A Look Inside and Out of Thomas Cowen's Seashell-Inspired Big Sur Beach House.

You may have seen this modern concrete and wood structure, with it's living roof, referred to as the Seashell-Inspired House or The Abalone House. The unusual modern home (it's really just a small beach house) in Big Sur, California has been recently featured, with few images, on several blogs (trendir, designyoutrust and inthralld for example) and Pinterest, even though it was completed four years ago.



The above two images are from unknown source. If you know who to credit, please tell me.

It's no wonder it's difficult to find more images and information about this modern structure (which is only 775 square feet). The Carmel, CA architect, Thomas Cowen, has no website. The landscaping company from which the images in the aforementioned blogs were procured did not credit the photographer and they misspelled the name of the building contractor in their credits. But with some serious research, I have uncovered several more images of and information about the home I have yet to see on any blogs or architecture sites and am excited to share them with you.

Rana Creek the landscaping company who designed the living roof calls it the Abalone House.





The glass skylight you see on the roof of the structure is actually above an interior shower:



From the aerial image of the property below, you can see how it's been termed the Seashell-Inspired house because it's more of a Nautilus than an Abalone.



It's set on a private road (9525 Pias Ranch Road), just off the bluff, south of Sycamore Canyon Road and the owners of the home are venture capitalist Alex Balkanski of Benchmark Capital and wife Sybilla.



Below are images of the circular structure and its interior, complete with concrete walls, wood beam ceiling and curved cabinetry:






The spiral shaped concrete structure was actually a second floor addition to a three bedroom three bathroom single-family dwelling totaling 775 square feet. And according to the approved development permit for the Balkanskis (PLN040665/Balkanski), it also was intended to have a detached 575 square foot underground wine cellar, a 120 sq. ft. mechanical room, a 375 sq. ft. pool and spa with a retaining wall and deck. Whether or not these were all completed, I do not know.

Completed: 2008
Client/ Owners: Alex & Sybilla Balkanski
Location: Big Sur, California
Architect: Thomas Cowen
Contractor: Kevin Rider, Rider Construction

photos courtesy of photographer David Bryan and Rider Construction

Jolly Green Giants: Metropolitan Reforestation Project In Milan Begins Construction.

After its initial design in 2007 by Italian Steffano Boeri's architecture firm Boeri Studio, Treehugger, Inhabit and Gizmag recently reported that construction of the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) in Milan has finally begun. That intrigued me to do a little more research and bring you images of the original renderings , models and diagrams as well as some new construction photos.


above left: computer rendering of Bosco Verticale; above right: construction begins in Milan

With 24 floors (Torre E) and 17 floors (Torre D) respectively, the two residential towers will contain a total of 900 shrubs between 3 and 6 meters tall to help to absorb dust, smog and produce oxygen. The apartment buildings, examples of utilizing ecology in architecture, are expected to be completed next year and will include a restaurant, fitness center, parking garage, and rooftop garden.




CGI renderings and the architectural models of the towers:



Architectural models by One Off Protoyping

The construction has begun at Via De Castilla & Via Confalonieri, Puorta Nova I-20100 in Milan, Italy:




description of the project from the architect's site:
Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a project for metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory. Bosco Verticale is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city. It is a model that operates correlated to the policies for reforestation and naturalization of the large urban and metropolitan borders (Metrosbosco). Metrobosco and Bosco Verticale are devices for the environmental survival of contemporary European cities. Together they create two modes of building links between nature and city within the territory and within the cities of contemporary Europe.

The first example of a Bosco Verticale composed of two residential towers of 110 and 76 meters height, will be realized in the centre of Milan, on the edge of the Isola neighbourhood, and will host 900 trees (each measuring 3, 6 or 9 m tall) apart from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants.




On flat land, each Bosco Verticale equals, in amount of trees, an area equal to 10.000 sqm of forest. In terms of urban densification the equivalent of an area of single family dwellings of nearly 50.000 sqm.



The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates and produces energy. The Bosco Verticale aids in the creation of a microclimate and in filtering the dust particles contained in the urban environment. The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect from radiation and acoustic pollution, improving the quality of living spaces and saving energy.





Plant irrigation will be produced to great extent through the filtering and reuse of the grey waters produced by the building. Additionally Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will contribute, together with the aforementioned microclimate to increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers. The management and maintenance of the Bosco Verticale’s vegetation will be centralised and entrusted to an agency with an office counter open to the public.

Project information:
location: Milano, Italy
year: 2007 (on going)
client: Hines Italia
built area: 40.000 sqm
budget: 65.000.000,00€

Architectural Design:
BOERISTUDIO (Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca, Giovanni La Varra)

Team:
Phase 1 – Urban plan and preliminary design
Frederic de Smet (coordinator), Daniele Barillari, Julien Boitard, Matilde Cassani, Andrea Casetto, Francesca Cesa Bianchi, Inge Lengwenus, Corrado Longa, Eleanna Kotsikou, Matteo Marzi, Emanuela Messina, Andrea Sellanes.

Phase 2 – Final design and working plan
Gianni Bertoldi (coordinator), Alessandro Agosti, Andrea Casetto, Matteo Colognese, Angela Parrozzani, Stefano Onnis.

Consultant for the vegetation project: Emanuela Borio, Laura Gatti

images in this post courtesy of ©Boeri Studio, some diagrams by Salottobuono and architectural models by OneOff Protoyping