Just kidding. In all seriousness, we could clearly picture a family occupying the space, something that is not always evident in contemporary design. The structure sits on two concrete supports and steel girders, forming a large, luminous space that is completely open while the second story offers necessary seclusion from nosy neighbors – the best of both worlds.
Good architecture tells a story, and the Sun House’s story begins with the letter L. The lush but irregular landscape required special treatment and, boy, did Guz Architects deliver. An L-shaped structure helps the property capitalize on a delicate balance struck between privacy and openness. The building cradles a breezy courtyard that overflows with luscious Singaporea...
It has been clear for a while now that cabins are no longer the gloomy man-caves in which you’d expect to have minimum comfort. So you wouldn’t be surprised by the level of comfort the Fuentealba House by Francis Pfenniger offers. Facing the Castro canal in Chile, the cabin is located in a magical place, surrounded by trees. It has been built as a family home, for chi...
It’s official. We’re packing our bags and moving to South America. Longhi Architects has us convinced. Their Casa Para Siempre in the La Molina district of Lima, Peru, is just plain cool. Built for a young family already occupying the lot, the architects constructed a “forever house” – a genuine structure in which the family members could spend their entire lives. The ho...
By completing the Donderen Barnhouse renovation, Holland architects Aatvos wonderfully embodiedthe dream of every person buying an old barn in the countryside. They’ve transformed the ancient property into a contemporary house that reflects modern life, while preserving the historic vibe. Their idea was quite simple: conserve the classic barn shape and restore it with...
De Eenvoud (the simplicity) has been lauched as the third in a series of experimental housing communities in Almere, the Netherlands. Twelve winning teams were selected to create private houses that hold a strong connection to their surroundings. Designed by Johan Selbing and Anouk Vogel, the Mirrored House distinguishes itself with its entirely mirrored façade. The ref...
Designed by Argentinian architect Nestor Sandbank, The Cubes House is located in Ramot Hashavim, Israel. Three distinct cubes provide private space for members of the family. Like mini-apartments within the home, each cube is complete with its own private living room, bedroom and bathroom. Perpendicular to the cubes is a two-storey common area that includes a kitchen, ga...
The Conan House by Moon Hoon is a residence for a one-child family, built overlooking Bang Dong Lake in South Korea. It looks more like a modern art museum than a home but is deep down a big, ol’ fun house. This is playful architecture at its best, friends. A starch-white spiral staircase encompasses the structure’s central core, which rises through the voluminous space ...
Slovenia’s Karst region is a beautiful contrast of thick forest and naked limestone. Stone could even be called a defining element of their country with the porous rock forming incredible underground rivers and legendary caves. The Compact Karst House by Lubljana-based firm Dekleva Gregorič Arhitekti is a modern interpretation of the countryside’s windowless stone struct...
Forget zero carbon! Actually, don’t forget about zero carbon, but Australian architecture firm Archiblox has gone above and beyond carbon neutral by designing a house that actually produces more energy than it consumes. Their Carbon Positive House (CPH) is a prefabricated dwelling that marries a variety of green building techniques and technology to actually produce a su...
This project defers to the landscape in every way. It’s literally integrated into a hill, so the take-your breath-away vistas go undisturbed. By incorporating the same split stone of the thermal baths into the façade, the alpine landscape remains harmonious. Since the villa is nestled into an underground tunnel, it is thermally insulated and benefits from a ground-source...
Antoine is an itty bitty cabin hidden inside of a fake boulder that is tucked in the Swiss Alps. Designed by Swiss architecture firm Bureau A, the cabin gets its name from Charles Ferdinand Ramuz’s novel Derberance where the main character, Antoine, gets trapped in an Alpine landslide. He survives, living under the rocks for seven weeks. “Switzerland has a strong traditi...
Adding an extension onto an existing house is an architectural art form of its own, and with the Bellevue Terrace, Philip Stejskal Architecture has created an award-winning piece of art. Beginning with a 19th century duplex in Fremantle, Western Australia, the architects added a modern extension that can be fully open or entirely closed thanks to a smaart system of woode...
South of India and north of the Maldives, sits snuggly the island of Sri Lanka. A quick look to the Laccadive Sea side, you may notice Matugama. However, as close as you put your nose to your google map, you will most likely miss the bungalow designed and achieved by architect Narein Perera in 2010. It certainly isn’t for a lack of visibility since it lightly connects to...
People working from home will tell you that your home office can quickly become gloomy and sad. Especially if you live in a northern city such as Montreal! So the priority for Canadian architecture firm NatureHumaine was to maximize natural light, a task which can be tricky if the lot is not well-oriented. But, once again, an architectural problem quickly became a perk. ...
Alek Lisefski’s Tiny Project is a tiny house that addresses some big questions. It offers an efficient solution to the ever-increasing cost of living while simultaneously creating a model for sustainable living. In a 2.5 by 6 meter space, Lisefski, a web designer, created a fully functional house on wheels with all (or most) of the amenities of a standard home, including...
In 2005, David Hertz Architects pulled the skeletal remains of a 747 from the Mojave Desert with the intention of giving it a new purpose. Inspired by the breathtaking views of his client’s property, Hertz came up with the idea of a floating, curved roof…for which an airplane wing was the perfect material. So the plane was selected, disassembled and shipped to its new re...
“What is a wall?” you might be asking yourself the first time you see GASS Architects’ Westcliff Pavilion. Its structure of steel beams and locally sourced stone do the impossible: they float. What GASS calls ‘creative engineering’ has lent this residential project a sense of lightness, which allows the home to peacefully co-exist with the environment. Aside from the bui...
It looks like the future of architecture is in Latin America… Brazil, Peru, Chile and now Mexico! Great houses are rising fast on the continent. And we can notice that one thing remains throughout the various projects: the balance between modern design and traditions. The VR House is another example of this statement. The architects wanted the building to be outstanding ...
Las Vegas-based design firm assemblageSTUDIO looked to the surrounding environment when designing the Trescara residence; right in the thick of the Mojave desert, the project incorporates aspects of the rugged yet vibrant terrain as well as functional, sustainable solutions to combat extreme desert temperatures. The residence is comprised of several different structur...
Very few things are more terrifying than snakes, and the idea of snakes in trees makes us seriously consider becoming a recluse. Thankfully, Rebelo de Andrade’s Tree Snake Houses take only inspiration from the reptilian cretins. Located in the national park of Pedras Salgadas Park of Braga, Portugal, sustainability and respect of nature were at the forefront of the proje...
Gabriela House is a single family home located in Mérida, Mexico, the largest city in the Yucatan peninsula. Local architecture firm TACO arquitectura drew upon the region’s rich architectural vernacular for the home’s design. An interior courtyard, or plazoleta which is typical of traditional Yucatan dwellings, creates distance between the principal living space and the...
Located in Vinaròs in Spain’s Castelló region, Seasonless House was built in 2013 by Casos de Casas in collaboration with Irene Castrillo Carreira and Mauro Gil-Fournier of Esquerra Arquitectos. The white 361.0 square meter house encourages personal design of the climate for increased domesticity, with the inhabitant controlling certain aspects of the environment. Amo...
In his most recent project, Slovakian architect Peter Jurkovič and principal of Bratislava-based firm JRKVC has designed small, simple home rooted in folk architecture and sustainability. Jurkovič has applied a few humble, practical characteristics of traditional Slovakian rural architecture such as modest size, an under-roof porch, as well as local, easy-to-transport ma...
No frills, no fluff, Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter’s V-Lodge is a minimal, all-year cabin in the mountains of Norway. The cabin was specifically built to adapt to the topography of the site with simple V shape. The central volume runs perpendicular to the slope and contains the principal living space. A second volume, gently slanted downward, houses the sleeping space. As...
Prefab can be fab, and Peninsula Shift is the proof! A design collaboration between Method Homes and Elemental Design, Peninsula Shift is the first result of an entire series. The Elemental Series proposes modern, cost-effective homes that are modular and can even be entirely customized. Six different floorplans are offered with various interior palettes and finishes fro...
Lightbox is a single-family residence located just south of British Columbia in Point Roberts, Washington. American architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson used humble materials in an innovative layout to create a simple-yet-satisfying home for a photographer and his family. Exposed two-bys make up the home’s structure as well as provide the framework for a prefabri...
Some like their architecture completely open, and some like it closed. Japanese firm mA-style Architects seems to prefer the latter. First, it was the windowless Green Edge House that caught our attention. Now, it’s the cubic Light Walls House in Toyokawa, Japan. Since the initial plot of land was not blessed with ample sunshine, the architects concentrated on ways to...
Designed and constructed by First Lamp Architecture & Construction, Lever Homes is a 5-Star Built-Green project located in Seattle, Washington, USA. The principle challenge of building the two-unit townhome was keeping the units affordable, while simultaneously respecting very high standards of sustainability. A narrow lot with a width of only 7.6 meters prompted the ...
Lendager Arkitetekter’s Upcycle House in Nyborg, Denmark, is an experimental projet that concretely demonstrates the positive environmental effect of using recycled and upcycled building materials, notably on the reduction of carbon emissions. Compared to standard house, the Upcycle House redued carbon emissions by 86%. The 129-square-meter house looks and functions like...
As if Hawaii wasn’t already a dream destination, American architecture firm Craig Steely Architecture has created a dream house in Pāhoa. Lavaflow 7 – Mayer/Penland House is located on 5 acres of dense forest characterized by indigenous Ohia trees. With their bright red flowers, Ohia trees are the first trees to grow on new lava flows. Built on a 1955 lava flow, the c...
Lately, you might have seen that we have done a few projects involving a slope and a house that would blend in beautifully, perfectly fitting its geographical situation. This time, we’ve decided to talk about a house where things have been done a little differently. The slope is still there, but it has been integrated to the house and not the other way around. The common...
Completed in 2011, Lakewood is a project by Miami-based firm KZ Architecture. The clients, a couple with three children, were seeking to add an artist’s studio to their one-storey box home in South Florida. The mother of the family is a painter, and she needed a streamlined work area with ample wall space and abundant natural light. In addition to the studio space, the f...
Confession: we have a weird fascination with Japanese capsule hotels. It is entirely unfathomable how a human being can sleep in such a confined space without having an acute panic attack. However, for those that do not suffer from claustrophobia, Alphaville Architects have created a successful mélange between the traditional capsule hotel and a hostel dormitory at the K...
The Drolet Residence is a two-storey urban row house located near Montreal’s Jean-Talon market. Rather than organizing the house traditionally, the clients requested that the bedrooms remain on the more private first floor and that the central living space be placed on the brightly lit second floor. And since the clients are passionate about cooking, they also requested ...
London-based architect David Kohn has completed the extension of the Sanderson House in the London borough of Islington. Named after its occupants, Sanderson House is the home of British shoe designer Rupert Sanderson, his wife and their three children. The project transforms what was historically the home’s scullery into a modern kitchen, dining and reading space. Th...
