Art and Architecture

New Althea and Fiona Bungalow Design

In the past few months, I have been trying to work out the design of the bungalow units for phase two for our subdivision project. We have tried various schemes that would match the concepts of our previous houses and have finally come up with these two designs.

Althea - (Single Detach Bungalow)

Fiona - (Duplex Bungalow)

Although we haven't started selling these units yet, I am hopeful that these units will be salable since there were a lot of inquiries on bungalow units on our phase one. For more information on this subdivision project kindly visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HaciendaSanAgustin or our website http://hsasubdivision.com/

Slim Homes

Every time I have a design problem, I always see an opportunity to explore new solutions to the problem. Since land prices are getting higher, I've been exploring the possibilities of designing a house on a thin piece of land. Building a house on a thin piece of land would also lower the cost of building a house, making it attractive to buyers looking for affordable homes.

Although construction costs are a top priority in this design challenge, I also have to make sure that the comfort of the house is not sacrificed. Design is another aspect to consider, and having the constraints of building on a slim lot will make things more difficult. So, in order to draw inspiration from this challenge, I did some research on modern slim houses on the net and found a few unique and practical slim houses.

Slim House In Tokyo by Mizuishi Architect

Slim House in Toronto by Drew Mandel

Slim House in San Francisco By Architect Craig Steely

Slim House in Seatle

Slim House in Toronto By Donald Chong

World's Most Extreme Homes (The Sphere - Sao Paulo Brazil)

Lately I have been searching the net for documentaries on architecture. I've found a few interesting documentaries which I will be sharing here in my blog. The first documentary that I am going to share comes from a program from HGTV title World's Most Extreme Homes.

This house has caught my attention since it has a very unique exterior and interior. Most houses have edges and are basically squares and rectangles. This house on the other hand is a sphere and has a lot of curved spaces inside.

Check out the video below

Recycled Art: Old Computer Parts and Transistor

Every time I open my CPU I always get amazed at the complexity of each part working in unison to make millions of complex calculations every second. Whenever I take my CPU apart I can't help but admire how the manufacturers and designers of these parts worked hard to create these sophisticated components.

While I was searching the net for computer parts I saw some photo of some sculptures which used old computer components as the sculptors choice of material. I was amused with this unique art since it never crossed my mind that these old computer parts can be converted into works of art.

Although the shapes look simple, I bet that it took a lot of effort to create these sculptures. The texture of these computer parts also helped enhance the sculptures.

For more sculptures click on the links below.

Sources:

www.designswan.com

www.atcrux.com

Unique Hotels

I love buildings with unique designs and concepts. Out of the box designs, I get my inspiration. Seeing these designs motivates me not to confine myself to traditional solutions. It encourages me to look for a variety of possible solutions to the problem.

A few days ago, I was stuck with a mediocre design for an interior project. I needed to refresh my creative juices and find inspirations for hotel interiors.

I found the website unusualhotelsoftheworld.com and I saw a bunch of unique hotels. A lot of the posts have caught my interest. I searched through their archives and found a lot of creative hotel designs and concepts. I have found several hotels designed with adaptive reuse.

Below are some of the hotels which caught my attention.

Jumbo Stay

This will probably be the best sleep you'll experience on a jet

La Balade des Gnomes

Get to experience what the ancient greeks experienced inside the trojan horse with better facilities.

Magic Mountain Hotel

An enchanting experience inside this magical hotel it almost feel like you are in a fairy tale.

Crane Hotel

Now this is what I call sleeping on the job.

To find more unique hotels please visit the site below

Source: unusualhotelsoftheworld.com

Image Averaging - How to Increase Detail and Remove Noise from Images

Shooting with low light means that you need to use high ISO, resulting in a lot of noise. I found two articles that improve the quality of photos taken at a high ISO level. The first method is to stack underexposed photos to create a proper exposure. The other method is to stack a few high-iso photos removing the noise and increasing the detail.

Single Image ISO 3200

9 images averaged at ISO 3200

Going Wide, Fast or Tele

I have been browsing a lot of websites on some reviews on my next possible lens purchase. On my list are the Sigma 30mm f1.4, Zuiko 9-18mm f4-5.6, and the Zuiko 70-300 f4-5.6.

Although I rarely use the telephoto end of my current telephoto lens, I have been considering buying the Zuiko 70-300 as an alternative lens for my macro works. It would also be useful for my street photography because I can capture my subject from a distance and take candid shots of them.

The Sigma 30 mm f1.4 will be perfect for my food photography, as I shoot indoors with minimal lighting. It's also going to be great for portrait and low light shooting.

The Zuiko 9-18 ultra-wide lens would be perfect for taking photos of interiors and buildings that are useful for photographing my projects. It's decent for landscape photography too.

Upon close deliberation of all three lenses, it all comes down to choosing between the Sigma 30 mm and the Zuiko 9-18. I still can't decide which of the two lenses is going to be more useful to me. I regularly take food shots for my blog, and I do require a wider lens to shoot small interior spaces.

Both lenses perform excellently and are worth every penny. I guess I'm going to have to make my decision when the time comes to purchase one of these lenses. Below is a link on a Focal Length Simulator that I used to help me with my decision. I hope this is going to help you determine whether you want to go wide or telephoto.