In The Box

Looking for somewhere to hold your next meeting? We think we have come across two fine options that are certain to liven up any dull encounter with the suits.

Who needs a board room, when you could have a Cratehouse. If you think this merely looks like a bunch of yellow crates sitting on two shipping containers, then you are correct, however this is fast becoming the town of Castleford in West Yorkshire, England's biggest landmark. Move over Big Ben.

The brainchild of German artists Wolfgang Winter and Berthold Horbelt who have been creating art landmarks for public spaces all over the world since 1992, the Cratehouse uses recycled, everyday objects to create a functional space for shelter, meeting and entertainment. The containers are homage to the industrial heritage of the town and the crates are there to remind us not to take the objects that contribute to our contemporary lifestyles for granted.

Whatever your take on it, if you are ever in the area be sure to stop of by, it will definitely be a talking point in your holiday photo album.



Next up we have the Dot Dot Drawing Room, which was installed as part of the Inside Out programme at the Cragside estate in Northumberland, England. This was the country home of Lord Armstrong and was the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power, hence it has been in the care of the National Trust since 1977.

So what exactly is this unusual looking structure you may be asking. Designed by London based Tod Hansen, this piece was commissioned to provide an opportunity for visitors to have an alternative experience of Cragside while the house was closed for rewiring.

This 'sculptural chamber' remodels the house's exotic cushioned drawing room into an iron-clad vault and aims to fuse the two worlds of Victorian domestic interiors and modern industrial superstructures. Looking something straight from the Cluedo game board, we wonder what other opulent interiors could also be transformed this way. By Brendan
McKnight