Kithaus recently installed one of their K3 Modernist modules in Big Sur, California. Designed by Tom Sandonato and Martin Wehmann, the K3 is a 9’ x 13’ pre-wired prefab module that is made of a lot of lightweight anodized aluminium that does not require heavy equipment to get it to the installation site. Interestingly, along with the Airstream CCD, the Kithaus K3 is available through DWR.

+ kithaus.com
+ dwr.com

It's snowing here again, in April!, and frankly I'd rather be somewhere warmer, somewhere like say, Silver Lake, CA (aka Willamsburg West). Bohemian Modern is the illustrated guide to Silver Lake, a creative enclave in the midst of Los Angeles and the birthplace of BoMo. As a guide, it touches on the community spirit there and walks the reader through town with stops at restaurants and various other hipster merchants. Silver Lake is also well known as the home to a variety of iconic Modern-era houses by the likes of Neutra and Lautner (a Neutra house is featured in the book), but also includes more contemporary houses including the Lexton MacCarthy House, an early design by Lorcan O'Herlihy. Warning: even though it's penned by an architect, don't expect much Silver Lake architecture in this book, it's more of a city guide. More images from the book at Amazon. Hardcover, 272 pages, well illustrated, $23.07 at Amazon.

+ Bohemian Modern at Amazon

This week's MoCo picks.

+ Congrats to MoCo contributor Sally Kuchar, Dwell NextHouse: Silicon Valley Interior Designer. The NextHouse, a sustainable design prefab house, opened to the public on March 27th.

+ The Westlakebridge Cottage Project, a "story about building a vacation house - not the traditional wooden 'swiss chalet'-style weekend cabin - but a modern almost all glass and steel house, conceived as a bridge over a pond". Via materialicious.

+ Architect Juan Sebastián Espejo's Casa en El Pangal, Chile at Plataforma Arquitectura.

+ The Tuttobene Milan Preview 2008 at Core77, "They're also taking over the Nhow Hotel basement to create a Tuttobene Design Forest, a space which can be viewed through the glass floor entry of the hotel.".

+ Michiel van der Kley's upholstered leather Humdrum chair, "a one-piece hollow tube like chair. A monolithic and transparent design.". Via DESIGNSPOTTER.

+ Sotirios Papadopoulos' Fullmoon sideboard for ennezero, with a moon that glows in the dark. Via Yatzer.

+ Roderick Vos' circular shelving unit Linteloo, "like a carrousel, the shelf can be spun around to access the books at the back.". Via designboom.

+ Yasser Ballemans' Beautiful Times clock shows only selected hours of the day, then they're displayed as long as it takes till the next time. Via cribcandy and Apartment Therapy.

At MoCo Loco we don't editorialize often, ok at all, but every once in a while we gotta say something. Via PSFK and swissmiss, uber designer Philippe Starck, in an interview in Germany's Die Zeit weekly, answers a question we've been asking of designers for a while now; The world is already full of 'stuff' – as a designer, why do you choose to create more?

His answer: “I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary. I will definitely give up in two years’ time."

To that we say, why wait, go for it right now, get someone on the team to wind down the business or send out refund checks. Philippe, we luv ya, but there isn't an object on the planet you haven't designed, are you really saying that all design by extension is about crass materialism? You know we're all going to keep consuming stuff. Why don't you devote that substantial talent and media savvy of yours to making stuff that's smarter, more sustainable, and dare we say it, cool, in that gotta have it, materialistic way you know so well. Or is this really about clients who aren't quite ready to make the big changes required to create the smarter, more sustainable, cool design? Greenwashing got you down? It's not going to be easy. The world's top two most populous countries are now getting a taste for said stuff, so we're gonna make a lot more of it, most of it instantly disposable. You of all people could make a difference. Step up to the profession that served you so well, montre nous l'amour pour la planète Philippe.

So sleek, so small – whatever can it be?
The Mesiro Home Entertainment PC is a digital all-in-one that fits tidily into the context of the living room. The Merium allows Internet access and lets you to enjoy on your TV anything for which you would usually use your monitor. The Merium PC can be personalized by way of different covers and is powered by a Core2Duo running Windows Vista Home Premium.

+ mesiro.com

+ Francisca Prieto is launching her Blossom Light at ICFF in May. Blossom is a rotating acrylic lamp whose petals are individually adjustable – over 100 pieces are laser cut and assembled by hand.

+ Clocky is the alarm clock by Nanda that rings once, then jumps off the bedside table and wheels around the room. No snooze and now available in a lively chrome.

+ The Myriad end table by Emil Design makes playful use of many legs. Also worth taking a look at is the Myriad spiral coffee table on the Emil website.

+ Damaris and Marc’s Box’n’Green system is a table designed to conceal the mess associated with multiple chargers.

Korean product designer Kihyun Kim will be exhibiting the Candle Flowerpot in Milan. When the candle comes to the end of the wick, the paraffin pot can be used as a flowerpot.