A Dated Spanish Colonial Becomes a Jaw-Dropping Mountain House

Nestled in the side of Camelback Mountain, this Phoenix, Arizona home was recently transformed from a dated Spanish Colonial Revival style to a modern, jaw-dropping mountain house by The Ranch Mine. The Red Rocks residence now works with the irregular landscape and features a layout that embraces an indoor/outdoor way of living with a focus on uninterrupted views.

The first part of the plan was to remove all the superfluous elements and start with a two-story box. The interior was changed so that the open living spaces would open out to the deck, hot tub, pool, and valley views.

Limestone covers much of the exterior instead of the typical red sedimentary sandstone finish.

Thanks to the renovation, over 2,000-square-feet of covered patios were created adding to the usable living space, while helping to shade the interior from the hot desert sun.

Upstairs, a new master bedroom was added, cantilevering out instead of expanding the original footprint or reducing the outdoor space.

A second story covered deck benefits from a custom, bi-folding steel screen from Bang Bang Designs by blocking some of the sun but letting the breeze filter through.

Exposed concrete covers the floors to help keep maintenance to a minimum. Walnut and white are the palette of choice as not to outshine the red rocks outside.

Windows and bi-folding glass doors in the double-height living room frame views of the rocks.

Photography by Roehner + Ryan.

from Design MilkDesign Milk https://design-milk.com/a-dated-spanish-colonial-becomes-a-jaw-dropping-mountain-house/

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Your Lawn’s Not Just Eye Candy: The Environmental and Health Benefits of Turfgrass Lawns

Turfgrass lawns aren’t just beautiful; they’re also practical. Image: Pacific Aina Design

A well-maintained lawn is central to your home’s curb appeal and even adds to the value of your property. However, your turfgrass lawn is more than just eye candy. It provides a variety of environmental and health benefits.

Freshome asked Dan Sandor, a postdoctoral associate in turfgrass science at the University of Minnesota, to tell us more about the benefits of turfgrass lawns.

Turfgrasses, trees, and plants help to prevent soil erosion. Image: R.P. Marzilli & Company Landscape Contractor

The environmental benefits of turfgrass

“Environmental and functional benefits of turfgrasses include soil erosion control; dust stabilization; carbon sequestration; groundwater recharge and improvement of surface water quality; reduction in pollution and contamination from runoff of sediments, nutrients and other organic chemicals; heat dissipation and temperature moderation and much much more,” Sandor says.

Sandor explains that turfgrasses also promote biodiversity, serving as an ecosystem for wildlife and, specifically, for many different species of invertebrates, such as insects and earthworms.

Drown out the noise and avoid the sun’s rays with greenery.  Image: R.P. Marzilli & Company Landscape Contractor

Turfgrass lawns and landscape plantings can reduce noise levels by absorbing and deflecting sounds. Additionally, they reduce glare and light reflection during the day. “Turfgrasses also function as natural firebreaks, which can lower the fire hazard of a home on the property,” Sandor says.

Turfgrass lawns, plants and trees trap dust and other pollutants. Image: Prestige Builders

The health benefits of turfgrass

Turfgrass lawns also have health benefits, such as cleaning the air, which makes it easier to breathe. “By reducing pollution and allergy-related pollens (except for those allergic to grasses themselves), a properly-maintained lawn (i.e., a routinely mowed, dense lawn) reduces the amount of weeds and undesired flowering plant species that can contribute to allergies,” Sandor explains.

Keep critters away by maintaining your lawn. Image:  Nicholas Bray Landscapes

Managed turfgrass lawns reduce the nuisance and incidence of pests such as snakes, mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers. Sandor also says some of these critters are known vectors of diseases harmful to humans, such as malaria, Lyme disease and the Zika virus, just to name a few.

Stay cool with the addition of grass, trees, and plants. Image: Big Earth Landscape Supply

The energy benefits of turfgrass

Grass lawns also save energy by dissipating heat. Sandor says this reduces the required costs associated with cooling the inside of the home during the summer. According to one estimate, just planting lawns and plants could lower your air conditioning energy requirements by 25 percent.

During the summer, turfgrass can be 70 degrees cooler than synthetic turf. Image: Designs By Elizabeth

A temperature comparison study in College Station, Texas found that green, growing turf had a maximum daytime surface temperature of 88 degrees. Dry, bare soil had a maximum daytime surface temperate of 102 degrees and synthetic turf had a maximum daytime temperature of 158 degrees.

If you have to fall down, falling on turfgrass is less painful. Image:  Bill D’Agata

“Other health and recreational benefits include provision of a low-cost, safe surface for sports and recreation and the resultant mental health benefits from partaking in such activities. Plus, the resiliency and cushioning effects of turfgrass lawns – which, if you have asked anyone who has played tennis on hard courts vs. grass courts – make a noticeable difference on the joints,” Sandor says.

Who wouldn’t feel better in such naturally beautiful, serene surroundings? Image:  The LaurelRock Company

Turfgrass lawns have a therapeutic impact. “Studies have shown mental health benefits and improvements to overall well-being when people are near green, densely vegetated areas, such as lawns, especially in urban environments such as the workplace, hospitals, low-income areas, prisons and retirement communities.”

For more information, Sandor recommends The National Turf Federation, The Lawn Institute and these two studies:

Beard, J.B. and R.L. Green. 1994. The role of turfgrasses in environmental protection and their benefits to humans. J. Environ. Qual. 23:452-460.

Stier, J.C., K, Steinke, E.H. Ervin, F.R. Higginson, and P.E. McMaugh. 2013. Turfgrass benefits and issues. In: J.C. Stier, B.P. Horgan, and S.A. Bonos, eds., Agronomy Monograph 56 Turfgrass: Biology, Use, and Management. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America: Madison, WI. p. 105-145.

The post Your Lawn’s Not Just Eye Candy: The Environmental and Health Benefits of Turfgrass Lawns appeared first on Freshome.com.

from Freshome.com - Interior Design & Architecture Magazine https://freshome.com/turfgrass-lawns/

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This Collection of Furniture by Marcel Wanders for Natuzzi Italia Is Inspired by Gotham City

The Agronomist collection is a set of four pieces of contemporary furniture designed by Natuzzi Italia in collaboration with Marcel Wanders that was originally inspired by the Puglia landscape, architecture, and lifestyle. The collection includes the Furrow sofa, the Barrow coffee table, the Crate cabinet, and the Peacock carpet. For NYCxDESIGN, the collection got a facelift and took on a new identity inspired by Gotham City, the fictional alter ego of New York City.

The Furrow sofa, which was originally dressed in a reddish-brown leather, is now covered in glossy black tattooed leather with stitching resembling scars and sutures. It is reminiscent of both a worn-in leather jacket and the exterior profile of a rugged individual who lets the art on his arm speak for his stories.

The Barrow coffee table is redesigned with dark beech wood and black leather on the handles and wheels, a dark contrast to the original’s rustic wheelbarrow design.

The Crate cabinet also gets redone in solid black beech wood. The doors adorned with green olive leaves (a symbol of Puglia) in the original design takes on a new textural look when recreated in black.

Similarly, the Peacock carpet, inspired by the majestic plumage of a peacock’s tail, suddenly becomes more abstract in its new black and white mirrored pattern.

Photos by Donna Dotan.

from Design MilkDesign Milk https://design-milk.com/collection-furniture-marcel-wanders-natuzzi-italia-inspired-gotham-city/

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A 3D-Printed Garment Envisions an Underwater Future

Designer and material scientist Jun Kamei is looking ahead toward solutions to help people adapt to the sea level rise caused by climate change, predicted its effects upon between 0.5 – 3 billion globally along some of our most populous cities. His vision Amphibio is a 3D printed amphibious garment designed to work with, not against, the possibility many of us will increasingly live in close proximity to water.

Designed at the Royal College of Art in collaboration with the RCA-IIS Tokyo Design Lab, Kamei studied how aquatic insects use a thin layer of air trapped across their carapace, a super-hydrophobic surface that operates as a gas-exchanging gill. Noting this evolutionary adaptations, Kamei developed a special porous hydrophobic material engineered to allow underwater breathing by extracting oxygen from the surrounding water while also removing accumulated carbon dioxide in similar fashion, forming what might appear as entomological-inspired haute couture. The gentle biomimetic pleats draped across the body are designed to multiply the amount of surface area available for the material to do its gas exchange magic.

But before ditching any diving gear, it should be noted Amphibio can’t yet produce enough oxygen to fully support underwater breathing for a human swimmer; the efficiency has yet to match the oxygen requirements of a human being (despite the fold, at its current state Ambibio would require 32m² of surface area to provide enough oxygen to its wearer).

Nevertheless, one might imagine with further optimization of the material, Amphibio could one day allow swimmers and free divers an extra means of staying underwater for longer without the heft of current diving equipment.

from Design MilkDesign Milk https://design-milk.com/3d-printed-amphibious-garment-amphibio/

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Dog Milk Best of June + July 2018

In June and July over on Dog Milk, we shared a bunch of fun stuff from matching human+dog clothing to a tent for your pooch:

Modern Dog Feeders from Drip Module

Modern Cork Collars from Herzdog

Matching Dog x People Shirts from Dog Threads

Modern Dog Tent from HELLO PETS

Luxury Dog Products from Annalisa Unleashed

Fresh Pawz: Streetwear Style for Dogs

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from Design MilkDesign Milk https://design-milk.com/dog-milk-best-of-june-july-2018/

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A Creamy Masala Chai Crème Brûlée + Giveaway

Since its opening in the Spitalfields area of London, home-style Indian restaurant Gunpowder has been at the top of my list of places to eat when I visit the city. If you’ve eaten there, you know why I recommend it to friends, and if you’ve been in London with me at the same time, I’ve probably taken you there to share in my joy.From day one, all I could think with each dish I tasted was, “I want this recipe!” One of the owners, Harneet, would walk me through the stories of the dishes I asked about and how they were made, but I wanted every recipe from the menu! This year my wishes were answered with the cookbook Gunpowder: Explosive Flavors from Modern India. I’m super excited to share their recipe for Masala Chai Crème Brûlée this week, and hope you like it, too! —Kristina

Why Harneet loves this recipe:  Chai is such an integral part of your day in India, and I enjoy a cup at the end of a meal so we decided to put it in dessert form. We’ve also done a version using white chocolate in place of some sugar just to make it a little more decadent.

Image above: Signature dishes from Gunpowder’s menu. All photography by Peter Cassidy

For a chance to win a copy of Gunpowder: Explosive Flavors from Modern India, respond to the following question in the comments section below by August 15th, 5PM. What is your favorite restaurant cookbook/which restaurant do you wish would publish a cookbook? The winner will be announced in the comments section, so be sure to check in again!

About Devina, Harneet, and Nirmal: Harneet Baweja and his wife Devina Seth opened the restaurant Gunpowder with head chef Nirmal Save. The restaurant has received widespread recognition including raves in the Michelin guide, Bloomberg, Harper’s Bazaar, and Time Out. Find Gunpowder on Instagram @gunpowder_london.

Image above: US Version of Gunpowder Cookbook cover

Image above: Devina Seth

Image above: Harneet Baweja

Image above: Chef Nirmal Save

Image above: Masala Chai Crème Brûlée

from Design*Sponge https://www.designsponge.com/2018/08/a-creamy-masala-chai-creme-brulee-giveaway.html

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