.

Brick Kiln House by SPASM Design Architects

Located in a small village Munavali, proximal to Alibaug, a favorite getaway, for affluent Bombay citizens as a place to build their dream country home.

The allotment (3 acres) was partly a grove of Tamarind and Mango trees , with the odd , Champa, Vad tree. Part of the plot was four feet lower and was, an unkempt paddy field . The front of the property is a not so busy asphalt road.

When driving around the Raigad district, one often chances to see local brick stacks being baked on the green lots that surround them – some remain and are also abandoned.

These form a peculiar feature of the landscape in Maharashtra.

We, wondered what it would be like to hollow out and inhabit these almost primitive mastaba like forms.

Our interest lay in using this image as a genesis of the house.

Further conception, was informed by site features like prominent Tamarind trees and orientation, aspect, wind and rain direction.

Long stretches of the two main wings of the house, sit at right-angles to each other and about a curious tree which has grown at a leaning angle.

Every room is cut on two sides with openings ,supporting easy cross ventilation and ingress of just the right about of light…..DESI (country) houses have peculiarly dark interiors offering respite from the sun –scorched outdoors.

Attached facilities, allow for an intimate interface with the outdoors, in marked opposition to urban life, here you wouldn’t need a book when you sit on the pot.

The sequencing of the rooms, is frugal, and in series as a farm building, you must walk outdoors to change rooms.

The living space has a curious shed-like volume, where the materials of the house come together rather loosely. Insinuating incompleteness and creating a sense of being immersed in the vegetation around.

The body of the house hides under tree canopies like a gator , at the edge of a river bank.

The choice of BRICK was based on color, strength, finish— –blemishes of a hand-made unit were key to the overall expression.

The red earth brick does not attempt to be precise, neither does it try to create patterns or jaalis as commonly seen in Indian architecture, the brick is what it is, at rest — a STACK, its mass concealing and revealing life within it. The sheer thickness –mass of the brick, keeps the interior spaces comfortably cool.

Experience of occupation takes precedence over formal gestures. Sun, rain and wind freely enter the house and will mark it over the years. The stacks will gradually get covered with luminescent moss, nature will fight its way back. Living in a country home is about witnessing this war.

The pool, takes form from the shadow of the trees on the earth below, a pattern we noticed on an especially hot afternoon. In such regions water automatically becomes a source of life. Getting engulfed by foliage.

This was a DESIGN-BUILD assignment — our first as architects.

.
Visit the SPASM Design Architects website – here.

Photography by Sebastian Zachariah

.

.

The owners of this duplex apartment, located on a beautiful tree lined street in the East Village, retained Pulltab Design to create a unique living environment for a young family of four.

As a starting point, the clients requested that their 2,400 square foot apartment be selectively renovated and that the new design revolve around not only creative architectural additions but also the thoughtful selection of free standing furniture and lighting.

In the schematic design phase, initial conversations revolved around modern masters such as Geoffrey Bawa, Carlo Scarpa and Richard Neutra. Based on these conversations, it became apparent that the new design should strive to create a warm and open living environment with unique handcrafted detailing.

Materials such as stained concrete, American black walnut, bronze and steel were selected along with modernist finishes, including hand applied active patinas, true pigment paints and high gloss lacquer surfaces.

The heart of the apartment centers around the living/dining areas. As part of the architectural construction, a new cantilevered dining ‘pod’, extending from the 5th floor slab, was added to increase the size of the kitchen. On the outside surface. of this pod, a custom planted garden wall was installed with the intent of creating a focal point, with a slightly mysterious quality, for the living room.

In combination with the vertically planted wall above, a shallow reflecting pool, custom fabricated from folded steel sheets, was placed in the living
room. This reflecting pool functions both as a means to capture water droplets, from the vertical garden wall’s concealed irrigation system, and also allows for the addition of a calming indoor water garden, stocked complete with colorful goldfish.

On the east wall, a new double height panel system was installed, assembled from painted furniture grade plywood. The panels, both fixed and functioning, are separated by a pattern of reveals which add both texture, interest and most importantly a sense of scale, to what was originally an overwhelming surface.

Several of the individual panels, denoted by custom routed hand pulls, open to reveal (from right to left) a chess table, a large 8′ long claro walnut dining table and a fold down illuminated bar with glass shelving.

To delineate the function of each panel, three colors were chosen: a bright orange, a glowing yellow (for the concealed bar) and a deep blue. These colors add an active layer to the space while tracing their connection back to Piet Mondrian’s inspirational composition paintings, from the 1920′s and 30′s.

Visit the Pulltab Design website – here.

Photography by Elizabeth Felicella

.

.

.

Design is modern and simple, and materials are basic: painted plaster, grey oak and glass. Elevation reflects the inside- Same simplicity, same materials, and same quite. The lot is located at the dead-end street. Facade is very narrow, and at back of the lot a public park.

Our initial decision was to put the building in the advance lines of the street, and to leave the back garden big as much as possible.

Because of the width of the pitch, we divided the house into two wings- 2 asymmetrical boxes, which connected with open staircases . The front elevation is sealed, hiding the house from the street.

Huge doors open to the volume, which bring the views to the pool, and leave in the center of the house- a double height central space that connecting all house activities and is the meeting point of the house.

From the entrance- a wooden deck leading from the street, through the living room to the garden in the back of the field.

The intermediate space, double height- is the living room. It connects the two wings with overhead bridges and staircase. In its space was important for us to use huge glass walls- that allow natural views and lights to the home life.

The kitchen is in the public part of the ground floor with dining area from which go to the yard with BBQ Outdoor unit. Near the dining room is a spacious family room- that allows mom to be in eye contact with the children while she is busy in the kitchen.

Parents dreamed of an independent ground floor suite, sitting “on the water” with the separation from the rest of the house looks. Isolation was also a desire to give independence to children running around with their friends at the pool.

The children’s bedrooms were located on the first floor. Young’s rooms are with a common family room and balcony from every room. Adult children’s rooms are designed like “mini suite” with a living unit and independent bathroom.

All others family functions – a screening room, fitness facilities, a Billiard table, as well as an intimate studio- are in the basement.

Visit the DOMB Architects website – here.

Photography by Amit Geron

.

.

.

Visit the website of M4 Interior Design Architecture – here.

Photography by Lee Pyo-joon

.

.

Visit the Alexander Brenner Architects website – here.

.

.

.

Description from the designers:

ISOLA is a new typology of armchair. A furniture design for today, where we are constantly connected to the internet via laptops, tablets, smartphones and other portable devices.

While using these devices in many public or semi-private situations, we noticed that seating postures change. People tend to lounge around, seeking unconventional positions and generally sitting in a more relaxed fashion.

As a response to this, we designed a wide and roomy seat-shell with a gently-organic shape lacking an obvious direction. Combined with an integrated, oval tabletop, Isola moves away from other more rigid solutions and encourages more open and intuitive use.

Of course, having the small table close at hand makes for a very practical place to rest your (analogue) book, glass of wine, or a bite to eat too.

Visit the Tacchini website – here.

.

.

.

Kirkland’s East of Market neighborhood is more urban in character than the surrounding communities, encouraging a design that occupies the urban-suburban boundary. Living spaces are tightly organized and vertical, stacked over the garage, with a shifted geometry between floors creating a dynamic form.

Visit the COOP15 website – here.

.

.

Visit the website of Alexander Brenner Architects – here.

.

.

.

Höllviken south of Malmö was originally a seaside resort, but the forested rows of summer houses are continuously being transformed into a carpet of permanent housing. The site is a somewhat complicated corner lot with roads to the north and west.

The client is a middle-aged couple with children who have now left the household. They commissioned a modern and nature-oriented one story house where sensuous qualities were the most important parameters throughout the design process.

The house is angled around an inner garden and, much like the Bergman Werntoft house, rests on the tradition of the Danish atrium house from the 60s and 70s. Three small bedrooms crowd together in the northern wing of the house, while the western wing is a continuous sequence of spaces consisting of a kitchen, dining room, library, living area, and winter garden.

The outer walls along the streets are clad with Pedersen clay bricks working as a screen. The stucture is a steel-enforced timber frame. Windows and sliding glass doors are made from Schüco aluminum profiles. The front and garage doors are custom made from ammonium smoked oak.

Visit Johan Sundberg’s website – here.

Photography by Kasper Dudzik

.

.

Description from the architects:

The VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre creates a harmonious balance between architecture and landscape—from a visual and ecological perspective. Inspired by the organic forms and natural systems of a native orchid, the1,765-square-metre  building is organized into undulating green roof ‘petals’ that float above rammed earth and concrete walls. Designed to exceed LEED Platinum status, the Visitor Centre is pursuing the Living Building Challenge—the most stringent measurement of sustainability in the built environment. The facility uses on-site, renewable sources to achieve net-zero energy on an annual basis; sequesters enough carbon to achieve carbon neutrality; uses filtered rainwater for the building’s greywater requirements; and treats 100% of blackwater in an on-site bioreactor.

Visit the Perkins+Will website – here.

Photography by Nic Lehoux

.

.

.

Description from Ministry of Design:

Designed as a permanent show gallery and tourist information center for China’s largest developer Vanke, MOD’s dramatic design for the TRIPLE V GALLERY has become an icon along the Dong Jiang Bay coastline.

Despite its obvious sculptural qualities, the building’s DNA evolved rationally from a careful analysis of key contextual & programmatic perimeters – resulting in the TRIPLE V GALLERY’S triangulated floor plan as well as the 3 soaring edges that have come to define its form.

The client’s program called for 3 main spaces: a tourist information center, a show gallery & a lounge for discussion.

Requiring their own entrances, the tourist center and the show gallery are orientated to separate existing pedestrian pathways and can be operated independently.

An extension of the show gallery, the lounge area is where discussions are conducted. This space takes advantage of the panoramic views of the coastline and comprises a sculptural bar counter.

Tectonically, the building responds to the coastal setting and is finished in weather-sensitive corten steel panels on its exterior and timber strips on the interior walls and ceiling for a more natural feel.

Visit the Ministry of Design website – here.

Photography by Edward Hendricks/CI&A Photography

.

.

.

Visit the Studio Vision website – here.

.

.

Description from the architects:

The small house which the married couple and their child live stands at the densely populated area in Tokyo. Though the neighboring houses is very close, I aimed to design the house which exceed the physical narrowness living at the city.

I laid out the 4m×4m building that as small as I can at the center of site area 34m2 and made some space for flowing of light and wind around it. And by making the space, it’s possible to avoid setback regulation and it has the 9m high volume like a tower. The inside is simple structure what is separated by the 4 floor boards and is jointed by spiral stairway. Especially, by making some extremely thin floor boards (thickness 70mm), the up and down floor boards got close and connected the whole space of the house without a break.

The space of around the house is useful to let light and wind in. The wall of the rooms borders the outside, so I put windows in the best position that harmonizing with its surroundings. And the window is so big against the small room, every time the window opens or closes, the inside view dramatically changes. Especially, at the second and third floor there is a large hinged door each room, if it is opened, the inside of the room is enveloped in light and wind as if you are outside.

By making the thin floor boards for connecting with their life and making the large windows what are opened toward the city, I aimed to exceed the segmentation, for example the up stair and the down stair, the inside and the outside, a building and the town, etc… to broaden the whole image of a house.

Visit the Unemori Architects website – here.

.

.

.

Description from the designer:

Structural comfort and thoughtful use of materials are at the heart of this piece. All the necessary joints of a chair are distilled into one component. The stainless steel component allows the chair to stack and provides a measure of spring to the user.

Visit Andrew Perkins’ website – here.

Photography by Mark Serr

.

.

.

Visit the Koji Tsutsui & Associates website – here.

Photography by Iwan Baan

.

.

.

Description from the designer:

BLUSH is a unique lounge chair that aims at stimulating the senses.

Working from the concept of haptic design (design that stimulate the sense of touch), BLUSH has a contrasting and playful appearance that invites the user to explore the materials, construction and comfortability. The chair consists of a faceted hard aluminium shell in which a perforated pattern has been laser-cut. Using a brush binding technique, the holes are upholstered with strips of hand printed felt. This results in a soft and tactile front upholstery and a pixel-like upholstered back.

Overall BLUSH has a surprisingly austere expression that is softened by the blushing felt loops that flourish across the chair.

Visit Sofie Brünner’s website – here.

.

.

AE House by twentyfourseven

AE house is an exploration on privacy and materiality, the house is situated in Lomas de Chapultepec, in Mexico City, and consists of three levels placed on a 800 m2 / 8611 sq ft site. The house uses the restrictions in the urban plan to its advantage in the placement of the internal spaces, challenging the typical configurations of similar plots in the area. The project offers an alternative to the centralized volumes that are closed and devoid of interaction to their sites and looking outwards through wall enclosed patios.

The proposal of the project changes this interaction by displacing a thick volume to the back of the site while a thin volume is pulled forward, creating by such an action a cross diagram that allows for patios to emerge with views, illumination and natural ventilation of the spaces. The intersection of both volumes creates a central void where the connection between the different volumes opens up to the sky.

The scheme is defined further by lifting the back volume and creating a family living room that becomes the most interesting space of the house, placed in between the frontal garden and a back gravel patio. In this space the full length of 40 mts / 131 ft of the site can be experienced, establishing an everyday relationship between the inside spaces and the external landscaped garden.

The placement of spaces follows the functional requirements of the clients with three living spaces clearly defined while aspiring to create a simple and clear scheme of organization. A social area at the entrance to the house is contained within a white concrete box that opens laterally to the elongated garden, and backwards to a flooded patio, while being fluently open to the circulation within the house. The kitchen and services are placed in a position in which they relate to both the formal and the everyday dining spaces.

The family room perpendicular to the first block performs many functions for the everyday life of the family and in this sense it was the desire of the clients to become one of the main drivers of the project, expressing a new way of living. The private area in the third floor consists of bedrooms which because of the placement of the house acquire views and long perspectives to the lush vegetation of the area defined by Jacarandas and Palm trees. The services are placed in the basement in a functional arrangement while In the lower floor, privacy is negotiated by walls and wooden sliding doors that allow for a filtering of spatial qualities. In the upper floor the position of the house as a cross allows for privacy in the bedrooms within the site as it exposes a minimum front towards the street.

Orientation, views and privacy are the main forces that define the form, while the sensual and aesthetic conditions of the materials employed explore the tectonic interaction between the spaces created by the intersection of spaces and volumes. The project aspired to create a house where the interaction of this forces provoke a sensual and emotional experience of different spatial conditions.

We aspired to create an elegant solution to the condition of habitability integrating the garden to the house in a way in which the family room becomes part of the garden landscape, creating a casual space that is open, serene and integrated to the exterior in a way in which contrasts with the daily experience of the city.

.
Visit the twentyfourseven website – here.

Photography by Pim Shalkwijk

.

.

Description from the architect:

One of the main design intent was to match the water playground into the landscape. Location and contour of the basin suited to the existing trees were required based on functional-utility program developed by “Aquater”.

We decided to use exotic wood on the floor in front of entance and on benches around the basin. A major challenge was to secure the basin against unwanted animals and people, taking into account influence of  fence on the landscape. Fencing has also been made of wood as a parametric structure based on shifted sine waves. In this way we obtained delicate characteristic elements, wchich separate the basin. Technical rooms were covered with grass  to minimize the impact of volume on the landscape. Colorful aquatic toys were selected to differentiate their performance.

In addition, the zone for younger children with milder foaming out the water toys was created. The pattern on  safe basin floor has been adapted to arragment of water toys in the way referring to the circles on the water.

In the evening the playground becomes a fountain with programmable multicolored LED performance.

Architect: RS+
Location: Tychy, Poland
Project Team: Robert Skitek, Jakub Zygmunt, Szymon Borczyk
Water engineering : Maciej Papiurek, Krzysztof Wacek, Anna Terentjew
Completion: 2011
Project area: 354 sqm
Photographs: Tomasz Zakrzewski

.

.

.

SAPPHIRE offers a mesmerizing pattern that is both contemplative and playful. The character of Markus Johansson’s exclusive cabinet is both tough and brave, and sapphire will thrive alone as well as in company offering a reassuring and original centerpiece for both home and contract. Sapphire is made out of two mirrored door halves that can be positioned freely in order to enhance different kinds of constellations. The cabinet are CNC-cut in MDF to have an exact fit and the undercarriage is made out of birch.

Visit Markus Johansson’s website – here.

.

.

Visit the Bounce website – here.

.

.