“A tactile sense of texture, a romantic play of light, and a reverence of natural beauty are all evident in this graceful, angular villa that seems monumental yet inviting,” writes The Cool Hunter. This so-called Plus House was designed by Japanese architects Masahiro and Mao Harada.

With its two main blocks at 90-degree angles, the Plus House appears from above to form an almost complete cross or a plus-sign. The opulent weekend villa juts out of a mountainside in a popular holiday area known for its hot springs, in Shizuoka Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu.

Plus House shows off their talents at being bold but not grandiose, and at involving the surrounding nature in delicate detail but without giving up the individuality and presence of the building.

Click here for more. Photograph by Ken’ichi Suzuki.

Welcome to The Gatehouse today! Unfortunately, we now have to sometimes skip a day in our posting schedule, but fear not, we will continue to provide you with the latest in steampunk and dieselpunk online!

A new steampunk blog, amply named The Steamblog, recently opened its doors. It looks promising so be sure to pay it a little visit.

The blog Stirred, Straight Up, with a Twist helps you remember that it is permanently 1962 (give or take a decade) and that the problems of the real world can be solved with a touch of glamour and a dash of style.

Troubled by a writers block? Try Wondermark’s Electro-Plasmic Hydrocephalic Genre-Fiction Generator 2000: guaranteed to produce a spiffing ’punk tale for you! Thanks to Col. Adrianna Hazard for posting this at the Smoking Lounge.

We also thank the good Colonel for bringing to our attention the excellent 1920s Radio Network at WHRO—“a 24 hour per day Big Band and Old Time Radio service that is geared toward the preservation of nostalgic broadcasting.” Enjoy!

Of course, to discuss “Diesel Music” in general (if there is such a thing) head over to the Smoking Lounge and talk about it here. And we also have a thread for more regular musical tastes.

For a wonderful compendium of this age’s wonders, curiosities, and esoterica, visit the Atlas Obscura, “a collaborative project with the goal of cataloging all of the singular, eccentric, bizarre, fantastical, and strange out-of-the-way places that get left out of traditional travel guidebooks and are ignored by the average tourist.” Thanks to HildeKitten for posting this.

“Can US Air Power Prevent a War?” The answer, according to this May 1974 United Aircraft Corporation advertisement, “lies in how consistently America pursues a sound peacetime Air Power policy.”

American Air Power, of which missiles are a part, has now become so important that its strength or weakness can mean the difference between winning, losing, or preventing another world war.

To succeed in preventing war, our Air Power must be strong enough to discourage aggression before it starts. This means we must develop and built military aircraft in every category, including guided missiles, that are ready for instant retaliation—aircraft that are second to none in performance and strong enough in numbers to do the job.

What good fortunate that United Aircraft is there to supply the need! If you weren’t convinced already, allow us to scare your pants off: “With the US exposed to possible atomic attack, the need for this effort is more urgent than ever.” Be a good citizen! Support a “realistic, continuous Air Power program. Only through such a program can the nation meet, and even forestall, emergencies.”

I’m on a steampunk radio... oh we ohh.

Do you have a band that plays music for steampunks? Or a band that uses classic instrumentation or has a unique sound that might work on our show? Then we would like to give you some airplay. In the US, we have The Clockwork Cabaret and down under, we have Airship Babylon. Both have large followings (Clockwork Cabaret boasting over 15,000+ subscribers) and are scouring the aetherweb looking for new acts. Click on the links above if you have what it takes to rock the FM airwaves.

In the meantime, let’s see what’s on Dieselpunks this week.

Two Fisted Tuesdays with Philip Marlowe brought us the classic “Trouble Is My Business.” Marlowe is hired by a dying millionaire to clean up his spendthrift son's gambling debts by digging up dirt on the pretty shill helping him drink his way through the family fortune. But Harriet Huntress is brighter than your average gold digger, and when Marlowe’s information merchant turns up a few choice facts about her past, she begins glittering in a whole new light—and skeletons begin turning up in the most unexpected closets. Following a shamus with a sleuth, we have “Sherlock Holmes in The Case of the Shy Ballerina.” When Dr Watson accidentally comes home from his club with another man’s coat, providing an important clue when the other man is murdered late that same night.

If you’re in the mood for a little dancing instead, then check out our interview with Brian Gardner of Swing Goth. Swing Goth is a new approach to partner dancing that brings the focus back to your partner and the music and away from a footwork obsessed pass-time. They’re gearing up for the big bi-coastal Tim Burton Ball in San Francisco and New York and Abney Park is headlining both shows, so you know you’ll be in for a treat.

In other news, Dieselpunks highlighted several influential diesel-era figures and inventors this week, including: Michael Wilcock (inventor of the 1953 Swandean Spitfire Special—a race car built from surplus aircraft engines), Heinz Kilfitt (a trained watchmaker and inventor of the Robot camera), John Heartfield (a WWI era anti-nationalist artist), and László Moholy-Nagy (a Jewish-Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school). László Moholy-Nagy was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.

Looking back this week, I think we’ve hit our stride at Dieselpunks. With over 500+ members and 1,000+ website visitors a day in less than a year of being online, we’re building quite an army. I’d like to see you get involved too! Get off the damn couch and get into the garage. If your legacy is an ass groove on a cushion, then you’ve wasted your life. Build something better, and inspire someone else to do the same.

We’re on the Internet. We’re on the radio. We’re in the air and on the racetracks. We’re in the galleries and in the labs. Where are you?

Until next week, tune in again for more action, more adventure, and even more Dieselpunks!