Contemporary home in Prague incorporates a green roof, adding a speck of green to an urban dwelling

Located in the Hlubocepy district in Prague, Czech Republic is a family home alongside a wildlife corridor. Designed by RO_AR architecture studio, the home features a concrete roof topped with grass, and is intended to be a “bridge between the urban and the natural”. The home is meant to be a “clash of two geometries” and features a rectilinear form clad in thin oak slats.

Designer: RO_AR Architecture

“Urban space surrounds the site on the south and east sides. It is a chaotic and random development, often adversely affecting the value of the terrain. We designed a building that was created by the method of land deformation. The terrain was to transition smoothly from the north-west side into an artificial ‘hill’ into which the house was to be placed,” said studio founder Szymon Rozwałka.

Reminiscent of a hill, the grass-topped structure features a ground floor with an interesting carved form to accommodate a garage and an entrance sheltered by an overhanging first floor. A paved path connects the side of the house to the garden. The front of the home has a white render finish, and a oak batten cladding to provide privacy. While the back end of the home opens into the garden via fully-glazed facades.

“The home seeks to extend the natural context into the interior of the site and into the interiors. It becomes an abstract body that, through its form and scale, corresponds to the surrounding rocks in the background,” said Rozwalka. The first floor of the home features a room that expands into a small terrace, that is hidden from the surrounding properties with the help of a concrete wall. A paved patio has been placed outside the living area, and it faces a small pond.

The roof of the home is an exposed board-marked concrete ceiling from within, dotted with large skylights wherever the curves intersect. Concrete walls within the home are contrasted with wooden ceilings, staircases, black-metal frames, furniture, and fittings. The family house is a modern concrete wonder that also manages to beautifully incorporate a speck of green, and add a bit of nature to an otherwise urban dwelling.

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Google Stadia is now available in eight more European countries

Google has switched on Stadia in eight more European countries. Residents of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland will be able to start using the game-streaming service over the next day or so as G...

This AI-operated villa in the Czech Republic comes with panoramic views and needs no keys!

Artificial-intelligence controls Villa Sophia, designed by Coll Coll, which blooms at the top of a hill above Prague, Czech Republic. Described as the “center of the universe,” by its creators, Michaela Pankova and Karel Panek, the architecture of Villa Sophia really does seem to present itself as a sort of nucleus, quietly blending the omnipresence of today’s technology with timeless values of connectedness and sustainability. The minds behind the hideout, the villa’s habitants, aimed to integrate robust AI technology into each nook and cranny of the home while also ensuring that the villa embodied warmth and intimacy for social gatherings or alone time. 

The home incorporates impressive artificial intelligence throughout such as musical instruments that play themselves, lights that turn on without switches, along with verbal and haptic sensors that track your footsteps, your hand motions, and spoken word. Oh, and did we mention, this smart-house needs no keys! On the home’s AI technology, one of its creators, Michaela Pankova says, “The house is like a brain,” and the home certainly is smart. Aware of where everyone is inside the house, Villa Sophia’s AI system listens and adapts to the growing needs of the home’s residents so that just by inhabiting the home, everyone can enjoy the benefits that come with technological living. Room temperatures will adjust as soon as someone makes note of the cold. Come sunset, blue lighting dissipates so that the house provides optimal lighting for sleep. Deliveries always make it inside as the smart home can unlock and open doors after assessing who’s knocking. The home has as many technological capabilities as the human has thoughts, in this way, artificial and human intelligence work in tandem. 

Considering the home’s catalog of intellectual technology, sustainability and interconnection still breathe inside and outside Villa Sophia. The home is just as eco-friendly as it is tech-savvy, with responsibly sourced wood material and polyurethane floor finishing, the interior design makes the overall home that much more efficient and eco-conscious. From the rich, walnut wood finishes to the living space’s accessible ramp that slithers through a sloped chunk of the staircase, a seamless fusion of distinguished technological innovation with an acute awareness of the human’s urge to control pervade this villa.

Designer: Michaela Pankova and Karel Panek of Coll Coll

This article was sent to us using the ‘Submit A Design’ feature.
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The EU is testing cross-border COVID-19 contact tracing

Several European Union countries are testing a system that enables their COVID-19 contact tracing apps to work across borders. The apps for the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Latvia will exchange information during the trial. Th...

Czech Microsoft manager claims Office 2013 will reach Android and iOS, rest of company is less certain (update: more direct denial)

Microsoft Office for iPad rumor

The story of Office for the iPad has been something of a rollercoaster. Depending on who you've talked to this year, the mobile app has been on, then off, then on again... if it was ever real to start with. Imagine our surprise, then, when IHNED says Microsoft Czech Republic product manager Petr Bobek "confirmed" native Android and iOS ports of Office 2013 during a press conference. The Office division higher-up reportedly outlined a strategy where the productivity suite would reach Windows for large businesses and individuals in December and February respectively, but would reach "other platforms" later on through more than just mobile-optimized web versions. It sounds promising, but we have reason for skepticism -- assuming the testimony is accurate, there's still a history of employees at Microsoft and other companies overstepping their boundaries without direct guidance from the corporate mothership. We reached out to Microsoft ourselves, and a spokesperson gave us a relatively conservative answer. While the company reiterated statements that "Office Mobile will work across Windows Phones, Android phones and iOS," it added that there was "nothing additional to announce" regarding Office's retail availability. As much of a glimmer of hope that might represent for some Android and iOS fans, it doesn't equate to a direct Office 2013 port with a release schedule.

[Image credit: The Daily]

Update: To underscore its point, Microsoft has issued a further statement that casts doubt on the very remarks in question. "The information shared by our Czech Republic subsidiary is not accurate," a spokesperson told us. "We have nothing further to share."

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Czech Microsoft manager claims Office 2013 will reach Android and iOS, rest of company is less certain (update: more direct denial) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: iPhone 5 available in 22 more countries, on Cricket and US regional carriers galore

iPhone 5 side view

Disappointed that your country or favorite carrier missed the initial cut for the iPhone 5 launch? Odds are that you're all good now. Worldwide, 22 more countries have joined the mix as of today, including wide swaths of Europe as well as New Zealand; you'll find the full list in the release here. Americans also don't have to turn to the big carriers, as they can now opt for prepaid carrier Cricket in addition to a slew of extra providers that include C Spire as well as regionals like GCI and nTelos. In some cases, you'll even snag a discount by going with one of the smaller networks. If you bagged an iPhone in Barcelona, or caught one on Cellcom, let others know how it's going in the comments.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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PSA: iPhone 5 available in 22 more countries, on Cricket and US regional carriers galore originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter announces it’s now available in three more languages: Greek, Czech and Basque

Twitter announces it's now available in three more languages: Greek, Czech and Basque

Early last year, Twitter kicked off its Translation Center efforts in hopes of bringing support for more languages to the site with help of amicable volunteers from all over the globe. Naturally, this has helped the renowned Blue Bird network immensely during its global gibberish quest, having added compatibility with right-to-left idioms since the program started and, more recently, Ukranian and Catalan. To make things even better, today Twitter's announced it's now available in a few more, including Basque, Czech and Greek -- which means that a simple trip to account settings can now translate your current 140-character experience into one of the aforementioned languages if you so choose. Twitter's Translation Center is open to anyone willing to lend a hand, so those interested in helping the cause can pay the more coverage link a visit to learn how to get involved.

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Twitter announces it's now available in three more languages: Greek, Czech and Basque originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 03:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iTunes in the Cloud movies find their way to Australia, Canada, the UK and 32 more countries

iTunes in the Cloud movies find their way to Australia, Canada, UK and 32 more countries

The advent of movie support in iTunes for the Cloud was a boon to Apple TV owners as well as any iTunes user with a tendency to hop between devices -- within the US, that is. Apple today swung the doors open and let Australia, Canada, the UK as well as 32 other countries and regions around the world get access to their movies whenever they're signed in through iTunes or an iOS device. Not every studio is on the same page, as many American viewers will know all too well: it's more likely that you'll get re-download rights for a major studio title such as Lockout than an indie production, for example. Even with that limit in mind, there's no doubt more than a few movie mavens glad to avoid shuffling and re-syncing that copy of Scott Pilgrim to watch it through to the end.

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iTunes in the Cloud movies find their way to Australia, Canada, the UK and 32 more countries originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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