The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded its 2024 International Prize to Modulus Matrix, an 85-unit social housing development in Cornellà, near Barcelona. Designed by Peris + Toral Arquitectes, the six-story timber-framed building is a notable example of innovative social housing design. Its modular structure, based on a 3.6m x 3.6m grid inspired by traditional Japanese homes, creates a flexible and adaptable living space. The design prioritizes cross-ventilation, dual orientation, and a central communal courtyard, fostering social interaction and community building.
Timber Apartments: The Latest Architecture and News
Le Berlier, the 50-Meter-Tall Timber Tower Designed by Moreau Kusunoki, Opens in Paris, France
In Paris’ thirteenth arrondissement, the architecture office Moreau Kusunoki has completed Le Berlier, a 50-meter-tall timber tower housing residential units along with various other amenities. Situated at the intersection of multiple urban flows, networks, and scales, the project aims to find the middle ground between innovation, monumentality, and domesticity. The new residential center expresses its structural system through the grid of the façade, rendered in charred and pre-weathered wood.
HA-HA Designs Modular-Timber System to Create Affordable Housing in Rotterdam
HA-HA, in partnership with BIK Bouw and Wooncompas Housing, will develop four social housing blocks for the community of Ridderkerk, near Rotterdam, Netherlands. The project uses materials from the existing social housing estate, built in the 1950s, and employs an innovative modular-timber system to create sustainable human-centered housing. The old buildings are planned to be disassembled and their components reused and integrated into the new development, which will increase the number of affordable units by 13%.
Defining Spaces with Wood: Joinery in Brazilian Apartments
Wood in architecture, when properly managed, is often associated with sustainability but also with a sense of comfort and coziness. Well-designed joinery can provide versatility and uniqueness to interior design, among so many other benefits.
MER Apartment / Jacobsen Arquitetura
-
Architects: Jacobsen Arquitetura
- Area: 800 m²
- Year: 2019
Family Lar Apartment / Paulo Moreira Architectures
-
Architects: Paulo Moreira Architectures
- Area: 120 m²
- Year: 2020
Loft Chartier / Studio Colnaghi Arquitetura
-
Architects: Studio Colnaghi Arquitetura
- Area: 84 m²
- Year: 2020
IMO Apartment / Flipê Arquitetura
MF Apartment / Firma Arquitetura + Bruno Kim Arquitetura
-
Architects: Bruno Kim Arquitetura, Firma Arquitetura
- Area: 150 m²
- Year: 2019
-
Manufacturers: Air-Conditioning, Carpet, Civil work, Countertops, Fixtures, +8