3D Printed Sand Resort in Mozambique to Open soon

Kisawana Sanctuary
Kisawana Sanctuary will open in 2020

Prices start at $8,124 a night for a one bedroom bungalow and while that certainly is steep, not only will you be able to boast about your stay in the 3D-printed sand kingdom, but you’ll even get your own private chef, dedicated staff, a spa, diving, a marine safari, and access to your own electric vehicle and e-bike.

via GQ

Benguerra Island is situated 14 kilometers off Mozambique, on the Eastern coast of Africa. Part of the Bazaruto Archipelago, this WWF National Marine Park is home to some of the richest and least explored subtropical ecosystems in the Indian Ocean.

Via Kisawana Sanctuary

Hotel Review: Kasbah Angour

Place: Kasbah Angour, Tahanaout, Nr. Marrakech, Morocco
Type: 4-star Hotel
Operator: Owner and Creator Paul Foulsham
Web: www.Kasbahangour.com
Date of Visit: March 2019

A man with a dream – no, a Yorkshireman with a dream. A geologist working for oil companies buys a barren hill some 40 kilometres outside Marakech and starts to create an oasis, an idyll, a garden on its top. ‘Kasbah’, so the taxi driver tells us, means castle, and the architectural form strongly reinforces the name – or is it that the name reinforces the perception of the architecture? Either way the name is reinforced by the winding track up from the road outside the provincial town of Tahanaout leading to a blank walled car park through which entrance is made, almost like a defensive castle entrance.

Reception desk

Yorkshiremen think of their home county as ‘Gods own country’, but here the owner has created almost his own Garden of Eden in Morocco, shielded completely from prying eyes by the way the architecture works with the location. It achieves a privacy for guest the nearby Richard Branson property notably fails to achieve. Rooms tune their backs onto the valley in the most part, turning instead towards the glorious gardens and the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas Mountains not too far away. Those same snow-capped peaks provide a steady supply of water from the hotels own bore hole, control of which ensures exclusivity on this hill top.
Currently just 26 bedrooms, the owner has almost completed purchase of the rest of the whole hilltop and talks of growing to 50+ rooms with maybe an indoor pool and a spa operation. Meanwhile he personally supervises the operation of the existing romantic property having fought his way through three architects to realise his vision. Bedrooms make a semi-circle around the garden and use stone and building techniques recognisable locally. Based on local materials and furnished with locally manufactured products his interiors reflect the Moroccan traditions of carpets and hard floors, stonework, polished plaster and shuttered windows.
A couple of suites provide the towers that punctuate the bedrooms, most of which have individual balconies and patio areas. All open onto the gardens, and oasis of green full of bird and insect life. Certainly, it is the first hotel I have been in where I have been kissed by a butterfly – I say kissed but I think it was an alcoholic butterfly wanting the beer off my lips, but it sure beat kissing the blarney stone…

This is an hotel for relaxation and contemplation with nature. Rooms are free of television, but there is the internet for those who feel discombobulated by the idea of simply listening to the cuckoo call, or simply relaxing on a terrace or by the pool in the quiet of the gardens. There are excursions into the mountains to a local souk or to take tea in a village house, guided walks, camel treks or for those who miss the noise and bustle of the city, an easy taxi ride into Marakech.
For me waking each morning to birdsong together with the ability to just sit and relax in the warmth of the March sun (22° to 29°C whilst I was there) was enough. Bird life is a mix of African and European, and the garden, said another guest, reminded of the winelands of South Africa, and the Moroccan wine on offer was very quaffable too. Food was local, vegetables from the hotel garden (the broad bean is a major local crop, as are of course, oranges although they don’t make marmalade…)
I didn’t intend to write a Review of this hotel – spent enough time doing hotel reviews I my life, but the charm of the spaces and their use of the local vernacular as well as their African feel led to me to write about it again. That an individual can create such a little gem with his own efforts (he even created his own building company) deserves approbation and applause. Yorkshire it is not. God own country? Well its different but maybe this Garden of Eden has a stronger claim to that label than much of our English county.

 

Pop-Up House – Affordable Passive House

The French Firm Popup House has developed a method of building an affordable passive House

The video is quite explanatory:

Pop-Up House: the affordable passive house from Popup House on Vimeo.

Pop Up House – Paris Mai 2016 – Journée de solidarité logement from Popup House on Vimeo.

Via Het Kan Wel and Dutch Design Studio
And see: Multipod Studio

SS Oceanic – Dutch Design (66)

SS Oceanic

SS Oceanic

Becoming a member of PicFair inspires me to go through old photo’s to see if they are still of any interest.

At wikipedia I found out the ship was built in Italy in 1965

But at SS Maritime I found out something really interesting: It seems the design was of Dutch origin..by a designer of Maatschappij de Schelde. A huge yard at Vlissingen.

Question – “Who Really Designed The Oceanic”?

By William Vandersteel – Alpine, NJ – USA

Little known history behind the identity of the original designers of the SS Oceanic, steadfastly denied by the Italian shipbuilder and the CEO of Home Lines, is the true story of how it came into being. It goes back to a meeting between Aristotle Onassis, John W. Hupkus, Managing Director of the Dutch shipyard, Kon. Mij de Schelde and the writer, William Vandersteel, USA representative for de Schelde. The meeting took place in Monaco in 1957.

Ari Onassis had asked for the meeting to discuss his proposal for the De Schelde Shipyard to develop a design for two ships, specifically designed as cruise ships, and with trans Atlantic capability, to operate in the Mediterranean during the winter and the Caribbean during the summer. Onassis and Hupkes were friends and, except for specifying cruise speed and passenger capacity, Onassis left all design details to de Schelde.

In 1953, de Schelde had completed the Kungsholm II for the Swedish American Line and, during the maiden voyage to New York, which I attended, I mentioned to Hupkes that the new Kungsholm was a nice design in the traditional sense and observed that I could suggest some “improvements” to bring the design and styling into the modern age. After discussing my ideas, Hupkes was intrigued and suggested I meet with his naval architect during my next visit to Holland. In 1955, I met with de Schelde’s naval architect, Mr. Pieterse to discuss my ideas. Pieterse was a young chap and, initially, less than enthusiastic with my ideas. Unfortunately, he died prematurely from cancer at age 36, shortly after completing the design for the Onassis cruise ships.

As for my background, I am an aeronautical engineer with a lot of experience as a youngster, sailing all over the globe with my family, giving me an abiding interest in ships. I also gained some styling design experience with my first job, after graduating from MIT, with the General Motors Styling Section for car design. The job lasted only 8 months when World War II broke out and I volunteered to join the US Army Air Corps to be trained as a fighter test pilot.

De Schelde’s Naval Architect, Mr. Pieterse and I sat down in 1955 to discuss my ideas, briefly outlined as follows;

Change the conventional curved sheer line to a straight line, parallel with the water line. Eliminate camber to make flat decks, like floors in any building ashore. Neither sheer nor camber serve any purpose on a large ship, or any ship for that matter, and they only add to cost. At first, Pieterse was horrified at the thought of a ship without a graceful sheer line as he had designed for the Kungsholm. Pieterse tried to defend camber on structural ground but eventually conceded that the same structural integrity could be achieved without camber. To achieve proper styling, all decks must be flat and parallel with the waterline.

Next, I insisted that all promenade decks be fully glass enclosed. I knew from experience that the first thing an experienced ocean traveller does after boarding, is to run for the deck steward and reserve a deck chair on the limited space of the fantail (stern), the only place where you don’t get blown away. Also, I insisted that the only promenade deck be at the very top level, also fully glassed in, with an unobstructed view of the ocean.

I also insisted that the lifeboats be stowed on a lower deck and not on the top deck so they would not detract from ship’s styling. My attempt to substitute life rafts for life boats was apparently not allowed by Lloyds’ rules, though they are obviously a safer and better solution. Naval ships only use life rafts even in the face of much larger risk.

Then, as a main feature of the ship, I envisaged an open space near the ship’s center, with a transparent sliding roof and a swimming pool as the central attraction. The beam sides to be fully glassed in with all seating (deck chairs) facing inwards, overlooking the swimming pool. The presumption is that passengers would rather stare at Bikinis than look at the ocean which they can see from their cabins or top deck. The sliding roof would close during inclement weather. I named this the Lido deck though I do not know if this name was original at that time.

After Pieterse completed the design, he had become an enthusiastic supporter of the new configuration and conceded that eliminating sheer and amber might reduce the total construction cost by as much as 10%. I was given a ten page copy of the completed design and I was satisfied that Pieterse had faithfully followed all my suggestions.

De Schelde’s proposal and drawings were presented by John Hupkes to Ari Onassis in a Paris meeting sometime late 1955. I was not present and do not know what transpired. Hupkes did indicate to me that Onassis was not ready to proceed with his plans. Though I have no first hand knowledge, I surmise that Onassis conveyed the drawings to his friend Eugen Eugenides, owner of the Home Lines. The Home Lines eventually contracted with the Italian shipbuilder Cantieri Reuniti del Adriatico of Monfalcone, Italy to build the Oceanic and it was delivered in 1963.

The significant fact is that every cruise liner, without exception as far as I know, built since the completion of the Oceanic has followed every feature and configuration which led to the Oceanic’s original design. That neither the Italian builder or the Home Lines, as far as I know, has ever claimed credit for introducing a wholly new design concept for cruise ships, probably stems from their concern that such a claim could lead to the revelation that the original design was made by Mr. Pieterse, Naval Architect for the Kon. Mij. De Schelde of Vlissingen, Holland.

William Vandersteel.

A bit of old skool piracy huh?

SS_Oceanic_in_Helsinki

After cruising for Pullmantur Cruises the Oceanic was chartered or owned by Peace Boat for a couple of years.

2000—2009: Career with Pullmantur Cruises

On 30 December 2000, the Big Red Boat I was acquired by the newly founded, Spain-based Pullmantur Cruises. She reverted to the name Oceanic and sailed to Cadiz, Spain for refurbishment. Following completion of her refurbishment, the ship entered service on cruises from Barcelona in May 2001. During her career with Pullmantur, Oceanic was gradually rebuilt by removing flammable materials so that the ship would be better in keeping with the new SOLAS regulations coming into effect in 2010.

Oceanic was reportedly due to be withdrawn from service with Pullmantur in September 2009. In March 2009, the ship was sold to the Japan-based Peace Boat, with delivery date already in April 2009.

2009 onwards: Career with Peace Boat

Oceanic entered service with Peace Boat on 23 April 2009, departing Yokohama on an around-the-world cruise that was due to conclude in Yokohama on 6 August 2009. Oceanic ’​s circumnavigation was Peace Boat’s 66th “Global Voyage for Peace”, and the first to feature extensive visits to various ports in Scandinavia, with a goal of learning about the northern European welfare and education systems.

Sometime during the week between 3 and 9 May 2010, the Oceanic came under attack by pirates while off the coast of Yemen. The ship was attacked by grenades, but managed to avoid being boarded by adopting zig-zag manoeuvres and blasting the pirates with high-pressure water hoses. Reportedly the pirates were subsequently apprehended by NATO forces.

Thereafter it seems having been scrapped in China in 2012.

Minka

Minka from Birdling Films on Vimeo.

A poetic documentary found on Made with Kickstarter, a series by the New York Times, about a Japanese farmhouse, taken apart an rebuilt by an American Journalist, John Roderick, Japanese and China correspondent for the Associated Press and his Japanese adopted son.