We read about this on a website that is one of our faves.  Airplane living would be a little restrictive – sure.  The square footage is limited, the windows are small (but plentiful!) and the flow is a little strange.  But it is definitely an interesting way to live.  Not sure if I’d want one myself – at least not for all the time.  Maybe for a summer home?

Surprisingly, this airplane house is not the only airplane house in the whole world.  In fact, several people have bought airplanes and turned them into houses.  We found one article that outlines just how much someone spent to turn their airplane into a home.  A lady named JoAnn Ussery bought a Boeing 727-224 after her home was destroyed in an ice storm.  She paid $2000 for it, $4000 to move it, and put about $24000 into it to make it a home.  She was interviewed on a slew of TV programs.  Unfortunately, Ussery only got to live in her airplane house for four years before it fell off a truck and got damaged.

Several other people tout the virtues of living in airplane homes.  one electrical engineer doesn’t understand why anyone would want to live any other way.  He says that the metal structure of the plane protects against the elements and unwanted bugs and rodents, and that the fact that the plane is sealed and pressurized makes for a long life for the home.

Convinced, or do you think these people are nuts?  Make sure you add your comment below

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They lived in their “Winter Palace” for the next five years while they built the main building that would be Eliphante, and the surrounding buildings, one of which would be called Hippodome, named this because it looks like a hippopotamus rising out of a body of water.  Livant lives in the Hippodome now – Kahn died a few years ago from a form of dementia.  The Hippodome has a phone and running water and electricity, but no bathroom.  Livant showers in a shower house that is solar-powered (and is pretty much just a hose in a shack), and if she needs to use the restroom she does it in the outhouse, or sometimes right out in the open.  The property is fairly secluded, and is only accessible across a stream.  Sometimes the stream is low enough that a car can just drive across it.  Other times, you have to take a canoe.

Their story is one of magic and tragedy – romance and heartbreak.  Livant was a suburban mother of two, married to a a psychologist.  She dabbled in painting and drawing, but lived her suburban life and volunteered in the community.  When her kids were a little older (one in college, the other in high school), Livant and her husband went on vacation to Cape Cod.  That’s where Livant’s whole life turned upside down.

Michael Kahn was a painter, ten years younger than Livant, and she fell for him immediately.  She left her husband and her kids, and moved in with Kahn, taking housecleaning jobs to support them.  All he ever wanted to do was paint.  When they moved to Arizona they built and when he wasn’t building he was painting.  Livant blossomed as an artist, and learned to weave as well as developed her painting skills.   They were happy together.

The house that was born of their union is part madness, part magic.  It is made of found objects and driftwood and any other thing they could find to build it.  They have mosaic tile work that used salvaged tiles from someone’s kitchen remodel.  They’ve made interesting use of AstroTurf.

Though they started building in 1979, Eliphante &  Hippodome and everything around them was consistently a work-in-progress.  In 1987 Eliphante LTD was formed – a non-profit art company – and in 1994 the Smithsonian listed it with their Save Outdoor Sculpture movement.  The property is in a state of disarray – in need of about $30000 worth or repairs.  Livant doesn’t have the money, and Kahn wasn’t able to secure a grant before he died.  Let’s hope that someone comes in to do what needs to be done to preserve this artistic treasure.

Entrance - the central curved beam looks like an elephant's trunk

Interior shot of Eliphante

Ms. Livant

ceiling and ceiling fan - mylar decor

It may not be the prettiest thing on the outside, but these dome-shaped eco-friendly houses sure are pretty on the inside.  Plus, they are great if you want to live in an environmentally friendly house that turns on a dime.

Well, not on a dime.  It actually has this little engine inside that rotates it, but hey!  It rotates!  Not only awesome for taking advantage of the light and solar energy, but also wicked fun for dance parties.  OK, maybe not, but it’s still pretty neat that you can turn your house so that certain windows face the sun at certain times.  Great if you’re trying to soak up your Vitamin D, cure jaundice, or avoid showing all your guests Mrs. Roberts’ proclivity for nude sunbathing during your daughter’s baby shower.  All big pluses; plus did I mention that it’s environmentally friendly?

Here’s how.  The inside is made from laminated wood beams, while the outside is shingled with red cedar.  No metal, it’s all just sort of glued together in a really sturdy way.  The insulation is made from raw cork, which is a very catchwordy, green-thing-of-the-moment type of material.

These Domespaces originated in (where else?) France, but you can buy one here from a company called Solaleya.  They’ve got different sizes to choose from, but unfortunately not different speeds to choose from.  The houses turn very slowly.  Not fast like a carnival ride.  So what’s the point?  Oh yeah.  The environment.

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From the people that brought you ball in a cup comes house on a stick! If you loved trying to get the ball in the cup, then you’ll love trying to not fall in the water walking up and down to your front door. This was actually inspired by billboards as you can easily see. I just can’t seem to get in my head how that box on a pole is stable in the ocean. Of course,  I wouldn’t mind going to work everyday in a speedboat and you’d definitely have plenty of privacy.  One thing’s for sure, you’re not going for a quick jog any time soon.

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It’s exactly what you think it is. This 1.6 million dollar toilet, was designed to promote Sim Jae-Duck’s campaign for cleaner bathrooms around the world and especially in developing countries. He will showcase a state -of-the-art bathroom inside for patrons to come inside and see. The best part: the lid opens automatically as soon as you walk in. Are you jealous and wish you lived inside a toilet, too? If you act now, you can rent the toilet house for only 50,000 clams a day before he moves in on November 11.

This “shell house” is from Japan (there they go again) and was designed by Kotaro Ide. Unfortunately, there is no one angle that you can look at this house from and see all the curves and beauty. They saythat the two sections are supposed to represent a conch, but how they do that is beyond me. All I know is with an exterior like that, who cares about the inside? Although I do imagne I would feel a bit exposed without conventonials walls and being surrounded mostly by windows, but at least there’s plenty of sunlight. I find that it’s a nice balance between modern tastes and blending with the landscape.

This big beauty off Lincoln Highway in Hellam, PA is bound to give people some “kicks.” Get it? Ah, whatever.

Sure, there could have been more detail in the exterior, but you’re still living in a freakin’ shoe. Seems to me that if you want to live in a shoe, you should at least make it distinct looking. Now that I think about it, all they have to do is paint the band near the toes and then you’re living in a foot/sandal combo. Now that’s unprecedented!

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Art League artists, Havel and Ruck, converted the dwellings into an apparent whole house but with a twist – a vortex through the middle of the homes which gives the impression of a twister hitting the homes from the side.  Using existing wood and materials, they created the appearance of the side of the dwelling being sucked through to the other side, but there’s no danger of being whisked away as if you’re small enough, you can crawl through the vortex to the other side of the property. Even for “larger” viewers, the artwork presented a cool visual image.

The outside of the homes, which had been used to exhibit art for the last 30 years, were peeled away and replaced in a contracting spiral which progressed through the outer shell of the buildings clear through to the other side.  The effect was a truly mind bending piece of art which while looking visually stunning,  also allowed the observer to get inside the building in a very different way compared to simply walking through a door.

In this instance, art is merely fleeting as the property and artwork were demolished in 2005 to make way for the new Art League building which now occupies the plot.  Nevertheless, we still have the photographs of a unique piece of art.

photo by Nick Douglas

OCADU is Canada’s largest and oldest known art and design university so it’s no surprise that when it comes to the architecture of the building, the approach is novel and unexpected amid a city skyline that is known for striking design.

The Sharp Centre for Design that makes up this quirky structure was designed by the British architect Will Aslop, of Aslop Architects, in conjunction with the Toronto-based Robbie/Young + Wright Architects Inc.  Aslop’s work is as distinctive as it is controversial.  This English architect has amazed and infuriated onlookers with his modernist designs, loud colors and unconventional forms.

Aslop told the CBC Canada his use of color and shape worked to aerate Toronto, and said the problem with most cities is a lack of refreshing color.  His work on the Sharp Centre served as a launch pad for other Toronto architects, like Frank Gehry, who revamped the Art gallery of Ontario and Bruce Kuwabara, designer of the National Ballet School’s 2005 expansion.

Aslop’s prominent Sharp building has won numerous awards for design including the Royal Insitute of British Architects Worldwide Award, an award of excellence in “Building in Context” in the 2005 Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Awards and was also noted as the “most outstanding technical project overall in the 2005 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards.

The Sharp Centre was built to accommodate an expansion of the growing campus.  The college, the Province of Ontario and Rosalie and Isadore Sharp, who the building was named after, funded the unconventional structure.  The striking building houses art studios, exhibit spaces, lecture theaters and faculty offices.

The Centre straddles the college’s existing buildings, creating a unique contrast between the conventional classroom structures and modernist space.  Located on a modest side street sandwiched by two main commercial thoroughfares, Sharp Centre is surrounded by mid-rise housing, the Art gallery of Toronto, Gardner Museum of Ceramic Art, a community park and a food court.  All of this adds to the tight-knit feel of a true artist community.

One of the best views of the building is from Grange Park, where the black and white structure seems to hover above the trees, creating a surprisingly beautiful contrast with the vibrant green grass of the park.

With his design, Aslop tackled the challenge of developing an urban setting and creating new space while preserving the old. The Sharp Centre builds a connection between existing buildings, but also provides additional civic space.

The Sharp Centre for Design was the College’s $42.5 million redevelopment project that was completed in September 2004. The Centre includes a striking “table top” parallelepiped structure that stands atop angled mutli-colored pillars. The face of the building appears to be pixellated as it is made up of a multitude of black and white squares. The Centre houses OCAD’s studio and teaching spaces and is connected to the older part of the campus by an elevator and stair core with a newly created entrance hall that marries the two styles of architecture. The new appears to float above the old, complimenting and building upon the design knowledge of generations.

The School and lifestyle

Established in 1876 by the Ontario Society of Artists and was the “first school in Canada dedicated exclusively to the education of professional artists in fine and commercial art.”  Today it is the third largest art and design university in North America. The environment of the university creates a creative hothouse for ideas and inspiration amplified by the unique architectural style of the buildings. The structure itself challenges students to take risks and explore new ideas.  Despite the university’s long history, it has proven that it can modernize, develop and stay on top of the latest artistic trends.

As impressive as the design itself, OCADU offers a wealth of creative educational programs with a variety of design and art programs unrivaled in Canada.  Students here hone their craft in the heart of culturally rich Toronto.  This thriving artistic community attracted professors whose work has been shown in the most renowned galleries in the region.

The college is a destination for Canadian artists, designers, creative thinkers and strategists.  The campus architecture itself represents a philosophy of staying on the forefront of artistic creation while preserving the integrity of generations past.

OCADU offers Bachelor of Fine Art and Bachelor of Design degrees in industries from advertising to sculpture and printmaking.  The liberal studies courses explore theories and ideas behind art while providing students with a historical context that applies to modern-day studio work in art and design.

The college bills itself as an institution that builds on traditional artistic strengths, but adds new approaches to cross-disciplinary collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies.

Both the design of the school itself combined with the educational philosophy and coursework proves that tradition and the cutting edge can mingle in a community that seems handcrafted for artists.

Taylor Drauden is a cosmetology college graduate but currently focuses her time freelance writing and blogging. Taylor tends to focus her writing on topics that interest her regardless of how bizarre they are but mainly focuses on covering college life topics and esthetician school advisement.

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What happens when you combine an architect, activism, and a latrine?

Don’t be alarmed. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you; that is a toilet-shaped house and it’s real.

Sim Jae-Duck, an architect from Seoul, Korea, is the mastermind behind this what some might call a masterpiece and others might call a master piece of s*** (pun intended). Surprisingly, the inspiration and meaning behind this $1.6 million home is a lot deeper than you might think. Sim has felt a deep connection to toilets as long as he can remember and even before that; his mother intentionally gave birth to him in a bathroom due to a family belief that bathroom births led to long and healthy lives.

Already in his 70s and still going strong, Sim took on the toilet house project with an activist purpose in mind. Sim, who is chairman of the organizing committee of the Inaugural General Assembly of the World Toilet Association, has been campaigning for clean and beautiful toilets since 1995 when he was major of Suweon Korea, when he spearheaded efforts to spruce up the country’s facilities before hosting the 1998 Summer Olympic games and 2002 World Cup. He says that 2.6 billion people live without toilets today – a problem he is trying to remedy, in part, with the toilet house.

The house was unveiled in 2007 as part of the annual World Toilet Association meeting. The “Toilet House,” as it is affectionately called, is the world’s only latrine-shaped building. Sim chose to build the house 30 miles south of Seoul in Sim’s hometown of Suwon after tearing down his former home.

Featuring two bedrooms, two guestrooms, and four deluxe toilets, including one in the center of the house with clear walls that fog up and play classical music when occupied, the house can be rented out for $50,000 per night. Visitors have to pay $1 for a glimpse of the “porcelain” wonder. All proceeds from the house go toward improving subpar bathroom sanitation in impoverished nations.

“The toilet revolution should start with talking about toilet issues freely,” said Song Young-kwon, head of the organizing committee at the time of the house’s unveiling.

The building has been aptly named Haewoojae, which translates to “a place of sanctuary where one can solve one’s worries.” Its steel, white concrete and glass construction emulates the feel and industrious nature of its real-life counterpart. At 24.5 feet tall, the second story of the toilet bowl opens onto the roof with a garden and includes a water collection system to conserve drinking water.

Guest Post by Dana Bashor

Dana Bashor is a multi-faceted talent. Dana Bashor is known for many things but most of all she is an actress, model, and singer. Dana has been working in the industry as a model and Actress for 5 years. She is currently running her own business as well as freelance writing on topics such as consumer awareness and astronomy. Dana currently helps contribute to topics such as planet antares for Wikipedia and other websites.