FEB
The Modernist thinking that suffuses the design of this house is strong and apparent. But what is less clear, unless you happen to be a scholar of Korean housing, is the inspiration JOHO Architecture have taken from the traditional pattern of Korean house building. Read more
FEB
Any lover of traditional books will eventually come across the same conundrum: what to do with them all? Shinichi Ogawa, the architect for this house in Tochigi, Japan, designed a house around a library wall some 6.5m tall. In so doing, he made a clear statement about his client which he carried through other architectural details in the design. Read more
JAN
Continuing today’s theme of houses built around the appreciation of a particular tree, the Offset house in São Paulo, Brazil designed by Shieh Arquitetos Associados shows its appreciation of the magnificent tree already found on the site by articulating two halves of the building to create the impression that it wraps around the tree. From inside openings are placed at different levels, giving the viewer a perception of the tree’s full scale. Read more
DEC
An old ruined house, that was divided into three small floors, has been transformed with a simple and elegant conversion from a ramshackle property into a beautiful family home. Located in Matosinhos, Portugal it was designed by Rui Cerqueira Barros.
From the street, the house reads as two distinct volumes. The old house in what appears like a grey render and a new timber-clad thin volume to the side. The tall proportion to this volume is exaggerated by what looks like a tall thin front door. The door, which is actually half the height it appears to be, counters what would otherwise be the mundanity of the squarish garage door. This play with proportion raises the house from the ordinary into a house with a touch of style. Read more
DEC
Miguel Angel Aragonés, the architect for this house in Mexico City, appears to have an all consuming fascination with the sun. He sees it as revealing architecture, defining its edges and spaces. His approach to design is to capture the sun, manipulate it and finally “seduce” it
Let us see what he means by this with a look at La Palma. Read more
