Constructed predominantly from timber, the Archipod is specifically designed to “complement a garden landscape, be efficient, ergonomic, and unusual.”

The Cube Project was originally conceived as an eco-friendly living space home for one person (it contains a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area). But at just 97-square feet of floor area, it could also serve as an easy home-office option.

Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture helped convert this former shed into an ivy-covered painting studio in a San Francisco garden.

Made from locally-sourced timber and glass and clocking in at 160-square feet of space, Spacecraft was inspired by a 19th-century Japanese house at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA, and the wooden lifeguard towers on the beaches of Malibu.

See more of this article at TreeHugger. Want more reasons to work outside? Check out the new Herman Miller Collection Outdoor.

Photos: TreeHugger

I have always thought that this was perhaps the most efficient way to build modular; one is not shipping a lot of air in empty boxes. Instead, one is putting the complicated stuff in the boxes and just adding a roof over. Michelle Kaufmann did this in the Breezehouse and it was done in the early sixties as well.

But these modules are not very wide; barely more than container width, and the planning is fascinating, the way Charlie squeezes those sleeping niches into such a small space.

As long as you’re not the person who has to make the bed, they are very cute and space efficient. When so many summer homes are over-the-top air conditioned city houses plunked in the country, this is a real throwback to the designs of the ’50s and ’60s with modest room sizes, simple materials, basic detailing, put together with real style. It is economical too; according to the facebook site it comes in at about $180 per square foot; that’s cheap for building on an island in recreational areas. It could be right out of the 1960 Second homes for leisure living. I love it.

By Lloyd Alter.

More on Charlie Lazor:
Flatpak House
Best Of TH: Sustainable Designers, Part I
Perils of Prefab

Images: George Heinrich Photography with permission from Lazor Office

Perhaps that’s why Jakub Szczęsny designed this hermitage, this “studio for invited guests – young creators and intellectualists from all over the world.”- it will drive them completely crazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of living in small spaces. I write about them all the time. But the Keret House is 122 cm (48.031″) at its widest, 72 (28.34″) at its narrowest. I know people wider than that.

I will admit that it has some clever attributes; I like the way the stair pulls up and the treads go flat so that you can use it as living space. It does use space efficiently. But it only has two dinky windows and an even dinkier skylight, for no discernible reason. It’s like living in a squished ping pong ball.

Jakub Szczęsny would be an architectural hero in Flatland, but here in Spaceland, it is nice not to have to walk sideways. More images at Archdaily and an interesting take from Robert Krulwich on NPR.

By Lloyd Alter.

Images via Centrala
Other unusual home work spaces:
1. Cargo Container Backyard Studio

2. Treehouse

3. Concrete Tube’s Turned into Living Spaces

No mention of the price, but I will update this post when I find out.
By Lloyd Alter.

The Miniwiz iPhone cases are also made to carry credit cards and an RFID card, so you have the option of tracking your phone should you lose it. The material comes from by-products of rice farming- the rice husks are combined with the plastic to form POLLIBER™.

By Alex Davies.

The Cloud, part art installation, part functioning hotel, is the work of art group Zebra3/Buy-Sellf, based on a concept by urban workshop Bruit du Frigo (whose name means “Refrigerator Noise”). Sitting the west bank of the lake outside Bordeaux, it is open to the public until October 31. And it’s free, you just need to make a reservation via Facebook.

The interior of the cloud is sparse but cozy; guests sleep in bunk beds. And that’s a good thing- nestled on the shores of a gorgeous lake, there’s no reason to spend any more time inside than necessary. A minimal impact, thought-provoking design, the Cloud just shot the top of my list of vacation destinations.

More photos at Flodeau.

By Alex Davies.

It’s designed by Hybrid Architecture of Seattle, who have been doing shipping container architecture for years, calling it Cargotecture. and have it down to a science. They are insulated with soy foam, have bamboo flooring and a tiny boat-like bathroom. The C 192 will retail for $59,500, or $309 per square foot, which will no doubt be a cause for complaint. But as I have noted before, small houses cost more per square foot than big ones.

The architects describe the virtues of shipping container architecture:

“The utilization of off-site fabrication technology allows for evocative solutions to complex programmatic restraints. Ultimately, HyBrid is interested in maximizing efficiency, whether that be in time, money or natural resources.”

But ultimately, an eight foot box is really narrow. Blowing out the side for a big glass opening makes a big difference in the feel of it.

Thousands of people see the homes at the Sunset Celebration; it really was key to the launch of modern prefab. We will see if it also takes container architecture mainstream.

Meet the architects on Sunset Magazine.

By Lloyd Alter.

A few years ago, looking for new markets for its sustainably harvested wood, the Swedish forestry company Södra developed Durapulp, a mix of wood pulp and polylactide, or PLA, the thermoplastic made from corn or sugarcane. They consulted with the architectural firm Claesson Koivisto Rune, who developed a prize-winning chair out of the stuff, and who then approached a sceptical Magnus Wästberg, who wondered about the virtues of mixing paper and electrical wiring. But with modern low-voltage LEDs, the old preconceptions no longer apply, and the result is the DuraPulp lamp,(formally the Claesson Koivisto Rune w101, nice that he names it after the designers!) which combines the strength of the material with a folded origami-like form that gives it rigidity.

Above: Magnus Wästberg holds the durapulp material that is pressed and cut into the lamps. There are 4 thin uninsulated copper wires laid in between the layers; a heavy power supply base makes it stable and supplies power to the LED lamps in the head. Rip those two things out and you can toss the thing on a compost heap.

There are so many things to love about this kind of thinking. LEDs reduce the voltage and amperage of the light to the point that the wires are barely there, and can be safely embedded in paper. A lumber company finds another use for the pulp that is often a byproduct of softwood lumber production. A designer figures out how to shape it for strength and form. The result is an attractive, effective and affordable product that at the end of its life is compostable. It’s the best example of sustainable design that I saw at this year’s ICFF.

Sweden is really far north, and the winters are long and dark. It’s not surprising that Swedes get philosophical about light; one sees it in their architecture, in the colours they use in interior design. In 2008 Wästberg even wrote a manifesto for his new company, titled Lamps for A Neanderthal Man, (pdf download here), in which he quotes the famous Swedish author and playwright August Strindberg: “The electric light will make people work themselves to death.”

He had a point; I wonder what he would have thought about computers. But now that we can work anywhere at any time, we need greener, healthier and more efficient tools that have a lower impact on our environment. The Durapulp lamp is a good example.

More at Wästberg

Above: Core 77 did a great interview with Herman Miller’s Jack Schreur and Yves Behar on the evolution of SAYL.

1. Tweetdeck’s Blog You may have noticed my rather clumsy attempt at getting the word out yesterday about our Ideal Live/Work Space series and Alain de Botton’s contribution. Twitter was down (something about double messages). Facebook was slow (so I triple posted in my haste to get something, anything out there and now there are three messages sitting on top of each other saying pretty much the same thing and I look like a right fool!) All in all a very unsatisfying experience. Thank goodness my husband came home for lunch and loaded Tweetdeck for me. I’d been introduced to it before but didn’t get why I’d use an app like that when I could just use Twitter. He kindly walked me through it. Now I get it (I think!) Where to start: Their blog turns out to be helpful. It’s a nice window into the workings of this clever app. Start at the top and wander through.

2. Idiot Box And the nice thing about Tweetdeck is that it has led me into a whole new world of blog surfing. Producer Dan Taberski retweeted the Alain de Botton story so I checked out his blog, Idiot Box. First it’s a Tumblr blog and you get design cred points for that. Second he is the creator of Destroy Build Destroy which my son loves so more points for that. And finally he has a great eye for interesting tidbits. Be prepared: this definitely falls into the Stop Work category. Where to start: The front page is a mosaic of stories and the best place to begin.

3. CurbedNY The Curbed family, with it’s gossipy real estate slant, always has something intriguing to share. I used to live in New York, way back in the 90′s before the husband and kids came along. I love dipping back into that world via CurbedNY. Where to start: The latest plans for public art on Park Avenue. I still remember Fernando Botero‘s sculptures gracing that street.

4. Treehugger With Halloween fast approaching it seems an opportune time to think about doing it a little greener this year. Treehugger always has great green round-ups and their Halloween green guide doesn’t disappoint. Where to start: Once you’ve checked out the Halloween guide head over to this post on literally greening your home office.

5. Buzz Beast A nicely designed online magazine that covers trends and is slanted to Gen Y but packed with enough good stuff to keep Gen X and Boomers happy. Where to start: Check out the first in their The Way I Work series.