Wednesday's News: Building a tree house, joining the jolly sailor and a funeral for a home

Hello and welcome to Wednesday’s news blog! As London becomes ever more Dickensian in its constant cloud of smog, the mydeco team consider it our duty to brighten your day with the best (and the weirdest) design news from around the globe. Take a look and see what’s on offer today…

mydeco’s pick of the top three news stories:

1. Inhabitat: Beautiful buildings made from whole trees

Image credit: Inhabitat

There are certain buzzwords that commonly trigger feelings of innate boredom. Sustainable. Ecological. Paris Hilton. Luckily, companies such as Whole Tree Architecture are helping to make this a thing of the past, with an approach to design that is both environmentally friendly and visually stimulating. Instead of milling trees to simply harvest the largest piece of lumber, whole ‘weed trees’ (branches and all) are used to create the supporting structures for new residential and commercial builds. The results are easy on the eye as well as the environment.

2. dornob: Swimming cities: Floating trash or modern pirate treasure?

Image credit: dornob

As Peter Pan will tell you, growing up is no fun. But don’t worry, it’s not too late to fulfil childhood pirate fantasies – simply join the crew of musicians and artists that this floating mobile home has picked up on its travels around the world. Built from scrap wood, metal and textiles by street artist Swoon, the structure looks more like the floating equivalent of a hobo’s shopping trolley than a pirate ship. Still, that never bothered Huck Finn…

3 dornob: Dead Houses: Crafted in memory of lost and destroyed homes

Image Credit: dornob

I constantly bewilder my friends by naming inanimate objects (my hoover is called Kevin), so I can empathise with artist Loren Schwerd, who feels that a house, despite being made out of bricks and mortar, has a life of its own. Not in a literal sense of course, but by the memories it holds: certain features or rooms are the landmarks of experience. It is with this in mind that Schwerd created The Mourning Portrait Series - commemorative sculptural interpretations of houses abandoned or destroyed that are effectively architectural ‘lost souls’.

The best of the rest:

Techwatch: Broadband is the key to the property door

The Times: Kitchen Comfort Zones

The Times: Christie’s auction of items from country home of Yves Saint Laurent

The Times: The grandest B&B in Britain

The Independent: Looks good on paper

The Independent: Garden winter warmers

The Telegraph: Selling houses when the price is not right

The Telegraph: The Garden that sells the house

The Observer: My space: Marc Quinn, sculptor

The Observer: How to transform old household goods

Design Week: Interiors Birmingham to showcase new design