Leura Lane House by Cooper Scaife Architects

Australian architectural firm Cooper Scaife Architects has created the Leura Lane House.

This contemporary house in Hamilton, Australia, features a skill ion roof and was designed to achieve a high level of energy efficiency.

Leura Lane House by Cooper Scaife Architects:

“This project is a prototype for a system of energy-efficient modular housing, designed specifically for rural blocks. The Leura Lane house is a ‘2 bedroom model’ comprised of two separate pavilions: one containing a carport and storerooms; the other containing living quarters. The independence of these two pavilions gives complete flexibility to orientate the carport to face the street, while the living areas of the house can be oriented north or towards preferred views. The house is linear in plan, with living areas at one end, the entry and utility spaces in the center and bedrooms at the opposite end. This plan provides the flexibility for additional bedrooms, bathrooms or living spaces to be added to the basic model.

Energy efficiency is a strong focus of the design. The house achieved an 8.2 star energy rating through the use of passive design principles, readily available materials and standard construction methods. The living spaces are oriented to maximize solar gain in winter, with the large skill ion roof calculated to provide summer shade. High levels of bulk and reflective insulation are installed in both the walls and ceiling and all windows are double glazed with an argon-filled cavity. Thermal mass is located in the floor slab, which is insulated from the earth to maintain warmth in the predominantly cold climate of southern Victoria. The narrow floor plan of the house allows for substantial cross ventilation and the roof space is vented for summer cooling.

The site is a semi-rural landscape on the edge of town that contained a significant amount of native vegetation. The use of natural materials that responded to this context was an important consideration and a restrained, simple palette was used both externally and internally. The interior has a warm, earthy ambiance with terrazzo tiles throughout the house and Australian hardwoods used extensively. The exterior is clad in spotted gum which will slowly weather to a silver grey as the building ages.”

Crowdfunded full-sized Lego Hot Rod runs on air

Legos stand the test of time. Anyone who is a parent realizes it when they sit down with their child (or grandchild) and start creating a fort or house or car out of the famous colored interlocking bricks. It’s still fun. So it’s no surprise that some of us take our Lego obsession a little too seriously. That leads us to Australian Steve Sammartino and his 20-year old Romanian technology partner, Raul Oaida.

The two men started the “Super Awesome Micro Project,” which raised enough cash (between $500-1000) to acquire over half-a-million Lego bricks to construct a full-sized Lego car. The two built the car in Romania before moving it to Australia.

The car has a 256-piston, air-powered Lego radial engine, capable going up to 18 mph. The only non-Lego parts are the gauges, while rims and tires.

Kudos to Sammartino, Oaida and the “Super Awesome Micro Project” – it really is pretty super and pretty awesome.

Burberry announces Spring/Summer 2014 campaign

British fashion brand Burberry has announced its Spring/Summer 2014 global media campaign. The campaign will feature a new British cast who will be under the creative direction of Christopher Bailey. The campaign will be shot by Mario Testino.

The Spring/Summer 2014 campaign will reportedly be romantic and gentle. It features the Prorsum, London and Brit collections, highlighting the men’s and women’s outerwear and accessories, which will be available in stores worldwide beginning January 3, 2014.

The young British cast continues Burberry’s support of emerging talent and features British actor Jamie Campbell Bower, British musician Leo Dobson and British models Malaika Firth, Matilda Lowther, Neelam Johal, Callum Ball and newcomer Jean Campbell.

“There’s a distinctly English mood to this season – a gentle, effortless, romantic quality – brought to life by a cast of bright young British talent,” said Christopher Bailey, Burberry Chief Creative Officer.

The campaign will be unlocked across global platforms including outdoor and print advertising, Burberry.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest.

Marc Jacobs Reveals Final Louis Vuitton Campaign with Star-Studded Icons

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs has unveiled his final Louis Vuitton campaign before moving on to his namesake label. Photographed by Steven Meisel for the Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2014 advertising campaign, Marc dedicates his swan song to his fashion muses Sofia Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, Gisele Bündchen, Fan Bingbing, Edie Campbell and Caroline de Maigret.

Shot in a New York studio in a subdued setting, the famous faces model a series of the label’s most iconic designs, including monogrammed luggage, chic bucket bag, the Noé bag and Stephen Sprouse sequins. The dark feathered looks from the LV spring runway show are also featured in the campaign.

“It was a very emotional shoot, and I find this shows in the images. It’s not a melancholic campaign. It’s really celebrating women who inspire Marc,” said Frédéric Winckler, Vuitton’s communications and events director. “It’s product and people: showing a strong emotional connection between products and the people who wear them.”

The simple yet striking campaign is a classic finale to Marc’s time at Louis Vuitton. It’s a look back, a reminder, and a final farewell to a remarkable career. He’s made his ‘mark’ on Louis Vuitton.

Marc’s successor at Louis Vuitton is Nicolas Ghesquiere, who left Balenciaga last year.

“He is a brilliant designer and he’ll do something completely different,” Marc said earlier this month. “I’m curious to see what he’ll do. We have such different aesthetics. Things need to change. I’m really glad someone I respect and admire and think is a really great talent is there.”

Cara Delevingne Teases New YSL Campaign on Instagram

Top model Cara Delevingne has teased a still from a new campaign for YSL to her 3.5 million followers on Instagram. Adding “New YSL coming soon…,” London’s Cara looks sultry in the upcoming Yves Saint Laurent campaign. With sexy red lipstick and feline eyes, Cara poses against a red background in a sheer black dress.

The 21-year old rebellious model is at an all-time career high. According to Google, the British “it girl” was also the most searched fashion figure in the UK in 2013. She beat Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood to the top spot, with the designers coming in second and third. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as the social-media obsessed model has dominated headlines, campaigns and runways – from Victoria’s Secret to Chanel’s Couture show. In addition to her Instagram-groupies, Cara has over 1,272,000 followers on Twitter.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Christie’s Auction Raises $38.8 million

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s 11th Hour auction at Christie’s raised over $38.8 million Monday night in New York.

In an effort to raise money for environmental protection causes, the Hollywood star and Christie’s auctioned off works from the world’s most famous artists including Banksy, Andreas Gursky, Bharti Kher, Julian Schnabel, Richard Prince, Mark Ryden and more.

Pictured below is a portrait of DiCaprio by American artist Elizabeth Peyton. It sold for a shocking $1.05 million to an unknown bidder at the auction.

The 11th Hour auction was dedicated to protect the last wild places on earth and endangered species, with the money raised at the auction going to conservation projects championed by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The star-studded auction attracted actors like Bradley Cooper, Salma Hayek and Tobey Maguire.

“Despite the significant efforts of organizations and individuals all over the world, our modern way of life has caused unprecedented devastation to our oceans, our forests and our wildlife,” the actor said. “We are at the 11th hour, we are facing a tipping point of environmental crisis unprecedented in human history.”

At the end of the night, the auction house said “The gifts of many other generous donors totaled $500,000, generating an overall amount of $38.8 million.”

Justin Bieber's Red Suit Was Inspired By ... Frank Sinatra?

Justin Bieber may have declared his retirement from music, but that doesn’t mean the Biebs will ever take a day off from bringing his own unique brand of style to the world. The star stepped out at the world premiere of Justin Bieber’s Believe in a red Balmain suit and white tasseled Del Toro smoking slippers — a look that his stylist tells PEOPLE was inspired by another singer that made ladies swoon: Frank Sinatra.


“I was told he’d be introducing his new artists to the world on the red carpet, so I instantly thought ‘Rat Pack’ — Justin Bieber as Frank Sinatra of course,” says his stylist Ugo Mozie. And though Bieber initially had asked for a white suit with red accents, Mozie steered things in a different direction: “As I put his look together, the red just took over. Red is powerful, sexy and masculine.”