Legendary designers like Tom Dixon and Zaha Hadid create prefab houses and pavilions

by Tay Suan Chiang

What do you do when living in a condominium designed by a starchitect no longer cuts it? You get a pavilion designed by said starchitect built for you and only you. Or if you wish, even a house. You just need the space, permit and a local contractor to make that happen.

Robbie Antonio, founder and president of New York-based Antonio Development and managing director of Philippine-based Century Properties is offering anyone this possibility, through Revolution: a range of pre-crafted limited-edition homes and pavilions, exclusively designed in partnership with an impressive list of over 30 architects, designers and artists that include Pritzker Prize-winner Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Gluckman Tang, and David Salle.

Each pavilion and home is individually branded by its designer’s personal concept of spatial form and social function. The result is a diverse and global collection of architecturally innovative, pre-crafted properties, ranging from functional pavilions to modular homes.

“As an art collector, I had the idea to make high-design architecture collectible and available to the public,” says Mr Antonio, on the idea behind Revolution.

Revolution was launched at Design Miami 2015 with two pre-crafted pavilions by Zaha Hadid and Gluckman Tang. It will continue to debut new designs – both homes and pavilions – at Salone del Mobile in Milan this April. Mr Antonio says that there has been interest throughout the world. He recently closed a deal with a developer for 27 homes, but declined to give further details.

Prices start at US$35,000 (S$48,000) for pavilions and the wait time is a minimum six weeks for certain models. The average price of a pavilion is over US$100,000, while the average price of a home is US$300,000.

Mr Antonio says that Revolution targets a variety of markets. “It could be the individual collector who is looking to have his very own Zaha Hadid-designed pavilion to serve as ‘architectural jewellery’,” he says. “Additionally, Revolution targets businesses, such as real estate and hospitality developments, that have chosen to invest in the value of design and the experience of branded architecture.”

The homes and pavilions are crafted around the world and then shipped to the buyers’ doorsteps. On the design brief, Mr Antonio says he told his collaborators that the designs had to be fully transportable and cost-efficient and gave size limits for pavilions and homes, but allowed the creatives to run free with design concept.

Pavilions are designed as dynamic one-room spaces, adaptable for a variety of functions and existing environments. As each pavilion is individually branded by its designer’s personal concept of spatial form and social function, collectors can choose from a range of designs specifically tailored to their lifestyles and tastes.

Zaha Hadid’s Volu Dining Pavilion has her signature organic form and curves, with cells on the ceiling and the floor. Bespoke designed furniture complement the pavilion. Meanwhile Gluckman Tang’s Model Art Pavilion is a light structure that mediates the relationship between its site, the participant and the art object.

Besides, homebuyers keen on high-design living can purchase multi-bedroom homes, complete with spatial functions and fully equipped with premier amenities and finishings. One such house is Eden by Marcel Wanders. Open and unfenced, the generous use of glass and a roof that extends over the exterior connect the inside and outside spaces to create twice the living area for special private and social gatherings. A row of signature Marcel Wanders columns clad in synthetic textile, woven according to local craftsmanship, lines the periphery, casting shadows during the day and lighting up dramatically at night.

Mr Antonio says Revolution is more than just picking a home or pavilion from a catalogue. “Revolution is somewhat customisable – clients can select different models, sizes and materials depending on their needs, their budget, and their lifestyle.”

Adapted from The Business Times.

Swire Properties And UTA Fine Arts Partner Up For Art Basel In Hong Kong

by FORBES

Art Basel takes place this week in Hong Kong, and Swire Properties and United Talent Agency Fine Arts have partnered up for a week of programming that incorporates public art, architecture, fashion and design. “During Art Basel in Hong Kong 2015, I saw firsthand how Swire Properties is dedicated to bringing art, architecture, and design to the community through its properties and sponsorships,” said Josh Roth, head of UTA Fine Arts. “I was inspired to strike up a conversation with the company’s leadership, seeing a great opportunity for us to harvest Swire Properties’ goodwill within the community and build upon their legacy.” The partnership could be a preview of what’s yet to come for Swire Properties and UTA Fine Arts. Here’s a preview of the week’s happenings:

“Pacific Red” by Larry Bell at Pacific Place in Hong Kong

“Pacific Red” by Larry Bell

While art in shopping malls may be a bizarre thing in the United States and Europe, it’s quite common in Asia, and for the 2016 edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong, and to further Swire Properties’s and UTA’s goal to show art to audiences who would otherwise not be exposed to it, American artist Larry Bell has installed in the mall and the Upper House at Pacific Place. Three red, large-scale reflective glass cubes will stand tall and radiant, manipulating light and air into art. “ Larry finished installing his massive glass cubes just days ago, and we’ve already seen Instagram posts popping up and local children playing amongst the works,” said Roth. “This project embodies the goals of both Swire Properties and UTA Fine Arts: bringing art to a large cross-section of the public, providing access to art in unexpected places.”

Hugh Dutton’s Swire Properties Lounge at Art Basel

Art fair lounges have a tough job of trying impress the VIP collectors who are in search of acquiring works of art worth six figures or more. British architect Hugh Dutton’s effort — located at the Swire Properties Lounge at the Level 1 Concourse opposite the Hall 1C entrance of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre —is inspired by his Climate Ribbon at Swire Properties’ Brickell City Centre in Miami, and features a ribbon floating in a figure eight, emulating the symbol for infinity.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: NEST POD BY FERNANDO ROMERO

by Daria Speiwok, Coveted Edition

Our interior design magazine will introduce one of today’s most relevant international architects. Fernando Romero is tightly involved in architectural design. The architect has designed a house of the future Nest Pod.

CovetED Architectural Design Nest Pod by Fernando Romero Pool

Fernando Romero’s projects address a wide range of public and private initiatives from community education to urban development. Fernando Romero has been selected to design the New International Airport for Mexico City. It is estimated that the project will require an investment of 9 billion dollars. It is going to be the most sustainable airport in the world. During his practice in Europe, Romero worked in Paris under Jean Nouvel and in Rotterdam under Rem Koolhaas.

CovetED Architectural Design Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

Fernando Romero has found a firm FR-EE. Converging organic and systematic design approaches, FR-EE’s projects translate contemporary moments of society and culture into built form, achieving ground-breaking results through extensive technological advancements, through research, and implementation of green infrastructures. The concept of translation embodies his understanding of architecture, using design to transform context, conditions and moments into buildings and places with structured identities. Ultimately, the goal of each project is to experience and render periods of societal, political and economic transformation into three-dimensional form.

CovetED Architectural Design Nest Pod by Fernando Romero Living Room Rendering

Today FR-EE is a global architecture and design practice operating at the intersection of culture, development and technology with offices in New York and Mexico City. Collaboration is central to FR-EE’s design investigation, working closely with clients, policy makers, curators, educators, non-profit entities, developers, engineers, contractors, artists and anthropologists, to ultimately reach comprehensive and innovative solutions. Beyond practicing design, FR-EE orchestrates initiatives aimed at elevating standards of living and education, particularly in Latin America, through research, sports and curation.

CovetED Architectural Design Nest Pod by Fernando Romero BedRoom Rendering

The Nest Pod is a  pre-crafted  home  that  belongs both to Architecture and Product design worlds. Manufacturing this house will require the same discipline of the construction of a car, a yacht, or an airplane. We  live  in  a  world  where  mobility became a very important asset,  and  this  house  is designed for a new generation of people that can live simultaneously in different parts of the  world.  It  is  an  innovative  prefabricated house, which  is intelligently  suited  for  any environment  or  location,  answering  to these urging  necessities. Its elliptical  shape allows  the  building  to  harmoniously  relate  to  any  context. The minimized  footprint greatly  reduces the impact on the build site, by preserving  a natural environment or requiring a small site in an urban landscape.

CovetED Architectural Design Nest Pod by Fernando Romero BathRoom Rendering

Derived  from  the  elliptical  forms  found in nature,  the  home  responds  to it  environment with a slight shift of the main horizontal axis, which provides passive shading on its most vulnerable sides. The 95 sqm. dwelling’s interior is split along the North-South axis, creating opportunities for flow of natural ventilation and interaction through the interior spaces. The structural grid,  which  radiates  from  the  center,  allows  the  home  to  be  easily  fabricated  off-site, shipped, and constructed on location.

CovetED Architectural Design Nest Pod by Fernando Romero Dining Room Rendering

The sleek, smooth exterior dialogues with its gently carved interior spaces. One single public area opens to the exterior by its panoramic windows, oriented North and South. A wall  compression  in  the  center  of  the  house  allows  two  areas,  for  dining  and  living, which defines as well on the sides the space for the two private rooms. Each dwelling is customizable in  room  number  and  color,  allowing  each  user  to create  a  one  of  a  kind experiential dwelling.

The Revolution  brings  with it  a  culmination  of  nature  derived  forms  and environmental spaces designed for the modern dweller.

Source – Revolution Precrafted

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: NEST POD BY FERNANDO ROMERO

by COVETED

Our interior design magazine will introduce one of today’s most relevant international architects. Fernando Romero is tightly involved in architectural design. The architect has designed a house of the future Nest Pod.

Fernando Romero’s projects address a wide range of public and private initiatives from community education to urban development. Fernando Romero has been selected to design the New International Airport for Mexico City. It is estimated that the project will require an investment of 9 billion dollars. It is going to be the most sustainable airport in the world. During his practice in Europe, Romero worked in Paris under Jean Nouvel and in Rotterdam under Rem Koolhaas.

Fernando Romero has found a firm FR-EE. Converging organic and systematic design approaches, FR-EE’s projects translate contemporary moments of society and culture into built form, achieving ground-breaking results through extensive technological advancements, through research, and implementation of green infrastructures. The concept of translation embodies his understanding of architecture, using design to transform context, conditions and moments into buildings and places with structured identities. Ultimately, the goal of each project is to experience and render periods of societal, political and economic transformation into three-dimensional form.

Today FR-EE is a global architecture and design practice operating at the intersection of culture, development and technology with offices in New York and Mexico City. Collaboration is central to FR-EE’s design investigation, working closely with clients, policy makers, curators, educators, non-profit entities, developers, engineers, contractors, artists and anthropologists, to ultimately reach comprehensive and innovative solutions. Beyond practicing design, FR-EE orchestrates initiatives aimed at elevating standards of living and education, particularly in Latin America, through research, sports and curation.

The Nest Pod is a  pre-crafted  home  that  belongs both to Architecture and Product design worlds. Manufacturing this house will require the same discipline of the construction of a car, a yacht, or an airplane. We  live  in  a  world  where  mobility became a very important asset,  and  this  house  is designed for a new generation of people that can live simultaneously in different parts of the  world.  It  is  an  innovative  prefabricated house, which  is intelligently  suited  for  any environment  or  location,  answering  to these urging  necessities. Its elliptical  shape allows  the  building  to  harmoniously  relate  to  any  context. The minimized  footprint greatly  reduces the impact on the build site, by preserving  a natural environment or requiring a small site in an urban landscape.

Derived  from  the  elliptical  forms  found in nature,  the  home  responds  to it  environment with a slight shift of the main horizontal axis, which provides passive shading on its most vulnerable sides. The 95 sqm. dwelling’s interior is split along the North-South axis, creating opportunities for flow of natural ventilation and interaction through the interior spaces. The structural grid,  which  radiates  from  the  center,  allows  the  home  to  be  easily  fabricated  off-site, shipped, and constructed on location.

The sleek, smooth exterior dialogues with its gently carved interior spaces. One single public area opens to the exterior by its panoramic windows, oriented North and South. A wall  compression  in  the  center  of  the  house  allows  two  areas,  for  dining  and  living, which defines as well on the sides the space for the two private rooms. Each dwelling is customizable in  room  number  and  color,  allowing  each  user  to create  a  one  of  a  kind experiential dwelling.

This futuristic pop-up home looks like a pod from outer space

by Chloe Pantazi, Business Insider

First, a French architecture firm released a pop-up home that looks like it’s made out of LEGO blocks. 

Now, the Mexico City-based architect Fernando Romero has designed a concept for a prefabricated home called The Nest Pod, a saucer-shaped structure that can be built anywhere and customised according to room numbers and colour. 

The unconventional home, which we first read about on the design site De Zeen, was conceived for the precrafted property firm Revolution Precrafted.

It’s designed to fit in multiple environments and locations, with an elliptical shape that “allows the building to harmoniously relate to any context,” according to Romero’s write-up of the project.

“We live in a world where mobility became a very important asset, and this house is designed for a new generation of people that can live simultaneously in different parts of the world,” he wrote.

The Nest Pod wouldn’t bear a burden on the landscape around it, either. “The minimized footprint greatly reduces the impact on the build site,” Romero explained, and only requires “a small site in an urban landscape.”

Take a closer look at the futuristic pop-up home below.

The Nest Pod is developed around a North-South axis, and takes up a mere 95 square-metres of space. “The structural grid, which radiates from the center, allows the home to be easily fabricated off-site, shipped, and constructed on location,” the architect explained.

project perspective - Nest Pod

This is the living room. Though the sofa doesn’t look that comfortable, the “panoramic windows” could mean spectacular views depending on where you set up your pod home.

Living Room Rendering - Nest Pod

Here’s the dining area, divided from the living area by a wall compression to create “gently carved interior spaces” that reflect the home’s exterior.

Dining Room Rendering - Nest Pod

For a good night’s sleep, you would need to put up some curtains in the bedroom. As you can see, the structure’s curved theme continues inside, where even the light pours through in an elliptical shape.

BedRoom Rendering - Nest Pod

The bathroom is a minimalist’s dream.

BathRoom Rendering - Nest Pod

This design includes a pool outside. One single public area opens to the exterior by its panoramic windows, oriented North and South. Each dwelling is customisable in room number and colour, allowing each user to create a one of a kind experiential dwelling.

pool - Nest Pod

If the home looks more like a vehicle, that’s not entirely unintentional. “Manufacturing this house will require the same discipline of the construction of a car, a yacht, or an airplane,” Romero explained in the write-up.

project perspective - Nest Pod

While you might have to forget about privacy, the best part of living in this pop-up pod would be getting to choose the colour of your home and the number of rooms it has.

Aerial Rendering - Nest Pod

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. Copyright 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.

J Mayer H and Fernando Romero launch designs for prefabricated houses

by Amy Frearson, Dezeen

Fernando Romero and Jürgen Mayer H have become the latest architects to contribute to Revolution Precrafted, a prefabricated building service that already offers designs by Zaha Hadid, Sou Fujimoto and Kengo Kuma (+ slideshow).

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

Mexico City-based Romero and Berlin architect Mayer H have both designed compact homes for the company, which was launched by developer and art collector Robbie Antonio to make high-end architecture more accessible.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

Romero‘s design, named The Nest Pod, is the most unusual of the two new designs. Elliptical in plan, it is intended to be manufactured more like a car or an aeroplane than a house, according to the designer.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

The main floor level is set above ground – a move to prevent the building impacting too much on the landscape beneath it.

Inside, curved rooms are organised around a north-south axis. They include two living spaces – one for lounging and one for dining – and a pair of bedrooms, creating a total floor area of 95 square metres.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

“The Nest Pod is a pre-crafted home that belongs both to architecture and product design worlds,” explained the FR-EE founder, whose best-known designs include the anvil-shaped Museo Soumaya in Mexico City.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

“We live in a world where mobility became a very important asset, and this house is designed for a new generation of people that can live simultaneously in different parts of the world,” he said.

“It is an innovative prefabricated house, which is intelligently suited for any environment or location. Its elliptical shape allows the building to harmoniously relate to any context.”

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Nest Pod by Fernando Romero

Mayer H’s design meanwhile has a more straightforward rectilinear plan. Its rooms are encased by glass, while an opaque outer structure frames a series of terraces, and also provides shade.

Broad diagonal columns support the overhanging roof, which prompted the name The Diago Home.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Diago Home by J Mayer H

“The Diago Home is a comfortable home with large covered terraces,” said a statement from the architect, who works under the studio name J Mayer H and previously completed the revamp of Seville’s Plaza de la Encarnacíon.

“Floor and ceiling undulate around the enclosed rooms, offering a flexible floor plan with generous outdoor areas,” he added.

Indoor and outdoor curtains will be included, according to the architect, so residents can maintain their privacy.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Diago Home by J Mayer H

Revolution Precrafted launched during Design Miami 2015, offering prefabricated homes and pavilions by 30 notable architects and designers, also including Tom Dixon, Marcel Wanders, Ron Arad and SelgasCano.

The company aims to harness the benefits of prefabrication, which include low construction costs and build times, to make aspirational architecture more collectible.

Revolution Precrafted homes
The Diago Home by J Mayer H

“The core appeal of prefabricated structures is the freedom from location and construction constraints; however, the result is often monotonous, homogenous design,” said the company during the launch.

“Revolution Precrafted Properties reinvent this model by creating unique, high-design spaces that transcend geographic borders and excite the senses.”

Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher unveiled their design for the company at the Design Miami fair – a dining pavilion shaped like an open clam shell.