Categories / Architecture, Design and Interiors

Modern Birdhouse – based on the mid-century Case Study House designs

Ralph

If you want to know about the mid-century Case Study Houses in the US, you need to buy Taschen’s book on the subject. And if you want one for your garden, you can now buy a Modern Birdhouse – based on the designs on the Case Study Houses.

The Case Study House program ran between 1945-66, producing 36 prototype homes that could be easily and cheaply constructed.  The program was led by John Entenza and featured some of architecture’s greatest talents, including Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen.

The birdhouses here are based on the work of J.R. Davidson, Richard Neutra, and Ralph Rapson (above), made of SmartWood oiled teak, with floating aluminum roofs and a detachable posts. They are shipped pre-assembled (apart from the post) and sell for $195 (around £100).

Find out more at the Design Public website

Categories / Design and Interiors

Kuboaa’s retro-styled Barton wallpaper and fabric range

Barton


Kuboaa
has been around for five years, producing its own unique wallpaper designs – which aren’t afraid to offer a nod to the past. Like the ones in the newly-launched Barton collection, designed by Andrew Hardiman.

In fact, it’s not only wallpaper – the designs in the new collection will also be sold as fabrics at a later date – including the Ginko and Hepburn pictured above. Ignore the colour shown here, both will be available in six different colourways, with the paper now available to order as 10m x 52cm rolls.

Ideal for feature walls, a roll will cost you £55. Fabric prices to follow.

Find out more at the Kuboaa website

Categories / Design and Interiors, Pets

Eddie’s Room – Merrow Associates-style house for your dog

Eddiesmain

Regular readers will know of our love for all things Merrow Associates, the high-end British design company of the late 60s/early 70s. It might be long gone, but there’s plenty of furniture out there in the Merrow style – including Eddie’s Room.

Eddie’s Room is an indoor dog house, a really stylish mix of walnut and chrome, with a hole for your furry friend to get in and out, as well as a grey mattress to keep him or her warm.

Dog houses don’t get much more stylish – although it will cost you $599 (around £300) for some canine cool.

Find out more at the Generate website

Categories / Gadgets and Tech

Panasonic’s retro SDR-SW20 waterproof camcorder

Panasonic_retro

A relic from the 1970s? Far from it – this is a brand new camcorder from Panasonic – the SDR-SW20.

It’s built to last and to go where your average camcorder fears to tread – offering waterproof protection up to 1.5m underwater, shockproofing that protects from falls of up to 1.2m and general dustproofing if you’re out in the wilds. And just to add to stability, everything is recorded to SD or SDHC cards – up to 13 hours in long play to a 16GB card.

Other features include 10x optical zoom, Image Stabiliser, a 2.7-inch LCD screen, a quick start of just 0.6 seconds and the ability to create a DVD of your recordings with just a touch of a button. Shop around for a best price, but we’ve seen them as cheap as £238 online.

Find out more at the Panasonic website

Categories / Design and Interiors

Placentero space age lounger

Placentro

Had a hard day at work? You need to kick back in the Placentero space age lounger.

The work of  young Argentinean designer Batti, it’s made of fibreglass and leather (in a colour of your choice), with the selling point here being stability. By that, we mean you can you can angle the chair or slouch in it in any way you like and it will still hold you securely – even if it’s almost upside down.

And of course, it’s just oozing 70s space age cool. It’s available exclusively from Pid for 30,000 SEK, which is around £2,200. And they ship worldwide from Sweden.

Find out more at the Pid website

Categories / Bags

Keep Calm and Carry On retro flight bag

Keepcalm_flight
Yes, even more Keep Calm and Carry On merchandise. No doubt you’re bored to tears with the story behind it, but judging by the amount of product around still appearing, there’s still some mileage in the design. And the latest product featuring it is the Keep Calm and Carry On retro flight bag.

Going for that original airline bag shape, it offers a seven-litre capacity, an adjustable strap and two zip pockets – the main storage area and an extra side pocket. And there’s a few colours to choose from – including this eye-catching yellow and green.

Available in limited quantities for each colour, it retails for £20.

Find out more at the Keep Calm and Carry On website