30 de jul. de 2012

Architecture Trends

JK Rowling and the £150,000 Hogwarts playground: Author plans 40ft high adventure treehouse for children in back garden of Edinburgh mansion


  • The Hogwarts-style towers - estimated to cost around £150,000 – are so big that they need planning permission
  • The two houses are intended for Miss Rowling’s two youngest children David, nine, and his sister Mackenzie, seven

When the creator of Harry Potter decides to build an adventure playground for her children, you expect something magical.

But even by JK Rowling’s standards the 40ft high, two-storey tree houses planned for the back garden of her Edinburgh mansion are something spectacular.

The Hogwarts-style towers - estimated to cost around £150,000 - are so big that they need planning permission.


Branching out: A computer simulation of the twin tree houses to be built in JK Rowling's garden, taken from the Edinburgh City Council website
Branching out: A computer simulation of the twin tree houses to be built in JK Rowling's garden, taken from the Edinburgh City Council website




The towers are linked by a rope bridge and can be approached by a secret tunnel hidden underneath a raised wooden walkway.
Extravagant; The towers are linked by a rope bridge and can be approached by a secret tunnel hidden underneath a raised wooden walkway

Each wooden tree house is to be built on stilts and boasts balconies, carvings and turrets that wouldn’t look out of place in a Potter adventure.

The towers are linked by a rope bridge and can be approached by a secret tunnel hidden underneath a raised wooden walkway.

Plans lodged with the City of Edinburgh Council reveal the houses are intended for Miss Rowling’s two youngest children David, nine, and his sister Mackenzie, seven.

Children's dream: Each wooden tree house is to be built on stilts and boasts balconies, carvings and turrets that wouldn¿t look out of place in a Potter adventure
Children's dream: Each wooden tree house is to be built on stilts and boasts balconies, carvings and turrets that wouldn't look out of place in a Potter adventure


Eco conscience: JK Rowling¿s tree houses will only be built with timber from sustainably managed forests
Eco conscience: JK Rowling¿s tree houses will only be built with timber from sustainably managed forests

According to the drawings ‘David’s Tree House’ is closest to the secret tunnel and has a specially designed trap door and fireman’s pole escape into the garden
Meanwhile ‘Kenzie’s Tree House’ has its own spiral staircase and a stainless steel playground slide leading to a double set of swings.
A wooden walkway connected to the giant structure leads to a giant trampoline deck that is shielded from public view by a row of extra tall conifers.
Impressive: Hogwarts as it appears in the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Impressive: Hogwarts as it appears in the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


Intricate design: Drawings on Edinburgh Council website for a proposed tree house in the grounds of JK Rowling's Scottish home
Intricate design: Drawings on Edinburgh Council website for a proposed tree house in the grounds of JK Rowling's Scottish home




Bespoke fun: Plans reveal the houses are intended for Miss Rowling¿s two youngest children David, nine, and his sister Mackenzie, seven
Bespoke fun: Plans reveal the houses are intended for Miss Rowling's two youngest children David, nine, and his sister Mackenzie, seven

The design by the luxury tree house makers Blue Forest UK features cedar shingle roofs and a built in ‘nature box’ for birds to nest in.

Miss Rowling, 46, lives in her 17th century mansion with her husband Dr Neil Murray, their two young children and her 18-year-old daughter Jessica, from her first marriage
Miss Rowling, 46, lives in her 17th century mansion with her husband Dr Neil Murray, their two young children and her 18-year-old daughter Jessica, from her first marriage

JK Rowling’s tree houses will only be built with timber from sustainably managed forests.

Miss Rowling, 46, bought her 17th century mansion for more than £2 million in 2009 when she reportedly fell in love with it after viewing just two of its 31 rooms.

She lives there with her husband Dr Neil Murray, their two young children and her 18-year-old daughter Jessica, from her first marriage.

The property has been dubbed ‘Fortress Rowling’ by some because of its security fences and reinforced doors.

Giant trees were lifted by crane over the garden walls to give the author and her family more privacy.

Last year JK Rowling got planning permission to flatten a £1 million 1970s style house next door to make her garden larger.

She also got approval to build a summer house that critics said looked like the stone hut inhabited by Hagrid, the giant groundsman from her best-selling novels.

Yesterday a neighbour said: ‘Nobody around here is going to make a fuss about the tree houses for her children. It’s her cash she can do what she wants with it.

‘Miss Rowling has spent a lot of money on trees surrounding her property so even if these tree houses are huge nobody but her is going to see them. In any case she’s extremely nice and well-liked around here.’

A source at Edinburgh Council said: ‘It would be highly unlikely that JK Rowling will not get permission for these tree houses.

‘They are only for her children to play in, she’s not seeking permission for residential permission for them.’

JK Rowling is worth around £560 million according to the 2012 Sunday Times Rich List.

She is reported to have given away more than £100 million to charity.


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. Creator JK Rowling is worth around £560 million according to the 2012 Sunday Times Rich List
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. Creator JK Rowling is worth around £560 million according to the 2012 Sunday Times Rich List

Blue Forest, based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, describes itself as the UK’s leading tree house architects.

It specialises in creating ‘fantasy castles’ like those for JK Rowling’s children or ‘James Bond-style hideaways’ with luxuries such as under floor heating, wood burning stoves and plasma screen televisions.

Prices start at £20,000 for its most basic models, but the firm admits the ‘sky is the limit’ for the final bill when it creates bespoke tree houses for the super-rich.

The firm’s managing director Andy Payne said: ‘Tree houses have always been a symbol of imagination and creativity.’

Tree houses are generally considered temporary structures and therefore do not need planning permission.

However this only applies if they are less than 13 feet high from roof to base.

Last night a spokesman for JK Rowling said she would not be commenting on the tree houses. She said: ‘It is a private matter.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2178484/JK-Rowling-plans-40ft-high-adventure-treehouse-children-garden-Edinburgh-mansion.html#ixzz228lUvJwZ

28 de jul. de 2012

Feeling vintage..

Storybook Love Affair: In Pictures: Vintage Typewriters: Has anybody else noticed the emerging trend of typewriters lately? I don't know if it's the vintage influence of the hit TV show Mad Men tha...

24 de jul. de 2012

Untitled

Depois de desparecer no mundo laboral, estou tentando, pouco a pouco, retomar minha vida.

O que eu tenho feito nas últimas 8 semanas? Bom, a lista nem é muito longa, mas eu vou desenvolver assim mesmo, just in case:

- Eu abraço árvores/envio emails/babo durante reuniões longas/penso em todos os outros lugares em que eu poderia estar enquanto converso com pessoas do trabalho;
- À noite, quando chego em casa, cuido do Juju, saio pra comer com o André - sério, é absurdo. Dois meses trabalhando e eu já desconheço, por completo, o conteúdos dos meus armários e geladeira. Não tem mais nada  pra comer, porque tudo ou estragou, ou acabou. Mal consigo me lembrar de como usar meus eletrodomésticos;
- Às vezes eu leio. Eu sei que eu não tenho tempo, que deveria estar pensando adiante, fazendo planos e blá, mas eu leio ainda assim. Leio quando não tem ninguém aqui no trabalho, no busão, na cama. Não leio nem de longe o tanto que eu gostaria, mas continuo teimosa;
- Ainda escuto música. Acho que quando eu parar de ler e escutar música e pensar em coisas bobas é porque chegou a hora de partir para o outro lado de lá. "Trabalhar ALIENA" -Aline MARXicano;
- Nos finais de semana, curto minha cama, tv, filme, mais giulianino piccolo, almoços longos e sol.

Relendo essa lista, eu penso que poderia ser pior. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, eu penso que também poderia ser bem melhor, né? Já estou coçando pra viajar de novo e estou considerando weird destinations, só pra não encontrar gente da minha lista do facebook nos lugares para onde eu for.

Bom, essa é a vida "material", mas o que tem passado na minha cabecinha e nas minhas listas de leituras e musiquetas?

Well, aí a coisa fica um pouquinho mais interessante, né?

Na eterna discussão sobre GROWING UP, achei isso aqui engraçadinho, embora não seja nada remotamente exótico:

 . You want to know why when you look at photos of people from the 60s and 70s they look so much cooler than you? It’s because they were. They didn’t have personal ego-satellites to mind-rape the country with their inane proclivities and terrible ideas; they actually had to talk to people, like face-to-face, or on the telephone when an in-person conversation wasn’t an option... If you must, Twitter and Instagram are far superior because their formats don’t allow for the same level of bloated self-indulgence as a MINI-WEBSITE ABOUT YOURSELF. Trust us, you’re not that interesting."
Assim, eu tenho um BLOG ABOUT ME, mas I'm sure I am that interesintg.... De qualquer forma, o que é mais interessante desse trecho, que eu encontrei há 5 minutos atrás, é que andei numas de querer CARTAS. Meu projeto é o seguinte: quero uma carta de cada pessoa de quem eu gosto, porque eu adoro ver a caligrafia dos outros - acho super pessoal e revelador - e quero colocar a carta ao lado de uma ou mais fotos dessa pessoa. De preferência, eu gostaria de uma foto da infância e de uma foto atual. Vocês colaborariam comigo? Além disso, tive essa outra ideia de mandar cartas para algumas pessoas. Sabe umas coisas que a gente acaba não falando - boas e ruins - pra algumas pessoas? Eu sempre penso nas coisas das quais eu me arrependeria se morresse amanhã - pode ser que essa seja a única consequência minimamente interessante da minha mehningytsen. Bom, eu acho que deve ser super liberating enviar cartas pra deus e o mundo e pronto. Imagina. Você senta e escreve vários coisas "te amo, te odeio, suas unhas estão sempre sujas, sua calça jeans te deixa gorda, sonho com suas pernas bronzeadas de vez em quando etc etc etc..". Ia ser o máximo. Além do mais, ninguém tem tempo de responder cartas e, portanto, não ia ter praticamente consequência nenhuma. Enfim, não custa sonhar, né?

Ademais, eu li aquele maldito "A Trama do Casamento" e, desde então, fiquei meiA l0ka, pensando em tudo que eu podia fazer e/ou refazer, pensando em cartas, em experiências religiosas. Acho - acho, só, não tenho certeza -, que a melhor parte do livro é quando esse cara que tava todo espiritual na Índia ajudando o povo, larga tudo porque não queria limpar a bosta (sorry, precisa ser dito) de um outro cara. É a questão do prédio em chamas all over again. Eu tenho essa certeza, no fundo do meu coração, que todo mundo pensa que se houvesse um incêndio e criancinhas estivessem chorando dentro do prédio em chamas, todas as pessoas que eu conheço - ou quase - acreditam que iriam entrar e/ou ficar pra trás na correria pra salvar as criancinhas. A outra certeza é que poucas fariam. Isso não faz ninguém pior ou melhor, só mais true. Nem todo mundo é herói. O que importa é que eu fico pensando que se pans eu preciso saber a resposta - não posso colocar crianças em um prédio em chamas pra testar, mas outras coisas dá pra fazer, né?

A vida, tirando essas besteiras, continua firme e forte. O juju continua destruindo parte do meu projeto de biblioteca e vomitando grama por aí, tenho planos de comprar livros que a porcaria da Cultura não tem, porque a seleção deles só piorou nos últimos tempos e as coisas continuam na mesma.

Estou com saudades de várias pessoas e espero conseguir conciliar tree hugging com social life.

Bisous,

A.
OBS: Entrei naquele como eu me sinto hoje e AMEI a expressão "boy magia" que eu passo a utilizar a partir de hoje.