Too Cute Cloud Umbrella

I need me one of these little Cloud Umbrellas from Joonsoo Kim! With a little more investigation I discovered the duo Korean design team who studies in the Netherlands Joon & Jung. You carry it around in a little stick which also acts as a pump and then inflate into mini-cumulus clouds of protection when the rain starts to pour!

I’m not 100% sure how protective it would be, no word on price or even if they are manufactured yet and reading a few blogs they drip a little, but hey – they are still tres cute.

In addition to the crazy little inflatable cloud umbrella, Joon & Jung have also made a range of other very sweet designs like the Pillow Blanket, a snug, cloudy blanket made of pillows you can lie on or throw around you. Or the Cloudmon toy/sculpture, again influences by clouds and rain (I don’t know if you have tried to make polyhedra before, but they are damn hard) and try the melting cup.

 

On the topic of umbrellas though, there are some xrazy ideas out there – that I just had to throw these ones in for good measure from The Coolist – and my personal favourites are:

The Multi-Unit Superbrella

The home made electric umbrella

The Contracting Polite Umbrella

The Eco Brolly

The Tandem

The Handsfree Numbrella

Crazy little designer people are so funny!!!  Which is your favourite? Mine is still the cloud umbrella.

@Cloudland Brisbane – I wanna go!

I whinge about getting older, but I wanna go to Cloudland! I’m in Brisbane for work, driving through ‘The Valley’ which is totally gentrified these days, and I spy a very impressive facade of concrete, steel and glass on Ann street.


There are crazy little round planter boxes reminiscent of a science fiction time machine film turning the exterior into a lush vertical garden.



As it says on their website, “if cloudland was to be given a tag “mad maximillion meets neo-decor’ – I’m not 100% sure I know what that means, but time machine springs to mind.
Created for the Katarzyna Group by Melbourne architect Nic Brunner, this three level, 1500-capacity venue boasts a fully retractable roof, an "organic" interior - including a central water feature and vertical "garden" wall - relaxed lounge areas, private function spaces, secluded basement and rooftop bar.

If that’s not enough, check out these photos:
 
Dazzle me with the amazing outdoor laser lights – with its rings that spin and 4900 lighting channels that create a show, I am impressed!!

I’m sorry, but this place is something you would find in Europe, not Brisbane – it ticks all my boxes, oozing art nouveau meets Antonio Gaudi, meets blade runner - this place looks unreal! Custom furniture, bespoke light fittings, ornate balustrades, hanging wall gardens (yum):




















Did I say this already – I wanna go? Hey Brisbanites – is it worth me putting on my frock and stilettos, not to mention the war paint?

Check out this post at Lushe on Cloudland vertical gardens.

Friday Feature - Coolest Apartment on Earth

Could you live here? I came across environmental grafitti recently and I loved this post. So I decided that every Friday I am going to find and feature a new apartment that competes in the coolest/ wierdest/ most amazing place to live stakes. It will be my own "Coolest Apartment on Earth" listing. I hope you like it.

So for crazy apartment #1, lets look at the wilde featured on Friedensreich Hundertwasser's "Waldspirale" ("Forest Spiral") apartment block.

There is something very Antonio Gaudi about it (my favourite architect of ALL TIME of course) which is probably why I like it. Some of the things that make it special - those crazy onion shaped domes, apparently no wall is straight (very Gaudi), quite organic - very Art Noveau. But the bit I like best is the roof garden. Today it would be called an 'eco-roof' or a 'green roof'. It not only provides a great aesthetic but also can we used for energy production and food production. Check out these 8 incredible green roofs!! That brings me onto one of my other favourite topics of wall gardens - but I digress.

There are 105 glorious apartments in this structure which winds its way like a spiral. Aparently there is a landscaped courtyard in the centre with a running stream. Up in the turret at the southeast corner, there is a restaurant, including a cocktail bar! You'd never need to leave home? The building was constructed from 1998 - 2000.

So how would I rate this building

* Innovation = 8

* Eco-friendly = 9

* Facilities = 6

* Aesthetic = 5 (its a little ugly by my standards outside - would like to see inside)

* Cool Factor = 5.

* Total score = 33/50.

Could I live here? Maybe if it wasn't in Darmstadt Germany!!