Friday, 25 January 2008 |

Looking for somewhere to hold your next meeting? We think we have come
across two fine options that are certain to liven up any dull encounter
with the suits.
Who needs a board room, when you could have a Cratehouse. If you think this merely looks like a bunch of yellow
crates sitting on two shipping containers, then you are correct,
however this is fast becoming the town of Castleford in West Yorkshire,
England's biggest landmark. Move over Big Ben.
The brainchild of German artists Wolfgang Winter and Berthold Horbelt
who have been creating art landmarks for public spaces all over the
world since 1992, the Cratehouse uses recycled, everyday objects to
create a functional space for shelter, meeting and entertainment. The
containers are homage to the industrial heritage of the town and the
crates are there to remind us not to take the objects that contribute
to our contemporary lifestyles for granted.
Whatever your take on it, if you are ever in the area be sure to stop
of by, it will definitely be a talking point in your holiday photo
album.

Next up we have the Dot Dot Drawing Room, which was installed as
part of the Inside Out programme at the Cragside estate in
Northumberland, England. This was the country home of Lord Armstrong
and was the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric
power, hence it has been in the care of the National Trust since 1977.
So what exactly is this unusual looking structure you may be asking.
Designed by London based Tod Hansen, this piece was commissioned to
provide an opportunity for visitors to have an alternative experience
of Cragside while the house was closed for rewiring.
This 'sculptural chamber' remodels the house's exotic cushioned drawing
room into an iron-clad vault and aims to fuse the two worlds of
Victorian domestic interiors and modern industrial superstructures.
Looking something straight from the Cluedo game board, we wonder what
other opulent interiors could also be transformed this way. By Brendan
McKnight
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