I’ve recently been working on this project in Berkeley where we’ve abstracted the archetypal house in a modern way. You can see our design for this cottage here shrouded by the palm trees.

Herzog and DeMeuron take this archetypal house to the extreme by extruding the form out like house “logs’ and stacking the logs up five stories as if it were a children’s toy. Simply amazing.

VitraHaus / Herzog & de Meuron | ArchDaily.

Christmas is just around the corner, and it recently occurred to me that a wonderful gift you might consider giving to your lady-friend is a device that can produce ecstasy. I must admit to you, I have not tried any of these stimulating devices myself. In fact, I’ve only chosen them based upon their innovative design promises or upon their beautiful craftsmanship. So, I cannot guarantee that any of the following clitoral stimulators, vibrators, dildos, and massagers will bring you an orgasm. Of course, if they don’t at least they look really, really good on your shelf or hidden underneath your bed.

The prices of the sex toys Design Crack presenting range from under $100 to several hundred. The materials range from the standard rubber to stainless steel to 24 karat gold to fine delft porcelain. And although I can’t give you, dear reader, a play by play stimulatory (is that a word) rating of each sex toy, I’ve provided links to each vibrator that give you more than enough information to give you an informed purchasing decision. Quite frankly, you may consider buying more than one of these devices and consider many items in your arsenal.

The We Vibe clitoral and G-spot vibrator

This was the least pretty and least expensive of the devices I’ve added to the collection, but the shape of the design makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be the most affective. If the We Vibe lives up to its promise, it will create quite a buzz.

The OhMiBod Music activated vibrator

When discussing vibrator innovation, you have to mention at least one iPod activated device. I’ve included two. One is an app, and one, the OhMiBod, is a vibrator that pulses with the music bringing a new edge to your favorite hip hop or house music. If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, try some heavy metal to stir your juices.

iVibration: Bring your iPhone to the next plane of usefulness

Philips Warm Sensual Massager

This is the most corporate looking vibe. It almost seems as if you should shave with this device rather than rubbing your hoo with it. But, I can only assume it works wonders simply because Philips has worked decades to make their intimate products incredibly fun to use.

Eleven Steel Dildo by Njoy

Steel seems a little cold, it sure looks good.

Olga gold plated vibrator by Lelo

The Olga is beautifully designed to find all the right spots. This vibrator is probably the one that I could see James Bond giving to his lover as a memento for conquering an international crime syndicate. Maybe this one could be renamed “Goldfinger” because it will make you sing like Ethel Merman.

Bone vibrator by Tom Dixon for Myla of London

Tom Dixon designed this. I don’t care how well it works. Tom Dixon designed this. Buy it.

Minx vibrator by Shiri Zinn

I spent quite a bit of time exploring Shiri Zinn’s website, and although this particular vibrator might look a little hokey, her zeal for experimentation and user experience leads me to believe her little machines are moan inducing explosions waiting to happen. I urge you to check out Miss Zinn’s site and look for the strapons which are pure artwork. I would love to mount these on the wall if my wife would let me.

Fuck Design Vibrator by Citizen Citizen for Jimmy Jane

Jimmy Jane has went out of its way to brand itself as the high design of sexual pleasure. They’ve hire Citizen Citizen to create the “Fuck Design” limited edition model of their popular bullet vibe, and I can’t stop looking at it. JJ guarantees all parts (I think), and has made quite a brand promise… which comes with a steep price. This is the vibe for the woman or man who needs it all.

Delft Ceramic Dildo

I like this dildo the best. It does not vibrate, but it does look like something you’d pull out of the china cabinet and put on your dinner table as a centerpiece at thanksgiving (which might add for a spicy evening). The dildo is corked at the bottom which leads me to wonder if the dildo is meant to carry warm water adding to the glow of sensations you might feel. Or, it could be a really hot stash box. What do you put in yours?

This really is one of the freshest and most novel concepts for a watch I’ve seen in a while. The watch by Alexandros Stasinopoulos portrays three intertwined tape measures that move with the time. I have not quite figured how to describe the relation between time and space, but I’m sure there is one.

I’ve always wanted to do a watch that gave you different facial expressions to relate the time to you. For instance, 8am might show an expression of someone bleary eyed but refreshed where 2 am might show bloodshot eyes and extra bags.

ora | alexandros stasinopoulos | strategic+product design

I saw this at Yatzer, and I really appreciated the above piece for where it brought my imagination.  The piece by metal garden furniture DeCastelli is not meant to be a dining table, I don’t think. I think it’s meant as pure vision of landscape on a miniature scale. But it occurred to me that this design could make a perfect dining experience. The mountains and the forest represented in this work could bring new rituals and new sensations to a dining experience. For instance, the plant could be a fragrant herb used to complement the food’s flavors. The mountains could be perfect vessels to cook Indian breads or simply to remind the eater where their food comes from. Maybe new forms of dining tables could arise based on the way their structures interact with the cuisine presented to them.

The small gardens of DeCastelli | yatzer | Design Architecture Art Fashion +more.

I’ve been bored lately with just talking about design objects. I’m an architect, and I’ve recently been obsessed with what I’m calling “temporary architecture”. Temporary architecture , to me, is simply the space created and removed over a short period of time, like for an event.

So I ask you all, dear readers, to tell me if you’ve been somewhere recently that made you feel special in the moment when, normally, you would not consider that space as special.

My first example is a Palio dinner in one of the contrade of Siena. The Palio is an annual horse race that pits neighborhoods against each other. Before the race, a vast dinner is held in each contrada where thousands of neighbors come out to eat in the street. At the head table the guest of honor is the horse.

This example transforms a city street into a dining room for thousands with light, tables, sounds, colors, flags, and people. And although Siena has a natural and man-made beauty that transcends this temporary architecture of the Palio Dinner, I would argue that the temporal experience of the dinner is the basis for falling in love with the city of Siena. The event is fleeting and only a memory, and it’s this intense memory of civic transformation that truly creates the lasting impression of a city rather than it’s day to day stasis.

Temporary architecture also helps resolve what is really important for inhabitation. Is the importance of space derived from a static building’s material quality or sculptural aesthetics? I would say no, and that these qualities only augment an architectural experience which is more based on a memory of a building at that moment. So architecture is just the moments at which we experience it and the temporary elements which affect the static buildings at that time.

Flickr Photo Download: Palio, Onda Dinner.

i apologize in advance for sending out so many bicycle obsessed links, but i really like how thoughtful these new cycling jeans are. There are so many design decisions made here which advance the cyclist’s sensibilities into actual clothing. Please have a look at the link below, and you will see the various good ideas put into a beautiful pair of cycling jeans. I have not looked up the price, but i’m guessing expensive.

Osloh Jeans | gBlog.

I do not have a green thumb. However, i love trying to grow plants. I’m very thoughtless with my planting. I just stick some seeds in the ground whenever without any sense of how many and how far aart the seeds need to be. Now, Chris Chapman has invented a way that I can plant a successful garden without thinking. Yeah!

chris chapman: roll-out vegetable garden.

I saw the clothespin light, and I wondered to myself, “OK, it’s a clothespin and a light. So what?”. Now it all makes sense after seeing this image.

sungho lee: LED pin.

Most people’s wine cellars have been relegated to the garage, but if you have the cash I would suggest you go for the super sexy trap door wine cellar. Why do this? because you can.

Cool Hidden Spiral Wine Cellars.

I’ve see this beautiful house around the internet, and I know right off that it is one of the freshest combinations of graphic design and architecture that I’ve see in a long time. There used to be a time when graphics went hand in hand with the structure itself such as the sistine chapel’s paintings. OK, today there’s murals, but they aren’t as fully integrated into the design.

Items – Kavellaris Urban Design.