Shrek and Donkey invite guests to stay in Shrek’s Swamp Airbnb
CategoriesInterior Design

Shrek and Donkey invite guests to stay in Shrek’s Swamp Airbnb

Rental website Airbnb has designed Shrek’s Swamp, a grass-and-mud-covered hut underneath a tree in the Scottish Highlands.

The small house, which has a bare-earth floor, is described as “a stumpy, secluded haven fit for a solitude-seeking ogre”.

Exterior of Shrek's Swamp house
The holiday home is located underneath a tree trunk

It is being hosted by Donkey, Shrek’s best friend, who is swamp-sitting while Shrek himself is away for Halloween, according to an Airbnb description written as if by Donkey himself.

In it, he says: “I love everything about the swamp: the boulder out front, the modest interiors, the seclusion (ideal for singing karaoke late into the night), you get the picture”.

Shrek's Swamp Airbnb interior
It features rough-hewn wooden furniture

The holiday home, which sleeps up to three guests, has an open-plan design, with a sturdy wooden bed leaning against one wall.

A matching table and two wooden chairs sit in front of an open fire on the opposite side of the house, which is held up by large tree trunks.

Fish light in Shrek house
A fish-shaped lamp decorates the bedside table

Shrek’s Swamp Airbnb also features decorative touches, including a green “earwax candle” – a nod to a scene in which Shrek pulls out a stick of earwax from his ear and lights it.

It also has a bedside lamp that looks like a stuffed pufferfish.

Table in Shrek's home
The dining table sits in front of an open fire

Visitors can also make use of Shrek’s outhouse, a well-known location from multiple Shrek films, which is located about 20 metres away from the swamp itself.

Located in a forest in the Scottish Highlands, the hut is surrounded by signs reading “Stay out”, “Beware Ogre” and “Danger!” though these are “probably for decoration”, according to Donkey.

The home will be available to book from 13 October for a two-night stay between 27 and 29 October and comes with an on-site concierge who will arrange meals for the guests – including morning waffles and parfaits.

“This mud-laden, moss-covered, murky-watered oasis is a perfectly snug spot to escape from village life and embrace the beauty of nature,” Airbnb said.

Interior of Shrek's Swamp Airbnb
The home has a bare-earth floor

The company will make a one-time donation to the HopScotch Children’s Charity as part of the project.

Airbnb also recently helped Ken rent out Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse and listed a 1970s wood cabin located in the iconic Sea Ranch development in California.

The photography is courtesy of Alix McIntosh.

Reference

Robots helping children with disabilities stay on track
CategoriesSustainable News

Robots helping children with disabilities stay on track

Spotted: Teaching in an inclusive manner that makes full use of accessibility technologies can greatly “improve the potential for learning in children and youth with learning disabilities.” Robots have been used in recent years to assist students with autism spectrum disorder, and now a team of researchers at the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL) at the University of Waterloo in Canada has created a robot to help students with learning disabilities stay focused on the tasks at hand.  

Led by Dr Kerstin Dautenhahn, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, the group tested a social assistance robot named QT in classrooms. Instructors use a tablet to communicate with the robot, including indicating when the robot is to lead a one-on-one lesson with a student. 

QT uses hand and head gestures, as well as changing facial expressions and speech to communicate. In order to help students stay attuned to the lesson, the robot uses a mix of jokes, games, breathing exercises, and physical movement.  

The studies found that the students who learned alongside the robot completed more of their tasks than those without QT. Now, the research team is planning further studies of the robot’s assistive capabilities, along with ways in which the technology could be made more widely accessible.  

From an online assessment that identifies children struggling to read to a mobile-first education platform, Springwise is spotting innovations making education fun and easy to access for a range of abilities.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Want to Stay Relevant in Architecture? Become an Adaptive Reuse or Renovation Expert
CategoriesArchitecture

Want to Stay Relevant in Architecture? Become an Adaptive Reuse or Renovation Expert

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter. 

Few architectural design processes begin with a blank slate. Rarely is a plot of land as flat and featureless as the sheets of paper used to plan it. This is especially the case in our post-industrial cities, where something likely already exists on that plot. Perhaps a Victorian redbrick or a shingled house that has seen better days? These buildings generally have a host of structural problems that can cause headaches for architects and engineers. And the easiest solution always seems to be to tear it all down and start anew.

But demolishing and starting from scratch is also a lost opportunity to rehabilitate the history and character of a place. By destroying the ‘outdated’ buildings that seem to cause us so many headaches, we are erasing the cultural heritage of our neighborhoods. While preservation projects can be prescriptive, adaptive reuse invites architects the flex their creative muscles by finding a way to express the evolution of a building and neighborhood. Almost paradoxically, renovation projects rely on innovative thought and cutting-edge technologies. Meanwhile, to paraphrase form AIA President Carl Elefante, “the greenest building is one already built”. Retrofitting existing structures is a conscionable alternative to the carbon-intensive nature of new construction.

The Westmount Building, by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, took home the Popular Choice prize in the 10th Annual A+Awards. The firm transformed a century-old, three-storey brick building — a patchwork of decades-old neglect with mismatched bricks and randomly positioned windows — into a vibrant, urban-oriented community hub.

More and more, adaptive reuse projects are being undertaken by a diverse range of firms — often, these projects are topping awards lists that were once reserved for ground-up constructions. For all of these reasons and more, we are highlighting architecture firms on this week’s job’s board who are willing to give old buildings a second chance. Whether with refurbishing projects or meticulous renovations, these firms are proving that the old can be a fertile source for reinvention. Not all ‘new’ buildings need to be completely new. Sometimes incorporating or preserving elements of old buildings serves as a gift both to the past and to the present.

Tyler Engle Architects — who are currently hiring a Project Architect for their Seattle studio — are no strangers to providing old buildings with a new lease of life.

Freyer Collaborative, an architectural design firm in New York City, also has a diverse portfolio of renovations that stylishly incorporate pre-existing buildings into their high-end residential projects. They are currently looking to hire an Intern Architect.

MJA+A Architects are hiring for an architectural drafter for their offices in New York City. The firm focuses on renovations and restorations for commercial and residential projects both big and small.

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter. 

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