House of the Week 015: Eggo house

aerial view of house in context

This a self-contained dwelling unit designed by Czech architects a69 in the garden of an existing family house in Prague. Called the Eggo house the architecture of this project is not defined by the house, rather by the natural space of the original garden of well preserved full-grown trees.




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House of the Week 014: house in Curitiba

This house is a 300 sq.m in Curitiba, Brazil by UNA Architects and features a central 2 story volume that can be completely open to the elements. The residence is raised off the ground creating a service layer with the main living spaces and the bedrooms on the ground and first floor respectively. Read More..

House of the Week 013: Sculptor House

entry elevation

Alejandro Aravena designed this house & studio for a sculptor in Santiago, Chile. The structure is made primarily from brick echoing the work of the artist, and has expansive views towards the city towards the west.

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House of the Week 012: Ant Farm House

the Ant Farm House in Taipei, designed by architects Xrange gets its name from how it spatially interlocks around an existing stone structure, in some cases creating narrow rooms between the old and new exteriors. The concept is further emphasized on the elevation of the 500 sqm residence, by the fenestration and surface finish. Read More..

House of the Week 011: Raumati House

The Raumati House in New Zealand is a seaside family residence designed by Parsonson Architects that allows view to the beach whilst maintaining protection from the wind and sun with a casual and flexible layout. The elevation mimics the profile of the landscape with a palette of materials that flow from inside to out. Read More..

House of the Week 010: Haus W

The 130 sqm residence in Hamburg, Germany by Kraus Schonberg Architects is partially submerged to provide privacy yet keep a sense of openness. The glazed lower level contains the living areas with views into garden, whilst the varying upper floor levels - finished in engineered timber on the exterior contain the more private spaces wrapped around the central atrium.

central atrium lined with books

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House of the Week 009: 700 Palms

700 Palms is a family house in Venice Beach, California by Ehrlich Architects. The residence boasts a dynamic series of adjustable canvas sails hung from exposed frames spanning from the eaves to the boundary wall that both shades and creates additional space on the narrow lot. Internal spaces open entirely to the landscape to increase natural ventilation, and the structure is kept to the natural patina of weathered materials.

living room

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House of the Week 008: Blackwell House

A modern house in Arkansas designed by architect Marlon Blackwell and his wife Meryati (a partner in MBP) for their young family. The bridge-like structure was built over a seasonal creek.

The façade is finished with horizontally lain redwood strips that act as a rain screen and the elevation is punctuated with long, black framed windows.

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House of the Week 007: Surfhouse

entry elevation

the Surfhouse in California by XTEN architects has a blackened cedar elevation in contrast to the white interior made visually available through the slices of the building's exterior. From its small site the California beach house has inverted a traditional programme, placing public spaces on the upper floors towards views of the Pacific Ocean.

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House of the Week 006: Tattoo House

The Tattoo House, designed by Maynard Architects is a simple and boxy extension to an existing 3 bedroom house in Melbourne, Australia. The tight project budget shaped many of the design decisions from the kitchen bench that becomes part of the stair to the use of stickers on the rear façade to provide screening - required by council to reflect heat and glare. The graphic of the screen is composed of trees that dually softens the impact of adding a modern structure to a traditional neighbourhood both at day and night.

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House of the Week 005: McKinley Compound

The McKinley residence consists of four distinct two storey structures connected on the upper levels by bridges. Designed by David Hertz Architects/studio of Environmental Architecture (studio EA), the project aimed - despite its 400 sm footprint - to be energy conscious in its construction and use with 70% of its energy coming from a solar array, recycled concrete, and the use passive ventilation throughout the property.

Although in a dense Los Angeles neighbourhood the residence is able to skillfully soften the lines between inside and out without intrusion of the surroundings. The residence was made popular as it served as the primary setting for the dark comedy series Californication.

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House of the Week 004: Casa San Isidro

This stylish modern residence was built in Buenos Aires, Argentina and designed by KLM (Kelly Lestard Maldonado Architects). The 350 sq.m building rises out of its context to take advantage of the river views in the distance - whilst the ground floor in contrast opens its elevation entirely of the lot's green space allowing a visual flow from outside to in.

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house of the week: 003 | Terrace House

"the house that is not really there"

Senan Abdelqaber has designed, with this house, an approach that is nothing more than a platform bracing the horizon to a vast landscape. The entry below leads to an intimate yet modern domicile that gently unfolds space by the interplay of natural and man-made materials, soft against hard, transparent versus opaque, light and shadow. Read More..

house of the week: 002 | casa Bellicini

A modern house in Bienno, Italy by Architect Massimo Nodari. The building is arranged on three levels with two distinct volumes designed to break up the large foot print of the building seen against the domestic scale the context, and angled to direct the views towards the landscape.


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New Feature: House of the Week

I have always argued that a house is the most difficult of typologies. The types and styles of houses are as varied as the colours in the sky. And nothing prepares you for the changing whims of a client wanting more for much less, being influenced by something they saw, experienced, or simply felt. As one architect puts it,

"essentailly the architect/designer simply becomes the noble scribe of space and ornamentaion of the patron...we don't actually create"

Introducing the house of the week featuring modern residences around the world that attempt to critique the way we inhabit domestic space Read More..

house of the week 001: TDA House

The TDA house by Cadaval & Sola-Morales is a three story villa facing the Mexican Pacific . The building's unusual section, with its pronounced cantilevers, seeks to maximize how it occupies the narrow lot and the views of the pacific. The walls of the villa completely open, revealing its spartan interior - a flexible space to casually accommodate any number of guests. The furniture, carefree and colourful and as much a part of the architecture plays against the robust concrete walls.

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