Let me take you to Hamburg, Germany, where I have a beautiful piece of architecture to share. House W is a medium-scaled family home in the form of a 2-storeyed cube… and here comes the exciting thing: although the building’s plot is rather flat, a portion of the lower level is dug into the ground, featuring different-height, fully glazed walls, structurally maintained only by a few pillars.

This unique concept creates a very interesting effect both in the exterior and interior spaces: from the outside, due to the transparent part of the ground floor walls, the building looks like it’s suspended in mid air. Continue reading →

In Aspen, Colorado there’s a house that shows us how to turn a rustic building into a fresh and contemporary home. La Muna Residence is a brilliant renovation of an old ski chalet, with 325sqm of constructed area, surrounded by mountains, forests and streams.

This three-story house gives us a perfect example of how to discretely blend architecture with nature: three organic materials – regional wood, stone and steel – are extensively explored in order to obtain a silent relationship between artificial and natural universes. Continue reading →

Let us speak once more about the new combined with the old. However this time we offer you a somewhat different approach: the old house has been demolished and a brand new house reappeared instead. A small, contemporary house which now fills in the narrow void between a row of buildings in Ghent. Continue reading →

Simple geometrical forms are precious in the hands of skillful architects; simple forms present the ultimate beauty if treated right. As a proof, I’d like to share this next project with you. The Summerhouse Lagno is a private residence, situated on the edge of the forest and the coast line of Stockholm’s Archipelago. Continue reading →

There are about 70 beaches on Milos, a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Known for its natural beauty, this exceptional piece of land has now a new enhancing feature: VNC House. Designed as a holiday home, VNC House nestles into the landscape on the south coast of the island beside a new orchard of olive trees and a stone guesthouse. Continue reading →

If you’re an avid bird watcher you will surely love this beautiful project. A brilliant nature-architecture concept was implemented at the Momfuku Ando Centre, in Japan. 78 small bird nesting boxes, in their classical appearance (as we all remember them from childhood), are put together to form a joyful mosaic facade! And that’s not all – the nests occupy only one part of the structure, whereas the rest is a modern tree house for humans – How marvelous! Continue reading →

A house has a primary function of shelter and refuge, protecting its inhabitants from the outside world. This concept of asylum can also be seen in the animal world, especially the turtle case. A full-bodied shell guarantees the safety of the turtle while providing a strong visual appearance. In Miyagi, Japan there’s a unique residence that assembles the concept of this peculiar creature: House Yagiyama. Continue reading →

It’s difficult to believe that this beautiful and unusual house, in Wellington, New Zealand, was built on a site with so much restrictions. The original house, situated next to our object, was constructed in the early 1900-s and is historically listed. That’s why the new structure had to be kept lower and non dominating over the old house. In addition to that, the site itself is dramatically steep and quite small. However, all these restrictions made overcoming the challenges even sweeter. Continue reading →

It’s not the first time we show you a piece of architecture surrounded by pure nature. This one is especially attractive for several reasons. First of all, it is located in the forests of New Zealand, near Auckland. Secondly, this holiday home, being extremely stylish and interesting, has yet a small site impact.

Indeed, the steel structure sits on 16 poles. This way, the house is lifted over the slope and the trees are able to continue growing from underneath, so that the structure perfectly blends with its almost untouched surroundings. Isn’t it gorgeous? Continue reading →

At some cases an architect’s mind really strikes us with the ultimate of ideas! This project is one of such stunning cases. The Polish architect Jakub Szczesny noticed an extremely narrow space between the side elevations of two apartment house blocks and was excited with a void stripe, so unexpectedly discovered by him in one of the residential quarters of Warsaw.

His moment of inspiration resulted in a brand new single person home! A wild and bold idea – however it got its client attention, an Israeli writer, Etgar Keret. The architect said that the building presented “a fantastic set of impossibilities”. Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading →