materialicious posted this home back in August and I’ve been pretty much drooling over it. It’s not even my style but one, it’s so unique. Two, it’s an amazing use of space when you think about it. Build up not out, conserve land, and make use of old standing material.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about tall. Tall is problematic. You realize this when you’re even just three stories up trying to lay a roof and the wind blows sand into your eyes and you almost fall off said roof. Yes I was wearing my safety glasses! So, much for …read more

Here at Offbeat we see square homes, circle homes, and home of many theme shapes but a common shape for homes of the past was the octagon. Back in the day it was unique but not really considered so offbeat. There are a handful of nicely preserved octagon homes out there and a few neat new octagon shaped homes as well.
Take a peak.

[vid via youtube found Google Blog]
If you are like me, I found a great reason why to (re)download Google Earth. They have added an architecture layer. In association with and help the AIA celebrate it’s 150th Birthday they released two layers of Americas Favorite Architecture and Blueprint America. The video explains all it’s geeky coolness. More to follow I am sure. All links are below.
[found via Lifehacker]
[Official Google Blog]

Taliesin West, located in Scottsdale, AZ is the only Frank Lloyd Wright creation I have been able to visit. Although it is not his most popular work, I am glad I got the chance.
Approaching the site, you are not hit by it’s grandeur, but by it’s minimal impact. All the buildings are low lying and colored by nature making it camouflaged. This wasn’t accidental, since all the stone and mortar was made onsite from the site. So much so, you see an imbedded hammer in one of the walls.
My favorite section of the complex, the drafting room. The feeling is …read more

Last Wednesday I raised the question, “Is a budget, and the architects (Frank Lloyd Wright) ability to meet it, a reasonable criticism of their abilities?”
I know if FLW was alive, and knew me (not an architect), he would be furious I would be questioning him at all. All true, however I am a practicing “home designer” and am confronted by the “facts” a budget presents. I was confronting a jealousy I have had toward architects. The fact AIA carries so much credibility.

Budget follows beauty.

I was gracious that PrairieMod joined the conversation. In fact they made me think, and I realized, …read more

What makes a great architect great?
Everyone agrees that a structure that stirs the emotions of anyone who experiences it is what good architecture is. Is that emotion the influence that makes a great architect. Well I don’t! It is the majority, but I think the architect still needs to be responsible. That is the conflict I have when anyone talks about how great an architect Frank Lloyd Wright was.

One of the biggest responsibilities I believe an architect has, is to the clients budget. When a client hires an architect to create a home or even a skyscraper their budget …read more

For the month of March we will be focusing our “Wed Arch” on Frank Lloyd Wright. This is also the month Chicago celebrates the famous architect. PrairieMod has dubbed it the “Wright-apalooza”.
This month I hope to learn more about FLW, but I want to learn from YOU! I would like to hear about your experiences touring a FLW creation. I will share those that I collect on the last week of the month.
Next week I hope we can start a conversation about what almost made Frank more infamous than famous. The video above is the perfect lead in, so watch. …read more

[picture via Pritzker Prize]
I’m not sure what it is about the glasses, but those thick framed round glass are worn by another favorite architect of mine. Can you guess who the other is? Today we are talking about Phillip Johnson AIA. His “Glass House” is the definition of Off Beat Homes. This is also were the cliche “bringing the outside in” began when describing why you would live in a home with transparent
exterior walls. The home sits on a large private acreage. So if you are one to sleep in the buff, you’d have your privacy. I …read more

CONTEST ALERT!
The first TEN people who can name the President, who was also an Architect, I will send you the monetary amount his face also graces.

Arguably the most bizarre home in Sydney (they say), Loggan Rock was built by an equally bizarre architect named Alexander Stewart Jolly in 1929.
Aside from building bizarre abodes, Jolly was a part-time poet and writer of children’s fiction, whom allegedly cut off his own finger in punishment for his bad drinking habits.
So really, what could you expect from a curious man, but a curious home?
Logan Rock is actually three homes in one, with the oldest part being a log cabin. The second part is actually a tower based off of a Scottish castle. Two bedrooms are located within the tower. …read more