RAMBLING THOUGHTS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE

Hmmmm. I've decided that what I really want to live in is a converted 19th Century railroad station like the one above, but (Sigh!) what's the chance of that?

 Of course, a neo-craftsman house would be nice, too.

So would a one-of-kind artist's house like the one Carl Larsson built for himself!

Here's the same house with the color pumped up.

Wouldn't it be great to have a family room with a built in theatre like the one above? All family rooms should include a stage.

 On another subject, I take a lot of abuse from friends who don't understand why I like Ikea so much.  For them the store (above) is just a repository for cheap furniture. They're not getting the revolution that's happening there. Ikea is taking apartment design and applying it to homes. There's a youthful,  just-getting-started-in-life quality to some of the dioramas you find there, and I find them exhilarating. .

Traditional living rooms (like the blue room to the right) are meant to be fortresses against the world. They're a place of rest. The presumption is that you've had a hard day at work and just want to read the paper or watch TV. Not so the Ikea living room. Their living room is a place to work and think as well as rest. It's meant to be stimulating. That's the real revolution that's happening in architecture now, and no large company embodies that more than Ikea.

On my last trip to that store my mind was blown by the room above. Look at those greenhouse struts; you could hang anything on them! The room is so playful, so adaptable to any use you might have for it, and yet it's right next to the kitchen which is meant to be functional. In a real house you'd probably choose to have a permanent eating spot close by, but to put an anything room off to one side is pure inspiration!