Luxury House Design, Casa Elegante-Pure

If we hear classic word, our memory return to epoch of Rome and ancient epoch Greece, when cultural growth of western start to expand. Classic era take place from epoch king of louis XIV until governance king of louis XVI in France. Classic style seen at architecture arts, interior as well as furniture.

According to big dictionary of Indonesian Language published by Indonesian department of education and culture, classic word mean highest, having quality and value confessed and become yardstick of endless perfection.

Besides classic building, classic furniture also be marked with engraving properties showing highness and affluence of European nob circle. Flora and fauna assumed to become decoration object at chair, desk, or dressoir and directoire and also decoration at place of sleep head (bed head). At that time furniture designed seriously by all designer or architect, so that besides function and its consumer freshment, also be created with beautiful form. The famous of chair model in louis epoch XVI of low seat place accomodated of the size the body and way of siting woman at that epoch. its chair jok from cloth embroider flower motif with technique of classy embroider gobelin. Highness of European kings epoch of former epoch to date still become inspiration to all architect and all joiner.

"My house is my palace", that is expression to depict how big and how luxuriant of this building. With the price is $9.950,000, certified green home, five bedrooms the finishes include lots of marble and travertine as well as exotic woods including Brazilian cherry, teak and bamboo, and at the grounds include a large pool and spa and a dock and boat lift, the home was developed by Laughlin’s Luxury Lifestyles and built by Triangle Construction and is a lavish 14,243 square foot residence is a pure simbol of luxury, and its realy amazing.

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Larisa Residence, House Design in Greece

Architecture have its own way to alter mathematical perception such as proportion, balance, and geometric become esthetics, atmosphere, spirit and also transfer it become warm feeling, freshment and beauty. That's architecture strength, what visual which bringing aspect, texture, voice and emotion to our fore part.

Chosening contemporary modern dressy interior sliver bearing with function and certain esthetics want to be reached. Generally furniture and contemporary modern accessory own to form simple of according to with an eye to its usage ( form, follow, and function). It's detail signalize coherent lines composition ( clean lines) and the geometric form. Individuality contemporary presented through application of substances and high technology vitriform, husk synthetic, metal and also construction become militant concrete. Combination with material experience of ligneous and petrify to give warm feeling and freshment at one blow " mellowing" stiff impression. Processing finishing also signalize character of each;every material cover textures of colour and motif and also be supported by arranging correct lighting. Accuration factor in workmanship, freshment in practical usage and also and easy to in treatment, becoming attention in designed contemporary modern.

The design is based on a composition of concrete and wood-clad walls and large openings. The house's design was based on cubic shapes and strict geometry. The rich openings, which allow plenty of sunlight in, link the house's volume with the surrounding landscape. The structure is L-shaped and positioned at the corner of the plot. The raw materials used were rough, naked concrete and wood. Positioning the house at the corner of the plot allows space for the pool and garden. The living area has been designed to enjoy maximum light exposure.

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C+V House, Single House in Teramo, Italy

"House Capece-Venanzi, is a suburban house for a young couple.

Situated in the diffuse Conurbazione of the Adriatic coast, between Ascoli and Pescara, the house is built on an "intermediate" area -- between the plain and a hill. An area that was thitherto seen as being a place unworthy of being built upon."

"Located in the midst of intertwined single-family houses on two levels and a hill, the site is tight, and green -- covered in natural or 'spontaneous' vegetation.

The idea was to construct a building with an 'inverse' guideline.

Instead of being oriented towards the city, looking outward from the hill; the house is completely turned towards the hill -- the hill that acts as a rising 'green sea' on which the house shows itself."

"The planning of the house can be defined across three levels:

* The lowest level is underground. An inner patio acts as the central element around which the spaces are organized; creating an interaction between the buried spaces, roof-garden area, and the suspended volume of the upper level (the ground level).
* The ground floor is the part of the building that holds all levels together. Acting as the border between the uncovered-roof-garden and the covered-day-area, metal (vetrata wall) and glulam surfaces wrap around the spaces; connecting the ground level with the upper one.
* The first floor consists of various rooms and private spaces typical of a house (bath/sauna, study etc.)"

"The volumes of the house are metaphors - to the pieces in a game of tetris, albeit at a much larger scale.

The base is covered in stone, juxtaposed with the volume covered in white plaster; the base 'is cut' on the forehead in the west, by a vetrata wall, all the way upto its height; while the overlapping volume is intersected by a wedge of the free shaped circular hall."

Project details

* Project Name: C+V house
* Client: Francesco Capece, Venanzi Ilenia
* Project Type: single house
* Principal Designer/s: Giovanni Vaccarini
* Contractor/s: Di Ferdinando Michele
* Date of commencement of project: 2004
* Date of completion of project: 2005
* Location of site: Teramo, Italy
* Site Area: 450 sq. m
* Built-up Area: 280 sq. m
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 300,000 Euro

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North Carlton Green House in Melbourne, Australia

The client required that the small site (166 sq m) be used to maximum potential to increase the size of the house and also the garden space. We identified the client's passion for her garden and the sun, as an exciting opportunity to increase the local ecological diversity and absorb carbon dioxide. The brief also encompassed the aims of minimizing resource and energy use.

Planning restrictions limited the ability to build upwards, so to increase floor area the footprint of the house had to increase.

An increase in garden space would therefore require an innovative approach to integrating garden with the building.

Maximizing green space

The garden is integrated into the building to create a living, breathing, sustainable space that is a delight to inhabit.

Two courtyards contain garden beds that protrude into the house and a pond that reflects light onto the ceiling.

A rooftop garden provides more garden and first floor planter boxes act as privacy screens.

A curtain of tillandsia air plants articulates light, while wysteria provides external shade.

Floor area increased from 90 sq m to 132 sq m and garden is also increased from 20 sq m to 35 sq m as ground floor garden, first floor roof-top garden, raised planters and existing tree canopies link to create a landscape rich in diversity.

Habitable outdoor space increased from 23m² to 45.25m, spread over four spaces, each oriented and shaded differently to maximize flexibility in use.
Minimizing resource use - gas and electricity, heating and cooling minimization

Thermal mass is provided in the form of an exposed concrete floor, concrete ceiling and brick walls.

Stable internal temperatures are maintained through high performance insulation batts and Air-cell sisalation in the walls and roof, straw board in the party wall, and the roof garden is insulated with 300mm - 600mm of earth.

A two storey north-facing void adjacent to the courtyard allows sun to penetrate deep into the house to passively heat and facilitates natural heat removal in summer through stack effect.

Shading is provided by overhanging eaves, fixed louvers and deciduous planting. Windows are oriented to catch breezes cooled by the pond.

When required, a gas-hydronic system heats the insulated concrete floor.

To minimize gas usage, the gas boiler also boosts the solar hot water system.

Water minimization

Water consumption is minimized through harvested rainwater and grey water use in the garden via automated irrigation systems that are sub-surface to minimize evaporation.
Conclusion

Renovation of existing house stock is essential for a sustainable future.

Restrictive planning controls and client floor area demands can result in outcomes of big footprints and small green spaces.

The North Carlton Green House proposes a model where ecology is the foremost concern. Green space is increased, while demands of client and planning authorities are met.

A series of similar houses layered with green space would link horizontally and vertically creating a healthy, green urban environment rich in bio-diversity.

Project details

* Project Name: North Carlton Green House
* Client: Anne-Marie
* Project Type: Renovation and extension
* Principal Designer/s: Zen Architects
* Design Team: Ben Callery and Ric Zen
* Contractor/s: Concept Build
* Date of commencement of project: April 2005
* Date of completion of project: December 2005
* Location of site: Melbourne, Australia
* Site Area: 166 square meters
* Building footprint area: 100 square meters
* Floor Area: 132 square meters
* Outdoor garden area: 45 square meters
* Cost of Construction/Execution: $365,000

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Interior Design at Homestead III in Bangalore, India

The rapidly changing hospitality industry in Bangalore has spurred on the development of a new breed of serviced apartments. This change has primarily been in response to rapid economic growth and a severe scarcity of hotel rooms in the state capital.

This newer breed of serviced apartments seek a new clientele and target hotel-goers as well as long-term guests, by providing a richly textured, modern, boutique experience rather than a traditional "home stay" alternative.

The primary attempt of the designers has been to balance textures with careful accents within a rigid functional framework.

A rotating TV unit serves both the bedroom and living areas. Cool Corian surfaces are blended with laminates and the space encloses the user in a static cocoon.

All forms are rigid and grounded with horizontal grooves on the wall along the principal axis.

Large oversized, black and white visuals form a backdrop to the space.

Project Details

* Project Name: Homestead III
* Client: The Brigade Group
* Project Type: Architectural and Interior design
* Principal Designer: Praxis
* Design Team: Rajiv Majumdar, Kaushik Gowda
* Contractors, Contributors: Dreamworks, Paliath Enterprises, Hyphen Interactive, Welpac
* Date of commencement of project: January 2007
* Date of completion of project (estimated): October 2007
* Location of site: Bangalore, India
* Site Area: 50 square meters per unit
* Built-up Area: 10690 square meters total
* Cost of Construction/Execution: USD 25,000/unit

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Brione House, Residential Design in Switzerland

The residence is located in an up market urban sprawl above the city of Locarno. The site affords panoramic views onto the city, its surrounding mountains and lake.

The design is generated in response to the chaos of the urban sprawl and conventional attributes of a classical house are thus omitted.

Two simple cubes emerge from the hill associating more with the natural landscape than existing building.

Habitable spaces are generated as cavities within the interiors of the cubes. Light is filtered into the interiors through strategic openings and through the courtyards.

Two large openings, with wooden grids serve as moveable gates.

The water of the swimming pool, embedded in the cube facing the valley, visually merges with the lake.

Project Details

* Project Name: House in Brione
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Residential Design
* Principal Designer: Markus Wespi Jerome de Meuron Architects
* Year of commencement of project: 2004
* Year of completion of project: 2005
* Location of site: 6645 Brione sopra Minusio, TI, Switzerland
* Construction supervision: Guscetti Arch. Dipl.
* Engineer: Anastasi SA
* Building physics: IFEC Consulenze SA
* Constructor: Merlini + Ferrari SA
* Carpenter: Erich Keller AG
* Site Area: 535 square meters
* Built-up Area: 155 square meters

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Private Residence MW, Residential Design in Netherlands

The apartment is designed as an open social space. One is afforded views into the entire space of the apartment right at the entrance.

Storage cabinets and a bookcase are built into a wedge like profile which suggest the fanning out and opening up of the residence to its front facade. The visitor is thus welcomed and drawn into the interiors of the apartment.

A stainless steel staircase takes centre stage in the space and captures the attention of both the visitors as well as the inhabitants. The various spaces are knit around this element.

Its sculptural form splits in shape at one third of its total height in an attempt to hint at the difference between the social open main floor and the private areas above.

The kitchen is designed with its immediate context, functionality and storage as the main parameters of consideration. It is visually linked to the main living space.

The exhaust hood has been designed to emerge as a part of the main block rather then to form another loose volume within the space. The entire arrangement along with the breakfast table is designed as a single unit.

Grey, beige, army green, stainless steel and whites combined with greyish oak create a flexible backdrop to the space.

"Flos" spherical lighting elements provide ambient lighting throughout the apartment. Special "accent" pieces are however used for accentuated lighting atop the main dinner table and in the hallway.

Project Details

* Project Name: Private Residence MW
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Residential Design
* Principal Designer: Thomas Laurens
* Year of commencement of project: 2006
* Year of completion of project: 2007
* Location of site: Amsterdam Canals, The Netherlands
* Site Area: 110 square meters
* Built-up Area: 350 square meters

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Interior Design at Rozelle House in Sydney, Australia

The project contributes to contemporary design practice by exhibiting both an awareness of contemporary interior design trends and a willingness to reject those trends if an alternate material, form or object presented itself as more appropriate for the project

The project uses materials that reference a variety of eras of design while taking advantage of contemporary construction techniques to apply those materials to contemporary forms.

The project eschews the current trend for 'surface indestructibility' and uses materials that have a surface characteristic that will allow them to mature in character over time.

Project philosophy and methodology

The philosophy behind the project was to make a contemporary addition to a traditional terrace house using materials and forms that were inherently sympathetic to the original structure.

The existing dwelling had layers of materials, forms and use patterns that had become evident over five years of occupation in its former 'rustic' state.

There was a strong desire to create an addition that allowed for a similar complexity to develop, which meant creating a space that layered materials and forms to create a certain complexity of occupation. At the same time, there was a strong desire to incorporate contemporary 'clean surface' forms and have a geometry that was clearly evident.

The methodology involved a simultaneous evolution of form and material. Some choices were clear from the start - the brick floor was always a part of the project, as was the sandstone wall of the existing house - while other elements changed continuously as the project evolved.

The extension was designed to be a series of three dimensional forms that slot into one another, and the materials had to be chosen both for their ability to adapt to these forms and their structure/surface characteristics.

As the materials and forms evolved they were tested exhaustively using three dimensional modeling and rendering.

As the project commenced, final material choices were confirmed with the assistance of visits to various production warehouses to sample the materials in their final form.

Material and detailing strategies

In terms of material choice, the general determinant was that a material should be chosen for the fact that it's structure was it's surface - concrete, brick, glass and wood.

This lends a certain honesty and solidity to the design both in colour and finish, and was strongly driven both by a general philosophy and by the strong presence of the exposed sandstone wall in the extension.

Detailing was driven by a desire to resolve the three dimensional forms of the extension to a finite degree.

Forms were not to be masked by profiles, cornices or skirting boards but were to meet and intersect cleanly.

This meant incorporating details that allowed for minimal tolerance and incorporating design elements frameless glass and pivot doors that required no reveal.

Construction was informed by 1:5 details of all significant junctions.

Principle materials
Courtyard/Living Room Floor Full Brick
Bowral Bricks Hereford Bronze
Kitchen/Dining Room Floor Concrete
Steel Trowel, Light Polish and Seal
Main Joinery (Wall Units) European Ash, Veneer to cupboards, Solid Bench tops, Matt
Polyurethane
Kitchen Ceiling
Secondary Joinery (Sink Return) Solid Tasmanian Oak. 90% Black 10% Walnut Stain, Matt Polyurethane.
Rendered Wall/Ceiling Paint, Dulux Antique White USA
Timber Screen Plantation Kwila 20mmx40mm battens
Carpet Supertuft Groove Dark Brown
Tiles Glass Mosaic, White 30x15, Green 30x30

Use of sustainable resources and principles

While small, the project incorporated principles of sustainable design where possible.

These included the re-use of existing bricks as fill for form work, use of recycled timbers in construction including the principle lintel for the rear doors, a high level of insulation and AAA rated water fittings.

The design also has good passive solar performance including elements like a heavy masonry floor for heat retention in winter, operable awnings for sun control in summer, a central courtyard to facilitate cross ventilation and an efficient gas hot water system.

These design elements mean that air conditioning is not required and heating loads are reduced.

Cost effectiveness

The budget was average to above average for a project of this size and was maintained by restricting the level of work to the existing house to restoration and surface redecoration.

With surfaces like the brickwork in the ensuite and the shiplap boards in the master bedroom being retained with only painting, where other projects might have sought to cover up.

This was consistent with the aim of the project to present the old and new together, each retaining their individual self while borrowing from the other.

Project details

* Project Name: Rozelle House
* Client: Tom Ferguson
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designer/s: Tom Ferguson
* Design Team: Tom Ferguson
* Contractor/s: Steele Associates
* Date of commencement of project: Feb 2006
* Date of completion of project: Nov 2006
* Location of site: Sydney, Australia
* Site Area: 146sqm
* Built-up Area: 120sqm
* Cost of Construction/Execution: Confidential

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Sky Garden, Interior design in Vietnam

The client's required the redesign of a small area in his apartment accommodating a single family with children.

It was required that the design to be modern, youthful, and unique in terms of application of materials, colors and textures and that it should be spacious without losing its cozy ambience.

The design is marked by its use of glass spidered on the walls finished in a Mexican blue color in the living-room.

The bedrooms were redesigned and fitted with custom made furniture.

Project Details

* Project Name: 3C6-12 Sky Garden
* Client: Ngo Thi Hanh Dung
* Project Type: Interior design
* Principal Designer: Vo Ngoc Linh
* Design Team: SGBK
* Date of commencement of project: September 2006
* Date of completion of project: December 2006
* Location of site: Phu My Hung, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
* Built-up Area: 91 m2

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Warren Street Loft Apartments, Residential Design in New York City

These new loft apartments were designed as high-end, luxury residential units in an existing, traditional Tribeca warehouse building located in a popular downtown New York City neighborhood.

The architects developed a concept for the design of the loft apartments in line with the client's vision seeking to reposition the property.

Each of the 1,700 square foot lofts required a master bedroom and bathroom, a guest bedroom and bathroom, dining area, open kitchen and a large loft-like living space.

Semi-translucent full height glass doors with ultra-thin aluminum frames were used throughout to allow for maximum daylight penetration into the narrow space which was 80 feet by 23 feet in dimension.

The doors reflect light from one end of the loft to the other when left open and double up as light boxes when they are closed and back lit.

Subtle details like continuous white marble window sills and flush recessed wall base, white lacquered radiator enclosures and contemporary kitchen and bathroom detailing introduce a newer ambience into the space while the long exposed brick wall stands as a constant reminder of the original warehouse.

Project Details

* Project Name: Warren Street Loft Apartments
* Client: B. Jaffe Real Estate
* Project Type: Residential Design
* Principal Designer: Stylander DesignGroup
* Design Team: Johan Stylander, Brian Hackathorn
* Building Architect: Sara Arnold, OCV Architects
* Year of commencement of project: 2005
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: Tribeca, New York City, U.S.A
* Total Floor Area: 5,100 square feet (1,700 square feet per floor)

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MagicKub, Architectural design in France

Beauty of building it is not only that building own costly and delicate materials, but exploit existing materials around our environment and we can exploit better, designed creatively, will yield a element drawing as well as unique.

Sometime, we only assess the beauty or greatness of a building that only at forming its building face, though the that good building is building which can fulfill its function, dweller freshment, character and life style of dweller. To what end own luxury building but cannot function better, we not feel balmy omit in it, not own good sirculation and cannot exploit condition shake hand exist in about our environment.

Project details

* Project Name: MagicKub's house
* Client: Camille and Sacha Liddell
* Project Type: Architectural design
* Principal Designer/s: Jean-Charles Liddell
* Design Team: LIDDELL jc
* Contractor/s: Maury, Boussiquet, Franchet
* Date of commencement of project: December 2005
* Date of completion of project: January 2007
* Location of site: Tours, Indre et Loire, France
* Site Area: 1100 square meters
* Built-up Area: 130 square meters
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 130,000 Euros

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House O, Single Family House in Austria

Architecture is not just esthetics form but also an social manifestation for responsibility of architect moral, which forcing architect to look for fair resolving when echoing utopic views through building.

In designing building, there is one matter which may not be cared, that is landscape. Landscape which we own clear cannot possible we change it, except if it which we own too narrow, we can add again broadness by buying it, is also if us still own more expense. but when that landscape is very limited, we should be able to exploit as well as possible.

The building volume, with it's atrium, unfolds along a 14m wide and 62m long site. The folded roofscape reacts to the covered program with variations in height.

4 zones are defined

* Garage and storage room
* Master bedroom with bath and walk-in closet
* Entrance zone with atrium and little guest bathroom
* Living room and kitchen with a room height of 4.5m and panoramic opening to the garden - 8m x 30m of living pleasure

Project details

* Project Name: House O
* Project Type: Single family house
* Principal Designer/s: SHARE architects
* Design Team: Isabel Ariza Fernandez, Sara Luchesa, Chiara Riccardi
* Date of commencement of project: 11.2004
* Date of completion of project: 05.2005
* Location of site: St. Polten, Austria
* Site Area: 870 m2
* Built-up Area: 160 m2
* Cost of Construction: € 350 000

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HanenDick House, Private Dwelling in Netherlands

Natural light of which we get from sunshine is true represent requirement constitutoing architect in designing a dwelling. besides costing effective electrics, sunshine can to give health benefit for our body. Lighting for the nighttime is compatible if we use lamp, but when is daytime, what effective if we need lamp?

Skylight also represent solution to provide air stream experience of, when required. Since generally conclusion skylight which made of polycarbonat or glass have to be given the a kind of frame, what can be made of substance alumunium, space among conclusion and plate of concrete or existing roof can be spaced out to conduct air.

Generally skylight maked when element of air stream experience of have indoor adequate enough, because if that not yet answered the demand, skylight must not to be closed, so that its existence can become indoor air source at one blow the light source. Generally under the circumstances be made also garden of under it, so that its existence become garden within doors.

In designing house omit, skylight is one of solution which can be applied in order to the house not become "uncomfortable" without air stream, special for the impecunious spaces of windows.

Including light and air as much as possible from natural environment is important in creating a building.

The silhouette of the original farmhouse served as a starting point for the new design. Both - location and the footprint on site of the existing house, as well as the characteristic kink in the roof were preserved. The side facades are designed as recognizable volumes and provide room for all support functions. The in-between living area can develop and transform as desired.

Project details

* Project Name: House HanenDick
* Client: Hanneke & Dick
* Project Type: Private dwelling
* Principal Designer/s: JagerJanssen architects BNA
* Design Team: Alex Jager, Rogier Janssen, Marijn Boterman
* Contractor/s: Marcel van der Sluis
* Date of commencement of project: 2004
* Date of completion of project: 2007
* Location of site: Kosterijweg, Eelde, Netherlands
* Site Area: 1000 sq. mt.
* Built-up Area: 220 sq. mt.

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Floating House, Single Family House in Siegenfeld, Austria

Not only a few one who feeling saturated to live in the urban, the urban is true suited for searching job and get the money but is not best choice to become balmy living. Noise, air pollution exist in the urban make many people buy or build house in countryside. Possible draw when we enjoy the beauty of the urban from high rise building in there, such as concrete forest. But whether not more please when we can to feel cold air which we get from wind blowing from green grove.

Like this floating House acts as a refuge for the "urban workers" which located in the countryside.

The urban context is marked with its volume of garage and office spaces. Where they end, the landscape begins. Here, the program of spaces, changes; and the landscape gives birth to a new concept.

This transition creates a complex and multilayered continuous space, starting from the adjacent field and double backing onto the landscape. This turning of the spatial curve defines the space for an intimate courtyard for the family.

Project details

* Project Name: Floating House
* Client: Family H
* Project Type: Single Family House
* Design Team: Marlies Breuss, Michael Ogertschnig
* Contractor/s: Kppk Engineer, Rohrer Building Physics
* Date of Commencement of Project: May 2003
* Date of Completion of Project: January 2005
* Location Of Site: Siegenfeld, Austria
* Site Area: 696 m2
* Built-Up Area: 439 m2

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Downing, Single Family Residence in Tucson, AZ

The Downing Residence is a carefully nested desert dwelling on a hillside west of Tucson organized between existing saguaros. The 3500 square foot design splits the floor plan into three smaller pavilion-like footprints in order to rest more gently between areas of dense vegetation. From a distance, the Downing Residence is barely discernable from its east-facing mountainside backdrop. The structure blends with the surrounding rock outcroppings as each of its three volumes sit reverently within a grove of saguaro that dot the hillside.

Each pavilion of the house is a different living zone. They are linked by glazed transition spaces and are individually pivoted to optimize views of the city lights and the mountain surround. The living, dining and kitchen spaces are placed beneath a roof that sweeps upward in a butterfly-like fashion to maximize the view down the valley to the entirety of Tucson on one side and the towering mountains on the other. In the second pavilion, two guest bedrooms and a library occupy the second floor above the two-car garage, which is tucked behind the first pavilion in order to diminish the impact of its doors upon approaching the house. The second pavilion also affords a small library balcony, which hangs in a two-story gallery space and capitalizes on the panoramic views. The gallery also features a cantilevered powder room that projects from the block wall and hovers over the underlying desert. The third pavilion contains the serene master bedroom and study. The master bedroom looks across a 66-foot long, knife-edged lap pool that reflects the surrounding mountains, the blue southwestern sky, and beams of nighttime starlight.

We chose durable materials to reduce maintenance and forge a kinship with the site. The materials of the Downing Residence are rustic and natural feeling, and each of the rooms has a strong connection to the exterior. The palette consists of simple raw materials that resonate with the desert: a deep brown textured block matches the site's dramatic surrounding rock outcroppings, rusted steel, glass, concrete and various woods all compliment and harmonize with each other and the landscape. Upon entering the residence, the split-face block transitions from an exterior to an interior surface creating a seamless progression between them. Windows thoughtfully frame vistas of cityscapes, mountain ranges and desert flora. The practiced design maintains a comfortable temperature throughout the year, with southeast facing windows collecting warmth during the winter and west-facing glass being kept to a minimum to reduce solar heat gain. The house effectively opens to cross ventilation to maintain comfort passively and efficiently in order to live in concert with the surrounding desert environment.

It was of utmost importance to the clients and us to design a house for the pristine Sonoran desert with as little impact on the land as possible. In this arid region plants do not waste precious water and energy on big leaves, as seen in the thin leaves of the mesquite and the waxy coating of cacti protect against excessive transpiration during long dry periods. Even the "horns" of the horned lizard are designed to direct rain to its mouth for drinking. The space beneath a desert tree, with dappled light shifting against the cooled soil at its roots, is matchless architecture in the heat of summer. Architecture exists everywhere, all the time. We used this knowledge to design for the land, our clients and ourselves. It is our strongest belief that architecture resides in the space created by the structure, and not solely on the form itself. Our design approach is to search for the inevitable solution, reducing elements to their essence without being preoccupied with being minimal. After understanding the site, the program and the client, the solution should always feel as though it could be no other way.

Project details

* Project Name: Downing Residence
* Project Type: single family residence
* Principal Designer/s: Ibarra Rosano Design Architects
* Design Team: Luis Ibarra and Teresa Rosano
* Contractor/s: Repp Design + Construction, Inc.
* Date of commencement of project: 2002
* Date of completion of project: 2003
* Location of site: Tucson, AZ
* Site Area: 495,762 sq. ft. Built-up Area: 3500 sq. ft.

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Casa Marrom, Residential Design in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Intention of designing building is creating functional residency basin, which as according to dweller character, life style of dweller, and dwelt balmy, so that the dweller not feel foreign to omit his own house.

This house have 4 floor, and builded to accomodate a family of 4 a couple and 2 teenage kids. Mindful of house function, desire own warm house, balmy or comfortable where they could all gather and have fun together with family, and all host friends is fair matter, since sure all of us wish it, very invormal people.

Family bedrooms and a private sitting room were placed on the first floor, while the roof top was turned into a large terrace for overview of the surroundings.

Privacy is achieved in this open plan house with the help of large doors than can be slid out.

One enters the house on ground level, from the street a few steps up. Wide living areas sitting, dining and TV rooms were designed all in succession and open onto the garden, the patio and even the pool so as to allow full integration between spaces, and interaction between guests.

Project details

* Project Name: Casa Marrom
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designer: Isay Weinfeld
* Design Team: Domingos Pascali, Monica Cappa, Flavia Oide, Fabio Rudnik, Sophia Lin, Priscila Araujo
* Date of commencement of project: March 2002
* Date of completion of project: June 2004
* Location of site: Sao Paulo, Brazil
* Site Area: 706 sq m
* Built-up Area: 638 sq m

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La Isla House in Asia, Peru by Juan Carlos Doblado

How with experience lighting of exist in our house? What have adequate, or we have to be continuous put on the light in daytime to enlighten it? Experience lighting of also be required, in order to germs of disease and abundant dampness in deductible space. Once More, solving of best, by leaving over farm opened green of pullin is sunlight from window.

Main problem which often be discovered in every house omit is, inexistence of area opened by a green for the oxygen requirement, lighting and natural of fresh. Second problems, often be happened by the area opened remained even also be closed over also tiles with substance cement, so that irrigate cannot diffuse and the house temperature omit to become hotter. Problems hereinafter is, its extravagant energy which we finish to overcome problems is above.

This building picture, possible can to become reference to you to designing your own house. create house which good to you, your freshment, your environment, your economics, its all function to the continuity of healthy life to you. possible follow the example of existing house not yet compatible when develop or builded in region or your state, since every region or state own climate, different weather. but its nucleus, create a balmy house for you and your environment. to what creating delicate building, if cannot function better.

This house explores the possibilities of dilatation of architectural space.

From the outside, its form can be seen as the juxtaposition of two volumes. The lower one holds the bedrooms and the family room, while the upper one, a suspended box, contains the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the terrace, all of which are held together in an open plan from which the main bedroom can view the sea.

The staircase is used as a bind between the middle levels, articulating the different spaces in the house.

The fenestrations on the lower volume answer to the visuals being demanded by each space. The upper level, contrastingly massive, has had two large portions of its bulk removed, creating a solarium and a terrace.

Project details

* Project Name: La Isla House
* Client: Mr. J.M. Raffo
* Project Type: House
* Principal Designer: Juan Carlos Doblado
* Contractor: Americo Chavez
* Date of commencement of project: May 2004
* Date of completion of project: Nov. 2004
* Location of site: Asia, Peru
* Site Area: 144 m2
* Built-up Area: 285.70 m2
* Cost of Construction/Execution: US$ 90,000

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Beach Road 2, Single Family Residence in Florida, USA

Do you have owned desire to omit ashore? Seeing the beauty of coast from your home and accompanied by your family. how according to you? Until in this time I also still own that desire. likely surely please, can see wave, white sand, blue sea, sunset, and a lot of again the beauty which we can find there. This building is located ashore, with wide aperture toward the sea intended to get view which wide so from within house every day.

This house so exploit delicate environment condition and make beach as obyek landscape is great choice. The function of glass at this building as space line but it is not closing over the view of out building object (washed up on the beach and found by a beachcomber). Besides glass the contemplative living space, this building also use other materials, such as sand and aluminium boat hull, all that materials to create shelter become more interesting. Sand encloses the sleeping area and aluminum the entertaining space..

At this building there are three box, what arranged to get advantage from location orientation.

* Ceramic-Fritted-Glass-Box, two-storey high with view toward the south
* Sand box to north with wide opening at personal space and to get bland morning light
* Aluminium Box center to place kitchen- what designed as step specify and focus for the guest banquet, and preparation of food eating.

On the west fasade attached aluminium louvers to filter western light. Interesting something that here is a lap pool on the roof which its increase landscaping on the site, shelters swimmers from the ocean breezes. To expands views through skylights within the pool floor and shelters swimmers from the ocean breezes. So, at one of space, we can see somebody swim through skylight.

there are some component included into this building, but the primary components is ceramic fritted glass, stucco, polycarbonate sheeting, bulthaup kitchen, aluminium louvers, onyx, and Italian limestone.

Project Detail

* Project Name: Beach Road 2
* Project Type: Single Family Residence
* Principal Designer/s: Scott Hughes & John Umbanhowar
* Design Team: Scott Hughes, Daniel Huh, Ayako Mizushiro, David Montalba, John Umbanhowar
* Contractor/s: Benchmark Homes, Gary Flynn
* Date of commencement of project: May 2004
* Date of completion of project: November 2005
* Location of site: Jupiter Island, Florida, USA
* Site Area: 48,000 sq.ft.
* Built-up Area: 4,100 sq.ft.

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Wood Box With View, Housing in Lindau/Germany

Different vertical and horizontal spaces, which embody a completelyOn the highest hill at the edge of the village Hochbuch near Lindau the house stands like a floating wood box between the development way and the steeply dropping site. From here you can enjoy the wonderful view toward Bregenz and into the mountain country of Vorarlberg/ Austria and Switzerland. The building is organized in different idea of living in each case: The ground floor with the garden is completely transparent and extroverted.

The wood box floating over it allows introverted living in the trees, dissociated from the world. This wood box is divided into 2 further living types. Each of these living typologies leads to a completely different architectural logic, so that these living areas differ in regard to the program, form, construction, material, light etc... The construction of the building is very reduced and at the same time differentiated to a maximum. The ground floor itself is in a generous considered access and input area for various activities, living or working. There is not a clear separation between inside and outside.

The construction of that 20 x 11 meters large buildings is reduced to three carrying items, which differ in form, function and placing from each other in each case. Thus the box is situated in the southwest with a very large protection on a concrete handle, while in the southeast and northeast the box rest upon very slim steel columns. The completely closed north west front serves large protection for the reinforcement of the building, transfers at the same time the suspension of the 8 meters in the entrance area. The constructional items do not indicate any symmetry or repetition.

By its eccentric asymmetrical shift on the sketch and average the construction works very dynamically. One arrives over the nearly floating steel stairs of the entrance area into the open dwelling in the upper floor. The living room and the dining room with the kitchen is separated optically by the fire-place. That furniture arranges the wood box into the living area and the secondary rooms (sleeping room, bathroom...). The into the wood box integrated terrace extends the dining and kitchen area and lets interior and external area merge another. The high-thermal insulated construction of the entire fronts -, roof and floor elements with an average k-wert of 0,11 leads to an annual heat requirement of 32 kWh/m².

Ecological, design and static requests, like in this project can be built with environmental compatible and reusable building materials. The basic construction, front, windows, doors, floor and furniture is in cedar wood. No synthetic wood preservatives and lacquers were used on the wood. The entire lagging of the outer skin of the building consists of 30 cm thermal hemp, which is just like the building material wood a regenerating and reusable raw material.

Project details

* Project Name: Wood Box with view
* Client: C. Sauter
* Project Type: Housing
* Design Team: k_m.architektur
* Date of commencement of project: 2000
* Date of completion of project: 2000
* Location of site: Lindau/Germany

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Hervey Bay House by Bark Design Architects, Australia

The house was designed to provide a series of elegant and well proportioned spaces that embraced the Pacific ocean horizon, whilst expressing a structural legibility and economy of lightweight materials for easy living in the coastal subtropics.

The Hervey Bay House is planned as a linear building with its living spaces opening up to the north, capturing natural breezes as well as views into the Bay.

The lightweight glazed pavilions are divided by an outdoor living zone which links a protected courtyard on the south to an ambiguous indoor-outdoor breezeway space.

Breezes from the Bay are filtered through the open-able, northern glazed edge and extracted through a series of rotary roof ventilators to provide optimum comfort through natural cooling.

A series of galvanized steel portal frames make the structure of the building legible. Their 'lightness' contrasts with the more 'grounded' masonry of the courtyard and garden wall to the south, within the overall palette, which comprises of simple natural materials and colors.

Movement through the house is along the continuous garden wall which provides privacy to the south and serves to anchor the building in the existing landscape, emphasizing its horizontality.

Project Details

* Project Name: Hervey Bay House
* Client: Young Ignatenko
* Project Type: Architectural and Interior Design
* Principal Designer: Bark Design Architects
* Location of site: Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
* Contractor: Paul O'Rourke

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Transparent Glass Pavilion, Calamuchita House

The Valley of Calamuchita is a calm landscape of fields cultivated between two parallel mountain ranges. The fields lie east to west between the skirts of the great mountain ranges and the skirts of the small mountain ranges. The fields for a tapestry between mountain walls and in the case of my field, between rows of trees. The house is elevated on the hill with a smooth slope that falls towards the Valley.

The house is a transparent glass pavilion with the North - South axis parallel to the valley like a cultural reference to the natural fact. The glass box, between four stones that enclose the services, is a space fluid in its unitary interior sometimes dining sometimes an additional sleeping area. For climatic reasons of cold winters and fresh nights, and the altitude of the place, the glass box this surrounded in a wood box. This box of sliding shutters allows small or large openings providing variable dimensions and sensations of privacy or openness.

This unit completes and complements with a tower of study, bedrooms and viewing platform, that alludes to the vertical axis of the mountain. A glass enclosed stairwell spirals around the outside of the building, allowing all 4 aspects of the surroundings to be taken in as one passes from level to level. At the top you arrive at the terrace viewpoint that allows, like in each level, extended lines of vision towards the Valley. By day the living area, surrounded by the service blocks, mimics the valley, at night the tower recreates the mountain. At night I escape to the safety of the mountain tower, returning at dawn to the living area and valley.

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RES4 Dwell Home, Residential Design in Pittsboro, NC

The winning entry of the Dwell Home Design Invitational, The Dwell Home is situated on a hilly site among 7 wooded acres. The home takes full advantage of it's natural surroundings: bringing in the woodland views and natural light through plentiful windows, generously sized decks off the front and rear facades, and a roof deck with an outdoor fireplace.

With 2042 sq feet divided among five prefabricated modules, the home offers compact and efficient quarters made up of large open living spaces and cozy private enclaves.

To meet the necessity of creating a livable floor plan and a well-orchestrated flow of space, the ground floor is an open plan module containing a living room, dining area, and a kitchen that can be entirely open to the outside or enclosed by a curtain.

Sensitive to the clients' desire for more defined communal/private spaces, the private spaces are more compartmentalized, making up the second story volume of the home.

The master bedroom at one end of the volume looks out onto grove trees, and two bathrooms and a guest/office run along the same axis bound by bamboo flooring.

Through the modes of prefabrication, the design of the home is able to respond exclusively to the location and immediate surroundings in terms of solar orientation and footprint, therefore maximizing the microclimates.

The construction process also leveraged the efficiency of wood framed modulars, where approximately 80% of the house was built in a factory.

By utilizing the opportunities available for off-site construction, the time required of crews on-site was significantly reduced, in turn minimizing the environmental impact on the local ecosystems, the waste that is typically deposited on or near the site, and the transport of crews and materials.

The Dwell Home has become a precedent in demonstrating the superiority of choosing prefabricated building technology over site-built homes in terms of environmental factors, quality and efficiency of building, cost and speed of construction and design.

Project details

* Project Name: The RES4 Dwell Home
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designer/s: Joseph Tanney, Robert Luntz
* Design Team: Michael MacDonald, Shawn Brown, Craig Kim, Jeff Strasser, Jerome Engelking, Catarina Ferreira
* Contractor/s: Mount Vernon Homes
* Manufacturer: Carolina Building Solutions
* Date of commencement of project: 2003
* Date of completion of project: 2004
* Location of site: Pittsboro, NC
* Site Area: 7 acres
* Built-up Area: 2042 sq feet

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Bundeena Beach House in Sydney, Australia

The house is sited on the dune fronting Horderns Beach, at Bundeena, on the northern edge of the Royal National Park, on Sydney's southern edge. It is a fragile place, commanding particular sensitivity from an architect.

The house is raised off the ground, set on steel posts driven into the dune, braced against a north-easterly sea swell that can, at times, send a surge of energy through the dune and into the building fabric. Thus, the house is designed to be both strong, and flexible - built of a composite steel/ timber frame, clad in rough sawn plywood and corrugated iron.

Each room provides a framework for a different set of experiences.

When viewed from the beach, the house modest in scale, the upper level bedroom setback for privacy. An outdoor 'breezeway' living room is shielded from the glare of the ocean and beachgoers by retractable timber blinds.

The living rooms are positioned on the dune ridge to make the most of the stunning view. On the beach side a breezeway room sits protected from the morning glare of the water by operable timber louvered walls - and on the bush side, an open deck sits protected from a sometimes bracing breeze.

The main bedroom is perched above the living rooms, well back from the beach for privacy, commanding 360 degree views, of the beach, the bay, the bush and the hamlet of Bundeena. Another bedroom and an office on the ground floor are accessed via an open, roofed timber walkway - gently forcing visitors and occupants to experience the elements.

For the client, a naturopath, it is at once a beach house, a home, a place of work, and a threshold to the surrounding environment.

The upper level bedroom commands 360 degree views of the beach, the surrounding bush land and the hamlet of Bundeena.

The building is a reflection of the client's personal relationship to the site.

Her brief was fairly straight-forward. Design me a simple, unpretentious beach house that will shelter me from the weather, but otherwise allow me to experience the surrounding environment.

The site - the shifting meeting place of land and sea - is the key to this project. An authentic built form emerges from it - as well as the client's brief and budget.

The elemental use of steel and timber, and a clear expression of surface and junction, echo the immediate natural and historic built environment.

It is important to recognise that whilst some headway has been made with this project in dealing with issues of environmental sustainability, there is always more that can be done. Some planned measures have not yet been instituted. Others were considered but abandoned for budgetary or other reasons.

The most obvious measures that have been implemented include natural cross-ventilation to each room, orientation of spaces and protection of openings to maximize winter solar gain and minimize summer solar gain, use of gas space and water heating in lieu of electrical, use of ceiling fans for summer cooling in lieu of air-conditioning, provision of water storage tanks to reduce town water consumption, and use of renewable and recycled materials where possible.

Other measures have been implemented as much in response to the site as for environmental reasons. They form part of the environmental strategy, and yet in another project on a different site, would not be appropriate. For instance, lightweight construction was chosen, allowing the building to sit off the ground, minimize disturbance to the site and obstruction of natural sand, water and fauna movements. On another site, in different circumstances, a slab on ground might have been more appropriate - allowing for thermal mass and passive solar heating.

The house is of modest dimensions (160sqm, 2 bedrooms + office) by today's standards, and a single car garage only has been provided. The site has no hard-paved areas. The driveway, built of sleepers laid directly into the sand is 100% porous. The site plan incorporates a vegetable garden and chook run, reducing resource consumption and waste by a small measure.

Other measures such as grid connected solar panels and a grey water treatment system have been planned, and may yet be implemented. There are also areas where we could have done better. Though recycled, and plantation timbers have been used extensively, the method of fixing many timber elements (gluing) means that they will be difficult to recycle in the future. Some natural protective coatings, such as tung oil, have been used. However, many of protective coatings used were of relatively high toxicity.

Working towards sustainability is complex. There is much yet to be learned.

Structure, materials and construction

The choice of materials for the house was driven directly by a response to the fragile and sensitive site, and a desire to reduce the house's ecological footprint.

Lifting the overall structure off the ground, via steel posts driven into the dune, means that the building could be braced from the movements of the ocean swell and inclement weather, while at the same time allowing the dune to shift and flow freely beneath it.

Flexibility in the bracing and structure, achieved externally from composite steel and timber framing elements and a cladding of rough-sawn plywood and Custom Orb® Zincalume® steel, and internally from Miniorb® Zincalume® and rotary cut plywood lining makes the building responsive to the site conditions.

The choice of materials was considered in terms of lifecycle cost. It should be acknowledged that the client contributed to and supported the architects' endeavor by her encouragement (especially at the initial design stages) to incorporate sustainable design elements and techniques.

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CS House, Housing in Barcelona

This house is located in an area dotted with residential buildings. Building a house that creates an isolated world for its inhabitants requires a simple but determined execution. It has been necessary to make the most of the views by making use of the elevated position of the plot to protect it from the impact of adjacent buildings.

The "S" section allows the opening up of the bedrooms and living room to the garden that is protected by vegetation. The first floor has the opposite orientation so that the light enters directly into its rooms. In this floor the opaque level that turns into a far image of the house protects the terrace, a floor opened to the sky in the folded level, which is the private and intimate place of the house.

The folded "S" section floats above a cut in the ground with a "C" form that in its opening empties the site and leaves a hole above which the house is constructed. The access floor is located in the basement floor and discovers the dynamic section of the house. The sides are opened and glazed so that the folding of the section is shown.

Project details

* Project Name: CS House
* Project Type: Housing
* Principal Designer/s: Miguel A. Alonso Del Val, Rufino J. Hernandez Minguillon And Marcos Escartin Miguel (AH Asociados)
* Design Team: AH Asociados (Marcos Escartin and Carlos Barvo)
* Technical Architects: Jordi Armada Soler y Joan Salate i Bosquet
* Engineering: Ed Enginyeria
* Contractor: CS Actuacions Urbanistiques Industrials, S.L.
* Date of completion of project : JULY 2002
* Location of site: Cami Ral de Barcelona, 36 - Sentmenat (Barcelona)
* Built-up Area: 613 m2
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 266,256

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Altadena Private Residence in California, USA

The design attempts to increase the spaciousness of the small house by taking advantage of a large undeveloped yard and modernizing its look and feel.

Intimate outdoor spaces were created through hardscape walls, patios and balconies, and various lush landscape plantings.

French doors were used to extend the rooms spatially and visually into the yard.

The plan and circulation of the house is thus loosened up without losing the cozy feel of a traditional bungalow fused with its surroundings.

Phase 1 of the project involved the remodeling of front yard patio and kitchen.

The kitchen was reorganized along an open layout, its ceilings raised and new cabinets and lights fitted.

Existing doors were replaced with French doors opening onto the entry porch and down into the breakfast patio with its built in barbeque station.

Phase 2 of the project involved the remodeling of large rear lot space.

Floating balconies and French doors were introduced in both bedrooms in the house.

A single frosted door now extended from inside the bathroom to the outdoor shower, which was enclosed in a concrete block and open to sky.

Two concrete patios with built-in seating were created underneath the existing Oak trees. Water is extensively exploited in the landscape, unifying the various elements in the backyard.

Further the balconies and patios were lit up strategically and earth beams and landscape lighting used to accentuate the outdoor spaces.

Project Details

* Project Name: Private Residence
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Residential design
* Principal Designer: Christopher Mercier, Doug Pierson
* Design Team: Christopher Mercier, Doug Pierson, Adam Wheeler
* Contractor: Dave Diaz, LCD Development
* Year of commencement of project: 1998
* Year of completion of project: 2003
* Location of site: Altadena, California, USA
* Site Area: 9,052 square feet
* Cost of Construction: USD 100,000

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Farm Holiday Center, Architectural Design in Italy

The project involved the realization of two buildings annexed to an existing farm resort.

The first of these was envisaged as a space for the display, sale and promotion of local farming products and for the organization of training courses in food, farming and culture.

The second building was to house an indoor swimming pool used primarily in winters when the existing outdoor pool could not be used.

The access to the two new buildings is via a small staircase at the midpoint of which the user can access the locker room with restroom facilities and a massage room via an additional set of stairs, or the entrance of the show room.

The design attempts to establish a dialogue with its surrounding environment by borrowing from it. The natural and the artificial blend into a singular realm in the design which plays with the very definition of 'landscape'.

The first building was realized as a single storey structure in reinforced cement. The edge facing the valley is entirely glazed with sliding glass doors that allow a strong visual connect with the exteriors.

The north and south facades are clad in different sized courses of stone. The gray "beola" stones used allow a perfect integration with the landscape in terms of both -- its textural and visual qualities.

These courses of different sizes are fit without joints and accentuate the length of the surface and simulate the natural stratification of the surrounding terrain.

This principle of stratification is also extended to the flooring, staircase and door thresholds in the design creating a 'handmade monolith'.

The roof is treated as another facade and not just a covering. It is clad with strips of zinc-titanium that adopt the color of its surround further blending the structure into its context.

The second construction, the indoor pool, is locked in by the natural slope of the site and opens towards panoramic views into the valley below.

The use of infinity pool borders coupled with the reflections on the glass and water creates an interesting two way visual connect. From within, the pool appears as an integral part of the natural surround but emerges sharply defined when viewed from outside.

The pool is made of mosaics such as is found in Turkish baths, while the relaxation area is realized in cement.

The roof garden reduces visual segregation from the environment to a minimum thus rendering invisible that which is man-made to the observer viewing the buildings from the above the terrace.

The only elements emerging out of the ground are the eight roof lights which also double up as seats.

The various spaces and volumes are thus delicately inter-woven with the context but are staged at the same time.

Project Details

* Project Name: Farm Holiday Center
* Client: Azienda Agrituristica Fattoria di Vibio
* Project Type: Architectural design
* Principal Designer: Firouz Galdo, Filippo Felli
* Design Team: Officina Del Disegno Srl
* Year of commencement of project: 2002
* Year of completion of project: 2004
* Location of site: Todi (Perugia), Italy
* Site Area: 1800 square meters
* Built-up Area: 600 square meters
* Cost of Construction: 1,200,000 Euros

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Double Jeopardy, Interior Design in Michigan, USA

Using Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator and RHINO they were able to efficiently generate a diverse set of techniques that could be used in a variety of materials and instances -- structural framing, tufting buttons, acrylic lenses and plates, fabric patterns for bean bags, and heater grilles -- enabling a controlled variety between the two sites.

The commission to design and build two student lounges with the students as employees allowed for the possibility to explore whether the opposition between machine and craft could be re-negotiated through technologies available within a school of architecture.

The two sites for the lounges were located at opposite ends of a symmetrical building.

The designers adopted a similar orientation at both sites instead of mirroring it.

The use of a single diagrammatic strategy afforded a conceptual efficiency while retaining a high degree of spatial diversity.

Unlike the "mirror", which imposes site priorities to the diagram, the "slide" allowed for a better mediation between the identity of each site allowing for repetition and thus optimization.

The diagram also changed the lounges' relationships to their surroundings and created variations in the interior character and programmatic emphasis.

The East Lounge is a more concealed space since it has less exposure to the main corridor than the West Lounge.

The result is that the East Lounge is used for small group and individual activities while the West Lounge is used for larger meetings and social events.

This strategy was extended into a diagram which could generate the character of surface, pattern, and light.

The lounges are located along a south facing wall retrofitted with interior plywood sunshades.

These screens were incorporated into the surface with their shades modulating sunlight through holes of varying depths milled into the stained plywood resulting in an indeterminate geometry.

A repeatable non-uniform use of patterning which could regulate form, material, and light is seen in the surface. This geometry enabled efficient replication of standardized and non-standardized construction elements.

This strategy also enabled the designers to minimize construction time and cost by duplicating the fabricated elements.

The changing yet precise relation of surface to form demanded digital modeling and fabrication.

Crafting the digital work as a process of "full-scale" design necessitated a closer link between the craft of hand-work and the efficacy of mechanical repetition.

The designers experimented with the relationship of pattern to surface by unfolding and refolding the form to create a family of surfaces which adapt to the formal contours.

The subsequent design of the panels and supporting structure was directly transferred via RHINO models to numerically controlled systems.

The lounges contain 6,854 custom cut acrylic pieces - 5,060 for light lenses and 1,794 for tufting buttons used in felt cushions.

Project Details

* Project Name: Double Jeopardy
* Client: Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning
* Project Type: Interior Design
* Principal Designer: Karen M'Closkey, Keith VanDerSys
* Design Team: Mark Davis, Neil Thelen, Matt Saurman, Leigh Stewart
* Date of commencement of project: May 2005
* Date of completion of project: January 2006
* Location of site: Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
* Built-up Area: 600 square feet
* Cost of Execution: USD 60,000

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House "D", Housing in Velenje, Slovenia

The House "D" is built into a very generic Slovenian semi-rural suburbia. It creates an ambiguous, soft relation to the typical double-pitched roof, not-too-big-windows and at-least-one-balcony houses in it's direct surroundings.

The steel framed upper storey of the residence houses the living-swimming-entertaining areas; suspended above the green painted, green covered concrete plinth.

Approaching the site, the house rises above you and is perceived bottom-up. A very cinematic sequence underlines the house; especially when experienced from its immediate surroundings.

You can imagine the client's family enjoying sunbathing on a pool deck, high above the roofs of neighboring houses, with an Arcadian view to the hilly landscape of Slovenia.

On the topography of the steep ground, five construction strips with different cladding-fillers create four different exterior fronts of the House "D".

* An abstract front with strips, which closes the view towards the east;
* A Californian front, with a bold console of the ground house;
* A Provanse front, where the house opens towards the pool, terraces and green surroundings;
* The fourth front of the house is a local one and it creates the relationship between neighboring houses.

These house fronts pass on from one to another through an interlocking mechanism. Where two fronts merge, they do so without loosing their own adjacent character, creating a cinematic sequential experience.

The diversity of four house-fronts extends into recognizable micro-ambiences which give the house it's identity:

* The garage - camouflaged with the ground;
* The house entrance below the pool console;
* The reflected environment in the large reflecting-glazing front,
* Fluid living-room space - illuminated by notches between strips;
* The kitchen protruding towards the outside - dividing shade and sun terraces;
* And the bathroom and bedroom - joined by the terrace.

Project details

* Project Name: House "D"
* Location of site: Velenje, Slovenia
* Year of commencement of project: 2003
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Type: Housing
* Formula: Interlocking Fronts
* Site: Large site on a steep slope with panoramic views across the valley, Velenje, Slovenia
* Building area: 250 m2
* Total floor area: 341 m2
* Storey: Garage and storages + kids floor + living and pool and terrace + private floor with master bedroom
* Structure: Concrete plinth, concrete platform, brick + concrete walls, upper steel frame structure
* Cladding: Black colored bitumen tiles on steel supporting structure, colored and transparent glazing
* Architect: Sadar Vuga Arhitekti (Jurij Sadar, Bostjan Vuga, Miha Pesec, Adrian Petrucelli)

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RES4 Mountain Retreat, Residential in New York

Located on a five-acre rocky outcrop, The Mountain Retreat trades in overwhelming city skyscrapers and the scuttle of yellow cabs for sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains and hawks gliding over the thermals below. The client, who loves mountain biking and rock climbing, had camped out on the hilltop during the siting of the house to determine the best spot, angle and orientation for his new escape. The resulting artifact is a retreat carefully crafted into its unique surroundings. The Mountain Retreat amiably provides an efficient1,800 square foot indoor and outdoor living and entertaining experience.

The finished house, sitting partially on concrete stilts, gives way to a striking display. Its angular lines, soaring height, and unique blend of warm cedar siding with cool gray concrete panels and glass are displayed to great advantage in the context of its rough mountaintop setting. The stilts act as supports for the great room above and, below, define the parking spaces for an uncluttered entry and carport. An enclosed staircase runs along the north side of the house. Sheathed inside and out in grey Cebonit, it leads from the ground floor entrance to the main living spaces, which exist peacefully as if situated upon the treetops. Requiring the insertion of pylons, a well, and a septic tank, the rocky terrain of the immediate site had to be blasted away. Rather than discarding the remnants, the rocks were scattered about in masses around the site. Used for outdoor seating and the entry pathway, the initiative further emphasizes the relation and integration of the house into the natural backdrop.

The home's butterfly roof channels rainwater to two stainless-steel scuppers, from which it cascades off into in a waterfall effect upon thoughtfully placed boulders. The butterfly roofs on both ends, also gives the master bedroom a tall, sloped ceiling with allowance for the entry of an abundance of light from above, while a suite of ground-room floors fit cozily below. An elevated cedar deck wraps around three sides of the great room, offering a full day of sunshine for deck lounging and for the entire room to be opened to the outdoors with ease. Plain white duck-cotton curtains on exposed stainless-steel tracks were designed along the three walls to give the client the ability to maintain any level of personal privacy and protection from the sun as desired.

Throughout the house, sustainable, engineered bamboo floors were employed. Preserved with whitewash, they add a durable, yet softening touch to an already airy, open space. The predominantly light-hued interior is dramatically interrupted by dark countertops, and the dark cement panels proceed as an accent to both the inside and out.

Project details

* Project Name: The RES4 Mountain Retreat
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designer/s: Joseph Tanney, Robert Luntz
* Design Team: John Kim, Jacob Moore
* Contractor/s: JH Construction
* Manufacturer: Apex Homes
* Date of commencement of project: 2003
* Date of completion of project : 2005
* Location of site: Kerhonkson, New York
* Site Area: 5 acres
* Built-up Area: 1,800 sf
* Cost of Construction/Execution: $400,000

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Malibu 5, Architectural Design in California, USA

Vertically stacked and set into a hillside, Malibu 5 is a sustainable modern home constructed of environmentally-friendly and recycled materials and designed to minimize energy consumption.

The building faces the Pacific Ocean to take advantage of coastal breezes, energy-providing solar gain, natural light and views.

Conceived as a passive solar house, the building has photovoltaic panels and solar thermal panels for domestic hot water on the roof. The photovoltaic panels generate power for the house during the day.

The amount of energy produced exceeds the owner's need and the remainder contributes to the local power grid. The power meter runs counter-clockwise while the sun is up.

Ground-level concrete floors act as heat sinks, pulling in the Sun's energy during the day and releasing it at night. They also provide radiant heating, making use of water heated on the roof.

Built as two, C-shaped rectangular bars -- one two storeys high and the other a single storey over the garage -- the house comprises of four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The spaces are separated by a courtyard that provides an opening for ocean breeze to cool the house.

All rooms open on at least two sides to provide cross-ventilation.

Large solar-protected windows with double paned glass, low-E and filled with hermetically sealed air, protect against the cold and heat. Shade is provided by overhangs from balconies.

The large expanses of glass produce light-filled rooms and minimize the need for artificial lighting, which is controlled with motion sensor light switches.

The inexpensive scratched-plaster exterior is painted an earthy terra cotta color to provide a natural texture that smoothes the house's introduction to its environment. The color is inspired by the hue of an African soil the architect found in West Africa.

The green areas of the house are populated mainly with drought-resistant foliage indigenous to California.

Rocks removed to prepare the site for construction have been recycled in walls, paths and xeriscape.

Recycled water is used for drip irrigation to a limited degree.

Project Details

* Project Name: Malibu 5
* Client: Georgia Goldfarb and Walter Zelman
* Project Type: Architectural design
* Principal Designer: Stephen H. Kanner,
* Design Team: Stephen H. Kanner, Damian Le Mons, David Ellien and John Mebasser
* Year of commencement of project: 2003
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: California, USA
* Built up Area: 3300 square feet
* Cost of Construction: USD 1,300,000

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Under the Moonlight House, Residential Design in Australia

The design attempts to integrate itself into the site through the use of materials commonly employed in the area.

Stone, wood and metal emerged hence as the predominant structural and construction materials.
Typological archetypes native to the area were adopted in designing the shape and profile of the house.

The design allows for an appreciation of the natural environment while ensuring a comfort of stay during both summer and winter.

Extensive glazed frames are thus used granting wider views, visually connecting the interiors and exteriors into a singular experience. .

The house is divided into two levels.

Common areas are located on the ground level which opens up onto a deck overlooking the garden.

Two bedrooms are located on the upper floor including a master bedroom with an attached bathroom and spa.

The form of the building, borrowed from vernacular archetypes, allows for the building to be sheltered from snow and rain.

Insulated metal was chosen to construct the roof owing to its high adaptability to climatic conditions.

Further, it's brownish colour blends well with the chromatic shades of the natural surroundings.

Extreme care has been taken to prevent damage to local vegetation and trees in both -- the design and the construction of the house.


Project Details

* Project Name: 'Under the Moonlight' House
* Client: Ray Group PTY LTD
* Project Type: Residential Design
* Principal Designer: Giovanni D'Ambrosio
* Year of commencement of project: 2005
* Year of completion of project: 2007
* Location of site: Dinner Plain, Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia
* Site Area: 370 square meters
* Built-up Area: 250 square meters

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Northcote Flexible House, Australia by Zen Architects

The project is an alteration and extension to a family home. A solution was presented that met the client brief while suggesting an alternative to the traditional way a family home might be operated and inhabited.

The design is important to sustainable architectural practice, as it demonstrates that a well designed, sustainable, modern family home is achievable in inner city suburbs, within the constraints of a family budget, planning regulations, a heritage overlay, and limited site size.

The house demonstrates innovative use of space to maximize living areas and storage, and creates exciting spatial volumes.

Instead of providing every space in the brief individually, the solution reduces the building footprint by providing easily operated, highly flexible spaces and maximizing the use of existing and new volumes to cater for a range of uses.

The method was successful, as the required functions were catered for, while reducing the consumption of materials, energy and money.

In addition, the garden area has been maximized and internal spaces are allowed to stretch to outdoor living areas and the garden, connecting users to the outside environment via views, light and natural ventilation.

There was a focus on sustainably sourced and re-used materials. Much of the existing structure was retained, demolished materials were re-used on and off site, and appliances were re-used.

The engineering design minimized the use of steel. Sustainably sourced, radially-sawn timber decking, flooring and fencing reduced waste, and natural 'lino', carpets and underlays, low emission paints, and ply wood cabinetry all contributed to reduce off-gassing.

Rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling have been fully incorporated, minimizing storm water run-off and use of mains water.

In addition, all outdoor areas are permeable, to assist in watering the garden, and further reduce run-off.

Water-efficient showerheads and appliances further reduce waste. Existing vegetation assists to retain water on site, and landscaping incorporates indigenous and drought tolerant plants.

Living spaces are oriented to the north, thermal mass naturally heats and cools the building, and double-glazing and high levels of insulation reduce heat transfer.

The high ceiling uses a 'stack effect' to collect and remove heat via clerestory windows, and openable windows throughout facilitate cross ventilation.

Sun penetration to west windows is controlled with external blinds, operable shutters, and a shade sail, and north windows are shaded in summer months via eaves and fixed louvers.

The ceiling form bounces light into a living space through an internal window that would not otherwise have received natural afternoon light.

In addition, the building form allowed for retention of solar access to adjacent properties.

To achieve maximum impact, the clients were educated on how to operate the building to best utilize passive heating and cooling and reduce water use.

On site composting, worm farm, clothes line, secure bike storage, solar hot water with gas boost for hydronic space heating, zoning for heating, and ceiling fans all act to further reduce energy consumption and waste.

Project details

* Project Name: Northcote Flexible House
* Clients: Jeremy and Kim
* Project Type: Renovation and extension
* Principal Designer/s: Zen Architects
* Design Team: Shae Parker and Ric Zen
* Contractor/s: Rex Building
* Date of commencement of project: April 2006
* Date of completion of project: December 2006
* Location of site: Melbourne, Australia
* Site Area: 379 square meters
* Building footprint area: 187 square meters + decks and sheds
* Cost of Construction/Execution: $ 385,000

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'C+V' Single House in Teramo, Italy by Giovanni Vaccarini

Situated in the diffuse Conurbazione of the Adriatic coast, between Ascoli and Pescara, the house is built on an "intermediate" area -- between the plain and a hill. An area that was thitherto seen as being a place unworthy of being built upon."

"Located in the midst of intertwined single-family houses on two levels and a hill, the site is tight, and green -- covered in natural or 'spontaneous' vegetation.

The idea was to construct a building with an 'inverse' guideline.

Instead of being oriented towards the city, looking outward from the hill; the house is completely turned towards the hill -- the hill that acts as a rising 'green sea' on which the house shows itself."

"The planning of the house can be defined across three levels:

* The lowest level is underground. An inner patio acts as the central element around which the spaces are organized; creating an interaction between the buried spaces, roof-garden area, and the suspended volume of the upper level (the ground level).
* The ground floor is the part of the building that holds all levels together. Acting as the border between the uncovered-roof-garden and the covered-day-area, metal (vetrata wall) and glulam surfaces wrap around the spaces; connecting the ground level with the upper one.
* The first floor consists of various rooms and private spaces typical of a house (bath/sauna, study etc.)"

"The volumes of the house are metaphors - to the pieces in a game of tetris, albeit at a much larger scale.

The base is covered in stone, juxtaposed with the volume covered in white plaster; the base 'is cut' on the forehead in the west, by a vetrata wall, all the way upto its height; while the overlapping volume is intersected by a wedge of the free shaped circular hall."

Project details

* Project Name: C+V house
* Client: Francesco Capece, Venanzi Ilenia
* Project Type: single house
* Principal Designer/s: Giovanni Vaccarini
* Contractor/s: Di Ferdinando Michele
* Date of commencement of project: 2004
* Date of completion of project: 2005
* Location of site: Teramo, Italy
* Site Area: 450 sq. m
* Built-up Area: 280 sq. m
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 300,000 Euro

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Jetty House, Single Family Residence in South Carolina, USA

The program called for a residence that would provide for ample living space, an attached apartment, and a small office.

The densely wooded site is situated one lot from the beach and faces two large waterfront houses.

The structure hence needed to be tall enough to permit ocean views from the top floor.

Taking inspiration from Folly Beach's ubiquitous jetties, the house was conceived as an elongated L-shaped structure that connects to the water through a visual corridor between two adjacent houses, framing ocean views from each floor.

The primary house form was carved to create balconies at each level and a prominent garden on the roof.

The resulting spaces shield the interior from the Sun and protect the balconies and windows.

The large windows on the front facade and smaller, selectively placed windows on the side walls create telescopic views of the beach while providing complete privacy to the interior spaces.

The house features a two-storey custom wood shelving unit that wraps from the first-floor office space to the second-floor living room. The unique shelving showcases the client's vast library and ceramic art collection and unites the main entry with the second-floor living spaces.

A choreographed sequence of movement through the shelving reveals a sky lit staircase that connects multiple functions while preserving views with its open risers. Ascending the stair, one's eye is constantly engaged with either the wooded terrain behind the house or the ocean beyond. The staircase culminates in a panoramic view of the beach from a roof garden which appears to merge with the ocean when viewed from the master suite.

Project Details

* Project Name: Jetty House
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Single-family residence
* Principal Designer: Cube
* Design Team: Aaron Malnarick. Jason Hart, Chris Johns
* Contractors: Jack Hart, Blueline Construction (consultants)
* Year of commencement of project: 2003
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: Folly Beach, South Carolina, USA
* Site Area: 10,890 square feet
* Built-up Area: 3,100 square feet living; 800 square feet exterior deck area
* Cost of Construction/Execution: USD 650,000

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On Top, Single Family House Extension in Austria

On Top is the new design of the rooftop of the existing single-family house, and part reorganization of existing ground floor spaces. The new volume, prefabricated in wood, is open towards the garden with floor-to-floor glazing.

Towards the street, the facade appears closed and retreating. A closer observation reveals signs of what is behind, filtered by wooden brise-soleils with slightly differentiated distances between each other. The new connection to the ground floor is made through a hanging staircase that functions as a buffer between the kitchen and dining area.

Project details

* Project Name: On Top
* Project Type: single family house extension
* Principal Designer/s: SHARE architects
* Design Team: Raffaele Marmo - Chiara Riccardi
* Date of commencement of project: 01.2005
* Date of completion of project: 06.2005
* Location of site: St. Polten, Austria
* Site Area: 900 m2
* Built-up Area: 180 m2
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 70 000 €

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Living and Work Area in Belgium by Egide Meertens

Due to the ever-growing customer base and the increasing number of staff, the old offices became too small. A new space for the firm became a necessity and resulted in the construction of a separate building, behind the existing office-outhouse.

Because of the construction of this new volume, the space at the back is divided. A courtyard was made in the enclosed space between the existing building and the new one. The existing house looks out onto this patio, where we opted for a minimally designed plantation. The inflow of light and air, as well as the sidewall in quarry-stone transform this inner area into a pleasant, quiet space, with a high level of intimacy. Behind the new volume, the eye moves over an open, rural landscape with pastures and orchards that are partly located on the property.

The new office building is a restrained rectangular volume, covering two floors. On the ground floor, a roofed passageway leads to the rear-grounds. The front of the building is a closed wall with a small glass section above the passageway. This enhances the private nature of the courtyard even more. The rear-wall is entirely of glass, giving a wide view over the open landscape, towards the horizon. The materials used are concrete, glass and wenge, which go from the passageway through to the cabinet walls inside in order to form a transition area.

The glass wall at the back stretches from the ground to the roof. It is removed from the building in order to obtain a homogeneous view. Both floors in the building are open-plan spaces, with a reception area on the ground floor and workspaces on the top floor. The natural slope of the grounds also plays a major part in the overall configuration. The specific positioning of the building on the slope is such that it looks as if the green slope penetrates the reception area on the ground floor.

The design and subdivision of the building also pays attention to the flexibility of functions and the new purpose of the whole. Because both floors are open spaces, the architect's office can be transformed into compact accommodation space very easily, with minor intervention.

In addition to the restrained use of materials in the building, a high level of detail is obvious in the finishing. Built-in plinths, window frames integrated into the floor, indirect lighting, switches flushed with the walls and sliding cabinets enhance this sobriety.

As far as the spatial concept and choice of materials go, we have worked with contrasts: curved - straight, light - dark, old - new, cold - warm, smooth - textured.

Project details

* Project Name: Living and work area
* Client: Egide Meertens
* Project Type: Practice
* Principal Designer/s: Egide Meertens
* Design Team: Egide Meertens Architect bvba
* Contractor/s: Masonry Work: C&L | Roofwork: Devad | Outside Cabinet Work: Cosemans Constructies | Heating And Sanitary Work: Heedfeld Nv | Electricity: Castro Technics | Plasterwork: Winten
* Date of commencement of project: 2003
* Date of completion of project: 2005
* Location of site: Iers Kruisstraat 60, Riemst (Belgium)
* Site Area: 2000 sq. mt

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SVS House by Julio Salcedo in Branch Lake, Maine

The SVS house at Branch Lake is one of two prototypes being built on four lots. The design for the SVS house explored a "generative / generic" mode of design. My understanding and interpretation of this mode of design is derived from my previous research Peter and Allison Smithson's unrealized project of 1959 as well as a reinterpretation of some contemporary European practices.

There was a demand from the program for flexibility and multiple performances. The house is intended to vary widely in its occupation and potential uses: From a single artist to a large family. The house in time will grow to the lower level as well. There was an additional demand to subscribe to a 'total energy consumption' standard, a $100sf construction cost and local building techniques, namely the balloon frame. This conditional overlap afforded research into flexible designs and local technologies. All of these predicaments are indeed the territory of a "generative / generic" mode of design. This mode relies both on configurative techniques derived from a "genus" or essential element/s as well as the manipulation of the pervasive building types.

The elements of the configurative systems were deployed as follows:

* At the smaller habitation scale, there were two matrixes of program-filled-solid and paired voids.
* At the larger scale, there was a manipulation of the standard balloon framing envelops and expected morphologies.
* At a cultural agency level, the "generic" plays up its alignments with previous late modern housing types, namely the ranch model.

The SVS does not rely on figurative compositional techniques but rather draws from the richness of adjacencies, alignments and overlaps to generate its program performance, its spatial intricacy and ultimately its architectural appearance.

Project details

* Project Name: SVS House
* Project Type: Housing
* Principal Designer/s: Julio Salcedo
* Design Team: Francesco Gennarini, Jeremy Reed, Mauricio Estelleras
* Contractor/s: F.L Davis & Co
* Date of commencement of project: 2004
* Date of completion of project: 2004
* Location of site: Branch Lake, Maine
* Site Area: 20000 sq. ft.
* Built-up Area: 1600 sq. ft.
* Cost of Construction/Execution: $270,000

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Rowing Nautical Base by Michele Bonino, Italy

The Rowing Club Plinio Torno is placed on the west side of a large public space facing the lake of Como.

The design brief required the completion of a new sailing in a part of this square.

The design proposal "sinks" intervention in a stream of stone where the dam is stopped instead contribute to the surface in the public arena.

Access to boats and facilities is therefore on a level lower than the spot, allowing the descent of boats in the water without any interference between the public and sports activities.

The roof of the new building is only one meter higher than the public arena what appears to be its extension and working again raised as a lookout.

The interaction between different levels combines the new building with the architecture and natural landscape and construction permits to deal with movements of the lake, eventually absorb the occasional floods.

The boat storage is divided into two separate volumes, the time needed for the first container vessels long, it is wrong on the lake, while the second for the short boat operates as a connection with the stone base of the villa Terragni.

Project Details

* Project Name: Rowing Nautical Base
* Location of site: Torno, Como, Italy
* Client: Associazione sportiva Plinio Torno
* Project Type: Architectural design
* Principal Designer: Michele Bonino
* Design Team: Verena Caetano da Silveira, Rebecca Gasco, Philippe Lemay, Luca Maletto, Cristina Marietta, Stefano Oletto
* Contractors: Impresa Bertolini, Artmetal
* Structural Design: Alessandro Bosisio
* Year of commencement of project: 2004
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Site Area: 70 square meters
* Built-up Area: 58 square meters
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 110,000 Euros

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Casa En Playa Blanca, Beach House in Peru

What is your favorite colour? at a building, house for example, colour serve the purpose of the giver impress and form character, others also earn to become expression of pawnbroker. Favorite colour serve the purpose of the reference for the election paint therewith appropriate colour combination so that the owner earn to create impression to submit of through his house colour. Psychologically, each;every colour own its character each which can influence each and everyone emotionally.

Neutral colour consist of two colour, that is black and turn white. To evoke the monochromatic impression generally this colour second is which often be used. Perhaps for its combination also use gradation from black colour and turn white above.

Theme is concept design which can come from every thing. Any kind of drawing attention us earn made by a theme. this matter make theme election at architecture become very wide. Such as this building picture, white colour make this building one with sand turn white ashore. Its for simpel, only form box with addition and reduction conducted for the shake of function requirement.

"When a beach house is designed, the first thing in mind is the view to the ocean. So we came up with a basic white box. This was then perforated with various shapes to allow for interesting ocean sights.

Inside the white box we needed spaces that are typical to vacation homes. So we designed the spaces such that owners could enjoy their place looking at the ocean, getting tanned, being with friends, celebrating, cooking, sleeping, reading, etc."

"The starting point to the project was the zoning analysis.

We came up with a broad defining frame for the design by studying all the parameters and regulations established by the local condominium: regarding maximum area, number of floors and use of space.

Facing the beach, on the ground floor is the parking lot. Beyond which extend two floors and a terrace on the third floor. To maintain fluidity and ample viewing of the ocean, the family spaces (bedrooms, bathrooms and family room) are located on the first floor while social areas reside on the second and third floors."

A large square opening in the facade facing the ocean is an important feature of the design. It primarily acts as an eye looking at the ocean. Beyond that, the spaces that are generally frequented by family and friends of the owners (i.e. the master bedroom, kitchen etc) are also placed close to this feature.

Project Details

* Project Name: Casa En Playa Blanca
* Location of site: Asia District, Canete City, Lima State, Peru
* Design Team: Architect Ivy Pun Siu And Engineer Carlos Uccelli
* Client: Raul Romero
* Project Type: Beach House
* Principal Designer/s: Architect Jose Orrego
* Date of commencement of project: 2001
* Date of completion of project: 2002
* Site Area: 180.00m2
* Built-up Area: 194.20 m2

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Annie Residence, Single Family House in Austin, Texas

Garden in a dwelling can make atmosphere become calmer, fresh, and balmy. just see this house, and then conceive in your mind how if only you reside in it, you feel to find ruthless, moment peacefulness you breath in breath of air. Garden is very important if we live in town, this matter because of smoke from the car, factory, etc which a lot of town can to generate pollution which out of all patience, added again the noise which resulted from its. That crop function as air-strainer and earn also arrest noise level which so crowded.

"The house is located on an urban infill lot formally occupied by a crack house. It was built for two families and therefore split into two living areas, consisting of two pavilions connected by a glass hallway.

The house is a certified "city of Austin green building project" and scored a 3-star out of the highest possible 5-star rating. Sustainable principles of design are incorporated throughout."

"Each pavilion contains a central core made of steel stud frame covered with 3/8" blue or red acrylic panels. These cores contain all the service areas of the house such as bathrooms, kitchens, utilities, and storage rooms to maximize efficiency. Concentrating most of the plumbing, heating & cooling and electrical systems inside this core avoids losing capacity through excessive turns.

The one storey pavilion contains two bedrooms and one bath while the other contains the rest of the program. Each volume is placed against the side setback of the property creating a central water garden in-between.

The reflecting pool becomes the focal point and all sides of the house open onto it. The walls against the sides of the property are closed, creating a courtyard layout. The two parts of the house are staggered to create a deck area in the front as well as a more private outdoor living area in the back, visually united by the translucent glass bridge."

"The house is constructed of a modular steel frame. The frame is in-filled with prefab Thermasteel Panels to minimize construction on site waste.

The structural frame is exposed, showing the construction process and articulating the house's facades. The repetitive modular method as well as the prefabrication allows for greater efficiency during construction.

The 2nd floor in one of the pavilions is a Vierendeel truss which acts like a bridge and minimizes the number of vertical structural supports in the 1st floor."

"The flat roofs allow for terrace spaces which creates additional outdoor areas for plants and alfresco dining. The roof space is covered with a retractable awning made of shading tarp for nurseries and hardware from the nautical industry.

The house is influenced by different regions and cultures. Both the use of the roof as an outdoor living space and the shading devices are derived from Moorish architecture.

The body of water and the spatial continuity between inside and outside was inspired by Asian architecture. The structural transparency of the volumes and the minimalist aspect of the interior were derived from Japanese pavilions."

Project details

* Project Name: Annie Residence
* Client: Thomas & Yanick Bercy
* Project Type: Single Family Residence
* Principal Designers: Thomas Bercy, Calvin Chen
* Design Team: Thomas Bercy, Calvin Chen
* Contractors: Bercy Chen Studio LLP
* Date of commencement of project: 2001
* Date of completion of project:2003
* Location of site: Austin, Texas
* Site Area: 7500 s.f.
* Built-up Area: 2000 s.f.
* Cost of Construction: $ 250,000

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Ice Box Pavilion, Architectural Design in Veneto, Italy

* Project Name: Ice Box Pavilion
* Location of site: Veneto, Italy
* Principal Designer: Roberto Navarrini
* Project Type: Architectural design
* Design Team: Elena Lavezzo, Franco Navarrini, Enrico Bonvento
* Contractor: Rasom Holz & Co

Located along the Canalbianco river, the Ice Box pavilion -- an ice cream laboratory -- emerges as an architectural hinge in an anonymous area. The client required a visually vivacious vocabulary besides a speedy construction of the pavilion. The bright orange colour of its facade served this purpose, attracting the attention of the hurried traffic that crosses it.

The pavilion is founded on a net of 5×3 metre meshes, placed on concrete pads. Its front is made up of a wooden structured slab which then rises to translate into the wall, developing into the building's impermeable and insulated cover. This skin is realized with wooden panels which are thermally insulated and coated with a layer of plaster, characteristic of the vernacular style of the region.

The closed production area contrasts with the glazed sale section which opens up to the surrounding landscape preserved on the rear rend of the pavilion. A ramp connects the different elements of the pavilion together.

Project Details:
* Year of commencement of project: 2005
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Site Area: 120 square metres
* Built-up Area: 65 square metres
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 150,000.00 €

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Orchid Inn, Architectural Design in Fiji Islands

The Orchid Inn is a five acre site located fifteen minutes north of Fiji's international airport at Nadi.

The site was formally an orchid farm and contained the original owner's residence as well as extensive landscaping.
The client brief required the development of the property to accommodate visitors in luxurious bures.

The designers proposed fabricating the bures offsite and assembling them on site.

The construction technique and design suggested a lightweight aesthetic that would have minimal impact on the site and induce a sense of luxurious tropical camping.

The buildings use the TomaTech system as a basis for the structure, a system of aluminum extrusions and patented connectors developed in Germany.

Bespoke panels, also built by TomaHouse, using bengkirai and bamboo were constructed in Indonesia to form walls, floors and sections of the ceiling.

Finally a tensile roof, capable of withstanding cyclones, was developed in Singapore to reflect the traditional Fijian roof forms.

The resulting bures expose their hi-tech construction which gives them a yacht-like feel -- an effect further enhanced by the carefully detailed interiors.

A prototype bure was shipped to site in 2005 and was built by a small team in 2 weeks.

Further bures have been shipped and assembled onsite since.


Project Details

* Project Name: Orchid Inn
* Client: Peter Bourke, Nukubati Island Resorts
* Project Type: Architectural design
* Design Team: TomaHouse Pt Bali Clavis - Frank Thoma with Effan Adhiwira, Muhammad Fikry, Sarem Pulukadang, Farid Rakun, Made Subrata Engineer, Chiverton Design Pty Ltd - Barnaby Chiverton (architecture), Nexus Studio Architects - Shinta Siregar, Pamela Pangestu (interiors)
* Year of commencement of project: 2005
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: Fiji Islands
* Total area: 69.9 square meters

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Private Residence and Rooftop Renovation by Tom Oslund, Minneapolis

The space is located on the 10th floor penthouse level of a loft conversion of an abandoned warehouse, which is a national historic landmark. The space balances living and man-made materials within a precinct bounded by walls on three sides. On the 4th side is an expansive view of the Mississippi River and a postcard view of Downtown Minneapolis. The owner's expansive art collection and love of minimalism inspired the landscape architect's approach.


The primary design features of the space are a rooftop lawn and badminton court, a Corten steel water wall and a meditation pavilion. The garden terrace synthesizes the architecture and the landscape within a shared modernist vocabulary.

The loft architecture and landscape sustain a symbiotic relationship where each is enriched by the other, managing light and form outside of the traditional garden-residence paradigm.

The synthesis of the architecture and the landscape creates a quiet space of respite up and away from the city streets. The modernist vocabulary provides a refreshing contrast to the notable riverfront structure, allowing the historic fabric of the city to be reinterpreted and refreshed for the 21st Century.

This space is designed to frame the natural and man-made beauty that surrounds it. The roof plane is covered in a deep grey Dresser Trap rock, providing the canvas on which the three-dimensional forms of planters, meditation pavilions and the lawn are incorporated

These modular forms frame the outdoor space - the planters frame the meditation pavilion and the walkway, the terrace frames the lawn, the plantings help to frame the approaches to the lawn space; they also offer an opportunity for fresh flowers and herbs to be plucked without fuss.

Ecological design parameters are also taken care of. Rainwater is collected and stored for the irrigation of plantings and the lawn. The lawn itself has an augmented cistern - designed by the landscape architect - built into its subterranean framework, allowing it to be not only self-watering, but also not allowing any runoff to escape from the lawn surface.

Project Details

* Project Name: Private Residence and Rooftop Renovation
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designer/s: Tom Oslund
* Design Team: oslund.and.assoc.
* Contractor/s: Gunderson Construction
* Date of completion of project: 2003
* Location of site: Minneapolis, MN
* Site Area: 5000 sq. ft.

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Villa 'Old Oaks', Residence in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Located in the neighbourhood of six larger villas, the site is afforded splendid views of a stand of oak trees over a hundred years old. The terrain slopes down towards these trees. To allow for a majority of spaces within the villa to ejoy this view, the house is organized in levels that step down along the terrain. The footprint of the house strictly follows the outline of the site, leaving the requisite margin of 4 metrers on all sides.

The heart of the house lies in an external covered courtyard. The main spaces such as the entrance lobby and staircase, the children's playroom as well as the dining, living, bedroom and work areas overlook this space. These rooms as well as the wellness area with its small pool, are afforded splendid views into the park.

The link between the exterior surround and the interiors of the villa is further strengthened through a tactful exploration of material and structure. The ceiling of the dining and living area is slung from a Vierendeel beam hidden in the walls of the floors above, creating a column- free space on the ground floor.

The staircase roof is glazed while the roof covering the courtyard is part-glass, part-wood and brings in views of the sky and the physical surround. The glass construction and frames are handled with minimum supports.

Project Details

* Project Name: Villa 'Old Oaks'
* Project Type: Residence
* Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Principal Designers: Rok Oman, Spela Videcnik
* Design Team: Neza Oman, Florian Frey, Vanja Fink, Spela Ursic
* Date of commencement of project: 2003
* Date of completion of project: 2006
* Site Area: 3.000 m2
* Built-up Area: 800 m2

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Office & Single Family House, Talo Kekkapaa in Finland

Located in the historic rural areas of northern Finland, amidst old farm buildings and open fields with rocky forest islands, the Talo Kekkapaa was designed in harmony with the existing scale of its surroundings using a contemporary palette.
The design combines housing, work and childcare into a rhythm of functions which are appropriately linked and buffered throughout the building. This rhythm is largely set by the site which consists of two distinct zones and emerges as a predominant influence in the design.

The meditative back side with lichen-moss-covered rocks was left untouched. The sauna building located at this end of the site was built by hand without any major machinery in order to preserve the natural surround.

The front side, on the other hand, is more active with a variety of trees and thus provides for the entrance way and children's play area. The segregated working facilities orient towards the quiet of the surrounding forest. However, the many functions and people are brought together in the contacting zone that serves for social activities such as dining and negotiation.

The architects wanted to keep the building envelope hygroscopic and homogenous whilst providing for a flexible plan, relating hence more to the wooden hall than the typical residential unit in structural format. This generated an innovative approach of bringing together wood and rock on site wherein the wooden building is partially inserted into the rock. This solution enables an ease of maintenance of technical installations crucial to sustainable structures. Further, inclined structural screwing was employed in the wooden connections due to the resulting nature of the main frame.


Project Details

* Project Name: Talo Kekkapaa (Wood In Rock)
* Project Type: Mixed use -- office + single family house
* Principal Designer: POOK Architects' Office Ltd
* Design Team: Ms Katariina Rautiala, Mr. Pentti Raiski
* Civil engineers: Ms Virpi Ranta, Ms Mari Heino, Mr Hannu Hirsi, Mr Risto Makipuro
* Location of site: Espoo, Finland
* Site Area: 4,300 m2
* Date of completion of project: June 2006
* Built-up Area: Approximately 400 m2
* Design Program: Single main residential building, an office building with sauna and storage, and a workshop building.

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Hisa Murgle, Private House by AKSL arhitekti

"After 40 years in existence, the houses in this neighborhood of Ljubljana have had many owners. Most of them want to renovate and functionally-adapt their houses to their lifestyles. The neighborhood has witnessed many such attempts in the past -- mostly unsuccessful as they break with the established formal language of the neighborhood."

"The client wanted a new outside-entrance; which would save some space inside, give an impression of journeying into the house, and be a rain/snow protection at the same time. There was also a need for a small outside-terrace with an outdoor-kitchen-unit, and a narrow porch in the south."

"Every house in the neighborhood has a small porch (veranda) facing south with a roof overhang of 80cm. Since this area is quite narrow and at the mercy of weather conditions, we decided to extend the overhang to double its existing standard size.

We added sliding horizontal shades to control climate and lighting conditions of this area. Thus making it a protected, useful space."

"A rectangular terrace with an outdoor-kitchen-unit is located on west side of the atrium, with a direct connection to the dining and kitchen area.

Materials used: wood, brick and iron (sheets).

* All facades, shades, fences and floors are made of weather resistant larch wood.
* Outdoor-kitchen-unit is made of old bricks with RF top.
* All added elements have been skin-wrapped in graphite-colored iron sheets to distinguish them from existing elements.
* The wood has no chemical application (protection), which has since achieved an aged, grey look."

Project details

* Project Name: Renovation of Murgle house in Ljubljana
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Renovation, architecture and landscape architecture
* Principal Designer: AKSL arhitekti
* Design Team: Spela Leskovic, Ales Kosak
* Date of commencement of project: Jan 2003
* Date of completion of project: May 2003

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Casa do Cristo, Residential in Trofa, Portugal

The architects were asked to conceive an economic house for a young couple which provided for a living area, kitchen, two bedrooms and a studio, served by a common bathroom and the master bedroom, for the couple. The garage and storage space were to be located in the basement.

and winding roads, small spots of construction, as well as the presence of great masses of trees. The northern and the western faces of the site are involved by these agricultural fields. The site is further flanked by two public ways to its eastern andThe site is distinguished by its agricultural surround, narrow southern ends.

Further the architects recognized the need to release land for expansion of the house to the exterior, submitting the house to a minimum of occupation of the plot and to the mandatory distance of 7 meters to the axis of the road. The shape of the small plot thus largely conditioned the profile and formal composition of the designed building.

The house is backed against the extreme northern end of the plot, closing it against the precarious urbanity of its surroundings. The maximum height allowed by the municipal plan i.e. 4 meters was explored.

The design grows in its volume in sync with the natural topography, "warping" inwards while opening towards the Sun and the landscape. The volume is the immediate expression of the internal organization of the house, establishing a promenade from the lowest level -- the street -- onto the highest part of the house -- the studio.

In the centre of the ground floor a staircase, illuminated by a wide skylight, leads to the upper floor while cutting the house in two. It thus clearly separates the master bedroom from the other rooms.

Project Details

* Project Name: Casa do Cristo
* Client: Cristovão Campos
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designers: Jose Carlos Nunes de Oliveira and Paulo Costa
* Design Team: Atsushi Ueno, Jorge Vieira, Rui Cardoso
* Year of commencement of project: 2001
* Year of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: Trofa, Portugal
* Contractors: Salvador, CarpiCruz - Carpintaria, 3M Carpintaria, J. M. Almeida & Sousa LDA, Amandino Ferreira & Filho
* Site Area: 477.18m2
* Built-up Area: 1374.9m2

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Rumah Bangka, Housing Design in Indonesia

The Rumah Bangka is a townhouse project in the heart of an up market area in Jakarta consisting of 9 units. Desainrenanda was involved not only in the design of the buildings and site, but also in the branding of the project.
Each unit has 3 bedrooms with an additional bedroom on the first floor. The master bedroom spills over onto a mezzanine overlooking the front of the house. The unit is designed within an open plan arrangement to allow flexibility in the organization of its interiors The design is marked by the designer's signature strong angled roofs which are interpreted by him as modernized vernacular elements. The unit also has an indoor swimming pool which can be converted into a larger living room for several units.



Project Details

* Project Name: Rumah Bangka
* Client: Al-Development
* Project Type: Housing design
* Principal Designer: Raul Renanda
* Design Team: Agus Setiawan
* Contractors: Ismail Idfar, Al Development
* Date of commencement of project: April 2004
* Date of completion of project: September 2006
* Location of site: Kemang, Jakarta, Indonesia
* Site Area: 3000 square metres
* Built-up Area: 2000 square metres

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Living Pavilion, Luxury Housing in Bergschenhoek, Netherlands

The project required an extension to an existing and stylish Amsterdam school housing block located in a typical Dutch landscape -- at the edge of a canal atop a dike.

Due to their location, the houses are distanced from their surroundings with the village on one side and the natural landscape on the other.

The character of the existing house, with its small windows, further reinforced this distancing.

The extension is in contrast to the character of the existing house and is located primarily to its rear and partly on one side.

A newer living space is introduced and connected to the existing area by two glass bridges, which frame its view.

A minimal frame of iroko wood allows a subtle screen between the interiors and the natural landscape, allowing the two to mingle freely in the living area.

A double sided fireplace marks the transition from inside the house onto a large veranda outside.

Project Details

* Project Name: Living Pavilion
* Client: Fam. Punt
* Project Type: Luxury housing
* Principal Designer: Joost van Veen
* Design Team: Geen Punt Architecten BNA
* Date of commencement of project: January 2005
* Date of completion of project: August 2006
* Location of site: Bergschenhoek, Netherlands
* Cost of Construction: 100,000 Euros

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Casa Lasso, Residential in Trasierra, Spain

Casa Lasso, a 170 m2 structure, completed in 2004, is located near the small village of Trasierra in Cantabria, about 40 miles from the city of Santander. Emerging from a windswept former cornfield overlooking the Gulf of Biscay, Casa Lasso intertwines the built structure and the landscape. The structure becomes the nexus of the graceful occupation and habilitation of the site. This occupation takes the geometry of a figure 8 as it aligns itself with the site's longest diagonal and the reigning winds.

The techniques of design arise from this nexus in the landscape. The structure is composed about a series of hinges or vertical axis at the moment of crossing. These techniques defy and reject standard projective techniques such as elevations / facades in favor for a non-projective composition about the axis and the space in between. In turn, these techniques propose a new typological approach to domestic models; rather than central or lineal typologies, Casa Lasso defines a new model for cohabitation through the open quadrants of this nexus.

Perceptually, Casa Lasso relies both in the figure 8 as well as in the "quadrant / hinge" techniques. As one moves through the figure 8, it is not that there is an "architectural promenade vis-a-vis a complementary system" as much as there is a totalizing environ for perception of landscape and structure. Additionally, the "quadrant / hinge" techniques only make precise what already happens when approaching a multi-axial construct as they construct an oblique environ.

Casa Lasso's program is a single-family part time residence composed of four bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen. Additionally, there was an equally demanding internally motivated program: the client family was fragmented and the house invested in new social relationships - hence the distribution of paired bedrooms, and communal spaces about the exterior quadrants-. The plan allows for a high degree of collective and individual enterprises: While the project is a continuous ribbon - one big lasso - the public wings face each other at less than 90 degrees so that you can partake of each other activities; the bedroom wings, however, distant themselves from the both the public and the other bedroom wings. In a similar fashion, the garden and main entrances provide either the option of being seen or quietly disappearing into the bedrooms.

Casa Lasso is a concrete structure with thermal masonry in-fills and a local stone cladding. The millwork is anodized aluminum with insulated glass. The interior floors are from a local chestnut farm. Some interior components are lacquered in three different colors.

Project details

* Project Name: Casa Lasso
* Project Type: Residential
* Principal Designer/s: Julio Salcedo
* Design Team: Michael Chen, Jane Kim, Inigo Cores
* Contractor/s: Construcciones Mazcuerras
* Date of commencement of project :2002
* Date of completion of project:2004
* Location of site: Trasierra (Cantabria), Spain
* Site Area: 2700 sq mts
* Built-up Area: 180 sq mts
* Cost of Construction/Execution: 460,000 euros

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Under-Extension Villa, Private Residence in Slovenia

The project involves an extension to a 19th-century villa located in a beautiful Alpine resort next to Lake Bled. Both - the existing villa and the landscape, were strictly regulated by the National Heritage organization. The design brief required for the main living area to be twice its current size and for the majority of the spaces to face the lake.

The design addresses the main challenge of incorporating the new 700-m2 addition whilst respecting the restrictions the villa and the surrounding landscape were subjected to, by placing the newer spaces introduced beneath the ground floor of the existing villa.

The extension forms a rounded base around the house - 'a pillow covered by the landscape' as the architects describe it. Looking from the other side of the lake, the 'pillow' blurs with the surrounding landscape. The elevation under the pillow is glazed and overlooks the lake.

The floor is organised in levels according to the surrounding landscape (± 50 cm). These were used as locators and dividers of the open ground level. The top of the pillow converts into a terrace and garden on the upper floor, where the children's area is located.

The wooden finish of the interiors attribute a pleasant warmth to it. Within the villa, the helical staircase emerges not just as a critical circulation core, but as an innovative element of design. Stretchin across the levels of the building, its light and fluid form further accentuates the space within.

Project Details

* Project Name: The "Under-Extension" Villa
* Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Project Type: private residence
* Principal Designer/s: Rok Oman, Spela Videcnik
* Design Team: Mladen Bubalo, Rok Gerbec, Ivana Sehic, Ursa Jazbinsek
* Date of commencement of project: 2001
* Date of completion of project: 2004
* Site Area: 20.500 m2
* Built-up Area: 700 m2 (existing building); 500 m2 (extension)

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Family Villa by the Beach, Ixtapa House in Mexico

The house is built on a private beach on the Pacific Ocean coastline and was designed to celebrate its extraordinary site. The traditional Mexican beach-house is constructed with a number of wooden columns that carry a high palapa roof. This allows the sea breeze to pass through the palapa and ventilate the space in this hot and humid climate.

The design brief proposed a number of challenges of which the response to the ocean was most critical. Further, keeping the site in mind, the client required a high degree of privacy to be clearly established around the living space which he envisaged as a communal area to receive a high number of guests, and which was intimate and protected at the same time. The client also wished for the 9-bedroom villa to be modest in its vocabulary.

The design adopts the vernacular typology and the living-area is thus a semi-open space shaded by the roof. However, since the client wanted a more closed and intimate space, the columns were replaced by two organic volumes that close off direct views from the inland.

The house is located as near to the ocean as permitted by local regulations; this created an interior back-door garden cut away from the coastline for the children to play in.

The house is accessed by a narrow entrance between these two supporting volumes. There thus emerges a continuity between the living room and the swimming pool; a space completely open to the sea view. Here the classical structural tripartite floor-wall-ceiling is dissolved into one single gesture that embraces space. The unique landscape became an abstract image in the every-day life of the household.

Project Details

* Project Name: Ixtapa House
* Program: Family villa by the beach
* Location of site: Punta Ixtapa, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo Mexico
* Design Team: Fernando Romero, Mark Seligson, Juan Pablo Maza, Ernesto Gadea, Ivan Arellano, Martin Palardy, Aaron Hernandez, Enrique Giner de los Rios, Gonzalo Elizarraras, Victor Jaime, Maria Carrillo, David Tellez, Rodrigo Ramos, Mario Najera.
* Date of completion of project: 2001

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Field House, Residential Design in Wisconsin, USA

The site located in northeastern Wisconsin- an area dominated by crop fields and dairy farms- is a sixteen acre "altered landscape" that has been farmed for generations.

A number of utilitarian structures dot the area with white limestone quarries, native prairie grasses, wetlands, and forests competing for space.
The design responds to the unique context presented by both natural and man-made field conditions.

Seasonal changes in the context are further heightened by the plantation and rotation of crops and orchards.

Both -- the physical context as well as the concerns and interests of the client, emerged as the main generators of the design.

Located behind two existing houses, the field is approached upon turning off the county road.

A tree line along the western edge leads the visitor towards the house across a land bridge spanning the edge of a protected wetland. Beyond this point, the path to the house is defined by a gravel drive sandwiched between the tree line and an apple orchard.

The house, along this path of approach, is visible as another structure in the landscape, its use revealed only on closer experience and examination.

The building and orchard frame views of the field. Limestone steps lead down to a cedar deck that opens onto these corn fields.

Haptic and sensory concerns of the design are subservient to its architectural form.

A simple 5,000 square foot box, the Field House is clad in a zinc galvanized metal skin, akin to other structures in the landscape such as the neighboring silos.

The house attempts to connect to as well as be responsible for its environment.

Beyond the conventional residential spaces, the house also provides for an art and books gallery as and a silo ladder that ascends to a concealed roof-top observatory.


Project Details

* Project Name: Field House
* Client: Dr. Robert B. Geller
* Project Type: Residential Design
* Principal Designer: Wendell Burnette
* Design Team: Scott Roeder, Matthew G. Trzebiatowski, Joe Herzog
* Date of completion of project: October 2004
* Location of site: Ellington, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
* Built-up Area: 4,200 square feet

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White Cave, Residential Design in Oita, Japan

The residence is located on a hill looking overlooking the town. A narrow pathway runs parallel to the site exposing panoramic views of the surrounding area. With a pitch difference of 2 meters, the site is rather irregular in its profile. The building adapts to the shape and variations in level of the site with the interiors following suit.

The varying form of the house and the spaces within is also reflective of the architect's response to the diversity of its context.

The walls hence constantly shift in their angle and orientation, creating interesting patterns of movement within the building.

The angular walls along with the windows punctured into them create an interesting relation between the interiors, its immediate surrounding and the distant townscape it overlooks. The building is realized as a static mass of concrete.

Project Details

* Project Name: White Cave
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Residential Design
* Principal Designer: Takao Shiotsuka
* Design Team: Takao Shiotsuka Atelier
* Contractors: Hokoku Co. Ltd
* Date of commencement of project: March 2006
* Date of completion of project: February 2007
* Location of site: Oita, Japan
* Site Area: 419.34 square meters
* Built-up Area: 132.60 square meters

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Beverly Skyline, Single Family Residence in Austin, Texas

This House is builded at area for the width of 1 acre, this building designed for Single Family in Austin, Texas. The architect out for exploit farm better, just see of made waterfall in order to one with mountain atmosphere, what seen so experience of. Use of wood material also make this building be more natural. wall only as personal space constrictor, wide rest aperture in functioned for the width of to get view landscape residing in about it.

"Too often buildings are treated and designed as disposable goods, not built to last and only used for short periods of time, after which they are torn down and replaced.

In this project, our concept revolved around the notions of recycling a building, reusing natural and manmade resources, and reclaiming the ancient ideal that - buildings can and should be sacred places, especially the home.

The project began as a modest remodel, but turned into a full master planning for the site; including complete interior and exterior recycle, an addition to an existing 1970's home, as well as re-organization of the garden.

Due to the poor situation of the house with respect to the site, a large motivation of the design was to reconnect the house with its site by utilizing the steep topography to capture the expansive views."

"One goal was to integrate the architecture with the native garden and creek at the bottom of the property.

To fully enjoy the reclaimed views, the house is wrapped by exterior decks with glass railings. The inspiration is Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto, Japan, (founded 7th century A.D.) which sits above the landscape and provides panoramic views of the city.

The property owner is an attorney by profession but enjoyed being intimately involved with the planning and execution of the design, even physically building and landscaping much of the grounds; the project was truly a labor of love."

"In the spirit of reclaiming value, recycled materials are employed at every possible opportunity. The front facade of the house is comprised of recycled glass blocks, which were provided by the owner.

The originally monolithic nature of the house is further dematerialized with slats installed as rain screens.

This wall assembly seems to dissolve the facade of the house, particularly at corner conditions.

The project also makes extensive use of harvested rainwater stored in pools and reservoirs to re-connect the house with its site. The water system lends a sense of drama to the intervention. A series of cascading ponds serve as part of the rainwater collection system on the utilitarian level. On an aesthetic level, it provides a peaceful transition between the landscape and the built form. The ponds are made with salvaged steel sheets and poured-in-place concrete."

"Architectural elements are treated as installation artwork and sculptures in this project. For instance, the front door is a copper box taking on characteristics of the Donald Judd sculptures. Gutter drains are made with clear Plexiglas tube so the downward journey of water is appreciated and the rainwater re-harvesting process is better understood, the simple movement of water becomes an animating agent for the architecture and the landscape."

Project details

* Project Name: Beverly Skyline Residence
* Project Type: Single Family Residence
* Principal Designer/s: Thomas Bercy, Calvin Chen
* Design Team: Thomas Bercy, Calvin Chen
* Contractor/s: Bercy Chen Studio LLP
* Date of commencement of project: 2003
* Date of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: Austin, Texas
* Site Area: 1 acre
* Built-up Area: 2800 sq. feet

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Allers Residence, Family House in Maasmechelen, Belgium

Ultra modestly this building when we see from outside. Only a box which not own ornamen decorator at all. But if we perceive deeper again hence we earn to find picturesqueness in it. Just properly if this building is a home which intend made to klien which attaches great importance to privacy. The unique this building of course about its for which very simple. earn said its in fact that is minimalist modern building.

This house with modern concept builded in area where about most structure built using traditional building method. this house is a single-family dwelling.

All functions of the house are organised on the ground floor.

Pawnbroker attaches great importance to privacy. Hence the introvert front wall; which is counterbalanced by an open back wall.

It is a single-volume structure with large incisions. The entrance is designed such that the transition between inside and outside spaces is very subtle.

The access to the garage is also subtle, located at the side of the house. The house's large volume integrates the slight slope of the site. This way, a discrete facade is created.

The terrace is part of the building volume. Being covered, it forms a gradual transition between the inside and outside spaces, just like the entrance at the front.

Project details

* Project Name: Allers
* Client: Allers
* Project Type: one family house
* Principal Designer/s: Egide Meertens
* Design Team: Egide Meertens Architect bvba
* Contractor/S: Masonry Work: C & L Bvba | Roofwork: Renovite | Outside Cabinet Work: Cosemans Constructies | Heating And Sanitary Work: Heedfeld Nv | Electricity: Castro Technics | Plasterwork: Schouterden
* Date of commencement of project: 2004
* Date of completion of project: 2006
* Location of site: Maasmechelen (Belgium)
* Built-up Area: 232,5 m2
* Cost of Construction/Execution: € 244.831,66

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Condominium Trnovski Pristan in Ljubljana, Slovenia

this Architectural design is called Condominium Trnovski Pristan, was designed by architects Jurij Sadar and Bostjan Vuga in Trnovski Pristan, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The condominium is a two-floor apartment building with fifteen customized units, a common entrance lobby, an interior winter garden and an exterior summer atrium.
Its basic volume is agitated, partitioned and non-monolithic allowing for optimal illumination of all apartments as well as a connection of the interior spaces with the exterior through green terraces, consoled balconies and winter gardens. The partitioning of the main volume is in sync with the irregular rhythm of the balconies. These balconies extend far from the building towards the circumferential garden.

A composition of pixel-like, multi-colored ceramic tiles and pre-dimensioned black metal frames link the windows and balconies realized in orange wood. Through the technique of 'pixelization' in the facade a unique relation between the building and its immediate surroundings is established, creating dynamic shifts in the perception of the building size in the eyes of the observer.

The large window openings interconnect between themselves, fragmenting the volume of the building by creating what appears to be a heavy structural framework. Between this heavy structure composed of window frames, a light membrane of 'pixellated' ceramic tiles is stretched.

During the day, the sunlight reflecting off the glass surfaces causes the windows to look dark. The black pixels of the tiles soften these edges binding them to the light ceramic membrane. A distant view of the building further enhances this effect.

The brighter pixels of the tiles (mostly yellow) re-establish a dialogue with the natural surround along the quay and the willow leaves and greenery within it. It is thus that the 'salamander house' adapts and generates a new context within the existing one.




Project Details

* Project Name: Condominium Trnovski Pristan
* Client: Begrad, Novo Mesto
* Project Type: Architectural Design (Housing)
* Principal Designer: Jurij Sadar, Bostjan Vuga
* Design Team: Tina Hocevar, Miha Pesec, Tadej Zaucer, Mojca Kocbek
* Date of commencement of project: June 2002
* Date of completion of project: March 2004
* Location of site: Trnovski Pristan, Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Structural Engineers: Elea
* Service Engineers: Te Biro (Mechanical & Electrical)
* Landscape Design: Andrej Strgar
* Traffic / Site Engineer: Gasper Blejec
* Construction Cost: Euro 4 Million
* Site Area: 4640 square meters
* Building Area: 1365 square meters
* Total Floor Area: 4010 square meters
* No. of Storeys: Basement, G+2
* Structure: Reinforced Concrete
* Cladding: Ventilated Facade, Ceramic Tiles on Aluminium Plates, Aluminium Double Glazing

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Alaria Residence in Sausalito, CA

Alaria Residence, the very small house was designed by Deliberate Design + Architecture is located in Sausalito, CA. Use of wood material seems will never disappear to the last the epoch. For the high level building, wood might not earn used for building structure, but as ornament decorator, wood still can to be pledged. Wood is material experience of owning the beauty at fiber and its color, at house interior, wood earn to give warm impression. You can see, this building almost all its material use wood. Such as those which we know, wood supply experience of under the sun this have totally disappeared almost. just if there be still, its price is costly surely, very rare hence we find a building use wood as material of the core important. Just only you needn't too worry if you wish to use wood for your building material in this time since have a lot of production lumber with good quality.

Need you know, that any kind of material which you want to use for yours house, if designed better hence will yield a delicate architecture masterpiece and beautiful.

The building project of alaria residence this was completed in SAUSALITO CA ( Huriccane Gulch) at 2005. House own Len And This Eli Alaria was intended to refreshingly small, simple, and crude, but have been felt wide and light-filled. Deliberate Design + Architecture as principal Designer with design team such as Barry Peterson, James Godbe, and David Kallmeyer likely wishing make your eye forced to always see entire shares of this house interior, making this mere 1200 SF of house seem expansive, non-confining, but still offers a feeling of solid shelter. not require costly expensive. The very bones of the building are architecture. The very bones of the building are its architecture. It is made entirely of common lumber and common metals, only they were used very carefully.

* Project Name: Alaria Residence
* Client: Len and Eli Alaria
* Project Type: Very small residence
* Principal Designer/s: Deliberate Design + Architecture
* Design Team: Barry Peterson, James Godbe, David Kallmeyer
* Location of site: Sausalito, CA (Hurricane Gulch)
* Contractor/s: Phil Kline
* Date of completion of project: 2005

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Paradise for Two Pavilion, Netherlands

This house, Paradise for two, Pavilion at the Botshol was designed by Maurice Nio, Arek Seredyn is private house in Netherlands. Nature always give inspiration which there no ending to you and your family. Touch shake hand will progressively be felt to respect its attendance at your home. Integrating landscape with building architecture require the way of exact and ripe to reach for perfect result. For that the garden have to be seen from within building in order to its atmosphere become to experience of. The grass and marshland of the Botshol is a nature reserve and a unique habitat for unusual plants (wild orchids, rare marsh plants, cotton grass, holly-leaved naiad, stonewort, bog spurge) and birds (the buzzard, the harrier, the cormorant, the bittern, the red-crested pochard, the spoonbill).

It is situated - a bit hidden - as an oasis in the midst of the Randstad. It is obvious that in the Botshol cannot be built, but also in the surrounding area of De Ronde Venen there are restrictions to new housing development or partial renewal of existing farms. This is why a lot stays the same. It is the art to create something here that answers the current wishes and demands of the inhabitants and at the same time fits the new plans with nature (the direct surroundings of the Botshol have been designated in 2000 as nature development area, as a consequence, the agricultural function slowly disappears to make room for wet marsh nature).

Precisely where the austere lay-out of the peat grass area touches the new nature and the whimsical landscape of the Botshol, is a garden of which the inner world does not reveal itself. Just like the Botshol, the inside of the garden is hidden and it shows, equally sovereign, only its green edges to the outside world. Almost invisible from outside are two buildings, a farm and an annex, both ready for renewal. In line with the heart of the garden, which has been cultivated and even seems a little heavenly, the renewal was used to intensify the unexpected atmosphere of this location.

The basis of the design are two distinct zinc roofs under which different spaces are given a place in a very relaxed manner. One part is now ready: the annex has been transformed into a pavilion. The zinc roof is cheekily placed diagonally over the square wooden building. The struts of the roof fan out, as if they are trying to imitate the pattern of the nearby Vinkeveense plassen, and the dark stained wooden duckboards are lifted compared to ground level, so that the building seems to float above the garden. The image of the pavilion is new and possibly unexpected, but eventually it is equally natural and graceful as a cormorant in the Botshol.

* Project Name: Paradise for two, Pavilion at the Botshol
* Client: Private
* Project Type: Housing
* Design Team: Maurice Nio, Arek Seredyn
* Contractor/s: D. Kroese bv, Vinkeveen
* Date of commencement of project: 2003
* Date of completion of project: 2005
* Location of site: Botshol, Netherlands
* Site Area: 150 sq. m.
* Built-up Area: 160 sq. m.
* Cost of Construction/Execution: € 220.000

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