Beautiful unique bonsai collections made by Takanori Aiba may alternate to beautify your home

Process of growing bonsai trees may consuming time and patience, but how if this complex tasks combined to build scale models like as windmills, lighthouses and even some mini sculptures? One of Japanese artists who keen on growing bonsai, Takanori Aiba, have made this exciting idea. Takanori Aiba is a former illustrator maze who patiently changed the usual bonsai into an awesome crafts and art.

Takanori Aiba after quit his job as an illustrator for fashion magazines in Japan, POPYE, for about 10 years he spent his time to create mini world on his bonsai collection. Aiba creates his miniature buildings that  cling and resting on the branches branches bonsai tree. This Japanese artist only uses materials such as paper, copper wire, clay, plastic, plaster, resin and acrylic paint in his work. He spent many hours in creating models of buildings using bonsai trees.

Takanori Aiba seem never tired and patiently in making his masterpiece. The model of building that he created is very detailed and the details such as bridges, balconies and towers. Using bonsai tree as a foundation, the dioramas was inspired to follow a unique form of each bonsai tree so as to create landscapes and buildings in the form of vertical and horizontal, forming a harmony like building following the actual landscape.

Some Aiba's creations in the beginning is very dependent on the function of bonsai trees. Bonsai must meet the strength requirements like holding the weight of the tree, the branches and leaves of bonsai are designed sticking out of the roof of the building and stuck down. Each tree branch adorned with terraces, umbrellas, small lights, creating exceptional residential just like the story of the film Swiss Family Robinson.

In his work, Aiba use high technique to build a miniature life of the people that surround the small trees.The technique is often used Takanori Aiba include pruning, root reduction, defoliation, grafting, etc for the treatment of the bonsai. Aiba describes the bonsai art form as an experimental approach to change the style of depicting the beauty of modern bonsai. His works were considered to be in accordance with the spiritual side of man and nature in miniature. With trained skills according to his some many year experiences, he put his mind to creating three-dimensional works of art, combining the knowledge and experience of illustration and architectural mazes. Here are other picture of Takanori Aiba's bonsai work:

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Casa Franz, a minimalist house that friendly to nature

There are many design of buildings which care about which one came first, like a house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, because of the trees come first in the area then it designed deferred to the trees and followed the pattern of the plants surrounding. The house was named Casa Franz has a simple shape with a flat roof. Form of "boxes" in this house makes it converges on uneven ground contours. The architects are María Victoria Besonías and Luciano Kruk and the collaborator are Leandro Pomies, Nuria Jover and Enzo Vitali. Those creative people build a minimalist vacation home with size 87 square meters in land area 337 square meters.  It is not new because it is constructed in 2010. 

Those people are under the Argentine architectural firm named BAK Arquitectos make a vacation home in the beautiful forest of Mar Azul. The house was built in 2010 as a building "summer escape" from the city of Buenos Aires Metropolitan. Previously, BAK has created a variety of summer house which is almost similar to the type in the area. Generally, the work of BAK Arquitectos rest houses can be identified by the form of exposed concrete facade and a large glass.

The houses are suitable as a quiet retreat house. Rest home in Mar Azul, for example.

The architects tried to bring natural wealth into the space that can be occupied. Interestingly, they seemed not to bother with just making a minimalist design at the rest home. The use of a simple exposed brick on the exterior of the house was also "treated" with accent lights to "sneak" out through large glass around the house. At dark, yellowish light coming from inside the house adds to the beauty of this mansion. In contrast, in the daytime sunlight can easily illuminate the interior of the house. Concrete Exposed provide visual relief, while the long glass separating the existing field silvery facade. The terrace looks slightly raised from ground level. This makes the two-storey detached house of a way around it.

In addition, the characteristics of the house, two large pine trees "stab" the house in the terrace gives a distinct impression. In fact, the split-level outline view unlimited length and shape make it a beautiful mansion modern and simple.

"Taming" forest

This house has two bedrooms. Although size is not too big, but opaque glass make fused with nature and the inhabitants do not have the impression trapped in a small box.  As reported in www.designboom.com, Casa Franz forward the idea to "tame the jungle" while practicing a new architectonic subtractive. The comforts of home are also assisted by a high ceiling with a double, a large glass to maximize natural light, as well as to enjoy the scenery without having to be outside.

In addition, the house is also specifically designed to have a social area and a large gathering. Because the project was initiated to provide plenty of space for the family. Unfortunately, according to the official website www.bakarquitectos.com.ar, since December 11, 2012 and María Victoria Besonías and Luciano Kruk is no longer working in a firm. They began to work in private.

The interiors and exteriors:

image © gustavo sosa pinilla

image © gustavo sosa pinilla

image © gustavo sosa pinilla

two large pine trees become the protagonists of the architectural narrative
image © gustavo sosa pinilla

two bedrooms, while pragmatically small, open up widely to the landscape with generous glazing
image © gustavo sosa pinilla

image © gustavo sosa pinilla

the dining area becomes a large  gathering space, expanded by the deck
image © gustavo sosa pinilla

image © gustavo sosa pinilla

image © gustavo sosa pinilla

the wood grain of the concrete mold left striking patterns on the walls
image © gustavo sosa pinilla

(left): the double height building makes room for the trees
(right): the stairwell is allows users to inhabit the landscape while allowing for diffused light to the ground floor
image © gustavo sosa pinilla

The sketches:

(left): short section 1
(right): long section 2

ground plan level 0 

floor plan level 1

elevation northeast

elevation northwest

Images courtesy: http://www.designboom.com/

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Interesting thing about Aerogel

Scientists and engineers may knew the useful information about Aerogel long time ago but for me it is something new and very interesting. First time I saw the picture about Aerogel, make me remember about gelatin. Well.. maybe it is almost similar in appearance with gelatin but very different in function, endurance and the power.

Aerogel, also know as frozen smoke, is the world’s lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. If you hold a small piece in your hand, it’s practically impossible to either see or feel, but if you poke it, it’s like styrofoam. It supports up to 4,000 times its own weight and can withstand a direct blast from two pounds of dynamite. It’s also the best insulator in existence.

The writer about Aerogel in wikipedia explain that

Aerogel is a synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with a gas. The result is a solid with extremely low density[1] and thermal conductivity. Nicknames include "frozen smoke", "solid smoke", "solid air" or "blue smoke" owing to its translucent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however, it feels like expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) to the touch.
Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid in "jellies" with gas without causing shrinkage.
Aerogels are produced by extracting the liquid component of a gel through supercritical drying. This allows the liquid to be slowly dried off without causing the solid matrix in the gel to collapse from capillary action, as would happen with conventional evaporation. The first aerogels were produced from silica gels. Kistler's later work involved aerogels based on alumina, chromia and tin dioxide. Carbon aerogels were first developed in the late 1980s.

A flower is on a piece of aerogel which is suspended over a Bunsen burner.
Aerogel has excellent insulating properties, and the flower is protected from the flame.

Properties
A flower is on a piece of aerogel which is suspended over a Bunsen burner. Aerogel has excellent insulating properties, and the flower is protected from the flame.
Despite their name, aerogels are solid, rigid, and dry materials and do not resemble a gel in their physical properties; the name comes from the fact that they are derived (composed) from gels. Pressing softly on an aerogel typically does not leave even a minor mark; pressing more firmly will leave a permanent depression. Pressing extremely firmly enough will cause a catastrophic breakdown in the sparse structure, causing it to shatter like glass – a property known as friability; although more modern variations do not suffer from this. Despite the fact that it is prone to shattering, it is very strong structurally. Its impressive load bearing abilities are due to the dendritic microstructure, in which spherical particles of average size 2–5 nm are fused together into clusters. These clusters form a three-dimensional highly porous structure of almost fractal chains, with pores just under 100 nm. The average size and density of the pores can be controlled during the manufacturing process.
Aerogels are good thermal insulators because they almost nullify the three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction, and radiation). They are good conductive insulators because they are composed almost entirely from a gas, and gases are very poor heat conductors. Silica aerogel is especially good because silica is also a poor conductor of heat (a metallic aerogel, on the other hand, would be less effective). They are good convective inhibitors because air cannot circulate through the lattice.
Owing to its hygroscopic nature, aerogel feels dry and acts as a strong desiccant. Persons handling aerogel for extended periods should wear gloves to prevent the appearance of dry brittle spots on their skin.
The slight color it does have is due to Rayleigh scattering of the shorter wavelengths of visible light by the nanosized dendritic structure. This causes it to appear smoky blue against dark backgrounds and yellowish against bright backgrounds.
Aerogels by themselves are hydrophilic, but chemical treatment can make them hydrophobic. If they absorb moisture they usually suffer a structural change, such as contraction, and deteriorate, but degradation can be prevented by making them hydrophobic. Aerogels with hydrophobic interiors are less susceptible to degradation than aerogels with only an outer hydrophobic layer, even if a crack penetrates the surface. Hydrophobic treatment facilitates processing because it allows the use of a water jet cutter.

A 2.5 kg brick is supported by a piece of aerogel with a mass of only 2 grams.

Find more information about aerogel in wikipedia, thanks to wikipedia for interesting and useful information.

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Chalk black board for your wall

Did you ever watch the movie of 500 days of Summer? If you realize something that the male main actor (Tom) is actually very creative and talented man, but he worked in greeting card firm so it is like buried his talent about architecture. Someday he met Summer, he shows his architecture talent by drawing landscape in Summer's hand. Summer suggest to Tom to be an architect but Tom was not have courage to do it. After some times, they are broke up because Summer decided to marry other man. Broken heart changed Tom, he left the greeting card firm and decide to apply into architect firm. When Tom decided to left the greeting card firm he draw his chalk black board with landscape view. I think it is amazing, here is:

I think to have chalk black board in one of your wall is a creative idea, especially if you like drawing or you have children who like to draw in wall. Having children who like to draw in wall I think is something frustating because when you can erase what they draw, it is mean you have to paint your wall again and again. So why not to put 1 chalk black board in one of your wall in your home? Surely you have to think about the dust from the chalk too. Ok..Here are some other picture ideas how the chalk black board can be so interesting and look so creative:

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