Robin Tan from Wallflower Architecture + Design kindly send us one of their latest projects, the Enclose Open House located in Singapore.

Here is the project description:

The owners wanted a spacious, contemporary house that would be as open as possible but without compromising security and privacy at the same time. Surrounded by neighbours on four sides, the solution was a fully fenced compound with a spatial programme that internalised spaces such as pools and gardens, which are normally regarded as external to the envelope of the house. By zoning spaces such as the bedrooms and servants’ quarters on alternative levels, i.e. 2nd storey and basement levels, the ground plane was freed from walls that would have been required if public and private programmes were interlaced on the same plane. The see-through volumes allow a continuous, uninterrupted 40-metres view, from the entrance foyer and pool, through the formal living area to the internal garden courtyard and formal dining area in the second volume. All these spaces are perceived to be within the built enclosure of the house.


Environmentally, the contiguous and interconnected space encourage the slightest breezes, whether they are prevailing and therefore air-movement is horizontal, or convectionally circulated, which the courtyards help generate. For the owner, it is the experiential serenity that unencumbered space, a gentle breeze, dappled sunlight and the hush of water rippling on a pond that is priceless in our dense and busy urbanscape.

Photos by Albert Lim

Since transparency is common and expected in the New York City gastronomic experience, Sebastian Mariscal Studio wanted to lead and transport people to a different place, a Latin American place.

The L-shaped plan provides an opportunity to divide the space into a progression of smaller experiences until it opens up into the main dining space. Spatially, each alcove channels your experience to the rich materials, and only as you move through it, does it unfold the the flavors of Latin America.

The simplicity and humble selection of materials narrates the vernacular architecture in Latin America; concrete, wood and stone. The mixture of contrasting materials sets the tone to a pleasant experience as it amalgamates with the food.

Abrupt turns within the space are softened by the consistent use of horizontal wood planks that direct you though the space, not only acting as skin but also as a directional wayfinding method. The undertone of the space allows the food, people and conversation to be the focus – a cultural staple of Latin American culture.

Photos by archphoto

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The Architect is a harrowing and ultimately human story of two very different families.

Leo Waters (Anthony Lapaglia) is an idealistic architect and patriarch of an affluent, suburban Chicago family.

Tonya Neeley (Viola Davis) is a pragmatic activist who is trying to keep her family together while living in one of the city’s most drug and crime-infested public housing projects.

As part of her ongoing campaign to have the project torn down and decent housing built in its place, Tonya decides that the one signature she needs more than any other on her petition is that of the projects’ original architect, Leo Waters.

SHED designed this modern, efficient and livable house overlooking downtown Seattle and Elliot Bay.

A blend of inspiring spaces and unique modern finishes with strategically placed glass walls that bring the outdoors in while maintaining a sense of privacy and seclusion. Unobstructed views of downtown and Elliott Bay make a great backdrop for the rooftop deck. The house is Built Green certified with the environment and a sense of community in mind.

Special thanks to Cindy from SHED for sharing.

Domus Academy is launching a new competition named Define a Creative Hub with the aim to test the talent and urban vision skills with an experimental contemporary subject.

Find more about the competition here.

Portuguese architecture firm spaceworkers transformed a typical house in the city of Oporto, into a new cosmopolitan house preserving its identity.

Here is the project description:

Intervening in a typical habitation of the Oporto urban tissue it’s by itself a reason for the memory theme run through our thought, as the memory itself begins to delineate like a program, a “tool” capable of function as a moderator element between the “old” and the “new”.

This project tries to recreate the habitation spaces (an element per se container and generator of memories), preserving the identity of the architectonic object already existent, but with a greater cosmopolitan and contemporaneous touch, searching a symbiosis between two languages chronologically distant, intending to create an “actualized” architectonic object belonging to the sensorial universe of this place from Oporto city.

Photos by Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Special thanks to Henrique Marques from spaceworkers for sharing.

Suppose Design Office recently finished a family house in the city of Obama, in the Fukui prefecture on the sea of Japan.

The client – the director of a clinic opposite the house – wished to combine openness on the ground floor to allow for parking spaces for this clients with a more protected first floor living spaces.

Kitchen space, bathrooms, study corners and storage are strategically placed at the perimeter of the site to form a buffer around the living areas and bedrooms. Light and air are allowed in through the insertion of courtyards with glass-framed walls between the rooms.

The use of identical floorboards in internal and external areas, running along the length of the house, give a strong interaction between inside and outside, creating one continuer connected space.

Photos by Toshiyuki Yano

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