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Located within the newly revitalized Steigereiland neighborhood, the first of the IJburg islands when approaching from central Amsterdam, the Sluishuis references the industrial and maritime heritage of the area, as well as its vernacular architecture. The architects wanted it to feel like a traditional European courtyard house was enlarged, modernized, and adapted for the canal-centric landscape of Amsterdam. The 527,000-square-foot building juts out over the waterfront on the outskirts of the city, with a triangular opening acting as a “gate” through which 54 boats can dock at an inner port.

The units on this cantilevered side of the building feature glass balconies over the water, giving them incredible views looking either outward at the city or inward at the courtyard and its gardens. The apartments at the rear of the building step down to the docks, each with its own spacious outdoor terrace. A promenade winds around the building, inviting visitors — including the public — to climb all the way up to the rooftop gardens and gaze out at the new neighborhoods on the IJ. It also connects to an archipelago of public program elements like mooring points for 34 houseboats, floating gardens, and a sailing school.

Native plants emerge from giant planters and climb the facades throughout the complex, and large windows draw daylight into all corners of the building. Untreated aluminum reflects the play of light across the water, helping the Sluishuis blend into its environment. The units include duplex penthouses, urban studios, and premium apartments, and all of the homes are accessed through the central courtyard. All 442 apartments are energy-neutral, and power for the building comes from 2,200 square meters (about 75,347 square feet) of solar panels.

“With iconic architecture, as well as new housing typologies, high-quality outdoor spaces, and breathtaking views of the IJmeer, Sluishuis is a new landmark for IJburg as well as Amsterdam,” says Dirk Peters, a founding partner at Barcode Architects. “We have tried to design a building with a surprisingly changing perspective and a unique contemporary character, which reflects the identity of the future residents and all users of Sluishuis.”

“Having spent my formative years as an architect in Holland at the end of the 20th century, it feels like a homecoming to now get to contribute to the architecture of the city that I have loved and admired for so long,” says Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of BIG.

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Restaurant owner and chef Motonori Hirata was looking for something brand new that felt long-established. “I was asked to design a building as ‘heavy’ as possible,” says Ishigami. “’I want an architecture whose heaviness would increase with time,’ [Hirata] said. ‘It cannot be artificially smooth but rather something with the roughness of nature. Authentic cuisines require such a place.’ He also told me that ‘it has to look as if it has been there and will continue to be there for the longest time.’”

Creating such a structure in the middle of a modern residential neighborhood presented plenty of challenges. Instead of focusing on what he currently had to work with, Ishigami took a subtractive approach, concentrating on what he could have if he removed parts of the existing space.

That line of thinking resulted in an underground cave dwelling that’s every bit as organic and “heavy” as it is practical and functional. Ishigami began with a design that would leave the roof of the new building flush with the ground level. Using state-of-the-art 3D software, he was able to determine the exact points for pile driving. When construction began, workers “dug the holes manually for precision while constantly confirming the position and shape on an iPad.”

Once all the holes were hollowed out, concrete was poured in to create the form of the organically-shaped columns. Then the rest of the space was excavated to create the living and working areas.

Ishigami tried to embrace accidents as they popped up, working the unknown into the process. “Unexpected factors such as growing grass, soil collapsing, or errors due to manual labor were tolerated as much as possible,” he notes. He hoped that the by accepting these “un-precisions,” he would create an architecture that “internalizes natural distortions and uncertainties.”

The original plans called for washing away all the dirt to reveal a gray concrete structure, but Ishigami and his team were so impressed with they way the soil-caked columns looked that they chose to leave them as-is. That decision is what gave the project its cave-like feel and inspired a redesign of the interior spaces, which now include a bedroom, bathroom, industrial kitchen space, and three courtyards that can be filled with dining tables during restaurant hours (or used as living spaces at other times).

Almost imperceptible glass creates walls around the structure to keep it warm and safe from the elements. The flat roof was filled in with concrete except for three skylights, and whitewashed to keep it distinctive from the surrounding topography.

Considered a design wunderkind in architecture circles, Ishimgami started his career with Kazuyo Sejima at SANAA, after graduating with a Master’s in Architecture and Planning from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 2000. In 2004 he started his own firm, junya.ishigami+associates, and has since gone on to win multiple awards, including becoming the youngest-ever recipient of the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize in 2009 for his ultra-thin glass Kanagawa Institute of Technology workshop. In addition to his architectural work, Ishigami also serves as the Kenzo Tange Design Critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The post Junya Ishigami Crafts Cave-Like House and Restaurant in Japan first appeared on Dornob.

The restaurant design is impressive from the moment visitors walk in the door. The cocoon-like vaulted lobby is surrounded by a wooden space divider that takes its shape from the Ling Ling logo, which is rendered in neon. A low ceiling consisting of bunched illuminated textiles helps foster an atmosphere of suspense before guests are ushered into the surprisingly grand interiors, where trailing greenery frames a full-sized tree strung with outdoor lighting.

“The restaurant’s interior design concept started out with the idea of generating a space recalling the grand courtyards and terraces so characteristic of Mexican architecture,” the architects explain. “This was one of the greatest challenges in the design of the project, with the formal approach and the design process using structural elements and construction methods that helped to blur the boundary between architecture and interior design. As a result, the idea emerged of a triple-height space with a porticoed structure and lush vegetation of the terrace.”

Ceilings consisting of neutral-toned wooden louvers give the restaurant the appearance of a natural landscape, “carved” out to envelop the dining areas and give them an intimate feeling despite the expansiveness of the space. Though abstracted, the result mimics the feel of adjacent buildings, mountains, and trees surrounding a courtyard and generates a natural traffic pattern through the restaurant’s many rooms. With natural light and views providing the space’s dominating features, the architects focused on a palette of vegetative hues.

“The space benefits from the triple height and corner location to surprise guests with a glazed atrium structure offering 270-degree views across the whole city,” the firm adds. “Meanwhile, the inner salon and dining room are enclosed within a vaulted structure constructed using wood stereotomy techniques, highlighted by gentle illumination, and fitted out with custom-made furniture. Under this wood structure, the Sushi Bar recreates an Asian atmosphere that will bring the guests face-to-face with the preparation of the cuisine, giving a more personal touch to their experience. On the other hand, the main bar encloses a perfect frame of the skyline of the city through an item of dynamic furniture.”

Ling Ling Restaurant and Chapultepec Uno are located in the historic Reforma neighborhood, steps away from popular Mexico City landmarks like the Diana the Huntress Fountain and the Angel of Independence. If you want the best views in the house, reserve the Tres 60 table, a banquette sitting at the point of the dining room so you feel like you’re floating above the city.

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Now, the forward-thinking Espacio 18 has turned their exceptional interior design eye toward yet another Oaxaca project. This time, it’s a group of residences in Colonia Reforma, just five short minutes from the city’s downtown area. Dubbed “Pensamientos Residencial” (Residential Thoughts), these four homes add to the studio’s impressive oeuvre with their distinctive focus on unifying architectural aspects. Their alluring apertures and connective patios amplify the structures’ openness and community-minded approach while also showcasing Espacio’s love of natural light and warm neutral tones.

The project addresses a local need for residential development. Rising land and property costs and increasing gentrification have led to more locals seeking housing on the city’s outskirts. Pensamientos Residencial was born as a result of this, commissioned by a real estate agency and catalyzed by the architects’ knowledge of the area and desire to repopulate the city’s suburbs.

The residences are divided into four distinct three-level houses, each with a land area of 120 square meters and laid out in the same way: an enclosed ground level/social area, a first floor including private areas, secondary rooms, and study/TV area, and a second floor that encompasses the main room and other services. While these layouts may seem pretty standard, the spaces are elevated through patios on each level, each with their own high-rise style walls that ensure privacy despite their proximity to other residences. The spaces are designed with flexibility and usability in mind — the template exists as a palette for residents to add their own stamp of originality through personalized interior touches.

The exterior, like many of Espacio’s projects, is deceptively spartan, comprised of clean lines and simple utilitarian touches dominated by neutral tones. Built with finishes made from locally-sourced wood from nearby spots like Huanacaxtle and reinforced with both steel and volcanic stones, the homes are built to last. And if the demand for housing on the outskirts of Oaxaca continues to increase, these structures will no doubt be the first of many in the area.

The post Espacio 18’s Oaxaca Housing Units are Full of Functional Flow first appeared on Dornob.

Commissioned by the Taipei City Government in 2009, the project was led by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect and OMA founding partner Rem Koolhaas alongside OMA managing partner David Gianotten. Their goal was for the center to stand out from “standardized” contemporary theaters in major cities around the world, and it looks like they’ve achieved it.

Located at Taipei’s vibrant Shilin Night Market, the complex includes a Public Loop that’s free to access, so visitors can tour the interior even if they aren’t there to see a performance. It starts in the landscaped plaza outside and runs through the infrastructure and performing arts production spaces that are typically hidden. Portal windows open to view inside the three theaters.

“The configuration of three theaters plugged into a central cube has resulted in new internal workings of the performing spaces to inspire unimagined productions,” says Gianotten. “The Public Loop exposes visitors with and without tickets to these new works and their creative processes. We are excited by how the building constantly generates new relationships between artists, spectators, and the public.”

Rather than having a front and back like a typical performing arts center, OMA’s creation features multiple facades defined by the protruding volumes. The way these monumental metallic elements interact almost makes the complex look like a spaceship that crash-landed into the heart of Taipei. The 840-seat Blue Box theater, the 1,500-seat Grand Theater, and the spherical 800-seat Globe Playhouse all have mysterious opaque facades, appearing to be “docked” against the animated and illuminated central cube clad in corrugated glass.

The entire building is lifted off the ground, creating a public plaza underneath. Up until now, its true form has been disguised by the scaffolding clinging to its exterior during the construction process. But upon its completion, we can finally get a sense of how surprisingly light and otherworldly it appears, with the three dramatic theaters seeming to float.

“This new building not only presents itself to the world as a brand new and unique configuration of theater complexes, it also sits perfectly in its location — right at the center of where the plebeian life of Taipei happens,” says Kris Yao, founder of KRIS YAO | ARTECH, the Taiwanese design collaborating architect. “It’s informal, unpretentious, and raw architecture spaces echo the spirits of how citizens of Taipei approach art.”

“Theater has a very long tradition,” explains Koolhaas of OMA’s vision. “We have seen contemporary performance theaters increasingly becoming standardized, with conservative internal operation principles. We want to contribute to the history of the theater. Here in Taipei, we were able to combine three auditoria in a particular way. We are interested to see how this architecture will have an impact in terms of extending what we can do in theater.”

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Designed by the Catalan architecture co-op Lacol, “La Borda” was built in the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona a little over a year before the pandemic hit. When Spain’s lockdowns (some of the strictest in Europe) went into effect, the communal nature of the building made it possible for residents to continue socializing in shared spaces like the kitchen, laundry, and multipurpose room, avoiding the severe isolation many in single-family dwellings experienced.

The 28-unit structure was also designed with enough flexibility to adapt to the needs of its members during a pandemic. “It was a privilege to live through COVID here,” says Cristina Gamboa, one of the two principal architects on the project and a resident of La Borda. “It showed that these spaces allow for the sort of interaction that wouldn’t be possible in a conventional apartment block. For example, the guest rooms couldn’t be used because no one was traveling, so they became workspaces.”

The idea of the cooperative development was hatched in 2011, when the abandoned Can Batlló industrial site was occupied by locals as part of a campaign to return the land to the community. The next year, a plan was formed to revitalize the area with a co-op residential building, as well as a school, bar/restaurant, publishing house, and carpentry workshop.

When the Lacol architects were tasked with creating the co-op, they outlined three fundamental principles for the project. The first was to “redefine the collective housing program” by encouraging social interaction in every corner of the design. All 28 living units, the kitchen-dining room, guest spaces, health and care rooms, storage, and patios are centered around a multi-story courtyard, providing for maximum community contact.

The second goal was to incorporate “sustainability and environmental quality.” The architects explain: “We started from the conviction that the best strategy is to reduce the initial demand of all the environmental vectors of the building (energy, water, materials, and waste), especially at the energy level, where we prioritized passive strategies to achieve maximum use of existing resources.” For example, 20 solar panels on the roof provide a quarter of the building’s energy needs.

Third, Lacol designers sought to foster user participation. The collective management of La Borda means that residents are in charge of determining the use of the space. The building is located on a piece of public land set aside for social housing that the co-op board can lease for up to 75 years. Co-op members do not own their flats and cannot sell or sublet them, emphasizing the “use value” above the “exchange value” of the units. While members do have to pay a one-time refundable fee of €18,500, the monthly rent is still 30 to 35 percent below market rates. With rents and housing prices climbing quickly, 80 percent of Spain’s 18 to 30-year-olds still live with their parents. Living spaces like La Borda would make it much more affordable for people to establish their own households. As a testament to its desirability, the co-op already has a 50-person wait list.

The Mies van der Rohe Foundation praised the design as “a role model and an active tool for promoting political and urban change from within the system, based on social, ecological, and economic sustainability.”

Lacol was awarded the honor and the €20,000 at an official ceremony on May 12th. The company adds that some of the money will be used for a celebratory dinner for the La Borda renters and those who helped make the project a reality.

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The Patio de Sant Jordi and Sant Doménech is a historic structure dating back to the 16th century, originally built to educate the Moors during a period of economic prosperity. As the centuries have passed, it has remained much the same. The Gold Digger installation aimed to celebrate the convent’s architectural heritage while converting it to something altogether new and unexpected. Visitors who popped in during the festival found a whole new world of discovery and curiosity inside.

The designers installed 112 golden thermal sheets within the convent’s patio (the sort normally used as emergency blankets). The sheets were stitched together about a meter above the ground and stretched halfway up the walls, so it almost looked like the entire patio had been gilded with a thin veneer of gold leaf. By raising it just slightly above the ground, the designers created an interstitial space that felt vaguely subterranean.

Visitors would climb in from the side and crouch or crawl to reach holes punched in the foil. When they stood up, they found themselves in a shimmering, reflective space, gazing up at the columns of the convent and the sky above. Additional holes punched in the vertical walls of gold revealed statues of kings and other important figures.

The point of the installation was to infuse the space with a sense of duality: hot and cold, light and shadow, silver and gold. The chromatic differences between interior and exterior make the interior of the courtyard all the more dazzling, especially as the breeze moves the fabric, creating dappled reflections of sunlight and a sound reminiscent of ocean waves.

“The color and effect of the installation change depending on the time of day,” say the designers. “At midday, the light falls directly from above and the reflection of the fabric blinds the viewer. At sunset, on the other hand, the golden color of the fabric takes on new shades, more delicate and pink. Visitors had the opportunity to actively interact with the installation. They could not only admire the sculptural details of the Renaissance ornaments in the courtyard but also interact with the other visitors.”

The installation was the winner of the festival, lauded for its success in encouraging visitors to see something old and seemingly unchangeable in a whole new way. A Cel Obert is held annually to honor the architecture of Tortosa and adorn it with ephemeral art. “Many of these buildings have an interior architecture that is as important as the exterior, although it often goes unnoticed. That is the case of many courtyards, which thanks to the A Cel Obert festival of ephemeral interventions can now become a great attraction to be discovered.”

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Restoring a historic hacienda to its former glory can be an intimidating project, but if you start from scratch instead, it’s possible to capture the luxurious tranquility that haciendas radiate while updating them for a new era. Architecture firm Chain + Siman collaborated with Modo Manera to do just that with Casa Rancha Avándaro, a weekend retreat in the Valle de Bravo area west of Mexico City. Their version draws inspiration from the openness of the traditional hacienda while enhancing its connection to nature and adding numerous all-glass walls to let the daylight stream inside.

The architects’ goal was to produce a relaxing retreat that functioned as an independent home for the clients while also providing plenty of connected spaces for guests. They wanted to incorporate key aspects of Mexican haciendas like solid volumes, interior patios, and gardens into the project while replacing the standard courtyard fountain with a jacuzzi. The home is divided into three volumes plus an annex, all with walls made of yellow stone from a nearby mine. The central volume is the tallest, flanked on either side by smaller gabled volumes.

Inside the central volume is a living room and dining room, which look out onto the terrace and the jacuzzi through the front glazing and a central patio through the back. One of the smaller connected volumes contains the main bedroom, with its own lofted study, while the other contains the kitchen and additional services. The annex, connected to the main house by a glass bridge crossing the central courtyard, hosts guests. This space is able to maintain its own sense of privacy and autonomy without feeling too separate from the main home, and it still enjoys the same beautiful views of the impeccably landscaped grounds, and the boughs of mature trees swaying in the breeze.

The result feels distinctly Mexican, preserving the best elements of the traditional vernacular architecture and all the charm they convey. The exposed beams and earthy materials connect the home to its natural setting, while updates like floor-to-ceiling windows, black steel, open plan interiors, and built-in furniture made of black plywood bring in contemporary comforts and preferences.

“The interior design is supported by the lighting, the finishes, and the vegetation of the place. Inside, the stone preserves its natural essence and is complemented by elements of black ironwork, wood in different shades in the lofts, furniture, and dividing walls, and concrete in the floors, kitchen, and bathrooms,” the architects say. “The house is a cozy, comfortable, and warm space that creates a dialogue between classic elements of the haciendas and contemporary solutions. There is a balance between luxury, aesthetics, and functionality.”

The post Historic Hacienda Style Gets a 21st-Century Update Outside Mexico City first appeared on Dornob.

That’s what Italian architect Stefano Larotonda of Last Studio decided to do for a home in Rovagnate, northern Italy. The existing structure was a typical two-story Italian country home set into the base of a slope, but the clients wanted a new entrance, additional green space, and a brighter, more usable basement. The only way to grant their wishes was to literally carve out the basement, creating a new sunken courtyard around it.

“That means a new kind of space in the basement and subsequent creation of an outdoor space that is configured as an open-air room,” says Larotonda. “This new environment allows for the lighting of the underground area, which becomes a large hall described by a series of wooden inner partitions that define different spatial configurations.”

Working in collaboration with Andrea Tregnago, Larotonda essentially created a giant trench around the home to expose the basement walls. This new outdoor space is a full story below the grade of the yard around it, its edges defined by new walls made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Vertical wooden staves were used as the formwork, imprinting the concrete with their patterns and knots for a more organic appearance. The exposed basement walls were then replaced with the same materials, punctured by circular windows and an oversized sliding glass door.

A large round cutout in the garden wall now acts as the home’s new entrance, beckoning visitors into the light-filled courtyard where Larotonda has installed stepping stones, volcanic rock, and grasses designed to offer proper drainage when it rains. From the driveway looking in, you see an interesting arrangement of diagonal walls sloping toward the lawn above. From the lawn, these walls stick up several feet above grade, looking almost like the prow of a ship.

Inside, the newly renovated basement is suddenly flooded with daylight. The concrete floors were darkened and polished for a slate-like effect, and the interior walls are made of three layers of solid fir stained with green impregnating paints for a sheer, washed look. Together, these colors are meant to evoke the tones of the surrounding mountain landscape. The circular motif is also drawn inside, repeated with cutouts in the wood walls and the shape of the bathroom mirror.

It may not have been the most obvious solution, but excavating the basement level was a clever way to give the clients exactly what they wanted, create a new outdoor space that’s truly private, and make the most of the existing structure instead of wastefully tearing it down and starting anew.

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The development stands out even when viewed from afar. Its jagged white rooflines rise from the city streets in an organic-looking jumble, contrasting the neatly organized rows and rectilinear shapes of the buildings around it. In the center is a massive courtyard, all the facades facing it painted with textured red stucco. The building fills its building site all the way to the boundaries, and the roofs are designed with “carefully calibrated” slopes to maximize ventilation and sunlight to both the building itself and its neighbors.

The courtyard inside, developed in collaboration with local architecture firm Flint, is irregularly shaped and measures nearly 56,000 square feet. This park-like green space is actually one level above the street, positioned over the complex’s parking garage, making it feel like a secret garden that’s protected from but still connected to the larger urban context. Planted with 83 alder and birch trees and a variety of grasses, the courtyard opens to the streets through a few different portals.

Within the building, all the irregular slopes of the rooflines and exteriors create interesting, dynamic interior spaces, including apartment layouts that are entirely unique. That results in a wide array of home sizes and shapes, so occupants don’t feel like they’re living in cookie-cutter spaces. Some areas of the buildings are as low as one story, while on the side facing the river, some rise as high as nine. At its peak, the complex features a glass crown housing the restaurant with views of Bordeaux’s historic center.

MVRDV’s Bastide-Niel masterplan will ultimately include three additional developments, aiming to combine all the history Bordeaux has to offer with the density, ecology and comfort, of a modern metropolis. Once completed, this masterplan, developed in collaboration with Joubert Architecture, will see more than 86 acres of former barracks and rail yards converted to public spaces and cultural facilities.

“The COVID-19 pandemic showed everyone how valuable outdoor spaces close to their homes can be, and I hope Ilot Queyries can show that such amenities don’t require compromise,” says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “The building creates close and intimate streets without ugly parked cars thanks to its ample car parking. At the same time every apartment is provided a balcony or loggia, while the green park space becomes a wonderful community amenity.”

“This project served as preparation for the grander plan of the Bastide_Niel development,” adds Maas. “With this project we were able to test some of our ideas, which resulted in a masterplan with more greenery in the streets, better cost optimization for façades, and more open courtyards.”

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“Suddenly, I decided there should be a cloud, calmly and slowly rising over the river,” Ting says. “Clouds have a sophisticated and pure beauty.” Thus, a particularly unique bookstore was born, incorporating a series of indoor and outdoor spaces that take you on a meditative journey, clearing your mind to make way for all the written content you’re about to devour. If the layout looks familiar, that’s because it’s based on the traditional courtyard houses of China, in which the most important internal spaces are grouped pavilions looking out onto a central outdoor area.

Even as you approach from the street, the bookstore has an ethereal feel to it. The facade is a white perforated metal screen that almost blends into the sky, the entryway a cutout shaped like a cloud. Those perforations vary in size to create a layered effect that either reveals or disguises the rest of the city beyond the walls. Ting describes it as “a serene and pleasant visual subtraction” that focuses one’s gaze on the real clouds that float above the river. Trees, dark gray stepping stones, and islands of grass also punctuate the field of white.

The courtyard doesn’t just serve as a mood setter. It was also a way for Ting to to bring together the various “scattered” volumes that already existed on the site and give them a sense of flow and cohesion. One is the lifestyle book area, one is the coffeehouse, and another serves as a display for reproductions of rare books. New additions house areas like the sales kiosks and main bookstore displays. On the second floor of the coffeehouse is a future “urban parlor room,” while other upstairs spaces serve as exhibition areas. Even the rooftops are connected into a series of elevated terraces looking out onto the city, giving you a whole new level of spaces to explore. They include a children’s play platform, a “discussion terrace,” a fire pit, and a “labyrinth terrace” to sit and enjoy your coffee.

“I insist that architecture should be full of metaphors,” Ting says. “We distilled the clouds into an easy-to-read formal symbol, turning them into doorways, logos, and even UIs, while the white of the clouds covers all the background spaces of the building to reinforce the symbolic meaning in the clouds and represent the Shanghai of the clouds. The orange color extracted from Huangyan’s most famous orange not only represents the Huangyan of Duoyun, but also becomes the main color in the foreground of the entrance book and coffee area. From white clouds to orange clouds, it is easy to build a story about five-color auspicious clouds.”

Clouds and gaze-directing white screens are common motifs in Wutopia Lab’s work, and in fact, in their previous bookstore designs as well. Check out their design for the ultramodern futuristic Zhongshu bookstore in Xi’an, China and their sci-fi inspired museum full of architectural models.

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Architects Olivier Ottevaere and Elsa Caetano took an “anti-facade” approach to “Casa Trevo” in Aroeira, Portugal. Designed as a retirement home for a couple relocating to the area, the residence rises from its scrubby open lot like a monument. Only a few pieces of glass can be glimpsed from the outside, and entrance points to the inner areas of the curving shape start to feel especially labyrinthine when you walk up only to see a void in a tall concrete wall.

What you can’t see from the ground are the residence’s primary draws: a rooftop swimming pool and multiple light-catching internal courtyards. These three circular outdoor patios are the axis points around which the layout of the rest of the home revolves. The architects conceived of the two-story house as a series of columns and voids stretching to the crowns of the adjacent pine trees, with the accessible rooftop offering exposure to the salty air blowing in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

“The nine-meter high patios also [serve] as main structural voids in the form of three hollowed and semi-open columns,” say the architects. “Together, they support a series of floor slabs ascending at different increments. They also hold a beam of water, serving as a lap pool on the rooftop and whose underbelly is pressing down on the spaces below.”

Inside the house, there’s no shortage of natural light, with various openings and skylights producing glowing shapes on the concrete floors, stairs, and white walls. Mimicking the topography of the slope outside, the home’s interiors can also be said to follow a much more straightforward logic than the strange and irregular exterior. This geometry becomes clear when viewed from above.

The firm adds that “’Casa Trevo’ exerts a peculiar sense of autonomy and monumentality, despite its small size. It is unified by concrete on the outside, subverting the perception of its scale, while serving as canvas for a dialogue between nature and architecture to be projected. It also exudes a solid impression of mass while revealing little of its inside. The house produces its own introverted world facing the sun, with private yet mutable spaces rendered intermittently by Lisbon’s brash light.”

A house like this isn’t for everyone, of course, and it’s fair to ask how well its multi-level layout and unforgiving surfaces will serve its retired owners in the later years of their lives. But it’s certainly unique, and who wouldn’t lust over that pool? Casa Trevo unquestionably has a bit of an experimental feel to it, and frankly, that’s something we could use more of in a world overflowing with residential architecture. The architects’ own past experiments with cast-in-place concrete and novel shapes in everything from architectural columns to viewing platforms have clearly informed the design, and they’re all interesting in their own right, too.

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Meaning “house in the earth,” the home’s name is extremely fitting, as the structure is organically camouflaged into a field of waving grasses and just a stone’s throw from the waters of Alqueva — Europe’s largest manmade lake.

The secret dwelling is the latest to be acquired by the Silent Living rental property group, a company dedicated to “the search for happiness and fulfillment” by providing patrons “a feeling of home.” According to its website, Casa na Terra fits instinctively within its carefully-curated portfolio as “the house honors very deeply its natural surroundings, finding shelter in the land itself.”

Designed by Lison-born architect Manuel Aires Mateus, the underground hideaway is an ArchDaily “Building of the Year 2020” award winner.

Aires Mateus is a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Lisbon. He and brother Francisco founded the firm Aires Mateus in 1988 and have gone on to create a prolific body of work, earning both national and international honors along the way.

For this construction, the firm notes that “faced with the boundless extents of the Alqueva lake, the house require[d] a center: a protected courtyard embracing the water.” Indeed, the only feature visible from the lake is this focal piece, with the carved-out dome perched neatly over the concealed interior. The courtyard also opens into separate kitchen and living spaces that connect to the three en suite bedrooms via zig-zagging hallways. Each bedroom in turn opens onto its own “patio,” a circular air well painted in brilliant white to reflect light from above.

“The house is located in an area where construction is not allowed,” adds Aires Mateus. “Our ecological responsibility was also to make the house disappear into the landscape.”

Most of the bunker-like structure was built using concrete, while the interior finishes and furniture continue the theme of blending in with the surrounding environment. Aires Mateus says this minimalist-yet-inviting vibe was inspired by the notion of silence, incorporating elements like natural wood paneling, sheets of floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and built-in cabinets that are barely discernable from the rest of the wall to elevate that enveloping sensation of quiet. Rattan sofas and warm wood chairs soften the bare concrete surroundings. Even the hand-tied leather straps that serve as kitchen door handles conform to the voiceless flow of the house.

“In this case, the interior design and the architecture is not something to be seen, only to be felt,” Manuel explains.

Casa na Terra rates begin at €350 in the off-season, with a minimum stay of three nights. In the high season of June to September, seven-night reservations are required, with rates starting at €600. Breakfast and daily cleaning are included, and regardless of group size, the home is exclusively reserved for each booking party.

Aires Mateus has worked with Silent Living before, having renovated the 18th-century Santa Clara 1728, a stunning six-room hotel in Lisbon’s seven hills district.

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“During this time of uncertainty, art and humor play an important role in keeping our spirits high and bright. Boston Seaport is an excellent canvas for this playful installation, and I am excited to create this fun experience for locals and visitors to enjoy daily,” says Burgerman about his new pieces, commissioned by WS Development.

Entitled “Looking Out For Each Other,” the lighthearted installation stars 2D and 3D googly-eyed characters placed strategically around the One Seaport courtyard. Visitors can spot some of Burgerman’s well-known doodles like the friendly pizza slice, a hot dog, “Birdie,” and the blue squiggly blob man. Other energetic personalities ready to inspire smiles include a sunny fried egg, a selfie-worthy rainbow, and an airborne heart all in vibrant, playful colors. There are even a couple of planters that now sport eyeballs and goofy smiles underneath a fringe of leafy hair. The artwork ranges in height from three to five feet and can be explored from every angle.

“The idea was to make the characters I see, doodle, and stick on photos on our environment real,” says Burgerman in an Instagram post. “I hope it brings some joy for all that get to (safely) visit it.”

Burgerman, originally from England, graduated with a degree in fine art from Nottingham Trent University in 2001. His quirky and youthful doodle designs have appeared in the form of murals, paintings, sculptures, clothing, and in his many books, including It’s Great to Create and Rhyme Crime. He’s even produced a 14-piece mini action figure toy collection called “The Heroes of Burgertown.” His work has also been added to collections at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and Science Museum.

The Boston Seaport has a rich history of inviting talented artists to contribute to their public spaces. Frank Stella was commissioned to make a giant mural reproduction of the “Damascas Gate (Stretch Variation I), 1970,” and Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel was asked to create several exclusive sculptures called “Air Sea Land,” all of which are now an iconic part of the landscape. Some of the creations have even been functional. For instance, “Starry Night,” a rainbow, programmable light spectacle by Lisa Greenfield and Daniel J. van Ackere, was originally intended to make the local road safer, but has since endured for its festive and imaginative qualities.

“Seaport’s public spaces are populated with a collection of beloved artworks. These pieces spark joy and inspiration for area residents, employees, and visitors. As the country turns to open-air spaces for leisure and for work, this outdoor art will serve more community members than ever before. Jon Burgerman’s installation is incredibly accessible and appealing to audiences of all ages. We couldn’t imagine a better exhibit for this time, or a better time for this exhibit,” says Debra Brodsky, Seaport Director of Marketing at WS Development.

“Looking Out For Each Other” will be on display until October 31st, 2020.

The post Boston Goes Googly-Eyed Over Quirky New Doodle Art first appeared on Dornob.

Mathematical patterns are all around us — they’re just not always immediately apparent. Take a closer look, and you’ll see that everything from the petals on a wildflower to the layout of bricks in a wall have their own mathematical underpinnings. In the case of architecture, geometric patterns can make all the difference in how a space looks and feels.

Most buildings have standardized rectilinear floor plans, but that’s not always the best approach. For this house in Osaka, lead architect Yo Shimada created a tessellated geometric pattern and then splayed it out slightly to make it just a little bit irregular, shaking it up and giving it a more dynamic feeling. The result produces a multitude of spaces within the two-story house, all set at angles from each other, with the spaces between them filled in with skylights or else left open to the air to form tiny courtyards.

The clients requested a home that would allow their family to enjoy each other’s company, but also have plenty of small areas for individual activities. The architects explain that they wanted to literally think outside the box for this project — or at least subvert the way a box is typically used. By slightly turning the corners where walls intersect, they say, our spatial awareness suddenly becomes complicated, making us feel like the limited space has greatly expanded.

Math helped the architects reach this conclusion. They started by experimenting with small-scale models, taking twelve 2.895-millimeter squares and connecting them to each other with a rhombus made of two triangles. Looking at the diagram of the floor plan, you can identify these twelve squares as rooms in the home — but by gradually turning each one, the architects also introduced six interstitial spaces to the overall layout. These rhombus areas were left undefined for free use.

The team adds: “The structure is made of wood, and each square plan is simply supported by pillars, resulting in a peaceful interior despite its unique form. The design of this house has a simplicity similar to ‘a cross inside a square’ plan used in old houses. Each part, while representing a different quality, is also compatible and expandable, and there is possibility for various circulations to emerge. This house is filled with autonomous spaces that can accommodate changes in lifestyle; it is a crystalline labyrinth where the spaces are repeatedly reflected into a prismatic figure.”

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