Do you know what Kura means to Japanese architecture? Kura is a traditional Japanese storehouse. Its typology commonly corresponds to durable buildings built from timber, stone or clay used to safely store valuable commodities. House M works as a modern interpretation of such an ancient building tradition, placed in Ishikawa in a tiny gap between the national road and the city limits. Continue reading →

Sometimes the simplest of projects turns to be the most interesting and challenging of all…Garden Pavilion has this special quality. Located in the Seattle suburbs, this tiny building with a total floor area of 33sqm is positioned at the rear western corner of the main house to maximize the open space between the two volumes. Its purpose was very clear: to serve as a flexible space for several different functions: playroom, office, and guesthouse for visitors with a small kitchenette and a complete bathroom. But how can all these diverse uses fit in such a tiny building? Well, let’s find out the secret behind the simplicity of the Garden Pavilion. Continue reading →

In Auvilliers, France there’s a discrete country house for those who sympathize with green fields and fresh air. Barache Residence seems to be placed on site like a wild flower that spontaneously sprouts from a fertile soil without disturbing the natural context around it. One single volume with a symmetrical pitched roof reminds the local traditional barns. Even the access from the road is quite similar to the ancient ones: an earthy path leads up to the front door that can hardly be perceived on the red cedar facade. A mysterious welcome sign is presented to all visitors that can’t anticipate the internal configuration of this modern weekend home. Continue reading →

AIBS House is located at an altitude of 159 meters, where an impressive sight of the infinite Atlantic Ocean is waiting to be appreciated. We’re talking about a two-story building with a total floor area of 400sqm carefully conceived to blend in the rocky topography of the sloped Spanish shore. Continue reading →

In Hamamatsu City, Japan there is a house with wings…figuratively speaking, of course! Mascara House is a two-story building that seems to result as a mixture between a boat and a tower volume. An exquisite formal balance is brilliantly achieved by a middle section that stands lifted off the ground and is curved like the hull of a boat. Continue reading →

Somewhere in the middle of the green mountains of Austria, there’s a modern poetic approach to the ancestral cave houses… Two self-contained concrete buildings erupt from the grassy ground like two inhabitable rocks waiting to be discovered. Their unique mineral appearance allows a very low impact on the surrounding countryside full of sloping fields and woodland thickets. Architecture follows nature in order to merge quietly into the magnificent scenario positioned on a steep incline at almost 1100 meters altitude… Continue reading →

Here’s a fine example of how to transform a classic English Victorian semi-detached villa into a contemporary home. Located in London, Lens House is a 19th century building that has been extended in time and space: two new volumes were added to this ancient architecture as a manifest of modern needs.

The new house extension has a total floor area of only 70sqm and is distributed in two separate levels. The first volume wraps around the brick walls at the side and rear of the house to make a small home office, while the second volume extends out at the back to increase the size of the first floor living room. Continue reading →

Fertile is commonly associated with something that’s capable of producing vegetation…So, how can a house be fertile? The answer is clearly revealed in Tours, France. Positioned within a dense city block in a corner lot, Fertile House forms a U-shaped volume around a central open-air courtyard. In fact, the whole program is deliberately turning its back to the street facades. Continue reading →

The common definition for modular architecture relies on composite buildings which can be made larger or smaller by adding or removing certain components. This can be done without altering larger portions of the building. Modular buildings can also undergo changes in functionality using the same process of adding or removing modular components. That’s what happens in the Eco Resort Pedras Salgadas. Continue reading →

A monolithic prism for a house… Can you image living inside something as dense and powerful as this? A concrete sculpted volume is erected in San Pedro, Chile and it’s called Fosc House: a three-story building with 160sqm of built area made for a large family. Continue reading →