The architecture and design blog

Photos: Avignon -Clouet architects.

This is a very simple house with three distinct aspects. From behind it is austere, a plain panelled elevation gives the impression of an industrial shed. From the front, a glazed façade makes a more direct connection with nature and the site. Internally the courtyard is a swimming pool giving the impression of a private palace! Read more

Seeing this building recalled the work of the celebrated artist and sculpture David Mach. But surprisingly when I learned it was a nursery school in Boulogne-Billancourt, beautifully designed by Hondelatte Laporte Architectes, my immediate enthusiasm transformed into a more contemplative mood. Read more

The historical archive and library of Husteca in Spain has been renovated to revive an important civic building and institution for the town. The renovation was led by the architects Ana Moron Hernandez, Raymond Bambo Naya and Pedro Lafuente also working with Nuria Montero García. They managed to find a contemporary language that resonates with the historical built fabric.

The highlight and relatively brave design decision, considering the historical context, is a wall made from folded copper that appears as a blank façade, but it also conceals glazing elements behind. It forms a new façade within the original volume of the old building between brick flanking walls. The apparent height of this façade gives the building the aspect of a tower whilst its blank, if pleated, appearance lends a sense of solidity to the proceedings. Read more

Photos: Sebastián Crespo.

Pleased to feature a post of a project from Ecuador, the G1 house is located in Guayllabamba and was designed by Gabriel Rivera Architects. Completed late in 2012 it explores the idea that an emblem of nature’s bounty, provider of food and good fortune, here represented by a 12m high avocado tree, can be the starting point of an architectural discourse that also draws on themes inspired by ecclesiastical architecture. Read more

Images: Zaha Hadid Architects.

St Anthony’s College at the University of Oxford looks like it is about to be hauled into the 21^st century, architecturally speaking, when construction work on Zaha Hadid’s Softbridge extension commences some time around the end of January.

The project was first designed in 2006 but construction has been delayed due to planning and funding questions. The bridge will be made of a fibreglass composite and will link historic buildings from the Edwardian and Victorian periods. Read more