Sliding cover?

This week I masterminded a simple pulley system to make a light dim itself. (ok, with the help of my engineer brother and the techs in the shop). Then i watched this video and it put me to shame. This home makes me think that really anything is possible.

A man in Suffolk UK built this incredible glass house, with a slide-over cover, it will blow you away! and the design is quite nice. I especially appreciate how he maintained the shape of typical Suffolk homes, and also I think the important part is that his brief wanted to have the house value the surroundings and not just be for the sake of being.

LIFE photo archive

i recently stumbled upon a really amazing resource: the LIFE photo archive. it's powered by google images, so naturally it's a recognizable format, but there are some high quality images to be found--so far my favorites are these of pablo picasso drawing with light. happy searching!

rothschild & bickers

as my interests are beginning to lay in mixing materials and bringing back old styles it was these vintage inspired lamps, that quickly caught my eye. the design duo rothschild&bickers, grads from the royal college of arts, mix materials and combine traditional glass techniques with contemporary design.

love.

snowing in eindhoven

so i promised a few i would put up the photos of the snow in holland. it was some sort of freak snowfall that lasted only a day...but it was a bit of home for me and daniel! On a busy day where Daniel was cutting up garbage with Mike, Susana was making models (and burning herself with the glue gun) and I was desperately trying to come up with genius ideas...it began to snow.


Snowing in Eindhoven from heather daam on Vimeo.

daniel's latest endeavor

here's my boyfriend in his silver screen debut. well technically it's only his computer screen debut, but it's funny!


Back from the Future from Emmanuel Tenenbaum on Vimeo.

working with metal

Untitled from heather daam on Vimeo.

This trimester was my first time truly working with metal! Other than the crash weekend i spent watching james skillfully put my chair together, it was my first time. I began to really love welding once the amperage differences was explained, and once i got to use the torch! 

andre helped me make the most effective mold, and after a lot of practice i came up with a system to basically mass produce my scalloped edges! and i'm happy to say my mentor dick actually asked me if i had found the metal already like that...

a day in dordrecht

Daniel and I took a lovely cold day trip one saturday to Dordrecht. It's an old city in the Netherlands that claims to be the oldest (this seems to be common for cities here...) But oldest or not, its really beautiful! We didn't expect it, but even despite the chill and the grey, the center of the city was quite quaint. We also found a christmas outlet store--hence the toting of the christmas tree! And as icing on the cake, we found the ultimate poffertjes, mini pancakes. These, unlike the ones we found in delft, were truly fresh, melting in our mouths, and delicious. Jealous Dad? Anyone who visits us will be brought to this gem of a city and cafe!
With my new discovery of the pictobrowser, i'll be putting up photos of when my parents were here, and my daytrip to amsterdam soon!

much love

bokja

while trying desperately to focus on getting my final presentations ready, i came across this really beautiful fusion of iconic western furniture with the textures and colours of the east. The tastefully eccentric furniture by boyka are a bright, and as they say haute-bohemian, breath of fresh air!

Riitta Ikonen

Ritta Ikonen is incredibly whimsical, clever, and i really just feel like giving her a hug. Her series done with photographer Anja Schaffner called "Bird and Leaf" has the ladies assuming the characters of a leaf and a bird in an attempt to reflect on their sentimental yearning to 'get back to nature'.  See what i mean by give her a hug?

My other favorite project is her Mail Art. From 2004 to 2006 she mailed around 100 postcards to Margaret Huber from Japan, Spain, Finland, Russia, and England. “Hair, fish, a sachet of white powder, a piece of broken record etc. were sent to test the postal system. Only three cards never reached their destination, and each one is incredibly clever. 

Her portfolio is definitly worth checking out. The series Bird and Leaf are on display in the Designhuis in Eindhoven as part of the show "Talent" a collection of European talent from 2008 graduates, curated by none other than Li Edelkoort.

eye jewelry

I have been doing a lot of searching through jewelry designs lately, finding it an incredibly powerful way to express yourself. This design i stumbled upon is totally extreme, but there is just something about it that is breath taking, peaceful, beautiful and striking. 

It's basically a contact lens that becomes jewelry.  Its "a concept by Dutch designer Eric Klarenbeek, who explores the potential of jewellery as an integral part of the human body. a combination of a pair of contact lenses and a string of tiny crystals makes a jewel that joins the movements of the eye and eyelid."

our first photo!

it's official. me and my precious little 'niece' have had our photo taken together! nicola and matthew finally took the plunge and got skype, which put the biggest smile on my face! i can't wait to meet the adorable little bundle, and give nicola and matthew long overdue hugs of congrats!

love.

the lion run

so aurelien, cho and i teamed up during out video workshop when we had to make a one minute movie with only one take. this was the result. 

reunited!

that's right. me and my trusty sidekick are together again! after the longest month ever, and no doubt a loss in translation between myself and my dear aurelien, we came to the conclusion that he is the one safekeeping my darling camera.

this means only on thing for you trusty readers---more posts about me soon! now that i will have photos to take, there will be more interesting stories and adventures, and many more posts in my flikr site as well! keep checking back as they will be up soon!

much love.

beautiful in paper

In the spirit of friends and family gatherings, Wasara's elegant flowing forms create the most beautiful paper plates and cups i've seen. While their paperware is good for only one use, their "Paperware for spiritual enrichment" maintains and underlying legacy of the Japanese aesthetic. It's designed to minimize the environmental burden by usind reed pulp and bagasse (sugarcane waste) for its material.

"Wasara's, a one-time-only paper ware, plays a role in enriching one's mind, despite its ephemeral nature." 

A bold statement, but maybe it's their beautiful website, or well written concept story, but i believe it. I also wish i could reuse these beautiful plates....

climbing wall at work?

truthfully-who wouldn't want a climbing wall at work?

a chance to wind down, take a break, and challenge your biggest competitor (and hope they fall off??) ALright, so this one is at a fitness centre...but imagine one at your office!

Illoiha Fitness Gym had Nendo Japan design their new space which is two floors below ground. Nendo created the most beautiful climbing wall i have every seen to unify the two-story space. 

"To express the original brand concept of "becoming beautiful through movement", we chose the theme "rock-climbing on Omotesando" and developed a design that uses the mismatch between a rugged outdoor sport and Tokyo's fashion district to its advantage. Instead of the usual rough and outdoorsy climbing wall, we came up with the idea of using interior design elements like picture frames, mirrors, deer heads, bird cages and flower vases to create a challenging wall with hard-to-find holds and unusual finger grips."

he's here!

so it's official! Holland's newest citizen has arrived...safe and sound, computer in tow. i regret to say that my camera is still m.i.a, hence the lack of my personal posts. and well the lack of interesting design posts is probably due to my increase in work load and panic level!

currently i'm working through the wood project in which i have picked ebony and dealing with mourning and loss. big subject, but i have finally cracked it and am working towards my midterm designs. i'm getting together a solar project with my two italian teammates, and also trying to design a sturdy 6mm steel rod chair. let's just say life is exciting!

alright, i promise to get on blogging better this week, soon photos from my trip to the dump with mike and photos coming from the dutch design week!

much love. 

dutch design week

It is nearly upon us! Dutch Design Week fever is coming, and the students are getting excited. We have something brewing that will hopefully come together next week, so keep your eyes open for that, and i'm also working on a small project with my darling friend jose. It might be something as simple as a blog, but i'll keep you posted. Check out what can be found online for the shows, and if there's anything you want to see, let me know and i can go check it out with my camera!

love+hugs

amazing house

so this is officially my dream home. it actually caught my eye aesthetically, and then i realized that it is in fact made prefab from shipping containers! Composed of five recycled shipping containers, this beautiful home actually has a durable steel envelope that is capable of withstanding hurricanes in Florida and earthquakes in California. The embodiment of sustainability, this house also has FSC-certified woods, solar panels, rainwater recycling, and an Agilewaves resource monitoring system. Designed by the Lawrence Group, the prefab was fabricated in a month and assembled on-site in just 4 hours and 47 minutes!!



here's a video that's actually kinda long, but if you skip forward you can see it being built.

my new flat!

so finally after people asking and asking, the lighting was just right, and my flat was really tidy! i've put a few more photos up on flikr as well...so check it out! 

and i just want to say a big thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes from all the way back home. it was so nice to not be forgotten and to feel so loved. thank you and i love you all so very much! 

love.

new kind of couch

this really has inspired me. as my mentor is making me question the purpose and the reason and need for coasters, i found this. the artist olivia lee made this extraordinary couch. her statement was:

"A Stream of Light is a reinterpretation of the classic sofa. It is based on a brief set by Vitra to produce a piece of furniture that is unencumbered by commercial constraints and takes inspiration from the latest Vitra Edition. This work was done in collaboration with good friend and colleague, Alienor de Chambrier"