After some conversations with the clients, we scheduled the site visit. On the way there, after a paved road we got to a small steep dirt road, where we found a clearing in the vegetation, in the shape of a shell, there was the plateau where we were to embed the design. With 1470 meters of altitude above sea level, the site is 600 meters higher than the paved road. It´s may sound only like a curiosity, but it was crucial data that determined the approach we had to take on the construction.
Two volumes offset from each other define the configuration and dynamics of this typical patio house, containing part of the existing vegetation, to which we include a natural water space, generating a new microclimate. Both volumes assembled from their structure of concrete walls and wooden facades are connected through a pergola that filters the light from the patio. The long sides extend towards the sea and the mountains, allowing an unlimited dialogue with the territory on all its ventilated faces.
For the municipality of Aigle (Switzerland), we have designed three temporary pavilions on the town’s central square, the Place du Marché. This square will undergo a transformation during the next years, to become greener, pedestrian-friendly, and prominent for the city.
Abstract. The pavilion features the waters of Brazil - its rivers and mangroves, the birthplace of the fertility of life, a natural inheritance that underlies all discourse about sustainability on the planet. With its tensile steel structure and lightweight white fabric, the pavilion is a fabric onto which videos are projected, creating an immersive atmosphere of variable images, sounds, aromas, and temperatures, over an area of undulating, shallow water through which the pavilion’s visitors may walk. It is a place of interaction, of an arresting scenic character. It is a stage for the visualization of nature and culture focused both on preservation and on a future made sustainable through technology.
Valle San Nicolás is a development on the outskirts of Valle de Bravo in the State of Mexico. It offers a privileged site for the new 370-hectare residential development, where the urban layout and every architectural element are designed in harmony with nature and with the aim of protecting the existing landscape.
The Santa Monica Greenhouse is the third greenhouse designed in collaboration with the Cactus Store in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to the Bergamont Station train stop, it is situated within a large industrial complex being converted to a retail and office district.
An old country house subdivided into 2 plots and located in the heart of Ringuelet with the particularity of being 1.50 meters above the level of the sidewalk is the setting where this house is located.
The visitor center at Skamlingsbanken in Kolding is an architectural portal to the glacial landscape and its history of democratic events. The center is designed as a natural and integrated part of the undulating landscape and from the overall design to the small details, visitors will experience an architecture that finds its origin in Skamlingsbanken's unique nature and history.
We were presented with a commission for a single-family home in the Traslasierra area in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. A very particular place with pleasant views, steep topography, and a fair degree of urban isolation, where getting there requires taking some precautions and the notion of neighbor is not present. The value of the site is nature, which has the leading role as soon as the paved road is abandoned. The work becomes present between the winding of the road, the mountain topography, and the vegetation. And as these factors progressively allow it, it begins to be discovered.
The project brief called for the addition of a gymnasium pavilion to the existing context of a large family estate in Constantia. The architects have been involved in the master planning and various buildings on the estate, and the aim was to reduce the impact of a new structure on the well-established gardens, informing the decision to construct the gym pavilion onto the existing concrete slab roof of an older guest cottage and storage area.
The three-acre site, located in the Eastern Townships, is roughly 100 kilometers southeast of Montreal. Greatly valued by city dwellers for its natural beauty and relative proximity to urban life, the area has now become a choice spot for those willing and able to work from home. The clients, a professional couple, had long cherished the dream of building themselves a home in the heart of nature.
At the Breezeway House, refuge and prospect can be found in the garden between the pine trees and the figs. It offers a joyous and engaging destination for holidays by the beach, where shelter, shade and connection to the landscape are prioritised. Situated on a complicated subdivided block with trapezoidal boundaries, cross easements and significant cross-fall, the linear building form is stretched along the southern boundary allowing a series of gardens to buffer neighbouring buildings as well as moderate visibility of the house from the street.
This family house is located at the edge of a suburb in the Baix Emporda, Catalonia, on a steep hill overlooking a forested valley.
Shaoxing is located in the south of the Yangtze River, known as Jiangnan, where one can get lost in the crossing alleys, bridges, canal network, and idyllic scenes appreciating its simplicity and leisure.
Located at the entrance of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, we designed a “platform” to house student activity. To maintain a clear vista of the clocktower, a prominent landmark for the campus, most of the building sits underground. Above ground, the building takes on a lush mound-like form, seamlessly integrating with the surrounding landscape.
In this episode of “Behind the Scenes”, where we showcase the work of visionary photographers and ask about their experiences beyond what is seen by the public, we present Pablo Casals Aguirre, an architect, professor, photographer, and filmmaker based in Santiago, Chile. Here, he shares his methodology, which he developed with references to cinema, and highlights his intentions of translating the best architectural works into imagery - be it still or in movement.
Project History - The project is a public call for the Construction of a school with a sustainable development approach by a non-governmental organization called Iran-e- Man, which has been working in the field of school construction for several years and on the other hand, the request of the people and youth of Seyedbar-Jadgal village (100 km from Chabahar) from this institution to build a school in their village. As a result, the architectural design team and project facilitators voluntarily began designing and supervising the project construction process. Initially, the team carried out architectural and social studies in the village and the region for several months. In a participatory way, the needs and shortcomings, potentials, and capacities of villages and indigenous peoples were identified, themed, and prioritized.
La Pradería is located in the rural territory of Babahoyo City with a population of approximately 17,985 inhabitants, where the absence of sports facilities is not enough; its infrastructure barely covers basic needs and complementary spaces are almost never provided. It is important to explore how private entities can promote the creation of spaces that link and reinterpret local architecture with sport activities.