• A Dreamy Mixture of Art & Architecture
• Human Shelter: Air, Water, & Earth

I’m bringing this up because, I just saw that G Living’s design section has a cool post up about Jantzen; Architect Michael Jantzen Replacing Smoke Stacks With Power Towers.  While you’re over there, you could splash around G Living and see what’s new – they always have something cool happening.

Post from: Blisstree

Green Design Link for You – Jantzen’s Power Towers

Here’s July 2007…

Happy Harry Potter Day! – I know, odd choice, but I rarely do celeb anything, so this post was a reach for me. Plus I think I did a good job finding all the characters houses.

A Dreamy Mixture of Art & Architecture – the amazing work of Michael Jantzen!

Amazing Woodland Homes: Not Just for Elves and Gnomes Anymore – one of the many homes I wish I owned.

Offbeat Hot & Offbeat Not – the title; totally misleading. This was my first furniture post at Offbeat, and it turned out pretty nice, I think.

Stay tuned for August – May.

Post from: Blisstree

The Best of Offbeat Homes: July 2007

On a positive note I have the most amazing art/architecture to share. I haven’t seen designs I like so much in quite some time. I honestly could not decide what to share, so to allow us to fully appreciate the pieces, I’m going to post just one today and a couple tomorrow.

Background:

Michael Jantzen, whose work I’m sharing today, (and tomorrow) is an internationally known artist and designer. He’s devoted his career to sustainable design (something we love to hear at Offbeat). Jantzen’s been featured in hundreds of publications; Architectural Digest, Wired, Blueprint, The New York Times, Brave New Houses, and City to name some but that’s just a small tip of a much larger iceberg.

This is the amazing M-House.

I named it the “amazing” M-House, It’s actually simply the M-House if you want to get technical; I hear that artists enjoy when you don’t rename their work.

Here’s another exterior view:

Guess my favorite part — you know I have one, I always do. If you guessed the window angle you are super clever and have started to think like me.

New Consumer Magazine offers a nice explanation of the design.

“Designed around his modular, adaptable and ‘relocatable’ M-vironment system, architect-designer Michael Jantzen’s ground-breaking M-House is made up of rectangular panels attached to a framework of interlocking cubes.

The panels are hinged to fold into or out of the cubes in either a horizontal or a vertical orientation. Some of the panels are insulated and contain windows and doors to enclose spaces that can be heated and cooled. Other un-insulated panels, slotted and solid, become platforms, sunshades, and wind and rain deflectors (one of Jantzen’s influences is origami).”

For the rest of the scoop read the whole article.

The origami influence makes sense don’t you think. To read way more about the M-House check out this link.

I know you’re all dying to see the interior right. I hate to disappoint.

I love it. It’s one of the less typical me offbeat homes I’ve shown, but it completely calls to you. It’s serene and calming. I really adore the streams of light that find their way in…

Look how smooth everything is…

The M-House is currently for sale (imagine having this all to yourself). I’d plant cool flowers all around the exterior and then maybe have my jealous friends over for dinner. If interested you can learn more and contact Jantzen at his website Human Shelter.

Tomorrow another great Jantzen piece or two; very different but equally as cool as the M-House.
[All photos courtesy of Michael Jantzen (A very hearty thank you!)]

Post from: Blisstree

A Dreamy Mixture of Art & Architecture