Thursday, July 21, 2011

TIKI HOUSES

I just stumbled on a TV reality show called "Monster House," where a homeowner allows a friend to completely redo his house. In this case (above) the friend was artist Kim Larson (and company), and she decided to give the house a Tiki look.

She fashioned this fireplace out of chicken wire and insulating foam. I think she did all the work in this room in a day, which isn't bad considering that she wasn't used to the materials. She also changed the shower so it would deliver lots of mist rather than a steady stream of water. That's an interesting idea. Could you get clean that way? Would breathing all that mist be good for you? I'm not sure. I'd like to try it, though.

She also rigged up a mister and a big, Hollywood wind machine on the roof, looking down onto the pool. The idea was to simulate tropical storms. Fascinating!


Larson was apologetic about the fireplace sculpture. She wanted to do something more detailed like the green fireplace above, but had to settle for something that could be done fast. She only had five days to do everything.


The show made me curious to see what renovations other people did on a Tiki theme, so I googled it. What came up were mostly computer images like this one (above). It looks like the Tarzan/Swiss Family Robinson house at Disneyland. I love stuff like this! I even like the way it's on an island or a sand bar. Very nice as long as the weather's okay. 


Here's (above) another beach-style house built over water. Nice. Imagine a house like this built in the suburbs over an artificial deep pond. Imagine tunas swimming in the water. Not very realistic, but fun to think about.


Here's (above) a novel idea for a beach house...I think the caption called it a "Tahiti Wind House." Fascinating! I wouldn't mind a wind house if the furniture was weather proof and nailed down, and the structure was sturdy. Imagine sitting in your walless living room while a thunderstorm raged all around you. Imagine the waves smashing against the nearby rocks. Sigh! But it's impractical, I know.


I can't help thinking, though, that one day it will be possible. One day you'll be able to walk around your walless, temperature controlled house in your pajamas, and nobody walking by will be able to see you. All they'll see in the window slots will be black.

You, on the other hand, will be able to observe passersby as if there was no barrier at all between you and them. Total security, too. No one enters unless you want them too. How will all this be done? That's for the people after us to figure out.


Let them figure this one (above) out, too. A tree house offshore in the ocean! How do you tease a forest tree like this one to grow in the ocean shallows? I don't know. I figure that just about anything we can think of will become possible sooner or later.



12 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:24 AM

    I really like the designs of the tiki houses. Some of it seems impractical, but fascinating. Do you have a theory on how to build an ideal man cave?

    I'm turning 17 next week. Phew! Can't believe the year already went by that quickly. Soon I'll be a 45 year old man without even knowing it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13 PM

      Way sooner than you think!

      Delete
  3. Bente wrote this comment on a previous post about Gary Larson. Can anybody here help him?

    Bente writes:

    Dear eddie
    I really really hope you could help mee! I am a Danish PHd student which is to teach epidemiology and I have been desperately looking for a surden Gary Larson Cartoon which would be PERFECT! to illustrate the subject, as a contrast to working as a doctor ( which I myself is)
    It ( as I remember) shows people falling off a cliff and doctosrs standing at other side of the cliff, treating people but not considering how they got hurt.. Does it ring a bell? :-S
    I hope you ( Or someone else?) could help med with a reference for a cartoonbook or somewhere online it can be found... My mail is bentesander@hotmail.com.
    thanks a lot :-D
    Bente

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:50 PM

    http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/07/frank-lloyd-wrights-forgotten-gas-station-of-the-future/242250/

    I've read my complete Far Side collection about 8 times and I'm almost certain he never drew that cartoon, since it would have rang a bell.

    Maybe it was drawn by a cartoonist who has a similar art style to Gary

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. christian6:48 PM

    great stuff as always eddie!

    found this today, may be right up your alley


    http://ridiculouspicturesofcelinedion.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Christian: Haw! Great expressions! She actually sued over pictures like that?

    ReplyDelete
  8. christian5:17 AM

    Yeah she did! However the great minds of the internet started mirroring the original website, and so they will remain available, thankfully. (the streisand effect its called btw)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:00 PM

    i have watched the t.a.m.i show a fantastic show for fans of early 60s music it has the beach boys, james brown,the supremes, and many others but eddie what music do you like

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anon: I love that show, and even did a post about it. Mike F. and John K. turned me on to it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I stumbled across this site in doing research for an art project, but if you like tiki Uncle Eddie you should check out tiki central forums; it has more tiki-riffic stuff than you can shake a bamboo stick at: http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/index.php

    ReplyDelete