Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
American firm Handel Architects have completed a New York hotel with porthole windows that give it an uncanny resemblance to children’s game Connect Four. Comprising one seven-storey block adjoined to another that is twelve storeys high, the Dream Downtown Hotel occupies a renovated former annex of the National Maritime Union of America. Overlapping layers of perforated metal clad the smaller of the … Read more
Twin Houses by William O’Brian Jr
Award-winning American architect William O’Brien Jr. has recently completed these two single-storey holiday houses located in upstate New York. Situated on one plot of land, the minimalist, black stucco-clad dwellings have been realised as ‘a regular six-sided polygon and a regular four-sided polygon’ respectively yet are composed from the same five forms — ‘each are made up of … Read more
Stereoscopic House by Pencil Office
With sustainability high on the agenda, a Singapore-based practice Pencil Office have recently completed this detached, weekend house located on Singapore’s popular resort island of Sentosa. Overlooking the ocean, the Stereoscopic House incorporates a number of environment-friendly solutions such as; low-E glazing, solar hot-water heating, extensive cross ventilation, rain harvesting systems, and evaporative cooling. Personally I’m gasping for air over the … Read more
Wood Pallet Facade by Stephane Malka
French architect Stephane Malka has designed a vision of architectural flux brought to life through the pragmatic re-appropriation of wooden shipping pallets. For a recently completed study for a student residence in Paris, Malka has envisioned a building sheathed in a skin composed of modular wooden pallets. According to Domus, Malka’s proposed façade is a lattice of wooden … Read more
Architectonic Furniture by Ted Lott
Artist/woodworker Ted Lott crafts works that play on the notion of Architectonic Furniture - a somewhat populace term used to describe high-end fixtures and wares–usually designed by architects–whose very construction in some way mirrors or imbibes the aesthetic qualities of the space in which they sit. With great surgical skill, Lott sutures a scaled wood-frame house to a chair … Read more
Hôtel Americano in New York
Recently opened Hôtel Americano in New York, is mexican boutique hotel company Grupo Habita’s 11th venture in 11 years. The stunning building with it’s spectacular metal clad facade is designed by New York based mexican architect Enrique Norten and the interiors are designed by MCH (known for their design of concept shop Colette in Paris). The … Read more
Origami Office Facade by Manuelle Gautrand
Just steps away from Paris’ famed Arc de Triomphe is the Origami office, whose façade is modeled after the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. ‘The unusual location of the site led us to design a project that would embrace and take advantage of the view and immerse into the natural light,” explains architect Manuelle Gautrand. “An … Read more
Seljord Lake Watchtower by Rintala Eggertsoon
The municipality of Seljord commissioned the Oslo-based firm Rintala Eggertsoon to design a series lookout points around the lake for visitors and locals to experience the water in new ways. The project consisted of two parts to install a few small lookout points at the mid- and southeast sections of the lake, and then to install … Read more
Dune House by Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects And Mole Architects
The third completed house in Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture series has a faceted black upper storey that sits on top of the glass-walled ground floor like a big hat. Located on the seafront in Suffolk, England, the two-storey Dune House by Norwegian architects Jarmund/Vigsnæs has an open-plan ground floor that is entirely surrounded by clear glass. The zigzagging mansard roof … Read more
Taichung Infobox by Stan Allen
New York architect Stan Allen constructed this pavilion of bamboo scaffolding at a former airport in Taichung, Taiwan. The temporary Infobox structure displays masterplan proposals by the architect to redevelop the 240-hectare site. Drawings, models and projected animations are displayed on the ground floor of the pavilion, while a first-floor balcony offers a view of the progressing construction. The … Read more
