Dwell spotlights the Berlin home of German typographer and designer, Erik Spiekermann', a modern seven-story house (!) filled with keen details like zip open cloth panels for access to electrical outlets, a geothermal heating system in the basement, and most impressively, a remote-controlled mountaineer’s harness to access their tomes from a 2-story bookshelf! Check out the slideshow and complete Dwell feature, A Rational Approach.

[Photo by: Pia Ulin]
Comments (4)
Amazing as always, and I love the attention to detail... but... it all comes off a bit stiff and corporate. And some of the few organic, human touches such as the zebra print chair seem to speak to a late realization that humans would be living here.
The San Fran house they built is more my cup of tea. Much more warmth. As a designer myself, I feel that sometimes working with constraints, such as those that came with the San Fran house really bring out the creative, problem solving impulses much more readily... whereas total freedom can be cloying.
Whoa! The unzipped cloth on the wall is very cool.
Is the cloth covered outlet safe?
I'm sure the cloth covered outlet is safe, but it's a hygienic nightmare. It's a great trap for dust and allergens as well as being difficult to clean. Assuming of course that you can't just easily disconnect it and throw it in the wash.