Building materials

Anonym Studio Reimagines Urban Living with the Oom House Extension in Bangkok

Anonym Studio's 'Oom House' in Bangkok presents a groundbreaking approach to residential architecture, offering an elegant extension to an existing home. This project masterfully blends functionality with aesthetics, utilizing curved geometries and a thoughtful material palette to create a cohesive and continuously flowing living environment.

Experience Harmonious Living: Where Curves Connect and Spaces Embrace

Innovative Architectural Expansion for Modern Urban Dwellings

Located in a vibrant residential district of Bangkok, Thailand, the Oom House project, designed by Anonym Studio, represents a creative expansion of an existing residence. The endeavor sought to introduce additional living areas while preserving the architectural integrity and contextual harmony of the surrounding environment. This innovative project challenges traditional housing norms through a design philosophy centered on fluid curved forms and an uninterrupted spatial experience.

The Art of Curvilinear Design: Bridging Old and New Structures

Situated alongside the original dwelling, the new structure is distinguished by its sweeping curved lines that dictate both its layout and exterior facade. These dynamic curves function as key spatial elements, enabling adjacent zones to merge effortlessly without rigid demarcation. This design strategy fosters a seamless connection between the two buildings, simultaneously softening the demarcation between the architectural form and its natural surroundings.

Thoughtful Layouts: Public and Private Realms Intertwined

The ground floor of the Oom House is dedicated to communal activities, featuring an expansive living room, a dining area, a contemporary kitchen, and an inviting outdoor space that extends towards the original house. The upper two floors are reserved for private sanctuaries, housing the bedrooms. Curved designs are strategically integrated at critical junctures, particularly along the main facade and corners adjacent to the property boundaries, minimizing sharp angles and enhancing the continuous flow of space.

Transparent Connections: The Glass Wall as a Spatial Connector

A striking concave glass wall serves as a visual and physical link between the new and existing structures. This transparent barrier allows the outdoor area of the original house to seamlessly extend into the new interior, forming a shared terrace that encourages interaction. This architectural gesture underscores the project's 'space sharing' ethos, simultaneously enhancing natural light penetration into the ground floor. Strategically placed overhanging eaves provide essential shading, effectively mitigating solar heat gain along the glazed surface.

Dynamic Circulation: Encouraging Exploration Through Varied Staircase Placements

The architects at Anonym Studio meticulously designed the circulation paths to promote movement and discovery throughout the house. Staircases connecting each level are thoughtfully positioned in distinct locations, diversifying the routes and offering a rich tapestry of spatial experiences within the interior.

A Symphony of Materials: Celebrating Contrast and Cohesion

The selection of materials underscores a deliberate interplay of contrast and continuity. Timber, chosen for its natural warmth and the client's preference, is extensively used at touchpoints and areas of visual prominence. Dark-toned wood frames windows, adorns railings, and forms exterior decking, creating a subtle contrast against the raw concrete walls and pristine white exterior surfaces. Inside, lighter wood tones are employed for flooring, doors, and furnishings, contributing to a softer and more inviting atmosphere.

Surface Aesthetics: Texture and Tone in Harmony

The exterior boasts a grey plaster finish, subtly textured to evoke the natural appearance of raw concrete, adding depth and character. This contrasts beautifully with the interior, where smooth white walls establish a controlled and neutral backdrop. The interior color scheme combines light wood, various shades of grey, and calming beige tones, ensuring visual continuity across all surfaces and furnishings.

Unifying Principle: Curved Geometry as the Guiding Force

Curved geometry remains the foundational organizing principle throughout the entire project. Both exterior and interior surfaces adhere to complementary radii, fostering continuous spatial relationships between the indoors and outdoors. This design philosophy facilitates a graceful transition between the new and existing structures, reinforcing the integration of shared spaces and ensuring the overall spatial coherence of the design.

The Haas Brothers' 'Uncanny Valley' Exhibition Opens in New York

The Haas Brothers' 'Uncanny Valley' exhibition, now open at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, presents an extensive collection of eighty-five pieces that challenge conventional perceptions of art and functionality. This immersive display transcends traditional classifications, featuring a diverse array of works from intricate sculptures and custom furniture to expressive ceramics, captivating paintings, and innovative digital creations. The artists aim to cultivate a dreamlike, imagined environment where every object, regardless of its form or material, asserts its own dynamic presence, encouraging viewers to consider the inherent vitality within inanimate forms.

The exhibition delves into how everyday objects can transcend their utilitarian roles and evoke a sense of empathy and intrinsic value. By making subtle yet significant modifications to familiar forms, such as a table suggesting movement or a seat exhibiting a distinct posture, the Haas Brothers redirect attention from an object's function to its inherent character and expressive potential. This philosophical approach, reminiscent of Object-Oriented Ontology, positions all elements within the exhibition on an equal footing, each possessing its own unique internal world and contributing to a cohesive, interactive experience that blurs the boundaries between artistic disciplines.

A significant aspect of the collection lies in its emphasis on process-driven creation, where rule-based procedures generate intricate forms and textures. This methodology is evident in the 'Accretion' series, where repeated applications mimic natural growth patterns found in corals and minerals, as well as in paintings built up through controlled layering, and beaded plants structured by mathematical precision. The resulting pieces convey a sense of ongoing evolution, with visible traces of growth, repetition, and variation, reinforcing the idea that the creative act continues to unfold even in the completed work, inviting a continuous loop of perception and engagement from the viewer.

Ultimately, the 'Uncanny Valley' exhibition serves as a profound reflection on the nature of perception and the fluid relationship between familiarity and mystery. The Haas Brothers masterfully create objects that hover between recognition and uncertainty, using materials like fur, bronze, glass, and ceramic to suggest organic forms while resisting definitive categorization. This deliberate tension encourages a sustained attentiveness, prompting viewers to explore the intricate connections and shared rhythms that link the diverse elements of the exhibition, fostering a dynamic and ever-shifting experience where no single object dictates the full narrative.

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Room For Dreams: Milan Design Week 2026 Unveils Full Program of Talks and Cinema

As Milan Design Week 2026 draws near, the eagerly awaited 'ROOM FOR DREAMS' event has officially released its complete program, showcasing an exciting lineup of live discussions, cinematic presentations, and engaging daily experiences. This unique initiative, set to unfold at the elegant ME Milan Il Duca, transcends typical exhibitions by delving into the profound role of aspirations in driving cultural and societal change. Attendees are invited to immerse themselves in a vibrant ecosystem of ideas, where contemplation, engagement, and imaginative foresight converge to shape future narratives.

The week commences with an engaging dialogue featuring the renowned French designer Philippe Starck and designboom's Editor-in-Chief, Sofia Lekka Angelopoulou. Their discussion, scheduled for Monday, April 20th at 3:00 PM, will explore the concept of utopia as a deliberate design methodology. They will examine how visionary thinking has historically served as a critical tool for experimenting with novel social frameworks, aesthetic principles, and spatial arrangements, long before their tangible realization. This foundational conversation will position 'dreaming' not merely as an escape from current realities, but as a purposeful act of creative construction aimed at reimagining and reshaping the present.

Later on Monday, at 4:00 PM, a panel titled "Temporary Dreamscapes: Immersive Realities as Prototypes for Alternate Futures" will convene. This session will feature prominent figures such as Samir Bantal of AMO/OMA, David Mahyari from SolidNature, Christopher Dessus of Paf atelier, and Paul Kelly from La Marzocco, joined by Sofia Lekka Angelopoulou. They will discuss how temporary installations during design week function as experimental arenas where emotional, symbolic, and sensory experiences of future possibilities are explored before they are permanently established. The discussion reframes these transient environments as critical rehearsals for innovative designs.

On Tuesday, April 21st at 3:00 PM, Benoît Mintiens of Ressence and Giovanni Moro of UNIMATIC will participate in a conversation focused on "Design Intuition: When Creativity Emerges from the Subconscious." This segment will investigate the origins of design from instinct, memory, and subconscious associations rather than solely from rational planning. It will highlight how form, temporality, and the creation of objects can arise from deep emotional and psychological realms, pushing beyond purely functional considerations.

Wednesday, April 22nd at 3:00 PM, brings a thought-provoking session titled "Emotional Carriers: What Do Non-Human Entities Dream About?" Lonneke Gordijn, co-founder of DRIFT, will engage with Claire Brodka of designboom to explore a decentralized view of design. The discussion will question whether materials, infrastructures, machines, and ecosystems possess their own trajectories, behaviors, or forms of 'desire', portraying objects and environments as active agents with emotional, ecological, and political influence.

Thursday, April 23rd, will feature two significant sessions. At 3:00 PM, "Dream Projections: Designing the Future Before It Arrives" will gather an impressive roster of experts including Carlo Ratti, Stefano Boeri, and Ma Yansong. This panel will emphasize the power of dreams as predictive instruments, demonstrating how imagination anticipates and sculpts urban and planetary futures through concepts like responsive cities and vertical forests. Following this, at 4:00 PM, "Digital Dreams: Finding Beauty through the Lens" will be led by Simon Liu from OPPO and Claire Brodka. This concluding talk will explore how advanced imaging technologies influence perception and redefine aesthetics, highlighting the intertwining of seeing and designing in an increasingly digitized world.

Parallel to these discussions, the "Cinema of Dreams," artfully designed by Paf atelier, will run daily from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This cinematic journey will present a curated selection of feature films, short movies, and video interviews. The program includes daily compilations of "Advice for the Young" in collaboration with Louisiana Channel, architectural portraits like "Koolhaas Houselife" by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, and a special Earth Day presentation featuring Marco Barotti’s "Coral Sonic Resilience." Two film premieres are also slated: "The Talented Mr. Robi" by Carlo Ratti Associati and Makr Shakr on Thursday, April 23, and OPPO and designboom’s "Seeing Further," captured on the Find X9 Ultra, premiering on Friday, April 24.

The 'ROOM FOR DREAMS' event promises an enriching and dynamic experience at Milan Design Week 2026. Through a carefully curated series of talks and film screenings, the program aims to ignite imaginations and foster new perspectives on the future of design. By bringing together leading voices from various creative disciplines, the event encourages attendees to consider how dreams, intuition, and technology can serve as powerful tools for cultural and social transformation. It stands as a testament to the idea that design is not just about creating objects, but about envisioning and shaping possible worlds.

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