Asked to design a summer/winter house in a remote landscape in the most southern part of Chile. More than a design, the client wanted, first of all, an equation that included every possible aspect that one could consider to be included; the design then had to be just the resolution of that equation.Being the weather condition very extreme, we started taking as less risk as possible; that’s why we began from the double sloped conventional roof. Slowly, we moved on, deforming it, looking for the views, avoiding the winds, using the frame windows as the arriving or starting points of the slopes. This acceptance-rejection logic of the operations, explain the geometry of the second floor; the first floor on the contrary, is a dry resistance box, able to deal with earthquakes and with the solitude this type of houses have to deal with, great part of the year.
Stones and wood came from the clearence made in the site for the house. The darkness of the object, will be a way to restitute the original density of the place. Architects: Alejandro Aravena, Jorge Christie, Victor Oddó Location: Pirihueico lake, Chile Built Area: 350sqm Construction start: 2003 Completion: 2004 Materials: Stone, Wood, Glass Photos: Cristobal Palma More about Pirihueico House [via] modern house design.
The four equal sized boxes are built as simple wood construction covered with corrugated metal panels on the outside and wood and gypsum panels on the inside. The floor plan is based on the needs of a traditional country house. Only partially the organization of the rooms is a direct consequence of the rigid outer form. The Living Room focuses on the different light conditions needed for an existing and future art collection, while the great view into the nearby countryside is present without being dominant. The sequence of the different rooms reflects the idea of a private gallery. Natural light is coming into the spaces through the openings in between the outer boxes. Architects : HHF Architects + Ai WeiWei Location : Ancram, New York, USA Design Team : HERLACH HARTMANN FROMMENWILER & AI WEIWEI with Bhavana Hameed, Tom Strub, Fumiko Takahama, Magnus Zwyssig Structural Engineering : Crawford & Associates, Hudson, NY Construction Management : Crawford & Associates, Hudson, NY General Contractor : Robert Reed Construction, Germantown, NY Design year : 2005-2006 Construction year : 2006-2008 Client : Private Constructed Area : 375 sqm Photographs : Iwan Baan, Nikolas Koenig Tsai residence [via] luxury home design
Luxury House Makes Modern Luxury a Daily Event, located in Brentwood Park, Beverly Hills. This spectacular contemporary house sports a structured, clean facade of white with glass held in place by a striking black frame. A circular tower leads the way to the entrance, where you’ll find a wonderland of wood and windows. Floors and ceilings feature rich hardwood, which abuts the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Beyond is an endless view of the Los Angeles city skyline which, incidentally, can be enjoyed just as much (if not, more) from the outdoor terraces encircling the building. Luxury House Makes Modern Luxury a Daily Event [via]
This is interior design of New Office of Twitter created by Sara Morishige Williams. This design means “bring the outdoors in, while making the space playful yet useful and sustainable”. The entire office is equipped with wifi connectivity, and has several fun features such as a dj booth, arcade, custom concrete conference tables, and of course plenty of playful bird depictions.
Villa in the Dunes is a house designed by architects Zandbelt&vandenBerg, located at the edge of the dunes in the Hook of Holland, the Netherlands.A villa for an art-loving couple has been completed at the edge of the dunes of Hook of Holland. The entrance level is situated in the dunes as a bunker and consists of a guesthouse, besides the entrance functions.The living on the front gives access to a dunegarden through a terrace. On the other side the kitchen hovers above the ground. On top of this all, the master bedroom. An exterior staircase leads to a roof terrace and provides a panorama on the surrounding dune landscape and its bunkers. The sea lures at the horizon.Architect : Zandbelt&vandenBerg Rotterdam, NL Team : Daan Zandbelt and Rogier van den Berg with Tom Bokkers, David Luque Client : Pieter & Diana van Toor Photographs : Christian RichtersView more about Villa in the Dunes [via] Modern house design.
Barn House is the farmhouse, designed by BURO II , together with Hendrik Vermoortel, Rita Huys. Located among the rolling hills of mid-west Flanders. The central principle for the farmhouse conversion is the relationship between the building and its outside space, and the connection with the surrounding environment. The client was emphatic that tradition, innovation and respect for the landscape be combined in a single project. The structure of the landscape and research into rural building in Flanders stand in reciprocity to the design process and the final built environment. Crucial in this thought process is that the landscape confirms the footprint of the buildings and farmhouses in origin and as tradition. Here respect and tradition create a need for a contemporary continuity, reflected in the search for a new meaning for the farmhouse in its varying scenic mutations. The project is a spatial and architectural quest for methods to offer new perspectives in the relationship between landscape and The Barn House [via]
Aquino House, the single-family residence is located on a steeped lot in front of federal government lands and aside a river.
The house is configured by orthogonal shapes and materials such as wood, stone and metal without artificial claddings. It stands with no protagonism against the rich and abundant surroundings.A series of spatial and comfort requirements led to juxtaposed concepts. The family wished for large open areas that could somehow, blend with the nature around, bluring the lines between “inside” and “outside”. Another request was an isolated studio with room for thousands of books, compact discs and LP’s, which must maintain related with the exterior.
The main intention was for each interior space to face the river or the old amate tree, which is located towards east and has a 30 meter extended foliage that appears to envelop the house.The small pool of stone and its red cedar surrounding pavement stands as the most intimate space concealed between the house and one of the perimeter retaining walls.
Architects: Augusto Fernandez Mas (K+A Diseño) Location: Cuernavacas, Morelos, Mexico Project year: 2005 Construction year: 2006 Collaborators: Edurne Turcott Unzueta, David Alba Landscape: Mario de la Garza & Daniel Aguilar Woodwork: Fernando Acevedo Structural Engineer: Enrique Garcia Constructed Area: 490 sqm Photographs: Fernando CorderoMore About Aquino House [via] Modern House Design.
Casa Tropical designed by Camarim Architects, located in a fishing village in northern Brazil.The three-storey house is surrounded by a wide gallery for circulation on the outside of the building. The wooden roof and walls of the gallery shelter the building from the sun but allow the wind to cool the interior.3 Floors: 3 Landscapes totally diverse in use and means of approaching nature.
1: the podium, at street level, looks over the garden. Two volumes sheltering ancillary functions leave an open space for permanence, with wide views over the garden, under the shadow of the house above.
2: the rooms are accessed via the gallery, which is wrapped in a wooden skin that negotiates privacy, views, ventilation and shadow, this last one treated as a living ornament. The walls have the roughness of hand crafted bricks, painted ice white.
3: the living room is a house on the trees, a wooden house on top of the concrete house. The open roof leaves space for 3,20 m high glass panels, merging coconut trees, dunes and sea in the open plan interior.more about Casa Tropical [via] modern house design
Chikara Ohno has designed the interior with stunning architectural design for Patrick Cox shop in Tokyo, Japan. The shop is in a 17-story building in Tokyo’s fashion-centric Aoyama district and it is only a few steps inside the building’s main entrance. The important point of this shop seemed to be lighting. The products can shine and get a better look if the light source is close by, not shining down from the ceiling. So I positioned each of cylindrical steel pendant fixtures directly over a corresponding display pedestal. These fixtures provide most of the lighting in the space without the lighting from the ceiling. As a result, this space gets unique conditions such as “dark in above and well-lighted in below”. The gradation of the wall is a promotion of it. At the same time, the pendant fixtures cut the void and shape the space. Pathways in the shop seem to meander beneath a canopy formed by the largest of the drum shades.
Mt Martha modern house designed by Australia’s Graham Jones Design.This modern house built of radial timber, selected for its notable environmental and technical benefits. The secret is in the way the wood is cut. Waste not, want not, and radial sawing allows the highest return of timber per log. The timber is also cut from native trees, which reduces greenhouses gases related to transport of goods.In addition to being eco-friendly, radial timber is also durable. The natural finish of this innovative and eco-friendly house encourages the live-off-the-earth sentiment. But that’s not to say any luxury is spared. The magnificent wood and stone that form the facade make their way indoors, where tall ceilings are accentuated by the vertical, floor-to-ceiling wooden installations. Expansive windows naturally brighten interiors, while letting in the scenic views of the garden and patio just outside. Radial Timber.More about Mt Martha modern house [via] modern house design.
The house is organized around three events: Firstly, a patio over street level, secondly, a promenade composed of ramps and staircases that lead from the parking to the roof garden and thirdly, a perimeter wall that defines the domesticated territory of the house.
Regarding the expression of the house, it offers a silent facade to the street, which is no more than the simple echo of the wall that confines the small patio of the sleeping rooms. This elongated patio works as a filter towards the noisy movement of cars that pass tangent to the site. Its interior space is characterized by the colonization of elements such as: the oblique pillars which endure the horizontal force of possible earthquakes, the prefabricated skylights which introduce light to the deepest part of the house and the ramps. Those elements altogether create boundaries and tensions within the space. Architect : Sebastian Irarrazaval Client : Martin Irarrazaval Location : Santiago, Chile Site Area : 700 sqm Building Area : 200sqm Construction start : 2005 Completion : 2006 Materials : Concrete, Timber & Glass Photos : Carlos Eguiguren Lira House, designed by Sebastian Irarrazaval Architect [via] modern house design.
Capitol Residence designed by Pb Elemental Architect, located in Seattle, Washington, US.The project includes 1688 sf of living space, one car garage, driveway, and green space on a small lot centered in Seattle’s Capitol Hill urban community. Exterior elements distinguish the homes different areas; extra rooms and stairwell clad in black aluminum panel, while the main areas; common level and master suite, are outlined with white aluminum panel, cedar rain screen and glass. Extensive store-front windows facing the street add a voyeuristic element to the home, giving away intimate views of the master suite and living room floors.Architects: Pb Elemental Architecture Location: Seattle, Washington, US Contractor: Lead Construction Landscape: Volz Landscaping Interior Design: Modern Dwelling, LLC Constructed Area: 1.688 sqft (156.8 sqm) Design Period: 60 days Construction year: 2008 Photographs: Pb Elemental ArchitectureMore about Capitol Residence [via] modern house design.
A couple bought one of the few available plots on the Bay of Biscay coastline. The plot slopes downwards and is cut by a 30 meter-high cliff against which the waves break. The Northern sea wind is very rough, making it hard for trees to grow by the coastline. The plot size is 90 x 50, 4500 m2 and 8% building rate, that is, 360 square meters. Maximum height is 3 meters eaves, 6 meters total. Distance to the lateral edges 10 meters, and 12 to the back street axis. 11 meter drop. 30 minute walk to Langre Beach and 10 to the eastern end of Puntal Beach, whose opposite end closes the Santander Bay. Bay of Biscay horizon from Cabo Mayor, to the west, all the way to Cabo de Ajo, to the east.Architects: NOLASTER — Carmina Casajuana, Beatriz G. Casares, Marcos González, Pablo Oriol, Fernando Rodríguez y Arturo Romero Location: Loredo, Ribamontán al Mar, Cantabria, España. Client: Carmen Salgado y José Miguel Oriol Area: 360sqm Construction start: 2002 Completion: 2005 General contractors: Construcciones Volga + Ramiro Bra Rivas Structural Engineer: NOLASTER + Constantino Hurtado Services: Fernando Rodríguez Cerón Photos: Jan BitterA new topography is defined in order to protect a rear south garden from the strong and persistent sea wind. The most exposed façade of the house is the green roof.More about Os House [via] Modern House Design.
Mount Baker Residense designed by Pb Elemental Architecture, located in the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle, this dramatic home is perched on a hill, high above the street. The design captures the territorial views of the surrounding rooftops with floor to ceiling glass and roof top deck.The 3,600 sqft home includes four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a large open living floor with ten foot-tall ceilings and a two car garage with a 400 sqft roof deck above. Additionally, the home includes a separate, one bedroom apartment unit on the lower level, complete with a wrap-around patio.
The structure was conceived as the juxtaposition of three pure volumes, each containing a unique programmatic element. In turn, each element is clad with clear cedar, cement board or concrete to emphasize the massing.Architects: Pb Elemental Architecture Location: Seattle, Washington, US Structural Engineer: Pangeo Landscape: Volz Landscaping Constructed Area: 2.940 sqft (273 sqm) Project year: 2007 Construction year: 2008 Photographs: Pb Elemental ArchitecturMore about Mount Baker Residense [via] Modern House Design.
Seifert House designed by Michael Shamiyeh Architect, located in Volkersdorf, Enns, Austria.The house was built as a passive house (no cooling or heating required) with an incredible low budget, within a construction period of less than seven months.
Architect : Michael Shamiyeh — BAU|KULTUR, Austria Location : Volkersdorf, Enns, Austria Structure Engineer : Helmut Schiebel Contractor : Winfried Orth Materials : Concrete & Glass Photographs : Paul OttThe conception of the house became a deep engagement with Mies, in particular with the Farnsworth House, and the question of how a space should be constituted in order to open itself to the surrounding by simultaneously offering privacy. Furthermore, it became an investigation of how much freedom in space effectively determines the way of living in contrast to a few certain spatial determinations that liberate. Whereas the first model refers to Rietveld’s attempts to create freedom e.g. by means of sliding doors etc. the later model refers to Mies’ structured open plan.View more about Seifert House [via] Modern house design.
Architects: H Arquitectes — David Lorente, Josep Ricart, Xavier Ros, Roger Tudó Location: Santa Cristina d’Aro, Girona, Spain Collaborator: Felip Toledo, Technical Architect Client: Steven Hind and Beatriz Escolano Construction year: 2002-05 Constructed Area: 109 sqm Photographs: STARP estudiAll of the openings have three fencing levels: adjustable shutters that guarantee sun protection in the summer and captures the sun’s radiation in the winter, a mosquito net which allows ventilation and protects from the insects, and finally, interior aluminum carpentry with a thermal bridge break and double glass with an interior chamber. The façade is built with ventilated double panes and an interior bearing wall. Hence we improved the insulation, the thermal inertia and air tightness; we minimized the thermal bridges and the possible condensations and avoided cracks due to the cross of the façade’s vertical plane with the suspended floor and the roof plane. The southern façade, with more sun exposure, has a natural shade: deciduous climbing plants protect it from the sun’s direct radiation in the summer and allows the sun to enter in the winter. The roof has little sun exposure because it faces the north and is protected with vegetation. It is finished with zinc over a waterproof board with a ventilated chamber and interior insulation. Source [via] modern house design.
Architect: Guilherme Machado Vaz Client: Júlio Machado Vaz Location: Vieira do Minho, Portugal Project: 1998 2002 Construction: 2002 2005 Consultants: SGPE, lda. Contractor: António Dias Ribeiro, Lda. Constructed Area: 350m2 Budget: 250.000 EURO (US $386.200) Photographs: Leonardo FinottiWhen you enter the site you see the house hidden behind nature without any constructed way to the entrance which makes it look even more as an isolated element in space. This ` surprise element ‘ (Montesquieu) contributes to stimulate the observer and its perception of the relation between the space and the house. The architectonic experience is made to the base of sensorial stimulations. The entrance is a covered exterior space that gives access to the garage and to the interior of the house. The stairs lead to the entry hall that separates the veranda from the living room. Each space has a different relation with the surroundings which confers a unique identity to them. The opened veranda, protected by the trees, is a place of libation of nature, where we get lost inside ourselves.The bedroom’s area consists of two identical nucleuses with a hall, two rooms and bathroom. The house is made of concrete, used as a constructive and finishing element, searching a hard materiality and contrasting aesthetics with the chromatic and textural diversity of nature that encircles it. On the inside, this contrast is emphasized through the neutral color that coat walls and ceiling and by the ‘monotonous’ way that space is designed. More information about Valley House [via] Modern house design.
This holiday house is located in the middle of the village of Vnà in the Lower Engadine. The particular challenge of the project was to bridge the divide between the old-world charm of the village and the modern flair embodied in a holiday house for an internationally successful art gallery owner. In urban planning terms, the building closed a permanent gap in the village structure whilst the dimensions correspond to those of the adjacent houses.Over time the village was periodically hit by fires, meaning that the original timber structures disappeared and were replaced by the stone houses that give the settlement its indigenous character today. The resulting massiveness of the walls has a great similarity with traditional means of building and enabled the typical corbels of the window reveals. The windows are arranged according to interior criteria, giving the façade an informal appearance typical of old Engadine houses.Finally, the traditional and modernist elements of the sculptural volume blend into a unified whole. The interplay between simplicity, rural straightforwardness and contemporary comfort and architectural sophistication lend the house a very specific character, which pays respect to the village without being obsequious.
Architects: AFGH Location: CH-7557 Vnà, GR, Switzerland Project year: 2006-2007 Construction year: 2006-2007 Client: Eva Presenhuber Planners: Jon Andrea Könz Budget: 900.000 CHF (US $866.551) Constructed Area: 224 sqm Photographs: Valentin Jeck
House overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Mexico, designed by Cadaval & Sola-Morales architects.Details from the architects:
The main goal of the project was to create a low-cost and low-maintenance house that realised all the structural qualities of the material in which it was built to its full potential.
The design takes forward the idea of low-cost/low-maintenance, and applies this strategy to all the materials involved in the construction, while pushing to the limit both their technical and tectonic qualities: floor, windows, railings, etc., are done re-using materials that were previously used for pouring the concrete and for the rest of the construction process.Perhaps, it is the space generated within inner and outer space what makes the house special. The house was designed to operate fully opened; it is then when the cantilever, this huge threshold, is fully occupied and becomes the central space of the house.
The house was awarded one of the 5 young architects honorable mentions (under 40 yr) at the Spanish Bienal of Architecture and were one of the 25th finalist including among others Nouvel’s Agbar Tower, Rogers’s Terminal 4, Miralles Santa Caterina Market or Chipperfield’s Americas Cup Building. We were also the youngest office awarded.
The modern geometric home, designed by Santa Monica, located in Los Angeles, California. The modern geometric home is composed of a collection of daring folds, sharp angles and various volumes connected on the 10,000-sq.-ft. property. This contemporary design based Tighe Architecture incorporates a number of buildings, which are structured around a private central courtyard that invites the outdoors into these modern living spaces. From the outside, this cool house is characterized by its unique folded roof and walls. Windows, seemingly scattered about the facade, were strategically placed to frame the fabulous views. Inside this two-storey home, the details are simple, and simply impeccable. A soaring focal wall features cut-outs that echo the home’s windows, with a skylight at the top as its crowning glory. The finishes are minimal yet luxury, like the rich wood floors, and the gorgeous kitchen featuring warm woods and cool stone tiles, enclosed in a wall of windows with a pool-side walkout. A guest house and pool house are mirror images of one another. The modern geometric home [via] luxury home
