The Gemma Observatory is a bit of an enigma. It is a private astronomical observatory, perched high atop a remote mountain peak in New Hampshire, and presents itself as a twisting, folding, serpentine structure wrapped in decorative steel panels, designed to not only champion our place in the universe, but to marvel in what’s possible in architectural expression. Gemma was designed by Anmahian Winton Architects and bucks tradition in favor of something entirely unique that brings together earth and sky in a way few man-made structures are able to achieve. Continue reading →

Grape growing and winemaking are characterized by an intimate knowledge of the earth, the environment, and how to get the most out of the relationship between vineyard and land. The Quintessa Pavilions, the new tasting house and visitor’s center for Napa Valley’s Quintessa Estate Winery, embodies this concept in a design that is never far removed from the stunning, picturesque environment in which it resides. It was designed by San Francisco architecture firm Walker Warner Architects, and is an example of building design that choses the relationship to its site over the exploitation of high design. Continue reading →

At the center of this luxury home addition in a suburb of Sydney, AU, sits an old gum tree, representing perhaps the last bit of formal nostalgia on a site that is now occupied by a squeaky clean contemporary villa. The revision was helmed by b.e architecture, and uses this tree as a visual anchor to the past while taking the rest of the home screaming into the future of architectural design. Continue reading →

The Avocado Acres House by Lloyd Russell Architects is a modern homage to the case study houses of the 50s and 60s that put Los Angeles on the architectural map. It is defined by a long rectangular interior and a single shed roof, made visually interesting by a large u-shaped void strategically removed from this primary form. The home is programmatically simple, and relies on a richness of light, space, and materiality to produce a worthy contemporary take on the early modern classics. Continue reading →

Worship spaces represent a very sacred genre of architecture. The designer is tasked with not only creating an aesthetically and acoustically beautiful object, but there must be something about the resulting spaces that is somehow elevated above human cognition. This is no easy task, but one handled with an expert sense of solemn isolation in the Waterside Buddhist Shrine. ARCHSTUDIO designed the structure to exemplify the tenets of Buddhist worship, focusing primarily on the unspoken connection between man and nature. Continue reading →

Stuck firmly within the urban fabric of bustling Montreal is this contemporary work from Architecture Microclimat. It challenges the traditional residential street front that is mostly comprised of gabled roofs, cracking lap siding and once tidy picket fences. There’s nothing conventional about the 1st Avenue Residence, as it’s monolithic geometric facades and deep set insertions are poised to reinvent the cityscape and infuse modern inspiration into the directly surrounding areas. Continue reading →

With real estate prices on the rise in most major metropolitan areas around the world, developers, architects, and designers are teaming up to think up new and interesting ways to promote increased density. The Double Duplex by Batay-Csorba Architects is one such project, investigating a more appropriate allocation of valuable land and making an emphatic architectural statement in the process. Continue reading →

Set against a frosty backdrop in the rural hills of southern Germany is the E20 House, a soft and serene getaway that expresses the cold, harsh, yet alarmingly comfortable setting with which it resides. Designed by Steimle Architekten, the home is composed primarily of a board formed concrete shell that facets and wraps its way around a geometrically impure footprint. It exemplifies everything it means to be cozy by protecting the interiors from the elements without removing the sense of being inherently connected to place. Continue reading →

Maynard Architects has made it their mission to reinvent the suburban landscape with architecture that matters not only in form and aesthetic, but in sophisticated understanding of place. This multi-generational home is an example of how to enhance a traditionally boring streetscape by poking fun at the rather thoughtless approach most take towards mass produced residential architecture. It has character, flair, and an unfettered desire to be like nothing you’ve ever seen. All this theater is wrapped around a beautiful house that simply makes sense in the ways that really matter: form and function. Continue reading →

Sometimes a design comes along so unique in concept and so exact in execution it elevates itself far above the common reaches of good architecture. The Residential Building with 15 units by Metaform Architects is a prime example of this. It twists the well-established multi-family building typology to conform to unusual site conditions and an unparalleled rigor of interior design. Those two primary driving forces result in a geometrically pure, aesthetically awe-inspiring work of architecture that serves both the vastness of urban fabric, and the intimacy of everyday home life. Continue reading →