paintings at Fabulous Frames, I stumbled upon this remarkable house while checking out a river view house for sale in Anderson Township. I suppose the street sign before the shared driveway should have given me a clue as to what was ahead:

There was another Charley Harper cardinal on the other side of the house in the carport. Those decks have a great view of the Ohio River and the rolling bluegrass hills of Kentucky on the other side.

By the way, this is the house nearby that my friends and I want to make our dream house when we win the lottery and retire: