I New Idea Homepage

There’re various ways to show your love for cars, for example, you can frequently have them cleaned and waxed, or adorn the cars with interesting stickers. But have you ever seen somebody build a house that strikingly resembles his car? That’s just what architect Markus Voglreiter has done recently. Apart from the unique appearance, it is also a green building, using “a ‘3 liter’ energy-efficient heating and insulation technique that optimizes all current building technologies, drastically reducing energy consumption.” [Read the rest of this entry...]

Welcome to New York, and we’d like to show you a truly amazing architecture — an art studio made from recycled shipping containers. To make sure that the room will have a good lighting, the designer has built the two containers on top of a foundation wall that measures 2.75meters high. Therefore when standing in the interior, you’ll find the two story studio featuring an atmosphere of spaciousness, also with plenty of sunshine. Good news for those who also want such a perfect container building is that you can contact the Mb Architecture here to make an order now. [Read the rest of this entry...]

How to help the inhabitants enjoy a comfortable and convenient life though living in a minimum housing unit? Some institutes from the University of Karlsruhe have cooperated with a possible solution: the “Roll It” Experimental Housing. You gotta roll the mini house to shift between different sections—a bed with a table, an exercise cylinder, and a a kitchen with a sink. And the modular protype takes the very name from that act only.
Check out more pics after a shot.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Conference rooms are also related to art, and one of our examples is the Saatchi & Saatchi’s conference room in their Beijing office. The room is characterized by innovative appearance and elegant interior decoration. Centered in it, a heart-shaped conference table is surrounded by classic Eero Saarinen tulip chairs. A rotating wall is also featured, allowing for movie screenings from the projector mounted on the ceiling. Besides, a flat screen is fixed on the interior wall, to meet the users’ different needs of presentations. Simply put, the conference room is a small room inside a bigger room, and that’s also why the design stands out of those innovative buildings worldwide. [Read the rest of this entry...]

If you’re planning to decorate your apartments (especially those tiny ones measuring less than 400 square foot), we highly recommend that you have a look at the innovative apartment created by a Hong Kong-based designer Gary Chang. His 330 square foot apartment is equipped with suspended sliding walls and fold-away furniture, allowing him to easily transform the apartment into a kitchen, a laundry room, a dinning room, a dressing room and a leisure zone with a hammock. Therefore, even though the construction area of the apartment is really small, you won’t feel uncomfortable when living in it. Good work!

Check out the pics after the jump to see how the apartment is created. [Read the rest of this entry...]

A gigantic origami crane has appeared in California, as an important part of the 2010 Coachella Music and Arts Festival. 45 feet tall and 150 feet wide (wingspan), the crane is actually a shelter, and also, a landscape architecture and symbol constructing of the music festival. [Read the rest of this entry...]

One of the dreams that everybody around the world has is to get close touch with the nature. And expanding upon that concept, the EASTERN Design Office has come up with a unique building that seems to blend into the surrounding landscape. It is the Villa Saitan building. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Even the tiny and ordinary metal staples would become as attractive as the Empire State Building, if they’re used to construct a city like this…Completed by Peter Root, the metropolis shown here is made from over 100,000 staples, costing the artist over 40 hours. These staples are assembled into different kinds of buildings: the largest skyscraper measures about 12 cm high, while the smallest one is made from merely one single staple. Bravo! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Casa Son Vida, the first of six world-class luxury villas planned on the Spanish island of Mallorca is already completed and ready to receive high praise from the visitors. With an area of 8500 sq inches, the sustainable architecture is converted from the Mediterranean structure, and looks quite gorgeous and elaborate indeed. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Dubbed “Fincube”, the low-energy but high-tech residence is a collaborative work designed by Studio Aisslinger and hotelier Josef Innerhof as an option for Italy’s eco tourism. The beautiful and smart residence is built on a pedestal, allowing natural ventilation but reducing the adverse impact on the landscapes. Finished in local wood, Fincube includes a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom, ensuring the users a comfortable living when enjoying the fantastic views of Italy’s Dolomite Mountains. What makes Fincube look hi-tech is a central touchpad, which is used to control the whole residence. Easy to install, the Fincube can be easily dismantled and moved to other places. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Will the Olympic Games 2016 present us another building worth expecting, like the Bird’s Nest of the Beijing Olympic Games? With that question in mind, we’ve gathered related information here, letting you to know the building of great architectural interest and eco elements at the earliest possible date. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I bet most people will change their wishes of owning a large apartment, after seeing the compact building found in Tokyo. Called as “Reflection of Mineral”, the 44 sqm house looks just like a piece of paper art from the outside, but still features the full functionality, including a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom inside it. And the point I love most is the half-open garage on the ground—that’s really a clever way to make efficient use of space. So you’d like one such house, too? Contact with the Japanese architect Yasuhiro Yamashita then.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Everybody knows clearly that daily consumption of water could be recycled by rainwater, which could then be purified and used again to meet our daily needs of pure water. But the problem is: we seldom know how to ‘harvest’ and recycle rainwater effectively. Possibly the ‘Capture The Rain’ skyscraper will show us a new way. The concept building features a special roof to collect as much rainwater as it possible, as well as reservoirs under the roof to store large amounts of water. Apart from meeting its inhabitants’ daily need, rainwater collected by the skyscraper will also be stored in reservoir under the building for other uses. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Why is a building famous? The reason is apparently different: some are well-known because of the ingenious architects, or due to the significant locations, but there’re still some buildings that become attractive just because they’re surprisingly ’slim’! So right here are several skinny buildings we’ve collected for you guys, the building above is Haussmann building in Paris, and continue reading for more fun! [Read the rest of this entry...]

An amazing bar recently appeared at the Oporto University in Portugal, capturing almost everybody’s eyes. Why, you may ask, the bar could be so appealing? Perhaps that mainly attributes to the special material the Temporary Bar is made of. It is built by firstly fixing 420 different-depth IKEA storage boxes on a wooden structure and then attaching them to the main metal structure. The designers, Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Otto, have folded open one of the building’s walls, to make it look exactly like a cool bar. Since LED lights are also adopted in the project, each box will give a different brightness (according to its depth) at night, adding more fun to the wonderful time. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Welcome to the Five-Stars Hotels made from cardboards…

Designed by Keung Caputo, these boxes would offer you a luxurious resort, because each of them is created with a cardboard bed, pillow and dedicate interior decorations. Four different themes are available for you to choose from. But the biggest problem with the cardboard hotels may be that no smoking is permitted if you want to be safe…Just kidding. [Read the rest of this entry...]

‘Experiencing the Void’ is an innovative concept put forward by JDS architects for the Guggenheim museum. It is based on Frank Lloyd Wright’ concepts of space, which believes that users will have a continuous spatial experience when walling up or down a spiral-shaped ramp. And therefore ‘Experiencing the Void’ is mainly about a trampoline net that spirals down from the museum’s ceiling to the floor. The playful concept not only provides a functional walking alternative, but will help enhancing the social relationship between people. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Swedish architects Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter have collaborated to bring forward the ‘Tree Hotel’ concept. It is a 4m× 4m × 4m lightweight aluminum shelter built around a tree trunk. Its exterior is covered with mirrored glass, which reflects the surroundings and the sky to make the hotel become a part of the nature. And the interior is all made of plywood. Providing a comfortable environment for two people, each shelter comes with a double bed, a small kitchen and bathroom, a living room and a roof terrace. In case birds fly into the windows, transparent stickers (visible to birds) will be added to the facades. To get into the shelter, you need to use a rope ladder or a rope bridge. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Seemingly like a huge boiled egg, the white structure is actually a mobile office designed by Belgian architectural firm dmvA. A bathroom, a kitchen, a bed, and several niches for storage are all included inside the building, ensuring the users a comfortable living. Mainly finished in polyester, the lightweight office also promises an easy transportation so that you could move it to any places you may want. But perhaps the most interesting point is the ‘nose’ design of the egg enabling one to use it as a porch too, apart from being a side door. It could also be used as a guest room or a garden house. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Arina Komarova has come out with a new shower room concept, a shower stall that you would want it to appear in the living room rather than the bathroom. It is shaped like a huge egg, allowing you to stretch yourself with sensuous pleasure in the warm Jacuzzi. Sadly it is only a concept at present and there’s no news when it will hit the market. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Possibly it’s time to take the cold and rigid architectures to a new altitude- not merely adding them with refreshing ornaments, but completely changing their structures. And then, the architecture will look more like an art rather than a place for us to live in. Just as you’ve seen from the pictures, the VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron is just an example of the instinctive buildings we’re looking for.

”By stacking, extruding and pressing – mechanical procedures used in industrial production – simply shaped houses become complex configurations in space, where outside and inside merge.”-Architecture Lab

Check out more pictures after the jump and read more about it at Architecture Lab. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What, you haven’t heard of the Chocolate Theme Park? You must be kidding, right? The Chocolate Wonderland Park in Beijing is ready to accept customers on 29th, this month.

Located on the north side of the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, the park includes five pavilions (the World’s Chocolate Hall, World’s Candy Hall, Wonderland Theme Hall, Sweet Experience Hall and Sweet Gift Hall) and two outdoor activity areas (the Sweet Stage and Sweet Shopping Street). The park features chocolate-made miniature of Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terra Cotta Warriors and other famous Chinese attractions and all those are believed to help people around the world to learn about China better. Apart from that, visitors will also be taught by expert chocolatiers to make chocolate. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Nothing would be better than buildings to display an architect’s rich talent. Therefore before designing brilliant buildings for others, architects should firstly design a most impressive for themselves, not merely for a good reputation, but for a vivid publicity. And rightly here is the best architect’s office I’ve ever seen, which blends with the landscape perfectly. Don’t you want one? I love it! [Read the rest of this entry...]

A British designer has created the spectacular building in Manchester, and I take the liberty to name it as “Giant Block Buildings” just because it reminds me of that classic game ‘block building’. Have you found there are actually 8 floors in total? Well, don’t be treated by its three-floor appearance. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Have you ever heard the Simpsons had moved to Henderson? Of course they’re virtual characters merely living in cartoons, but their house? Hey, it really appeared in Nevada, worth $120,000. Obviously the real house is not built for the Simpsons; in fact, it’s for the winner of the joint contest hosted by Pepsi, Fox, and estate agents. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Wanna to keep the world under your feet? Hey, that sounds crazy, huh? But I’m not kidding. Follow me to the Sears Tower’s new glass balconies on the 103^rd floor, and you will find…wow, the first step is really hard, as you’ll be floating over Chicago! Almost everything there is made of glass, look, transparent walls, floor and ceilings. Of course you needn’t worry about your safety, because the floor measures 3.8cm, and therefore supports a weight of up to 5t. So next time try something exciting, go to Chicago! [Read the rest of this entry...]

“Out of the box” is the name given to a residence in Bangalore by the Indian architecture firm, which features the perforation design to block views from within. The architects put up two perforated walls around the courtyard that allow light and cooling air to pass through from the outside and make use of the natural light to create a romantic living environment.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

May everyone has tried swings, how many of them once lived in a swing-like cabin? Rather few. So let’s show you a real one. Inspired from swing, the designer hangs up a wooden house in the air, which can keep shaking all the time. Therefore, it’s quite suitable for sailors rather than people with carsickness.

Beijing National Stadium, whose alternate name is Bird’s Nest, is an amazing venue. But this time we are mentioning another animal’s house – honeycomb.

The venue is made from many different inflatable hexagonal modules, which makes it be a mobile building.

It is a 90 x 60 metres dynamic oval structure capable of holding 3500 people in a central performance space of 2000 sq m. The entire project can be transported in 30 standard 40 ft containers (or 20 without the optional roof). The structure will require 2 weeks for assembly and one week for disassembly.

I guess this one is much cheaper than Bird’s nest. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Unlike most other constructions, this one from Shigeru Ban is made from paper board. And it is starting to pre-sale of £20,000 – 30,000. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Designed by Giancarlo Mazzanti, these rocks located in Santo Domingo, Colombia are actually art center. They will be the symbol architecture of Santo Domingo. Don’t be confused next time you encounter people entering huge rocks.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Next time you go to Newark, Ohio, US, do remember to visit this weird building. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Swedish government has officially approved the plans to construct a moose-shaped building. It is located in a mountain top, which is 500 meters above sea level.

This world’s largest moose is 47 meters high and 45 meters long. It could fit 350 people inside the moose. You wanna know what functions in the moose? Just watch the video after the jump [Read the rest of this entry...]

While mentioning library, most people gonna describing it as a room with lots of books like upon line arranging on the shelf. So, it gonna be a good idea to paint the exterior wall of library like this.

This is the temporary wall of Cardiff library of Kansas City. You won’t be asked of the question like “where’s the library” while walking on this road. [Read the rest of this entry...]

In this bar which have these two interactive system you gonna have a exiting experience. Video after the jump [Read the rest of this entry...]

With these unique designs, this house could be more energy-efficient and eco-friendly. [Read the rest of this entry...]

With the help of silent fan, you could get this tent within 3 minutes. But why is it called a meeting room? You wanna have a meeting in it? [Read the rest of this entry...]

Located in Tokyo, this building is eight feet at the big end, two feet at the narrowest, thirty-six feet long. Therefore, we call it slim building. With a night light bamboo image, it looks cool at night! You still mind it’s weird layout? [Read the rest of this entry...]

The 2000 year old art of Chinese shadow puppetry provides a great vehicle for bringing together art and literature. Can you imagine if using real people instead of puppetry, what will the Shadow play be? [Read the rest of this entry...]

In the era of internet, will send a postcard just for some words? At least I won’t! So, if the post offices wanna attract more persons, they should do something uniquely.

Post office underwater, like this, gonna be a good idea. This picture is a post office in Vanuatu. But I also do not believe they will go to this office just for a postcard! [Read the rest of this entry...]