architecture

A home designed for vacations

Developing a project for a house uniquely for vacations challenged Estúdio AMATAM to create a concept that responded to the qualities of a vacation home and the characteristics that seemed essential to the studio. An inner spatial organisation allowed a strong coexistence among its users, a very close relation between the social area and its...

THE CHUAN Malt Whisky Distillery

Neri & Hu’s proposal draws upon the notion of the duality of natural elements, a tenet of ancient Chinese philosophy which holds that two opposite forces or elements can actually complement each other in the natural world, as embodied by the site’s mountain-water duality – the property is surrounded on three sides by a winding creek,...

Implanted forest house

Designed for a young couple, Fortunata House is located in the extreme south of Brazil, and is a project that highlights responsive architecture: the careful reading of the environmental conditions; the precise determination of the construction processes; the correct resolution of the program of demands; and the harmony of the built forms. 
Built in a traditional, open neighbourhood, the house was implanted around a...

Private, yet open 1970’s terrace.

Gale’s Residence is a complete remodel of a 1970s terrace house located in a hilly suburb of Kuala Lumpur. The brief to Gibert&Tan was to reconfigure the layout and to transform an interior that was dark, cloistered, and suffered from many poorly designed spaces; into one that feels bright, spacious, and well organized. At the onset, lengthy conversations took place with...

The topless house

Located on the Atlantic coast in France, the topless house replaces a dilapidated veranda formerly adjoining the main beachside holiday home. A small architectural gem, it offers its users multiple spatial configurations. Equipped with a removable roof, it reveals itself letting in the first rays of sunshine of the day. The roof overhang, defying the laws of gravity, acts as a cap extending...

A refined and sexy revival

Both the interior and the back of this stately, three-floor property located in a century-old residence in Alkmaar, a picturesque Dutch town, were subjected to some serious rebuilding works to create more light, space, and a connection between the different living zones.
Executed by architect Jeroen de Nijs, the restored ceilings, bay windows, and the...

The Desert Paradero Hotel

When approaching the Paradero Hotel in Mexico, the architectural team POLEN Arquitectura de Paisaje + Yashar Yektajo + Rubén Valdez aimed to emphasise the natural motion of the desert by exploring and highlighting the topography.
Inspired by desert winds and its natural form of creating paths and spaces that appear and disappear as in a landscape of surprises. The desert is a land of...

New Jersey lake house

This 1930s house with steel casement windows and stone walls is sited on a hill overlooking a lake in New Jersey, United States. It has served as a weekend retreat for an antiques dealer specialising in 17th- and 18th-century English furniture and an art conservator of modern and contemporary artworks. While very fond of this home and its original details (including the mint-green...