How to paint a Playhouse? | Design Guide
Posted by BenzuJK in Design Guide on May 9, 2013
Playhouse Design
Playhouses are loved by both girls and boys. They imagine the playhouse as their very own castle where they could invite their friends to play and eat. Selection of colour is very important and has to be done carefully. Lighter shades should be preferred so that it looks lively and bright. If in case there is no electricity in the playhouse, darker shades would end up making the interiors of the playhouse dark even during the daytime. Selection of colours for the playhouse will also depend on the age and gender of your child. If it is a girl child, then you could go for colours in red, pink, purple and yellow whereas if it is a boy then you could prefer using combinations and shades of blue, black and white.
Bright colours make the playhouse vibrant and attractive.
Things you will need:
- Exterior caulk
- Electric Sanders or sandpaper
- Paint brushes
- Primer
- All exterior paint
Step 1
Exterior Caulking
Use the exterior caulking tubes to seal the cracks around the doors and windows of the playhouse so that the rain water does not seep into the playhouse.
Step 2
Electric Sanders or Sandpaper
After having sealed the cracks, use the sanders or a medium-grit sandpaper to smooth-en the exterior and interior surface of the playhouse. Also, rub around the edges so that they are smooth to touch.
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How to decorate a White Bedroom?
Posted by BenzuJK in Design Guide on May 7, 2013
Guide to decorating a White Bedroom
Decorating bedrooms is a very interesting and creative opportunity for you to explore your ideas. White bedrooms reflect sophistication. You can be creative with the blank walls and give a warm, relaxing and spacious feel to your bedroom. Personalize your bedroom by hanging your favorite posters or paintings or a cork-board where you could pin up your schedule.
Black duvet covers serve as a focal point in the white bedroom.
Hanging Posters or Paintings
Frame the family and friends photos and hang them in your bedroom to personalize it. You can also pin the motivational posters, movie banners or the posters of your favorite movie stars. Buy an art book from a second hand store and frame the pages and hang them on the wall. Make it thematic by selecting the colors of the posters such that they complement each other. Make sure that the walls are sturdy enough to support the thick nails for your frames.
Placing Mirrors
Decorate the bedroom by placing a mirror on one of the walls. The wall across the window is a prime position for placing a mirror so that it receives natural light and reflects it into the bedroom. This is a good decorating trick for a small space. Apart from making the bedroom bright, it gives an illusion of spaciousness.
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How to design a Duplex? | Architectural Design
Posted by BenzuJK in Design Guide on March 29, 2013
Guide to designing a Duplex
In one of our previous articles, we discussed the detailed procedure for designing an Artists house. The point being, the procedure is the same for all the architectural projects you do.
There are two major steps in designing a Duplex
- Conducting a casestudies of Duplexes
- Designing
Designing can be further split into three phases:
- Conceptual Sketching
- Developing Single line plans
- Developing Double line plans
Four things you would need for the design of Duplex:
- Willingness to do the live casestudies of duplexes
- Online research
- Paper, Pencil for conceptual sketching
- CAD software
We need to conduct case studies of individual duplexes or apartments that house duplexes. You might wonder, why is that required? Let me remind you that case studies are the backbone of our design. When we design, we begin with listing out requirements. So for example, if we are designing a building and have no clue about its requirements, we would never be able to get it right. You might be able to design it but with respect to functionality of the structure, it would not be perfect.
Following aspects have to be studied whilst conducting a case study of a Duplex:
- study the circulation,
- the requirements,
- calculate the number of people it caters to;
- calculate the areas of individual spaces such as bedroom, bathroom, Hall, Dining, Kitchen, Utility etc.
This will give you a very detailed idea of what requirements you should be looking at.
Also, I shouldn’t forget mentioning about the study of connectivity of the spaces which is very important to understand.
“Efficient connectivity is the soul of any design”.
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Technology and Sustainability
Posted by BenzuJK in Sustainable Design on February 26, 2013
Should we rely on Technological innovations to achieve Sustainability?
Sustainability is very complex a subject to understand. If it is taken literally, it feels so simple but is very deep in its meaning. It has varied contexts ranging from macro to micro contexts. It has its roots in every field possible, ranging from fashion designing, product designing, Architecture, Urban Planning etc. each field being so different from the other.
How do we think of technological innovations when we think of sustainability? The way world changed in the past 100 years is because of the technological innovations that took place. How dependent we really are on technology? To be honest, the quality of life became better, our life styles changed after the industrial revolution after which our societies have been continuously changing and evolving and taking a step higher and higher with regards to lifestyle changes. The amount of resources we used up in the past 100 years is enormous and we are aware that we can never reverse the cycle.
So, it is important to think, if we should continue on the same path. We all feel trapped because we know that we are heading towards a natural resources crisis that could bring our lifestyles to a standstill. Inspite of the awareness, we still continue to use the resources ruthlessly without giving a thought of what might happen to our future generations. How would they survive if we were to use up all the resources on earth?
The most important question is, “Can we still rely on the technological innovation to give us solutions on how to live sustainably without having to compromise on our current lifestyles?” Should we still place our faith in innovation? Would it be the right thing to do?
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Recycled OR New Modern Furniture?? | Sustainable Design
Posted by BenzuJK in Design Guide, Sustainable Design, Thesis Project on December 14, 2012
Step-wise procedure for conducting a research on Furniture Design
In this article, we will discuss the steps for carrying out a research on the proposed topic. This research will help us evaluate if the concept of recycled furniture is workable and whether it could be profitable as compared to the New modern furniture made from new materials.
Step One:
Study the process of making recycled furniture. This would include studying the materials for the furniture, the factories, the energy resources required for the manufacture, amount of skilled and unskilled labour and finally the costs.
Step two:
Where have they been used? Study the successful examples of the use of recycled furniture in various countries and analyse the reasons behind their success.
It is also important to consider the negative aspects of the same. It is important to know why people wouldn’t want to prefer recycled furniture and that should be very clear.
Dining Table | New Modern Furniture
Step three:
Remember for any venture to become a success, it has to be profitable. If it is not, then nobody will care to pay attention towards it. This applies for both the consumer as well as the manufacturer.
Analysis of the profit and loss for a company manufacturing recycled materials for the furniture has to be done. It is important to know whether these run in loss or in profit which will give you an idea of the interest that people show towards using recycled furniture.
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Problems in the city of Brighton | Sustainable Development
Posted by BenzuJK in Architecture, Sustainable Design, Town Planning, Videos on December 11, 2012
Sustainable Urban Development in the United Kingdom
Movie Dialog:
Mr. Henry (the old man): Hello Benazir! How are you?
Architect Benazir: Hello Mr. Henry! I am good. Nice to meet you.
Mr. Henry (the old man): I am so glad that you are an Architect! There are some important issues to discuss. I was looking forward for a discussion with you regarding the so called eco towns.
Architect Benazir:Oh great! I would love that!
Mr. Henry (the old man): What are eco towns?
Towns which are ecologically sensitive are called eco towns.
Mr. Henry (the old man): Does that mean we have to compromise on our lifestyle?
Architect Benazir:Well, I do not know if you would call it compromising your way of living but its entire intention is to make human life more comfortable and save it from destruction.
Mr. Henry (the old man): Alright!That sounds good. So, how different are eco towns from our conventional towns and cities?
Architect Benazir:Ecotowns will fully support pedestrianization and cycling activity and focus on enhancing public transport.
Mr. Henry (the old man): Pedestrianization and cycling?? Hold on to that. Aren’t we having enough of it at Brighton right now?The streets have been narrowed down by drawing 2D cycle pictures on the road making it uncomfortable for cars and buses.
Architect Benazir:I don’t understand what you mean? Could you give an example?
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Planning and Interior Design for a Major Securities Trading Office
Posted by BenzuJK in Architectural Drawing on November 17, 2012
Sometime ago, I was approached by a businessman. He owned a successful securities trading company. Trading in all sorts of securities like stocks, bonds, commodities, metals. He had recently acquired some commercial office space for a major expansion. My task was to design a floor plan according to their requirements.
I visited the place for inspection. It was a large hall, with dimensions 45′ x 90′. I had to deal with a few existing columns, but it was decent.
Empty Commercial Space
I was given a few requirements, but it was still flexible. More requirements were to be added later. The building was already constructed, so external window locations were already fixed.
Basic requirements as laid down by the client were
- Reception and Waiting Lobby
- Trading area with a capacity of upto 50 workstations
- Lounge area for people meeting the CEO
- CEO Cabin
- CEO Rest room with attached bath
- Conference Room for upto 10 people
- Pantry
- Three private cabins for directors
- Three more cabins for managers
- Two discussion rooms for their sales team
- Server Room
- Common toilets
So, I began working on the drawing, and after many hours of hard work, and many revisions, I got my first drawing ready which had to be presented to the client for further deliberation.
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