Boxing out...literally!

When designing a house (from the floor plans that I do, to the decorating), one of the most painful things to work around is bulkheads (or box outs).  Boxing out around mechanical runs and junction boxes can be unavoidable in some instances, and can simply ruin the look and feel of a space.  Well, someone may have come up with a solution for that!! Why not make the box outs an architectural feature and actually highlight them (instead of try to hide them!).  That's exactly what Pascal Grasso Architects of France did in this Apartment in Paris. The landscape of blocks on the ceilings of this apartment conceal mechanical items (like air conditioning and ventilation), lighting and a sound system.  More blocks were added along the walls of the space to form storage and shelving.

{images via Dezeen}