This German house in the small city of Ludwigsburg offers a distinct proposition. House in Process, a residence for a family of four, is the redesign of an existing 1961 property. Yet what is different about this structure is that the architects, Stuttgart-based SOMAA Architektur & Innenarchitektur, worked with the owners to continuously develop the home between 2013 and 2026, eventually bringing it to its current form.

Explore the German House in Process by SOMAA

The aim was not to blindly 'replace the 1961 structure, but reread it', the architects explain. Their response focuses on wrapping the structure in a dark, calming envelope – a ventilated skin made of charred timber, following Japanese principles. The team adds that this 'surface follows the logic of yakisugi: fire is understood not as destruction, but as protection, depth and the ability to age'.

Gold-anodised window reveals and a brass front door stand out elegantly from this blackened exterior.

The property contains the main home and an additional independent apartment. The outside's bolder colours give way to light tones indoors, with lots of naturally coloured wood and refurbished existing surface fabric, such as white plaster walls and parquet flooring.

Overall, functionality rules, as rooms and operations were cut out and redefined around the family's daily life and needs.

The need to completely replace the ageing house's roof led to an opportunity – to work on a loft extension, which the architects crafted wrapped entirely in timber in a manner that proves warm and inviting, but also refreshingly minimalist. The team took its cues from studio founder Hadi A Tandawardaja's saying: 'Reduction is not renunciation, but the conscious focus on what truly matters.'

To ensure the German house is up to contemporary sustainability standards and the country's requirements for new buildings, the architects did a full energy assessment and retrofit during the redesign, too. The results led them to add wood-fibre insulation, an insulated pitched roof, triple glazing, an air-to-water heat pump and an in-roof photovoltaic system to support passive temperature control strategies and operational energy needs.

The property's outdoor areas were given just as much love as the interior, with the garden and decks carefully curated to bring in a welcome touch of green space to the family's everyday life. The later addition of a natural pool completes the constellation of al fresco living areas that become an integral part of the home's functions when the weather allows.

Importantly, this project was not a 'linear renovation story,' the architects hasten to point out. The close relationship the team nurtured with the clients and the luxury of time permitted them all to craft a different, slow type of architecture, which delved into not only the family's current needs, but also their future ones – building flexibility into the plan, too.

'The project shows that architecture does not only emerge through the design of a new object, but through the precise continuation of what is already there. A house can grow over years without becoming arbitrary. It can absorb layers without losing its legibility. And in the end, it can appear not as an addition, but as a house that has found its own way,' the architects conclude.

somaa.de

M Residence is an eye-catching sight. This Greek island home looks almost alien from the air: geometric and mysterious, its upper storey sits high on a cliffside, while its base is nestled low into the ground. From above, its pizza-box shape features a series of cut-outs, reminiscent of eroded rocks on the beach that slowly emerge as the tide goes out. The project is the work of Mold Architects, a dynamic, female-founded, Athens-based practice.

Discover M Residence, a new Greek island home

The residence is located in Lia, Serifos, a small island situated between Kithnos and Sifnos – and it isn't the first time the architecture firm has worked on the island. M Residence was actually first designed in 2011, becoming one of the firm’s very first projects. It wasn't built at the time, but now, a decade later, the new owners have decided to move forward with the scheme.

‘When the client expressed an interest in building it more than a decade later, I was thrilled,’ says Iliana Kerestetzi, founder of Mold Architects, ‘I still loved the idea, but opening that folder also meant confronting an earlier version of ourselves. The challenge was to look at the work critically while committing to its future. Our thinking had changed, and a design that had remained on paper was about to become someone’s home. That gave every decision a different weight. What still felt essential? What needed to evolve?’

Although the original idea held its strength, Kerestetzi explained that they began to see new possibilities with it, telling Wallpaper*: ‘The rooms opened more generously onto the courtyards, the materials became warmer and the details quieter. The house took shape through that exchange between our earlier intentions, our present perspective and the people who would inhabit it.’

This Greek island home's volume is compact and monolithic, inspired by local monasteries. However, internally, the building features smooth curves and rejects harsh angles, allowing the visitor to transition between each room and courtyard fluidly.

‘We combined this with two other local architectural languages: the crisp, cubic rooms of the villages and the softer contours of rural buildings and dry-stone walls. Within a square outline, rooms turn gently towards different views, while curved walls connect them and draw out a sequence of seven courtyards,’ notes the architect.

When the architects focused on revising the original plan, they decided to simplify and soften it. Interior spaces were opened up towards the courtyards, creating a more protected exterior. As a result, the residence feels at once both open and entirely sheltered, with this contrast forming the conceptual heart of the project.

Perhaps the most intriguing change was how the building sits, or in this case, doesn’t sit, on the ground. The entire volume is raised on a plinth, which in turn creates a shadow line that makes it look like it is hovering. A swimming pool was also introduced, positioned outside the main volume in a geometric placement gesture.

One thing that Kerestetzi wants visitors to feel is at ease, saying: ‘A room opens into a garden, a courtyard offers shelter, a shaded corner invites a pause. The warmth of the coloured plaster and the closeness of the planting make these spaces feel intimate. We hope people move through them intuitively, finding the spot that feels right for a particular moment.’

However, she also notes that part of the intention was to allow room for the home's inhabitants to add to its character and make it their own. She explains: 'The residents have already hung a piece of white fabric beneath one of the roof openings. It filters the light and moves gently, bringing a softness we hadn’t designed.’

Her favourite aspect is that the house reveals multiple facets and identities over time; the same spot easily evokes an entirely different vibe depending on light and seasons. She concludes: ‘A detail that recedes in the morning can become the most compelling thing in the afternoon.’

moldarchitects.com

A reimagining and wholesale refurbishment of a village house built at the turn of the century, this residence by architects Anna and Eugeni Bach expands the original structure with a series of geometric additions and insertions. The result remains in keeping with the sober restraint of this small, upscale village near Girona, in Spain’s north-eastern corner, whilst adding a layer of materiality and functionalism that better serves the owners.

Explore this contemporary village house in Spain

The House in Fonolleres occupies a prominent site on the edge of the village, bounded on three sides by roads with a south-facing garden. This part of the house underwent the largest alterations, with a new full-width extension and veranda, above which is a large terrace. Another extension was made on the front façade to create a more generous entrance and an internal garage that was better suited to the size of modern cars.

Additional smaller interventions take the shape of the five bespoke circular canopies on the terrace, a new circular pergola covering the outdoor kitchen table and a triangular notch that cuts into the floorplan at master bedroom level to create what the architects call a ‘studiolo’ (an Italian Renaissance term for a compact study room). Tucked in behind the bedhead and flanked by a bookcase that spans two storeys, this niche is just one of idiosyncratic design touches that abound throughout the house.

The Barcelona-based architects worked alongside their colleagues Roger Molas and Nuria Gómez on a project that feels like it has evolved over time, much like many of the other houses in the village. Each of the new additions appears to stand alone as a discrete object, thanks in part to its formal, geometric design, with a unifying palette of natural materials.

Many of the additions are guided by the desire to expand the range of ‘shade and shelter’ available to the occupants, making the house more liveable all year round. Plaster, timber and ceramic finishes have been carefully chosen to present a warm, common language and earthy palette.

Shade is carefully placed according to function; planting on the circular pergola will eventually screen the breakfast table from the morning summer sun, while the built-in barbeque is shaded at midday.

Other quirky details reveal themselves through familiarity, from the hidden studiolo to the shallow end of the pool shaded by the new covered seating area. Throughout the 350 sq m house the rooms are modestly scaled, kept anchored by straightforward materials and meticulously crafted details, from the precision of the roof beams to the notched stone anchors for the timber columns.

AnnaEugeniBach.com, @eugenibach, @anna_k_bach

A century-old Atlanta warehouse long home to a building supplies manufacturer is now a factory for art called Loop, thanks to a nimble renovation from architectural designer Jennifer Bonner and her practice MALL.

Georgia Tech purchased the property in 2018 from Randall Brothers, a building supplies company in Atlanta on the site since 1885. The seven-acre plot is slated to hold Georgia Tech’s new Creative Quarter, with academic buildings, student housing and even a hotel to come. Most buildings on the site were demolished. The historic warehouse that houses Loop was happily retained, now home to this event, exhibition and studio space operated by local arts organisation Goat Farm.

The project was rooted in felicitous chance. Bonner, who is based in Portland, Oregon, but formerly taught at Georgia Tech and has exhibited with Goat Farm, ran into Mark Dinatale, Goat Farm’s managing director on the site. She explains, 'Mark and I saw each other there and I said "we have to work together on this."'

Goat Farm operates nearly 200 artists’ rental studios at five locations throughout Atlanta. 'The revenue from studio rentals actually goes to support the arts programming. We can use it to subsidise harder-to-fund art forms and more experimental forms of art,' Dinatale explains. Goat Farm has worked with Georgia Tech in the past, and is collaborating on a three-year activation of the warehouse.

The building was in generally good condition. The design team made repairs to the roof and installed new HVAC, plumbing, windows and doors. A lingering layer of sawdust from its prior life was cleared out.

A temporary stay required a light touch, one successfully executed thanks to Bonner’s scheme. The structure provided easy guidance as to where to locate 17 artists’ studios, within the column grid along its two sides, while retaining the central volume for flexible use, including exhibitions, installations and performances.

To accommodate such a variety of uses, Bonner and her team relied on a literal loop, a translucent curtain composed of metallic flame-retardant polyester fabric which can be shifted or removed. 'Basically the curtain became a way to spatially close things off or divide them,' Bonner says.

Forty custom-fabricated planter carts, meanwhile, provide a cheap and easy source of ornament and spatial organisation. 'They can be recombined in terms of shapes and they can be all clustered together,' Bonner adds.

Lighting is another source of verve, consisting largely of LED strips. Bonner, working with lighting designer Pablo Gnecco of New York-based firm Studio Studio, placed the lights vertically on interior columns and horizontally on the building's front facade in a glowing band. '[It's] stretched the whole length of the facade, like Dan Flavin on steroids,' Bonner says.

The lighting design involves a range of shades from pink to purple to green, which can be fixed or pulsate.

The overall aim of Loop, as Dinatale explains, is to achieve 'an experimental space,' that grants artists access to space and technology. So far, Loop has provided a space for exhibitions and events, as well as performances by Hyojin Kwon and Frank Vigroux; dance companies; AI art; video game art; and even Georgia Tech’s Laptop orchestra.

Allie Bashuk, Goat Farm’s creative and design director, notes Loop's proven an ideal location for evening performances, with no residences around. Their aim has been to provide a strong platform for offbeat art. 'We try to elevate all these projects by giving them proper lighting and visual cues,' Bashuk says.

Bonner held an exhibition on roof designs at Goat Farm in 2014 titled Domestic Hats. This time, she's returned to work under a hat of her own devising – and an overdue accomplishment, she notes: Loop is the 'first building on the Georgia Tech campus designed by a female-led practice.'

Architect Carl Maston completed this exemplary Ventura Beach house in 1984 for a former actress and her partner. The Susman house sits above the shore in the heart of California's surf culture, looking back at the grand sweep of the bay with its Channel Islands beyond.

Step inside this Ventura Beach house, now on the market

The work of Maston (1915-1992) epitomises the aesthetic and spirit of midcentury California; his own house, completed in 1947, was subsequently owned by Ryan Murphy and then Dakota Johnson, and other local luminaries, including Ray Kappe, worked in his studio.

With Maston’s star riding high, this is a rare opportunity to acquire a late period work that embodies all of his architectural devices, set in an unbeatable location. Back in 1985, the house was extensively photographed by Julius Shulman, adding another layer of historical lustre to an already impressive project.

This is the Susman House’s first time on the open market. The original owner, Tracy ‘Babs’ Susman, acted and modelled before studying town planning and working in local politics and environmental planning, with the occasional foray into film production.

The house was built on a plot once owned by her sister and brother-in-law, and her brief to Carl Maston was to keep the spirit of the traditional Californian cabin alive in a contemporary structure.

Maston went to town. The Susman House was one of over 40 he completed in the area during his career, but probably most dramatically sited of all of them. Pairing traditional cedar siding on the interior and exterior walls along with exposed brick flooring and fireplaces, Maston integrated large areas of glass for lightness along with hefty concrete foundations to anchor the structure into the coastline.

From the roadside, the 2,640 sq ft house is nestled between mature trees and only hints at the views and space within. A large sitting room adjoins a kitchen with bay views from the sink, with sliding glass doors that open out onto a spectacular terrace with 240 degrees of Pacific views.

It’s a spot that has long been favoured by surfers, including one of the sport’s pioneers, Mary Monks, who became closely associated with nearby Mondo’s Cove in the late 1950s.

Upstairs, there are three main bedrooms and a separate sitting area with balcony. All of these incorporate the slope of the roof to achieve high ceilings, walls of glass and Pacific views. A central atrium and landing is arranged around the brick chimney with internal glazed partitions bringing light down into the heart of the house.

The house retains the modesty and feel of the original Faria Beach Colony, one of the classic Californian coastal retreats that began as a stretch of summer cabins in the years before WWII. As the original Shulman photographs attest, very little has changed in the four decades since the house was completed.

The family eschewed any extensive remodelling, keeping Maston’s architectural pristine and original as a testament to the fundamental rightness of the original design.

The Susman House is for sale through Shannon and Chuck Menzel at The Menzel Group priced at $5,100,000. More details at MondosCove.com

On a waterfront site in Delfinópolis in Brazil’s Minas Gerais, this expansive contemporary house uses the luxury of space to create a refined architectural experience. Designed by Filipi and Mariana Oliveira and their team at MF+Arquitetos, Casa Celeiro (Barn House) covers some 1,108 m², arranged as two forms set at right angles in the landscape on the shores of a large reservoir.

The simple lines of the upper volume is what gives the house its name. A long, single-storey pitched timber roof structure that runs north-south, it is flanked on all sides by covered verandas. Formed from glue laminated timber frames, the roof structure oversails the built-up area to create the verandas, providing solar shading as well as access to a steel-clad inner core of five ensuite bedrooms, culminating in a principal between suite at the northern end, complete with two walls of sliding glazing that can be opened up to the landscape beyond.

In the centre of the barn element is a grand living room, the only point at which the internal spaces open up to the full height of the pitched roof. The verandas are used for circulation and incorporate glazed and louvred panels that be swung open as required. On the other side is a small kitchen, gym and utility spaces, as well as a generously sized covered terrace.

This space also houses a grand staircase that descends towards the water to the east, leading to the lower level. Half sunk into the hillside, this is the location of the main kitchen and living room, with three sliding glass walls opening onto a pool terrace with the reservoir beyond. The house is therefore divided between public and private, with each component having its own relationship with the landscape and horizon.

On the lower, more public, level, there’s very little perception of the accommodation structure above it. Likewise, when looking out east across the reservoir, the flat concrete roof of the semi-sunken lower level is planted to make it all but invisible. Aside from the internal staircase, one key physical element unites the two components, a cascade of rough-hewn steps that leads down from the upper terrace into the heart of lower pavilion, flanked by mature planting.

‘Rather than an abrupt connection, this route proposes a gradual transition between architecture and nature,’ the architects explain, ‘For a few moments, the building partially disappears, and movement is guided instead by stone, topography, and vegetation.’ It’s a rare of incursion for nature in a house that prides itself of simplicity and grand structural gestures. The lower level also a sauna and changing areas for the outdoor pool, alongside storage and a wine cellar in the more sheltered, cooler subterranean section.

The architects point to the house’s inherent contradictions – barn-like in form but not in execution, with many layers gradually revealed from within. The monolithic wooden form gives way to multiple materials and textures, as steel, concrete, stone, vegetation, light, and water are brought together under one roof.

‘Casa Celeiro … is simultaneously shelter and openness, form and void, permanence and transformation. The memory of the barn remains present in its most elemental form, while the architecture reinterprets it in response to a different way of living - one that is more open to the climate, to movement, and to the constant presence of the landscape.’

MFmaisArquitetos.com, @MFarquitetos

A Delhi apartment, set high up in one of the Indian capital's tall buildings, has been completely rethought by local practice Mold Design Studio. The project, titled Brickloom, spans an impressive 4,500 sq ft; its expansive interiors, long vistas and a generous outdoor area that evokes the feeling of a rural retreat make this a distinctive urban home in the sky

Enter Brickloom, a new Delhi apartment by Mold Design Studio

The family home is centred on a dramatic, double-height space at its heart. It contains the Delhi apartment's main circulation hub as well as its living spaces, connecting levels and ensuring a sense of spatial richness within. The property draws on a fairly raw, industrial character – exposed brickwork, metal detailing and crisp, minimalist surfaces abound.

At the same time, elements that add warmth and transform what could have been a colder, more utilitarian space into a cosy family home were strategically added throughout. These include teak and live-edge timber features, brass fixtures and pendant lighting, cane and rattan detailing and hand-blocked textiles.

The home's furniture language follows the same approach, mixing soft bouclé forms, artisanal wood-and-cane craftsmanship, and pared-down industrial elements (for example, a Crittall-style glass partition that separates the home office from the rest of the house). The result feels cohesive, with bold colour accents in olive green, rust orange, and cobalt blue underlining nooks and niches.

The floating timber-and-steel staircase that connects the Delhi apartment's heart – its kitchen and dining areas – with the private rooms upstairs is also treated as a key design feature and centrepiece. An open balustrade on the upper level keeps the corridors flowing and the visual connections alive.

Stepping outside, the roof terrace is defined by its ochre-washed walls and arched cobalt-blue louvred shutters. Features such as cobbled flooring and the blue waters of a swimming pool nod to the palette of the Greek islands, underlining its intention to serve as an escape.

The design team explains: 'Designed for togetherness year-round, this terrace centres on a sun-washed pool for summer lounging and shifts into a fireplace-and-barbecue gathering spot come winter. By night, fairy lights warm the terracotta and blue tones into a magical glow - a space built to be lived in, not just admired.'

mold.net.in

Tadao Ando was once a professional boxer. Before becoming one of his generation’s most esteemed architects, he had a brief stint with the punching gloves, aged 17, while living in Osaka, Japan.

‘An architect holding a pencil and drawing, and a boxer wearing gloves and stepping into the ring, are of course engaged in entirely different professions and ways of life,' says Ando. ‘But to me, they are fundamentally the same in one respect: both are battles in which you must overcome your own fears and find the courage to move forward. A boxer endures gruelling training and relentless weight cutting, pouring everything into a single fight. In the end, all you can rely on is yourself. Boxing is a profoundly stoic and solitary sport. Yet it is precisely by pushing your body and mind to their limits that you discover strengths you never knew you had.’

Ando goes on to explain that architecture is very much the same; when a project comes with severe constraints on its programme or budget, it leaves little freedom in the design. But, he adds, ‘those very limitations force you to think deeply about what is truly necessary and what you should create. And somewhere in that process, a glimmer of light begins to emerge’.

It is safe to say that the 85-year-old has certainly lived. Now, he has his first memoir to be translated into English, Towards Light, which explores the stories behind his greatest buildings and other anecdotes along the way.

Towards Light by Tadao Ando

The term ‘starchitect’ seems rather reductive when referring to Ando. While his buildings have become cultural landmarks within Osaka and worldwide, they shouldn’t be reduced to his celebrity. Ando’s work is bold. He blends modernist design with Japanese tradition, and effortlessly plays with light, shadow, and nature.

His humble beginnings emphasise his resilience. Born in a working-class family living amongst the ruins of postwar Osaka, he could not afford a university education. He taught himself architecture at night from books, and founded a practice in a cheap rented room in 1969. Success didn’t happen overnight. His first built work was the single-family residence Tomishima House in 1973. Three years later, he had his first major critical breakthrough: Row House in Sumiyoshi (also known as Azuma House), completed in 1976 in Osaka, Japan.

Ando has gone on to be widely acclaimed, receiving the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 2002, and Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia in 2015. He received the Japanese Order of Culture in 2010. But the book isn't all architecture, he explains.

‘Although the book is meant to be an account of an architect's life, as I continued writing, I found myself wandering further and further away from architecture,’ Ando tells Wallpaper*. ‘Readers who pick it up expecting a discussion of architectural theory may be surprised by how much of the book ventures outside of architecture.’

Ando wanted to write as honestly as possible. However, the architect found his thoughts would wander from one subject to another. ‘In the end, I gave up trying to organise my life into a systematic narrative, whether by looking back chronologically or objectively explaining the circumstances behind particular events. Instead, I decided to write freely, following wherever my thoughts took me. That made the process of selection all the more difficult. From the vast accumulation of memories and experiences within me, deciding what to include and which moments to capture in words took some effort.’

Ando says he wants readers to come away thinking, ‘So, that's another way to live a life!’ He concludes, ‘And if, when they close the book, they are left with even a small sense of hope – a feeling that perhaps they, too, might try something new or find the courage to take a step forward – I would be happy.’

Towards Light: A Philosophy of Life and Architecture by Tadao Ando, translated by Polly Barton, is £25 and available to buy from Scribe Publications

Few architects have embraced the playful potential of the profession as much as the American James Wines. Born in 1932 and originally trained as a sculptor and graphic designer, Wines established Sculpture in the Environment (SITE) in New York in 1970. Described as an ‘environmental arts organisation’, SITE went on to shape some of the pre-eminent works of architectural postmodernism, the majority of which have long since been demolished and live on only as ideas, writings and images.

What Else Could It Mean? is a monograph that brings together some of this material, the surviving fragments of a fascinating career that has hopped between pop iconography and serious urbanism, oftentimes both at once. The book offers a deep dive into the designer’s sketchbooks, along with a host of archive imagery revisiting some of the best-known projects from the SITE portfolio.

Fittingly, many of these relate to the work undertaken for the now defunct catalogue store Best Products Company, Inc. Set up by Sydney and Frances Lewis in the late 1950s, Best Products was that rare retailer that managed to parlay the artistic eye of its founders into commercial success. One of the Lewises’ big moves was to employ SITE to shape nine of their big-box stores, deploying a very literal take on the building-as-billboard aesthetic by deconstructing, twisting, tilting and expanding the building envelopes to make them stand out amidst the dreariness of suburban sprawl.

The book includes many of these now iconic projects, from the apparently crumbling ‘Indeterminate Façade’ in Houston, to the ‘Notch’ in Sacramento, with a sliding, fragmented corner that opened up to provide the entrance. The only surviving Best store is the ‘Forest Building’ in Richmond, Virginia, now a church. With a stand of trees set behind a false façade, the building gave the impression of a long-abandoned structure.

Real life definitely caught up with the SITE style but never with the artistic flair and imagination that Wines brought to these superficially prosaic structures. The book includes over 400 images and sketches of the majority of SITE’s portfolio of around 100 completed works, which extended to pavilions, interiors and public art installations such as the Ghost Parking Lot in Hamden, Connecticut, a group of tarmac-swathed vehicles growing – or melting – out of the infrastructure. Wines also collaborated with the late Virgil Abloh on stores for Off-White.

Now in his 1990s, Wines continues to be an advocate for the environment and the handmade, viewing drawing as an essential tool for making human connections with spaces. Edited by architectural historian Phillip Denny, an editor as well as an educator at Harvard and Pratt Institute, the monograph chronicles a never-ending fascination with architecture's relationship to nature. The Best stores might have had all the publicity, but What Else Could It Mean? offers so much to those seeking out new ways of engaging with public space.

What Else Could It Mean? Drawings and writings by James Wines & SITE, edited by Phillip Denny, Skira, £ 50 / $ 65 / € 60, Skira-Arte.com, @Skira_Arte

Completed in 2019, the Wonderland project by Los Angeles architectural firm Mutuo transformed a single-family house into three interconnected homes. Nestled into the Laurel Canyon hillside, the project balances privacy and connection, and its intriguing look earned it the 2021 AIA California Residential Merit Award. One of the homes is now for sale, for $1.495m.

Step inside Wonderland

The two-bedroom house, which spans three levels, is a flexible residence that shares outdoor green spaces. Mutuo was inspired by Laurel Canyon's surrounding historic row houses and reinterpreted them through a contemporary lens.

Architectural details include Victorian scalloped shingles with contemporary board-formed concrete. Due to zoning requirements, the residence optimises outdoor space, with a front-facing exterior terrace and a rooftop observation deck making the most of the desirable location.

After admiring the surrounding San Gabriel Mountains and golden-flecked sunsets, the inside is just as soothing. The bedroom suite, with a walk-through closet and adjoining bathroom, is found on the main entry level, along with a guest bedroom with its own bathroom and a laundry area.

The undercarriage of the staircase is carved into the living room ceiling. The main open-tread staircase is highlighted by the skylight, which speckles light throughout the floors that lead up to the dining area, outdoor terrace, and open kitchen.

It is rare to find such a new construction that also feels like it's been plucked out of the 1950s; Mutuo’s Wonderland blurs contemporary and modernist design. Whether it's the communal garden or its distinct architectural presence, it is a home that cannot help but start a conversation.

Wonderland by Mutuo is on sale for $1,495,000. To enquire, visit moderncaliforniahouse.com

The dark form of this new Chilean house idyllically peeks out over green foliage that moves with the sea breeze in this clifftop location in Tunquén on the country's coast. The home, titled Casa Asomada and designed by local studio Whale! (a 2018 Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory participant), makes the most of its wooded site and the fresh, salty air it brings, offering long views of the Pacific Ocean.

Tour the new Chilean house, Casa Asomada by Whale!

The structure may appear small from a distance, set against the vastness of the blue waters beyond and the remote, sparsely built location of its site. Yet this is a generous vacation house occupying a comfortable 255 sq m. The home is made up of two main volumes, interlocking and forming a single shape that helps negotiate the steep terrain of the plot.

Through the main entrance, the first volume contains all the principal shared spaces – kitchen, living room and dining room. Off them is located a guest bedroom. These communal areas lead to a courtyard, enclosed and protected from the elements by concrete walls. It incorporates a barbecue and storage.

The second volume contains this Chilean house's private areas. Two bedrooms for the children are on the lower level, and a primary en suite bedroom for the parents is above. A shared bathroom is also nearby.

The seed of its design concept is the archetypal form of a snake – coiling and rising its head to look into the distance, the architects explain.

'The house is conceived through a single gesture that articulates two distinct ways of relating to the territory. On the one hand, it retreats into the landscape, using the rock as shelter and protection. On the other, it emerges to look beyond, seeking to grasp the depth of the horizon.'

'Despite its apparent complexity, the plan – an architectural synthesis of the site's changes in level and its regulatory boundaries – is softened by a continuous roof that gently envelops the entire gesture. In doing so, the project becomes a single, quiet body: one that retreats, emerges and cautiously raises its head to look beyond and confirm what lies ahead,' the architects conclude.

whale.cl

The sculptural, white volumes of this Nigerian beach house effortlessly nod to the white sands beyond, as it sits idyllically placed on the coastline of Ikaare Island, off the Lagos lagoon. The project, designed by architect, curator and past Wallpaper* Awards nominee for Best Private House 2023, Tosin Oshinowo, blends crisp modernity, local design language and a site-specific approach; welcome to OA House.

Explore a new Nigerian beach house by Tosin Oshinowo

The project is a private retreat, a four-bedroom Nigerian beach house, conceived specifically around its seaside setting. The entire home's orientation - from windows to the outdoor areas, including a generous swimming pool deck - is designed to look out towards the plot's clean vistas of the Atlantic Ocean.

The same goes for the house's heart, its living space, which opens up to the outdoors and was approached as an 'open, breezy pavilion,' the architect explains. A hot tub and outdoor seating areas all cleverly, slowly create a 'gradual transition from the house to the shoreline,' Toshinowo adds.

The architecture is 'deliberately restrained.' This brings a welcome freshness, as it sits across the minimalist landscape - white sands, green palms and blue sea. It also creates a pared-down, flexible and calming backdrop for living and relaxing for its residents.

This simplicity becomes a key feature, defined by simple, smooth, matte off-white walls, timber floors and an aqua-green pool. The region's bright sun and distinctive vegetation frame the volumes' presence on the beach.

The ground floor hosts the main living spaces, opening up towards the water views. Bedrooms are also located on this level, but placed towards the plot's rear (yet still facing the pool) for privacy and a more cocooning feeling, facing away from the vastness of the ocean.

Upstairs, more bedrooms feature their own private terraces, offering moments of contemplation as residents can take in the coastal landscape.

'This project is particularly special because its narrow site became an opportunity to create an engaging visual transition through the property. The house remains true to our minimalist aesthetic, with a calm, cohesive palette of subtle off-white tones across the floors, walls, and exterior ceilings, complementing the surrounding landscape and the aqua colour of the pool,' Oshinowo says.

'No two homes are ever the same when designed for private clients. Residential architecture lets us explore the extraordinary diversity of possibilities within the world’s most fundamental architectural typology, shaped by each client's individuality, lifestyle, and relationship with place.'

oshinowostudio.com

From south London’s Half Pint Press comes this compact monograph focusing on one of the area’s most distinctive buildings. Thirty-Six Views of Dawson’s Heights offers up a portrait of the towering housing complex, two blocks containing nearly 300 flats, built between 1964 and 1972.

The lead architect for Southwark Council was Kate Macintosh, aged just 28 when she started work on the project. The stepped brick façade and carefully articulated massing, not to mention the spectacular views from the flats, have long made Dawson’s Heights a prominent local landmark, visible from far and wide.

With its reference to Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, this Thirty-Six Views features photographs by Michael Jones and a text by John Gray, who writes the South London Landscape History series of zines (available from Rivertones). According to the publishers, the book was a pandemic project. ‘Something we noticed when taking our lockdown walks around our local area was that you seemed to be able to see Dawson’s Heights from everywhere, and it looked different from every angle. From that thought, the idea for this book grew.’

Like the Japanese artist’s different perspectives on the mountain, Thirty-Six Views of Dawson’s Heights shows off the building from a scattering of localities, demonstrating its constant presence. Throw in the richness and complexity of MacIntosh’s architecture, which frustrates a simple reading of a single building on a hill, and you have a book that’s perfect for the south Londoner in your life.

Thirty-Six Views of Dawson's Heights, Michael Jones and John Gray, £16, The Half Pint Press, HalfPintPress.Wordpress.com, @HalfPintPress_London

A new-build Melbourne house brings mystery and seclusion to a sleepy, suburban part of town - Malvern East. The home, titled Casa Piva and designed by B.E. Architecture, is an elegantly pared-down arrangement of volumes composed so as to reveal little to the outside world. Instead, a series of internal communal areas and open-air courtyards, inward-looking and invisible from the street, create a luxurious sequence of living spaces for the family of one of the architecture practice's directors.

Tour this new Melbourne house by B.E. Architecture

A discreet and almost austere street-facing façade of minimalist surfaces in white brick tells little of the richness unfolding beyond. The home was conceived as a 'cocoon' of daily life, the architects explain.

'It is an inward-looking building within its dense urban setting, taking many of its cues from the owners’ Italian heritage, reflected in its simplicity and carefully curated materials and details.'

Craft-rich construction and immaculate detailing elevate this concept further, ensuring this project is as much about the overarching idea as it is about its everyday experience in the smallest moment. This is helped by warm, inviting interiors created using a mix of brick, timber and travertine - materials that feel both earthy and tactile, and 'strangely reminiscent of an older time and place,' the architects add.

Meanwhile, bespoke joinery throughout brings an extra layer of texture and warmth - showcased especially in areas where full rooms are lined in antique oak, such as the study, the kitchen and the primary ensuite bedroom.

Entry via the large courtyard, through a purposefully compressed single arch, leads to the ground-level areas, where a selection of social spaces provide room for living, resting, cooking, dining and entertaining. Three bedrooms are located upstairs.

The architects conclude: 'As the home of architect and director Andrew Piva, Casa Piva presented a more introspective design process. The brief turned inward, considering how spaces could nourish and support his family’s rituals and ways of living. Architectural references spanning different places and periods are quietly reinterpreted, their presence deliberately subliminal and open to interpretation.'

bearchitecture.com

The Shanghai Grand Opera House opens this weekend, marking an important moment for the Chinese city, which now welcomes an important new cultural destination into its folds; and set in a linear arrangement along the Huangpu River, the new venue does not disappoint. The building was conceived to bring together state-of-the-art performance, sculptural architecture and a green, walkable public realm – and so it does, to a design by renowned Norwegian architecture studio Snøhetta.

Explore the new Shanghai Grand Opera House

The building sits on a spacious, clean plot, looking out towards the river and city, placed within a park that is free and open to all. Snøhetta, whose past landmark projects include the lauded Oslo Opera House and its innovative, accessible roof woven into the city's waterfront, pulled out all the stops to craft a building that embraces its surroundings in a similar way here. The structure ducks and twists, bowing to the city and touching the ground to invite visitors in and onto its roof, which extends out like a viewing platform or promenade.

Underneath, the roof curves, responding 'to the ebb and flow of the Huangpu River,' the architects explain, while unifying everything underneath - from restaurants and circulation to education spaces and auditoriums. 'The roof becomes a stage, an observation deck, and a gathering place accessible throughout the year, strengthening a sense of shared ownership. A spiralling staircase connects the ground and roof, framing views towards the river and skyline, turning movement itself into a defining part of the public experience,' they add.

Inside, the Opera House spans a generous, roughly 146 sq m surface, incorporating three auditoriums (for a total of 4,200 seats), designed to accommodate anything from traditional opera to classical music and more experimental and contemporary productions.

The building is predominantly white, kept clean and minimalist, glowing against the region's warm sun. Therefore, the bold red-accented volumes in the main lobby and circulation space playful 'pop', as the expansive facade glazing allows plenty of natural light in. These features perhaps nod to the deep red of traditional theatre boxes - but the volumes' arrangement was designed to follow modern acoustic principles in order to ensure the best possible environment for the performances and overall venue functionality.

Meanwhile, the three auditoriums were each designed to have their own character. The colour palette used in each one subtly changes, transitioning from darker to lighter tones (from bigger to smaller). This not only establishes a gentle hierarchy among them, but also highlights each venue's distinctive character.

Each of these stages - titled Harmony Hall, Soar Theatre and Open Stage - is fine-tuned for acoustics and other technical requirements. Beyond 21st-century performance mod-cons, though, they also provide a visual feast through their carefully calibrated tiered seating, built-in flexibility and emphasis on ensuring the audience feels as close to the live programme as possible.

The aim, the architects stress, is to approach performance architecture as 'an open typology' - a space that belongs to all and to the city, rather than something exclusive and reserved for expensive-ticket holders only. With the new Shanghai Grand Opera House, Snøhetta explain that they used learnings from past successes with works such as the Oslo Opera House, and translated them to the specific site and audience in the bustling Chinese port city.

The studio writes: 'Beyond its role as a venue, the Opera House creates a shared framework for artistic expression and civic life. Its stages support world-class performance, while its public spaces carry the experience of culture beyond the auditorium and into the everyday life of the city.'

snohetta.com

Jackson Hole Valley is home to some of America’s most spectacular houses, which in turn have their fill of a landscape that mixes majesty with privilege in equal measure. Thistle Creek House is the debut project from Assembly Archive, an architectural firm set up by the Rhode Island-based designer Evan Farley. Farley and his team bring a human-centric scale and crafted approach to this new house set amongst Wyoming’s epic vistas.

Set within a four-acre meadow, Thistle Creek House draws on the region’s longstanding agricultural traditions, such as the distinctive Teton Valley barns and cabins that were once scattered around the valley floor. Superficially, the new 3,800 sq ft house has a traditional silhouette – two intersecting gables, rotated off from a right angle so as to capture the best views.

The property’s dark silhouette is thanks to the vertical yakisugi cladding, the traditional Japanese material made by the process of charring cedar wood to make it fire, pest and weather resistant. Developed by Japan-based Nakamoto Forestry, the cladding is paired with dark metal roofing and window frames. The cladding variation is Nakamoto’s Suyaki finish, which retains a layer of soot for added texture.

The smaller of the two volumes contains a double garage and utility area on the ground floor and a self-contained studio guest suite above it. The main volume contains three more bedrooms, including the principal suite. Both volumes have galleried landings that look down on the entrance hall, a space carved out from the intersection of the two volumes.

The ground floor changes level with the terrain, with the entrance hallway providing access to the house’s two staircases. There’s also a private study area, set well apart from the kitchen and the living room. This grand space steps down from the rest of the house and is also separated from the kitchen by a chimney breast.

Large picture windows overlooking the meadows and mountains beyond. The palette here is warmer, including traditional lye-washed fir paired with white oak and plaster, with stone and brick flooring on the ground floor.

The overall effect of this focus on materiality and simple is form is to create a house that appears rooted in its location, with a modesty, warmth and durability that respects its surroundings.

Before he established Assembly Archive, Farley worked for Barkow Leibinger in Berlin, as well as working with Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Howeler + Yoon. He is also a Design Critic in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Assembly Archive, EvanFarley.com, @EvanFarley

Built in 1826 by Austrian architect Josef Kornhaüsel, this Viennese synagogue, formally titled Vienna City Temple (Wiener Stadttempel), welcomes around 12,000 visitors a year, hosts Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, plus regular services – it is a high-functioning community space. 'To work on such a remarkable gem of sacred architecture is a privilege,' says Eric-Emanuel Tschaikner, co-founder of KENH Architekten.

'When we saw it, the beauty of the historic building was there, but previous interventions were at odds with the original idea.' The synagogue had survived the 1938 Nazi pogroms, but until recently entry to the building remained through the side entrance. The external doors have now been restored, and internal openings reflect the design panelling features while remaining modern.

Step inside this restored Viennese synagogue

To the right of the entrance is an inviting vestibule/foyer, which had already been converted from shops in the 1980s. KENH Architekten has transformed this into a warm multifunctional space with seating, allowing people to gather and listen to prayers, which can last up to six hours. The wood panel colour is inspired by paintings of the Biedermeier period.

‘At that time, accents were frequently set in bold orange, tobacco yellow, or in pastel shades such as sky blue, powder pink, and pale lime green,’ says KENH Architekten co-founder Natalie Neubauer. ‘They were always combined with warm beige and white tones.’ The central and lateral storage features an elaborate system of concealed storage and transformable elements. 'Fold-out sales stands and other flexible features allow the space to adapt seamlessly between different modes of use,' KENH Architekten co-founder Kim Tien explains.

The main temple sanctuary features Roman-style columns that guide views up to the blue ceiling with six-pointed gold stars. This feature inspired a Lobmeyr-made crystal cup reinterpreted by the architecture practice during Vienna Design Week earlier this month.

The oval shape is influenced by Kornhaüsel’s theatre design background; great for performances, not ideal for unwanted background noise. KENH needed to tackle the acoustics as well as provide heating and cooling for the three floors. Designed by the architects, the curved seating, which maximises space, contributes to the solution. The preservation office was initially reluctant to approve the idea until an archival photo demonstrated the original design was curved. The upholstered seating reduces echo and features an integrated heating and cooling system, just like the walnut-clad walls. Members have since confirmed that they could hear and enjoy the entire service, even from the upper floors.

When the Bimah, a central platform from which the service is led, was further extended, the original Hungarian red limestone and Solnhofen limestone floor, typical of the period in which the building was constructed, was revealed. It has now been reinterpreted on the main level of the sanctuary.

Original natural stone slabs were also found in the forecourt and have been laid beneath the new fountain in what was an open courtyard. Above this, Kehn has integrated lights into the glazed roof covering. Rib panelling details found on the bottom of new and original doors appear here, too.

Piecing together 200 years of history, navigating the multiple interventions and working with the Federal Monuments Office and IKG (the official Jewish community organisation in Vienna) took approximately two years, while the works were completed in ten months, just in time for the Jewish high holidays this year.

'Despite the changes, the community still recognise their temple,' Neubauer says. Thoughtful, innovative details like milled inscriptions integrated into the walls, replacing traditional memorial plaques, mean the community will remain integral to the fabric of the building.

new.kenh.at

lobmeyr.at

In the small German town of Künzelsau, north-east of Stuttgart, a new pavilion by David Chipperfield Architects has opened. Here, you can find the painting Schwarze Flocken (2007), a large-scale work by German artist Anselm Kiefer, best known for his confronting paintings that capture post-war Germany. His pieces sit at the intersection of contemporary art and neo-expressionism.

Inside the Anselm Kiefer Pavilion

The pavilion stands within the sculpture garden of Museum Würth 2at the Carmen Würth Forum cultural centre, also designed and realised by David Chipperfield Architects, and matches the distinct architectural language of the existing buildings.

It comprises one monolithic volume with bush-hammered concrete walls, a sculpture in itself. Inside, the architecture firm worked with the artist to determine the proportions, openings, and colouring of the wall surfaces.

Kiefer’s large-scale work measures 11m in height and 7.10m in width; it is the largest by the artist in the Würth Collection and, due to its dimensions, has not previously been exhibited.

The painting's title, Schwarze Flocken (meaning Black Flakes), is borrowed from a poem by Romanian poet Paul Celan. He wrote this around July 1944 in Czernowitz (Chernivtsi, Ukraine), following his return from a forced labour camp. It was a response to the news of his parents’ fate during the Holocaust – his mother was shot, and his father died of typhus in a camp in Transnistria, in Moldova. Kiefer’s painting is one of reflection. And through abstraction, he visually captures the poem’s description of the harsh winter landscape and grief.

The building was designed in close collaboration with the artist and specifically tailored to the work. The room doesn’t have strict artificial climate control or lighting parameters. Instead, the architects optimised its three-layer wall construction – concrete, brickwork and clay plaster – to create natural climate control.

The overall result is building that creates a tranquil atmosphere, centred fully on the artwork on display.

davidchipperfield.com

This Bali villa was conceived around an important, overarching question: What happens when a home is designed strictly around daily nourishment and restoration? Titled Sora, this is the brainchild of locally based creative Andrew Swallow and his studio, Colvin Haven – the minds also behind a past, similarly thoughtful family home, Umah Tsuki.

Step inside Bali villa Sora by Colvin Haven

The two bedroom residence may be relatively compact, but what it lacks in scale it gains in immaculate detailing and construction, an orchestration in hand charred Shou Sugi Ban, local paras stone, and structural recycled Ulin hardwood.

Swallow's aim was to eliminate corridors for more purposeful and streamlined living that remains at all times connected meaningfully with the home's captivating, rich surrounding nature. His solution? To balance the home's arrangement around two central hearths of equal standing and importance in the house.

'Sora began with two things we kept hearing after Tsuki. People wanted that same feeling, only more intimate, and they wanted a more attainable way in. So the brief became subtraction: a two-bedroom home, edited down to only what a life needs, built around a kitchen where people gather and open to the garden. I wanted it to say that a home doesn't have to be large to be generous. The future of residential design isn't measured in square meters, but in how a home restores the people inside it,' Swallow says.

'Tsuki is a four-bedroom family home on a slope, and it already chose restraint over scale. Sora takes that further. It's the first home where smaller had to say more, and the first we built for a client. Tsuki was our own family's home, so Sora tested whether our language could belong to someone else. It can, and it's how we know the language can travel. Two new editions are under construction now, and they'll carry it further.'

One of these hearths sits in the kitchen, representing - physically and symbolically - the family home's core, where residents meet to nourish themselves and informally connect on a daily basis. The second is the home's wellness hub, an area encompassing private cold tubs, steam spaces, and outdoor garden showers, where the owners can fid tranquillity and internal balance.

As for his favourite moment in the house? Swallow explains: 'The walk. It begins in the open-air corridor, where the zen gardens slow every step. Then you come upon the koi, a living art installation, and pass through the kitchen, the heart the whole living area is built around. And then the house opens: rice terraces, and beyond them, the volcanoes. By then you've slowed down enough to take it in.'

The result, Swallow hopes, brings accessible luxury to daily life, without compromising on quality and equally without having to rely on size or imported materials which would feel out of place in Bali's environment.

colvinhaven.com

The RIBA Stirling Prize 2026 winner announcement today (15 October) marks not just a much-anticipated annual moment in the global architecture world, but also the 30th anniversary of the respected accolade – which this year goes to the housing scheme Lion Green Road in Croydon, south London, the brainchild of architect Mary Duggan.

The shortlist of six projects provided grounds for some fierce competition and debate – schemes spanned typologies and scales, and included a luxuriously restrained family home, a large-scale building over a key London transport hub, and an eco-friendly community space.

The RIBA Stirling Prize 2026 winner: Lion Green Road  by Mary Duggan Architects (design) with RUFF Architects (delivery) 

Lion Green Road comprises 157 dwellings – both private and affordable. They are arranged into five prismatic 13-sided blocks set on the green hillside in Coulsdon, Croydon, on the southern edge of London.

The jury citation explains the project's particular challenges: 'The site fronts onto Lion Green Road, with low-rise green‑belt housing set on higher ground to the south and traditional suburban streets to the north. Its dramatic 8m level changes and position within a geological basin demanded an inventive design response from the architects. Additional constraints included the need to maintain access to the housing and open land to the rear, and the requirement to protect a neighbouring scheduled monument associated with the historic Surrey Iron Railway.'

Part of the project's appeal is its carefully calculated yet gentle approach – both in terms of its sculptural volumes and the way they relate to their surroundings. The textured material and its immaculate composition – brick, placed to form various patterns – also support this sensitive response to the brief and context.

Discover the RIBA Stirling Prize 2026 winner

The project puts the pristine, green landscape around it first, weaving the architecture between trees and other planting, using its tactile, detailed brick fabric to craft volumes in subtle dialogue with their surroundings, instead of dominating them.

The jury citation highlights this approach too: 'Balconies are oriented to avoid direct overlooking, allowing the pavilions to be placed closer together while still maintaining long views from the private spaces. A richly planted, biodiverse landscape weaves the site together and plays a central role in the project’s identity. The landscape strategy accommodates significant level changes while creating a variety of shared spaces, from children’s play areas to seating zones and dedicated growing spaces. Public pathways thread through the planting, inviting community use and enhancing permeability.'

It was this combination of inventive yet relatively quiet design, a site-specific attitude, and a landscape-first approach that allowed the pavilion arrangement to be woven into the natural context that made the project stand out to the jury – which was composed this year of Chris Williamson (RIBA president), 6a architects director Stephanie Macdonald, RSHP senior director Tracy Meller, head of net zero policy at CIBSE Dr Julie Godefroy, Sir John Soane’s Museum director Will Gompertz, and VP Product & Experience at Autodesk Catherine Winfield.

'[It] delivers meaningful public benefit while offering high‑quality amenity for residents and supporting a strong sense of community,' they wrote.

The RIBA Stirling Prize 2026 shortlist

RIBA President Chris Williamson said, when the shortlist was revealed during the summer: 'This year's shortlist shows us what architecture can achieve when creativity, purpose and public value come together. In their distinct ambitions to revitalise communities, transform public infrastructure, deliver exemplary housing, carefully evolve historic institutions and create a thoughtful new home, these projects show that UK architecture is not only defined by style, but by true impact on people and place.'

'As the Stirling Prize marks its 30th year, this exceptional shortlist joins a distinguished legacy of projects that represent the very best of British architecture – where ambition, ingenuity and social responsibility combine to create places of lasting value.'

Here are the other buildings that formed the shortlist.

A house at Fairmead, High Beach, Epping Forest by Sergison Bates 

Located at the edge of Epping Forest in the outskirts of London, this home responds to its rural, leafy setting with a material and formal restraint, allowing the nature around it to take centre stage. It is not just about looks either, as sustainable architecture techniques involved in the construction include the use of insulating clay blocks finished with lime plaster, which ensure better heat management within.

A dramatic 4.5m-high living room not only becomes the heart of the home, but is also a moment of joyful openness, in a play of compression and expansion, private and public, within the home's design.

Beam, Hertfordshire, by Bennetts Associates  

This striking multi-arts venue set on the banks of the River Lea is a forward-thinking transformation of the existing, ageing 1970s Hertford Theatre into a 21st-century venue. The building has been updated by wrapping the original building in a new brick form.

This houses a cinema and events space. The council-led scheme highlights reuse and retrofitting, while creating a highly functional civic and community hub that responds to today's needs.

Paddington Square by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Paris) in collaboration with Adamson Associates (London) 

Paddington Square features a transparent, cube-shaped, mixed-use building, containing office, food and beverage offerings, retail and a public square, as well as a new Bakerloo Line entrance and ticket hall. The project includes an expert level of architectural mastery in order to craft not 'just the looks, but also the permeability and accessibility of the public realm on the site', said architect Joost Moolhuijzen of RPBW at the time of its completion.

The architects moved an existing street to reveal direct access to the station, effectively creating a more visible, new gateway towards the platforms for the public. A hard-working public plaza at its foot offers entrances to the train hub, the underground, the retail and the offices above, as well as open green space.

Pembroke, Mill Lane by Haworth Tompkins 

The project encompasses a significant expansion within Cambridge's Historic Core Conservation Area – a reimagining of Pembroke College that artfully blends old and new. Six refreshed existing buildings meet six new structures in a broader site that balances history and modern use, public openness and functionality.

The project has also employed key sustainable architecture strategies, including important passive design measures. Solutions span triple glazing, exposed thermal mass and photovoltaic panels.

River Wing, Clare College by Witherford Watson Mann Architects 

A tricky site, the the Grade I-listed Clare College in Cambridge, was brought into the 21st century as a series of underused, unfit-for-purpose spaces were redesigned for modern standards. The project's existing, historic brick walls are complemented by a palette of oak, for the structure and wall panelling, and Purbeck stone floors.

The result is both sensitive to its existing condition and immaculately detailed. The college's new wing brings together past and present in a seemingly effortless but in reality highly calibrated and intensely planned contemporary expansion.

RIBA International Prize 2026

More awards were revealed on the same evening, beyond the Stirling. The RIBA International Prize 2026 shortlist included just four buildings – and from those, the Green Field Factory in Bangladesh was announced the year's best. The diverse projects, spanning from Europe to Asia, each offer an exciting architectural proposition. Their common ground? 'Design [that] improves daily life while responding to a changing climate,' RIBA's representatives explain.

Winner: Green Field Factory of Karupannya Rangpur Limited by Nakshabid Architects, Rangpur, Bangladesh

What if a textile factory were treated not as industrial ground, but first and foremost as workplace, wellbeing hub and space for community? The result might look something like the Green Field Factory, a deceptively large, seven-storey building that takes its cues from its country's vernacular and rural Bengali homesteads.

RIBA International Emerging Architect Award 2026

This RIBA award celebrates young talent and emerging practice across the world – this year, highlighting Maker Architecten for a residential project in Belgium that 'revitalises a 1920s garden-city neighbourhood without wholesale demolition'.

Winner: Maker Architecten

The studio was founded in 2019 in Ghent, led by architects Ana Castillo and Lieven De Groote. The design that made them stand out in this case is titled ‘YIMBY’ (Yes in my BackYard) and is set in the country's city of Kortrijk. Making the most of elements of reuse and smart adaptability, the architects breathed new life into an existing site.

They said: 'We are honoured that Maker has been recognised with the RIBA International Emerging Architect 2026 award. The project YIMBY explores how small-scale interventions can contribute to a larger transformation of the city. At a time when affordable housing, resource scarcity and social fragmentation are pressing challenges across Europe, we believe the existing city is one of our most valuable resources. Its buildings, materials and social networks all hold potential for the future. YIMBY is an attempt to work with that potential, creating new value without erasing the stories embedded in the place.'

riba.org

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is the saying, and it rings true for the home extension at this Victorian terraced house in Brockley, south-east London. Bolans Architects recently led the residence's loft conversion and elaborate refurbishment. However, it is the rear extension, unseen from the street, where a green ceramic ‘brick’ façade packs a punch and gives the project its name, Ceramic House.

Step inside Bolans Architects' new home extension, Ceramic House

Lanre Falase, architect at Bolans Architects, led the project. ‘A big part of the inspiration came from wanting to articulate the ceramic brickwork more decoratively, rather than simply using it as a flat finish,’ he explains. ‘That level of detail comes partly from my own self-build, Black Edge House, where every junction and detail really mattered. We also wanted the clients to have a constant connection to the garden, even from the deeper parts of the house. So the extension was not just about adding more space, but about drawing light, views and the garden back through the house.’

The façade is composed of arches, recesses and changing planes, which Falase unified with the smooth, green surface. ‘There is a real playfulness to it, but at the same time it feels quite sophisticated,’ he says. ‘I love the way the façade changes depending on where you are standing. From a distance, it reads as one composition, but as you get closer you start to notice the arches, the recesses, the different profiles and all the smaller details that make it work. It looks playful and almost effortless now, but there was a lot of work behind it.’

The project also included a reconfiguration of the property’s ground floor. A new utility room was introduced, along with a concealed pantry and a guest bathroom. The kitchen gained a new curved island, which draws the eye through the home and outwards towards the garden.

However, trying to make the most of the space without overcrowding it was difficult. ‘We had to ensure that every space had a clear purpose, while also understanding which rooms needed natural light and which spaces could work deeper within the plan,’ Falase told Wallpaper*. ‘The ground floor also had to work incredibly hard. We needed to fit in a utility room, pantry, kitchen, dining area and snug, alongside storage and circulation, without it feeling overcrowded. Everything needed to flow together naturally.’

The loft proved to be the biggest challenge. The architect explains: ‘The original houses do not really have enough headroom to form a comfortable loft conversion, so we had to lower the entire floor structure to make it work. At the same time, we needed not to compromise the character of the first-floor rooms or their relationship with the existing windows.’ This loft space is accessed via a new staircase, with cork flooring seen on the staircase and the upper level.

Achieving a cohesive result was also due to the close involvement of the clients, one of whom is a project manager at a large construction firm. His professional understanding of procurement, sequencing and the realities of delivering complex construction work proved valuable, along with a willingness to see the design through to completion.

Falase concludes, ‘As you move through the house, your eye is drawn towards the garden and the extension, but you also start to notice the different volumes and the way the fixed furniture helps shape the spaces. We did not want it to feel like one large open-plan room. There are different areas and moments throughout the ground floor, but they still connect. Hopefully there is that feeling of the house gradually opening up as you move through it.’

bolansgroup.com

Some six years ago, Aston Martin announced it was making a bigger move into private real estate. At the time, the car maker’s Miami apartment complex was already underway, but the design team also had ideas for one-off homes. The first, the N°001 Minami Aoyama residence in Tokyo, Japan, was completed in 2025. Half a world away, the second project in the company’s low-key ‘Automotive Galleries and Lairs’ design service has now gone on the market.

This is Sylvan Rock, a spectacular modern residence set on a 55-acre site in Hudson Valley, New York, less than two hours from Manhattan. Aston Martin worked closely with local designers S3 Architecture, creating a house that was shaped to fit the land, snaking around the rocky outcrop that gives it its name. Across 7,773 sq ft, the main house is supplement by a trio of self-contained guest homes, as well as an architect-designed treehouse.

The house is defined by its snaking, faceted metal roofline, an enclosure that switches between vertical cladding and diagonal surfaces as it reaches across the various elements of the house, touching the ground to provide a covered car port adjacent to the main entrance.

Beneath this metal roof is a façade clad in blackened cedar, along with expansive glazing that opens up the interior to the surrounding forest – no neighbours here. In the distance are the Catskill Mountains. ‘When designing, we always let the land speak first and respond to it,’ says Christopher Dierig of S3 Architecture, ‘The roofline mimics the jagged edges of the rock ledge reaching down into the earth, as if the home is born of and launching from the landscape.’

The main house comprises of expansive indoor and outdoor living spaces, with the latter include an outdoor kitchen and 50-foot swimming pool. Key reception rooms have raised ceilings, whilst the entire house is furnished in bespoke and unique pieces designed in collaboration with the Aston Martin design team.

Upstairs there are four bedrooms, five full baths and two half baths; the house also contains a gymnasium and spa area, whilst a tennis and sports court are located on the grounds. Downstairs, there’s a subterranean automotive gallery garage as well as a movie theatre, while other features include an office suite, and bespoke wine storage. Outside, there’s also a spring-fed pond, a kitchen garden, and walking and biking trails that lead through the property.

Cathal Loughnane, the former Head of Aston Martin Partnerships who worked on the project, explains that ‘the team wanted the owner and their guests to experience the three-dimensional feel of the house in an organic way, just like you experience one of Aston Martin’s cars, there is no single façade that dominates. Sylvan Rock is a strong marriage of design sensibilities. Creating a luxury residence with warm textures, bold forms, and exceptional privacy is very aligned with Aston Martin’s vision.’

According to the broker, Jason Karadus, Sylvan Rock is ‘the most significant modern home in the Hudson Valley. It’s also the first single residence in the world designed in partnership with Aston Martin, and it’s a privilege to be the ones representing that story. Walking through it, you understand immediately why this is a singular property.’

Sylvan Rock, 165 Woody Row Road, Red Hook, Dutchess County, NY, is for sale at $19,500,000 via Jason Karadus of Corcoran Country Living, Corcoran.com, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin, S3arc.com, @S3arch

The work of photographer Tag Christof will take visitors to the new Herman Miller store in Palm Springs this week on a journey across the region's wealth of modernist architecture – a fitting prelude to the Palm Springs Modernism Week preview that launches in the desert city this week (15-18 October 2026).

Herman Miller commissioned the exhibition of Christof's work, titled ‘Hot Line’, to mark the opening of its largest retail location in North America.

Explore Tag Christof's mesmerising Palm Springs modernism photography

The new photography, which was especially produced for this show, spans the Californian hub of midcentury modern, capturing buildings and telling the story of its evolution in the region. It also explores contemporary use, preservation and adaptation of the 20th-century buildings, as they remain ever-popular and are often transformed to take on new functions and ways of life.

'I love these buildings because, even in states of change or transition, they are totems of a time of surging optimism that feels impossible today,' said Christof.

This response to changing needs and times reflects the US furniture brand's ethos too, as Herman Miller global creative directors Kim Colin and Sam Hecht say: 'Herman Miller helps people be comfortable living with change – not just surviving it but living with it, thriving, and understanding its potential as a beautiful way of life, both physically and atmospherically. Tag's photographs capture the beauty of change and the possibility of something new.'

Mixing Palm Springs' established legacy in midcentury treasures with modern-day ingenuity, stewardship, and adaptation provides an interesting platform for debate on what modernism means today – and how it can live on.

‘Hot Line’ is open until Modernism Week 2027 in February, at Herman Miller, 73-425 El Paseo, Suite 110, Palm Desert, CA 92260

millerknoll.com

modernismweek.com

The prosaic-sounding code 934 SP57 is actually the project designation for an elegant family house in the Spanish town of Sabadell. Designed by the Barcelonan Studio Exitprojectes, 934 SP57 is a modern interpretation of the traditional urban terrace, benefitting from a double-width plot in relation to its neighbours.

Like all the best townhouses, the project is arranged vertically across four levels, making the most of the long plot to include a pool and outdoor dining area in the heart of the city, with a scattering of terraces arranged on the floors above.

From the street, the house splices a dark rendered ground floor with white upper storeys, with a vertical fluted recess creating privacy and providing daylight to the bathrooms on the first and second floors. This gives the house a greater feel of verticality, imitating the decorative forms of Art Deco without resorting to pastiche.

One enters into a grand hallway, adjacent to a three-car garage concealed behind a rolling shutter. From the hall, a staircase rises on the left while a ground floor sitting and dining area at the rear of the house opens out onto a rear patio with the pool below. Above this, a white rendered rear façade evokes the abstract forms of the International Style, stepping back as it rises, with a terrace at first floor and third floor level.

The interior continues the refined minimalist approach, from the darkly sybaritic garage space with its dynamic flashes of lighting, to the universal use of a lightly textured microcement on the walls alongside dark-stained oak joinery and natural oak floors. Where possible, the joinery – from wardrobes to kitchen cabinets – is treated as integral architectural elements, continuing the lines set up by the interior geometry.

The architects, describe the project as a ‘home built around the rituals of everyday life, where space, light and material are reduced to the essentials. Proportion, spatial continuity and a careful selection of materials shape a serene, timeless space designed for modern living.’

The vertical organisation was defined through close consultation with the clients. On the first floor is the main living space, with a linear arrangement of study (at the front of the house), passing through a double-height sitting room, and through to a kitchen and dining area at the rear, where a terrace overlooks the garden.

Above this, on the second floor, are two bedrooms, a gymnasium and utility area, arranged around a galleried landing that overlooks the main living space. The house culminates with the primary bedroom suite on the third floor, a modestly sized en-suite bedroom with adjacent dressing room (and storeroom), as well as direct access to a balcony.

The kitchen was supplied by Bulthaup, with furniture throughout by Casamitjana. Symbiosi Landscape shaped the garden, while the lighting was supplied by Nexia. Floors one and two are the day zones, with the opening rear façade unifying the inside and outside during the summer months. The upper floors feature more natural oak for a combination of warmth and light, while the top-lit staircase unifies the entire house with bold graphic moves.

Exitprojectes.com, @Exitprojectes

From the roof terrace of Cloud House, architect Peter Morris' new north London home, it is easy to see what inspired the project's name. A scalloped top edge painted in soft pink makes sitting on a lounger here feel like you are peeking at the Gospel Oak skyline through fluffy clouds of sweet candy floss.

The façade plays a part in this illusion too. Set on a quiet road off the southern edge of Hampstead Heath, on a little road that has everything from a Grade II-listed French school to an old church, Victorian homes and some modestly scaled new housing blocks, Cloud House stands out, for sure, cutting a distinct figure through its whimsical colour and shape.

It also somehow weirdly blends in. Its volumes follow the massing and rooflines of its adjacent buildings, and its arches echo the shapes found on the Grade I-listed St Martin's Church across the street. Were it not for its uncompromising soft pink and green hues, this project might have been an entirely different proposition.

Step inside Cloud House by Peter Morris

Cloud House's architect designed it as a showcase – a true expression of his own mood, vision and style. It is a very personal project, and one tackled with a lot of care precisely because of that. The scheme, in fact, comprises two semi-detached homes – one for his own family (he lives there with his partner Emily Kennedy, a producer) and the other belonging to clients who are about to start moving in.

The site contained an existing Victorian property, where the family previously lived, but which was getting increasingly worn and volatile – damp rising and urgent fixes needed. Morris decided to apply for it to be replaced, and after working with Camden Council over a few years, his permission was granted, and he embarked on Cloud House's design journey, which took ten years to complete.

The design changed significantly along the way, but only for the better, Morris explains – and it maintained its distinctive flair and individuality throughout the long-drawn process. 'The council saw my personal connection as a positive thing; they said my personality comes through with this house,' Morris recalls, wearing bright blue overalls and bold, round, black-rimmed glasses.

The fact that the street on this corner of Gospel Oak consists of a large blend of styles, from period to contemporary, and uses, including residential, educational and religious, helped. Cloud House contributes to an established diversity here. 'My work is typically more reserved than this. I might start colourful, but things get toned down quite a lot in the end,' he says. 'Here, I wanted to follow through with my own home.'

The long planning and construction process complicated things financially, but Morris was keen to remain true to his original vision. Some elements might have been adjusted, but important features – such as the arches and the colours – remained strong. Kind, crowdsourced help from the community ensured the painting and decorating finished on time.

What made things easier is that the house, a fairly conventional brick and concrete construction, is now clad with light polystyrene stone, a material that, Morris explains, is cost-effective but also highly functional, adding the building's thermal mass and insulation, while being easy to mould, lightweight and waterproof (it's been treated with rough render on top, making it near-indistinguishable from the typical peers).

Inside, the home spans three levels. A generous ground floor contains living spaces and Morris's home office. Bedrooms and bathrooms occupy the two upstairs floors, while a glass skylight at the top, right above the stairwell, opens to the roof terrace, a little sun trap that serves as the home's main outdoor space (a small courtyard downstairs is another open area – Morris plans to plant a herb garden here).

Bold colours, stripes and quirky details abound – just as you would expect, stepping inside a home that looks like a pink fairytale from the street. Painted arches on walls blend visually with arch-shaped doors, and round, ball-shaped plaster mouldings are reminiscent of the ones in Sir John Soane's Museum. Everything is decorated in Morris and Kennedy's personal style – 'It's the museum of Peter and Emily,' he smiles. No doubt, a good measure of success – a home truly reflecting its owners' spirit to the smallest detail.

Morris hopes for word to spread and more work in the Cloud House realm to come through for him, where he can let his imagination run wild and make someone else's dreams a reality too. 'The Cloud House is a colourful, joyful place, but it is also a statement about what residential architecture can be,' he says.

petermorrisarchitects.com

All photos by Will Pryce

For much of the 20th century, the Île Seguin, a 28-acre island just west of Paris, was a huge industrial complex, home to the first Renault factory. Now, 34 years after the factory's closure, the island is finding new life as a destination for culture.

It's been a long road to get here. The Renault plant closed its doors in 1992, and the buildings were demolished by 2005. Since then, the island has lain fallow, often described as cursed, the scene of a series of failed attempts to build ambitious projects. Early on, François Pinault asked Tadao Ando to design a contemporary art museum here, but he changed the location to Venice after losing patience with bureaucratic red tape. More recently, the Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier tapped Jean Nouvel to build a cultural 'micro-city' on the island, but Bouvier was forced to abandon the project after allegations of fraud. One rare success story was a Shigeru Ban-designed concert hall, La Seine Musicale, built in 2017.

Step inside the new Île Seguin art centre, Large

Now it is joined by another cultural venue at the opposite tip of the island, where Laurent Dumas, CEO of the French real estate group Emerige, is constructing a 'Pointe des Arts'. The complex includes an IMAX cinema, a hotel, and a contemporary art centre called Large, which opens this month.

In contrast to the black glass sphere of La Seine Musicale, the Pointe des Arts is an angular group of buildings shaped like a sideways fin, with the museum in the middle like a copper-coloured ship. It's the first project in greater Paris for the Catalan firm RCR Arquitectes, which won the Pritzker Prize in 2017.

As RCR co-founder Carme Pigem explains, it was important to underline the project's location on an island and to engage with the surroundings. Openings and pedestrian thoroughfares cut through the buildings, providing glimpses of the river banks to either side. Metal cladding references the island's industrial history. The façade of the cinema is in rust-coloured corten steel, while the museum is covered in copper-pink scales of anodised aluminium.

'Corten steel develops a patina,' says Pigem. 'Then, as a counterpoint, we have the polished anodised aluminium, which plays on the changing atmosphere of the river landscape, capturing and creating these magical moments between the reflections on the water, the times of day, the different seasons, the interplay of ephemeral moments that you experience in a landscape like this.'

Some of the aluminium scales have microperforations that let sunlight in through large glass windows. From the exterior, the cladding appears as a solid skin. But from inside, these tiny holes create a filtered mashrabiya screen effect. RCR associate architect Gilles Trégouet explains, 'As you walk toward the exhibition rooms, you discover with surprise that this interior, which seemed quite introverted from the outside, actually multiplies the viewpoints out onto the landscape.'

In French, 'au large' means out to sea. But the museum's name also reflects its generous size: 5,000 sq m. Its sculptural form creates a multitude of shapes and volumes within it, some grand and others more intimate. 'All these spaces can be used for exhibition,’ says Pigem. ‘It’s not just that there's a small room dedicated to a small artwork. It’s about this entire space being for art, regardless of size or level. An entire journey centred around art, even outside on the terrace, where artwork can be displayed. Ultimately, it’s about creating a little world filled with endless possibilities.'

Visitors enter an expansive atrium on the ground floor, with a triangular staircase composed of steps and amphitheatre seating, a curved mezzanine overhead, and plenty of diffuse natural light through floor-to-ceiling windows. The flooring is made of dark galvanised steel planks. A cylinder runs up through the building's six floors like a vertebra, concealing the elevators.

A monumental escalator takes visitors from the mezzanine to the fourth floor, where the main exhibition space is a stunning 1,000 sq m and 14m high in places, without a single supporting pillar – a great space for showing monumental artworks. From here, visitors can step out onto a landscaped, panoramic terrace that wraps around the building and meets up with a café designed by Constance Guisset. The fifth and sixth floors contain smaller exhibition rooms (but still big enough to display a salt-corroded Renault covered in vegetation by South African artist Bianca Bondi).

The museum's unusual shape allows natural light to enter the main exhibition space through strategically placed slits. A week before opening, Laurent Dumas was walking through the newly installed inaugural exhibition, admiring the relationship between architecture and artworks. 'What surprises me is to see the reflected light, the extraordinary light on this work by Dubuffet, on the photos, on the background,' he said.

His aim with Large is to promote the French contemporary art scene – embracing both local and international artists living or working in France – with two seasons of temporary exhibitions per year, made up of loans from museums, artists and collections, including his own.

Curator Cecilia Alemani, who leads the art programme of New York's High Line, was invited to curate Large's inaugural show. Called 'Imaginary Engine,' it is dedicated to the theme of the automobile and all its facets: mechanics and assembly lines, factory workers and unions, the car as an object of desire, man and machine...

The show contains 120 works from the 1930s to today, nearly half from the Renault collection, dating back to the 1960s when the company started inviting artists to visit and collaborate with the factory. It includes exceptional works by Jean Dubuffet, Arman, Victor Vasarely (who designed the Renault logo), Simon Hantaï, Niki de Saint Phalle, Julio Le Parc and Jean Tinguely. The carmaker even hired a 22-year-old photographer unknown at the time, Robert Doisneau, to photograph the factory.

Large also commissioned 17 contemporary artists to create new works for the exhibition, such as Ghanaian sculptor Paa Joe, who made a 'fantasy coffin' inspired by the Renault taxi manufactured in the early 1900s. French artist Bertrand Lavier transformed a Formula One race car into a sculpture by covering it with a thick coat of paint.

Dumas wants Large to be accessible to the public, so 40 per cent of the space is open to all, and the exhibition is completely free for anyone aged 26 or under. And though Île Seguin isn't Venice, and there's no vaporetto, RCR has designed a charming new pedestrian bridge to the museum.

Large's exhibition 'Moteur Imaginaire/Imaginary Engine' runs from 17 October 2026 to 7 March 2027

large-emerige.fr

Understanding the history of the ‘house of the future’ requires looking back 70 years. In San Mateo Highlands, Eichler X-100 was built as a promotional prototype for a new kind of domestic architecture: developer Joseph Eichler, who specialised in wood-framed family houses, saw it as an opportunity to explore whether steel could revolutionise residential construction.

Explore the Eichler X-100. now on the market

A grand opening brochure published in 1956 described it as a ‘new living form that served as a research laboratory for testing new design concepts, new materials, and new techniques of construction’. Designed as a test house by architects A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons, the residence embodied many of the modernist principles that came to define the Californian ideal of postwar living: exposed steel, expansive glass, garden courts, skylights, built-in furniture, and seamless indoor-outdoor connections. Within a few months, it attracted more than 150,000 visitors and generated extensive press coverage.

What began as a research project is now looking for a fifth custodian who appreciates the opportunity to write its next chapter. Having been restored to its original condition, it spans 2310 square feet, comprising three bedrooms, two living areas and an open kitchen, with two bathrooms positioned at its centre. Two interior gardens invite nature into the home, while glass sliding doors along the entire rear façade create a sense of openness, with views of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Initially sold for $47,000 in 1957, the house was later acquired by three other sets of owners. In 2016, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (the only Eichler house to receive the designation) and returned to its original glory the following year under the X-100 Renewal Project. Its current owner, Marty Arbunich, director of the Eichler Network, occasionally organises tours for educational purposes. Although it turned out to be the last steel house Eichler built, the X-100 remains remarkably relevant today as one of the most distinctive houses of the Californian modernist era.

For Sale: Eichler X-100, A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons (1956), 1586 Lexington Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94402, via Boyenga Real Estate.

Owning a historic work of architecture isn’t for the faint of heart – which may be why one of Los Angeles’ most famous houses has languished on the market.

Last November, Case Study House #22, otherwise known as the Stahl House, was listed for $25 million by the descendents of the home’s original clients, Buck and Carlotta Stahl. When completed, the house immediately drew acclaim, both for its stunning cantilevered design by modernist architect Pierre Koenig, and an iconic 1960 photograph snapped by Julius Schulman that went on to epitomise midcentury glamour. But buyers aren’t biting. In fact, the owners opted to slash the price by $5 million, hoping to attract the home’s next steward.

Why aren’t would-be buyers scrambling to snap up the Stahl House? First and foremost is the eye-watering $20 million price tag. The house, while visually breathtaking and historically significant, is modest in size, with just two bedrooms housed in its 2,200 sq ft. 'It’s impossible to put a price on fame,’ Mike Deasy, a real estate agent who has overseen the sale of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed residence, told the Los Angeles Times.

There’s also the question of maintenance. Historic properties require specialised care and upkeep to address aging materials and systems, work that can be time consuming and costly. In fact, that’s part of the reason the Stahls, who’ve kept the home in the family for some six decades, opted to part with their cherished home. ‘This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the attention and energy it so richly deserves,’ The Stahl children wrote in a statement on the Stahl House website.

Because of the house’s historical designations (it’s on the National Registry for Historic Places, and an LA Historic-Cultural Monument), it would be tricky (not to mention controversial) to alter or expand the building.

Whether or not the discount will compel the right buyer to make a move remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: they’ll be owning a piece of America’s architectural history, something you can't put a dollar on.

This Clerkenwell house represents the near-complete remodel of an existing property - the keen-eyed reader might recognise it as the home of designer Roksanda Ilincic ten years ago. Now reinvented for a family of three with a passion for travelling and art, the building was fully redesigned by architect Pauline Gidoin of MM Studio Interior.

The current owners had been living in the home for eight years, using a mix of the furniture they owned prior to purchasing it, and the original project's existing structure. Over the years, they realised they needed to fine tune the space and upgrade it to their own personal needs. They called upon Gidoin to optimise and tailor design their space for their specific purposes.

'Although the architecture was very strong, the rooms didn't necessarily feel connected to the scale or character of the house. In the large open-plan ground floor in particular, pieces felt as though they were floating within the space rather than defining it,' the architect says.

'Just before they contacted us, they had completed two infill extensions to the upper bedrooms, creating two much more usable rooms that now needed to be properly designed. It felt like the right moment to look at the house in its entirety.'

Gidoin developed a design working closely with Tate Joinery, who worked on all the bespoke storage elements throughout. The aim was the balance the property's bold looks with functionality, and bring warmth to the strong architectural interior.

She explains: 'We described the design language early on as Brutalist and minimalist. I didn't want to fight the architecture or fill the house with objects. Instead, the idea was to work with a relatively restrained number of pieces, but make each one count through proportion, texture and materiality.'

'Spatially, each floor presented almost the opposite problem. The ground floor was extremely generous and needed to be broken down into distinct living, dining and music areas without introducing walls. Upstairs and on the lower-ground floor, the challenge was much more about making every centimetre useful, incorporating storage and responding to very different qualities of natural light. We used furniture placement, rugs, lighting, art and bespoke joinery almost architecturally to define those spaces.'

It was this challenge, the need to rebalance and fine-tune between large, flowing and cosy spaces, that helped define the project, the architect explains: 'I think that contrast ultimately became one of the strengths of the project: some spaces needed to be given more definition, while others needed to work much harder within a smaller footprint. The bespoke elements helped us solve those very different conditions, while the consistent material palette and the clients’ art collection create continuity throughout the house.'

Natural materials throughout, particularly travertine in both refined and rougher finishes, oak, walnut, limestone, leather and chrome, were used in an honest way, exposed and left 'brutalist' to add texture to the spaces. Instead of using lots of different finishes, the team worked with a restrained family of materials repeatedly, simply altering their scale, texture and application from room to room. This allowed the whole to feel consistent but also varied and truly bespoke.

In order to fully capture the essence of South Barn, the home of Studio Weave practice founder Je Ahn, it is important to understand his starting point. 'It [is a project that] ties to ideas of flexibility, comfort and looseness – ultimately, having the trust and confidence to be relaxed about the result,' he told us in 2025, when we interviewed him about a building that made him smile, as he was completing the project.

It is this attitude of effortlessness, and at the same time luxury, that permeates this small but perfectly formed project, set on the UK's Isle of Wight, near the town of Cowes.

Explore South Barn by Studio Weave

The project came to be when Ahn had the opportunity to acquire an existing barn within a working farm – a relatively modest building of 158 sq m. He decided to snap it up for his own personal escape, and embarked on redesigning it to transform it into a pared-down retreat – as utilitarian and raw as they come, yet no less lush and charming.

Ahn recalled at the time: 'The budget was limited, but the project had an inherent sense of luxury in that I was in the unusual position of being my own client, so I could respond more nimbly and directly to project demands, such as the site’s conditions, market pricing and contractor capacity.'

The Studio Weave team developed the project with great respect for the existing structure and its 50-plus-year-old fabric. Many of the original materials were kept, often left exposed, and only repaired to ensure they are aligned with 21st-century habitation. Minimal overall changes were made, ensuring the new house feels like it's always been there, a true celebration of its agricultural context and building integrity.

A large open-plan kitchen and living area, featuring large windows, is the undisputed heart of the home. Off it, a small corridor leads to three bedrooms. Meticulous detailing and craftwork bring the fabric back to life – all done in collaboration with maker Mike at Imphouse and his team. The landscape was also an important collaborative work, produced together with Tom Massey Studio.

Ahn says: 'You cannot design the feel of an aged building – we knew it was important to retain the elements which expressed the passing of time. Studio Weave’s aim is to open up the building, both practically and metaphorically – making South Barn more accessible to the new inhabitants.

'The concept of “deep reuse” informs the design – we repurpose materials we have found on site, both [for] their narrative and practical value, in rebuilding this agricultural building. We also understand the importance of understanding the way people live – this project makes a backdrop for people’s lives.'

studioweave.com

When is something declared heritage? At what point does decoration become art? Today, in Belgium, the architectural remnants of the territory's post-war years are often overlooked or worse, destroyed. Yet unearthing their stories means discovering a treasure trove of architectural and artistic collaborations, while simultaneously laying bare an important part of the country's history.

This chapter dates back almost seven decades. A new dawn, a new day, a more humane world for all: those were the ideals and sentiments behind Expo 58 in Brussels. When the fair launched in the Belgian capital in April 1958, people had every reason to be optimistic: the Second World War was firmly behind them, and the future was looking bright. It was the era of health insurance, unemployment benefits, paid pensions, paid holiday leave, the rise of tourism, the rapid evolution of technology and, most importantly, the promise of a home for all.

A decade earlier, a new law had been passed in Belgium championing this very promise by providing direct subsidies and cheap loans to homebuyers. Although the idea of wider ownership had been around before, after the war ended, it became a reality for the majority of the population.

As the common expression in these parts goes: Belgians are born with a brick in their stomach. The saying has nothing to do with the indigestion that might befall you after eating one too many waffles, but instead means that Belgians are destined to become homeowners. And yes, that's still a main life goal for most of the country's population.

With its future-facing spirit, Expo 58 became the perfect showcase for the new materials and rapid technological evolution that were making their mark on architecture. We're not just talking about flashy statements of pavilions such as the Atomium; the newly built environment all over Belgium was a true reflection of that innovation. Post-war modernism was characterised by the use of economical materials, a modular and quicker way of construction, generally aiming to be more humane and imaginative in spirit. During the interwar period, modernism consisted of a mostly rigid design ideology, imposing rules and ways of living on its users. After the war, a new era of modernism promised architecture that catered to the modern man and woman's needs – fully equipped kitchens and bathrooms, for example. But it also proved modernism could – and perhaps even should – be fun.

Buildings could now be adorned with decorative details, such as colourful sandwich panels, quirky fixtures and mosaics. (These were often created by artists, but rarely can their names be traced – only in the case of longstanding artistic collaborations can these be easily tracked down.) These partnerships between artist and architect felt natural and almost expected at the time, as architecture education was then still part of the arts department.

Examples of quirky door handle designs include the boomerang, a quiet icon of 1950s Belgian modernism, and the typically Belgian ceramic or enamel version of this ubiquitous element. These small pieces were often bespoke and designed by local artists, either for a specific project and architect, or as a side job to bring in some extra money.

Because of their practical function, people hardly pay attention to them and, as with all unrecognised heritage, they are quietly disappearing. Thankfully, initiatives like Ceramic Door Handles Belgium are shining a light on this sector of Belgian design history by telling the stories behind the objects and thus preserving them for the future.

Such personal passion projects are often what keeps examples of post-war modernism from disappearing altogether. Few buildings of the period are heritage-listed, leaving the majority of the era's built fabric subject to their owner's wishes. As many of those homes are now changing hands, they are often deemed unfit for the future, old-fashioned or simply misunderstood – and therefore in danger of being irrevocably altered. It doesn't help that dwellings from the 1950s and 1960s have a particularly bad reputation: cheap materials, single glazing, zero insulation, the list goes on. And let's not mention the word asbestos (present, for example, in the aforementioned sandwich panels). Hailed as a revolutionary material at the time, and effectively changing the outlook and construction of buildings, it was soon recognised as a health hazard, but nevertheless used until the early 1990s. It is important to note, however, that it is fully safe unless dismantled – the perfect motivation for conservation.

Perhaps the most playful architectural detail in use during this period was the humble tile. Coming in ceramic, marble or glass, and in different sizes, shapes and colours, tiles adorned not only floors or bathroom and kitchen walls, but, when used externally, became small artworks in their own right. The use of glass mosaic, especially, saw a significant growth in popularity. Praised for being more robust, easier to clean and non-water-absorbent (and thus stain-free) than their ceramic counterpart, they were a housekeeper's dream. Used externally, they carried the advantage of reflecting sunlight, giving the façade a vibrant quality.

Things became especially interesting when several materials were combined, creating an interplay of textures and colours in both exteriors and interiors. Prime examples are found in public buildings and shopping galleries, designed to give passersby something to admire. Of course, it helped that budgets for such projects were usually healthy, and the integration of art was often factored in from the start. The Ravenstein Gallery in Brussels, designed by Alexis and Philippe Dumont and officially opened in 1958, exemplifies this approach. Linking Brussels' Central Station with the museum of fine arts, Bozar, it had to bridge a 10m terrain drop. The challenge was resolved beautifully at the back of the gallery with an atrium (the original central fountain has now sadly disappeared) surrounded by winding stairs clad in mosaics and marble. At the entrance, monumental murals by architect Jean Ado Baltus adorn the ceiling.

A similar but much lesser-known example of such a mural can be found in the Blue Temple in the Belgian Museum of Freemasonry in central Brussels. Designed in the 1950s by architects who were also freemasons (and thus wished to remain anonymous), it's not publicly accessible through the actual museum as it's still in use today. Although the altar is typically 1950s in character, the trompe l'oeil pillars piercing the sky seem almost postmodern. Speaking of optical illusions, it seems fitting that we would end with a little-known mural by a Belgian master and the poster boy of surrealism.

As to be expected, public buildings with a cultural function contained even more art, and Charleroi's Palais des Beaux-Arts boasts an extensive collection of paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more, by artists such as Olivier Strebelle and Ossip Zadkine. The cherry on top, however, is a mural, La Fée Ignorante (‘the ignorant fairy'), in the congress room by René Magritte, who got the job after responding to a public call for an in situ artwork. Many of the artist's mysterious motifs, such as birds or leaves representing trees, can be traced in it.

Magritte once said that the function of painting is to make poetry visible, and by shining a light on the unsung Belgian post-war modernist architecture and its art, we can celebrate its quiet poetry, too.

Where does an architect live? Architects' houses often capture our imagination. Think of Lina Bo Bardi's home, with its Brazilian modernist flair, or Alvar Aalto’s retreat, brimming with organic forms and natural materials. Now, we don't have to wonder any more; a dedicated new book by Phaidon allows readers a glimpse inside the homes of some of the greatest architects of the last 75 years.

Architects' Houses, a new book by Phaidon

Architects’ Houses, written by Dominic Bradbury, explores the safe spaces where these creative minds resided and where myriad brilliant designs were born. The hefty tome features over 200 residences, showcasing both the interiors and exteriors of each one.

Whittling down the projects to feature was no easy feat, as Bradbury told Wallpaper*: ‘We began by drawing up a rather ambitious long wish list of architects and houses that we were interested in featuring, including projects from all around the world, running across a timeline from 1950 through to today.

'The ambition was to have a wide spectrum of pioneering homes that, in their own way, told a bigger story about the evolution of modern residential architecture. But then there was the difficult challenge of editing down that wish list to 200 entries while carefully curating the content, keeping hold of the ambition to create a truly international and wide-ranging survey.’

Naturally, Bradbury felt key industry figures had to be included, hence the homes of Charles & Ray Eames, Lina Bo Bardi, Richard Neutra, Frank Gehry, Peter Zumthor, Shoei Yoh and other master architects. However, beyond this, he explained he was also looking for lesser-known, individual homes that explored different ways of thinking: ‘From Marcos Acayaba in Brazil, for instance, through to Kulapat Yantrasast in California. The sense of difference and individuality within each project was key to the selection process,’ he explains.

With each inclusion, there is a short paragraph on the architect’s design theories, dreams, and beliefs. The author doesn't dwell on each architect’s major career commissions, which makes Architects' Houses a rather refreshing and honest take on their work.

When asked if there are any similarities between the featured architects’ work, Bradbury notes, ‘There are a few common threads or themes that one might pick out. There is, for the most part, a true sense of respect for context and for the precious landscapes that we live in. Sustainability and environmental awareness, similarly, can be seen through so many of the featured homes.’

However, it was the more sculptural and experimental houses that offered the most surprises. ‘There are projects such as Javier Senosiain’s Casa Orgánica or Juan O’Gorman’s Casa Cueva, which have the character and provenance of artworks as much as living homes; on the more experimental side, Eduardo Longo’s Casa Bola, Richard Foster’s Round House and Agustin Hernández’s Praxis House are all wonderfully inventive and groundbreaking,’ he adds.

Bradbury concludes: ‘I think it’s the sense of difference and individuality seen throughout the projects in the book that really makes it so special. It’s incredible to see so many inspiring solutions to the architectural challenge of creating a bespoke home offered by architects from all around the world.’

Architects' Houses by Dominic Bradbury for Phaidon, £69.95, is available via phaidon.com

Many of us might have daydreamed about living in a Japanese house; and now, a new tome by Phadon offers readers a joyful tour of the popular architectural typology, Living in a Japanese House allows us to step inside a rich selection of homes in the East Asian country and not only imagine what life inside them would be like – but also learn about how they came to be, their authors and architecture.

The book is written by Japanese author and Wallpaper* contributor Kanae Hasegawa. It brings together 35 examples of Japanese homes in a true visual feast, spanning interiors and exteriors and resulting in a luxurious survey of the region's residential architecture – its challenges and bold design solutions.

Project include many of the names in contemporary Japanese architecture field, such as Hiroshi Nakamura, Ryue Nishizawa, nendo, and more. They also feature lesser-known examples in a tour of eye-catching, thought-provoking dwellings in different setting - urban, suburban and rural.

At the same time, Hasegawa's texts provide valuable insights and reflections from the homes' architects, but also their homeowners. This makes for a marvellous 360 degree exploration into the typology - and what it means today, living in a Japanese house.

'Living in a Japanese House' by Kanae Hasegawa, Phaidon, £39.99

As Ghent’s Design Museum reopens this month, discover these design-led highlights from the city for your autumn weekend break itinerary. While it’s known for UNESCO World Heritage monuments, including the medieval Gravensteen castle and 15th-century Gothic St Bavo’s Cathedral with a famed altarpiece painting by the Van Eyck brothers, you’ll also find remarkable modernist architecture.

An architectural tour of Ghent

Ghent has buildings such as the 1930s Book Tower and Juliaan Lampens’ iconic Brutalist house. Plus, there’s a lively cultural scene – from museums to experimental galleries and the wondrously hybrid Wintercircus. Scroll down for our architecture and design tour.

The Get

This year, Belgian architect Glenn Sestig, master of refined architectural atmospheres, has adapted a former supermarket into an experimental gallery named THE GET, which ajoins his new office. It’s a huge, raw space, full of potential for collaborations, with an absorbing black-stone entrance. The inaugural exhibition sparked an eerie dialogue between the works of design duo Middernacht & Alexander and multidisciplinary artist Bernard T. Sestig. In October, the exhibition ‘Wunderkammer Reimagined,’ curated by Scott Lippens, founder of Antwerp’s Uppercut Gallery, brings together a contemporary cabinet of curiosities featuring the likes of Linde Freya Tangelder, Lionel Jadot and Kiki Goti – to name a few.

‘Wunderkammer Reimagined’ opens 2 October 2026
THE GET by Glenn Sestig
Sint-Annaplein 7
9000 Ghent

S.M.A.K.

In 1986, S.M.A.K. museum director Jan Hoet encouraged art to escape from museum walls and into the homes of Ghent. Fifty-one artists – including Janis Kounellis, Maria Nordman, and Lawrence Weiner – were paired up with homeowners to create site-specific works inside a single ‘guest’ room. The city-wide exhibition attracted queues of curious locals – becoming so popular it was even televised.

This year, an exhibition celebrates its 40th anniversary with archive material and new installations by artists Heike Pallanca, Haim Steinback and Susanne Kreimann. Daniel Buren’s 1986 contribution (reconstructed in 2011) is also on display: a replica of the guest room that he installed at the home of art collectors Anton and Annick Herbert. Titled ‘Le Décor et son Double,’ the dual room work is the same, except for its inverse pink wall painting, offering a mind-bending critique of the public and private display of art.

'Chambres d’Amis turns 40’ is at S.M.A.K, until 10 January 2027
S.M.A.K (Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art)
Jan Hoetplein 1
9000 Ghent

Herbert Foundation

The former home of art collectors Anton (1938-2021) and Annick Herbert (1940-2025) inside a former 1920s frame factory was converted in the 1980s by the couple with architect André Platel. The large factory rooms exhibit impressive works by the likes of Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Bruce Nauman, Franz West, Thomas Schütte and other outstanding examples of minimalist, conceptual and abstract art, collected between 1968 and 1989.

Open to the public since 2013, Herbert Foundation this autumn hosts an exhibition of the films and documents of Andy Warhol, with 22 films on loan from the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and books, magazines, and posters from the collection. The Herberts were avid archivists of printed matter as an important art form: ‘The archives for us constituted an answer to the balloon of power and money that threatened the art world. Documents are about the substantive essence, devoid of spectacle.’

‘All Tomorrow’s Parties. Films and documents of Andy Warhol’, 27 September 2026 - 27 June 2027.
Herbert Foundation
Coupure Links 627/A
9000 Gent

Boekentoren

This innovative, concrete early Modernist architectural icon was designed by renowned Belgian architect Henry van de Velde (1863-1957) from 1930 to 1935 to house the university’s collection of books, manuscripts, architectural plans and more, which were stacked into its soaring concrete 20-storey tower (64 metres). The public, light-filled reading rooms stretch out horizontally at ground level, and above the stack, there’s the panoramic Belvedère, a cinematic event space (once commandeered by the Nazis).

The complex is currently being restored by a team led by Ghent architects Robbrecht en Daem, ongoing since 2007. They’ve designed a new three-level, climate-controlled underground book depository beneath the building’s historic courtyard, containing 40 km of books, manuscripts, coins, newspapers and magazines. Yet there’s still more to do, including a future reading café and visitors centre that will provide access to the Boekentoren’s stack, currently only possible to visit in small groups.

Wintercircus

Ghent’s 19th century Wintercircus – reconstructed in the 1920s, then transformed into a car garage after WWII – has been transformed yet again. Today, it’s a hub for innovation with co-working spaces, a rooftop bar, underground club and more. Commissioned by the City of Ghent and operated by TENT (a consortium of entrepreneurial local businesses), it’s been created for cross-pollination between start-ups, students, creatives and the public.

Found in the De Krook neighbourhood (near the central library, a layered contemporary building by RCR and Coussée & Goris), the epic architecture has been adapted by a collaborative team of studios (including BARO, SUMProject and Atelier Kempe Thill) to preserve its layered heritage from the steel roof structure, to the red concrete floors, former elephant ramps and original petrol pumps. OYO Architects, behind the interior, focused on reuse, including employing demolition debris, innovative circular materials and vintage car lamps.

Wintercircus
Lammerstraat 13
9000 Gent

Museum Dhondt Dhaenens and the Van Wassenhove House

Most probably on your Brutalist bucket-list, the Woning Van Wassenhove is a concrete cave of geometry and light, a total work of architecture with integrated furniture, designed 1972–1974 by Belgian architect Juliaan Lampens (1926-2019) for Albert Van Wassenhove, a professor and art collector. Located in the leafy Ghent suburb of Sint-Martens-Latem, the house is today part of the Museum Dhondt Dhaenens, which focuses on 20th- and 21st-century art, just a short drive away.

This year, to celebrate the 100th birthday of Juliaan Lampens, the museum, with the Juliaan Lampens Foundation and the Flemish Architecture Institute, is hosting a symposium and exhibition dedicated to the architect, offering a thorough insight into the architect’s thinking and methods. The house will be open to the public during the exhibition’s run.

The symposium is on 5 November 2026, and the exhibition ‘Juliaan Lampens 1926-2026’ runs 29 November 2026 – 14 March 2027

Ghent Design Museum

Belgium’s Ghent Design Museum, the biggest of its kind in the country, has recently reopened after a revamp led by British architects Carmody Groarke alongside local architects Atama. The extensive project has been one of expansion, consolidation, as well as heritage restoration by specialist studio Re-st, with a new circulatory loop carved through the museum’s existing historic buildings and the route completed with a new low-carbon entrance wing.

UK architecture studio Koto has made a speciality of prefabricated architecture, elevating the humble cabin into a well-crafted structure that can be precisely tailored to its location and use. The firm’s newest product is Haku, a ‘fully mobile piece of architecture’ pitched at everyone from hotels to homeowners who want the flexibility of additional accommodation without being tied down to a specific spot.

Explore Koto's new Haku suite cabin

The first Haku sites have recently been completed at the Denton Estate in Yorkshire. Demonstrating the flexibility of the system, Haku has been configured as an upscale hotel suite, complete with wood-burning stove and rain-shower bathroom. Countless other uses are possible, all thanks to the way the design slides into a particular loophole in UK planning law.

Because it sits on a wheeled chassis, the Haku is legally defined as a caravan (under the under the Caravan Sites Act 1968, no less). At a stroke, that does away with restrictions on placement in the landscape, giving the unit access to spots that might otherwise be out of bounds. Because it needs no foundations or concrete slab, the Haku can be removed as easily as it is installed, leaving no scar on the landscape. Measuring 9.74m long by 3.60m wide and 3.85m high, the Haku can easily be trucked onto most sites.

The building itself is timber framed, with an organic façade made from expanded cork. Koto can also fully furnish the Haku, creating a turnkey hospitality solution, with ultra-short lead times for design, construction and delivery compared to a conventional building. Order enough, and the price comes down – Koto suggests a unit cost of £80k per suite (or £90k each for off-grid units) if you take 15 units.

‘Haku takes the same philosophy as every Koto commission and releases it from a fixed address,’ says Koto’s co-founder Johnathon Little. ‘What matters is where it can stand: the clearing, the shelf above the water, the ground an estate has always had to leave alone. [It is] architecture that finds its place.’

Haku is available to hotels, estates and landowners from today. At volume, Haku starts from £80,000 per suite on-grid and £90,000 off-grid at fifteen units, with a tiered pricing scale available for operators planning a phased or multi-suite rollout.

Koto.co.uk

Southeast China's newest attraction, the Shenzhen Natural History Museum, lies elegantly nestled among leafy mounds and winding pathways. The building is a mesmerising volume that appears to gently undulate in the breeze in its green park on the southern edge of the Pearl River Delta.

The design, created by the 3XN–B+H Architects–Zhubo Design Consortium (a group with Danish studio 3XN as lead designer and B+H Architects serving as lead consultant, executive architect, and landscape architect), was crafted to reflect just that - the region's rich biodiversity, making its striking figure as much of an attraction as its expansive, 100,000 square metres of exhibition and other visitor spaces.

This part of the world, known as China's Pingshan District, features a subtropical monsoon climate. This produces a layered environment where nature thrives, and, especially given its subject matter, the design tapped into exactly this wealth to define the museum's final form.

'Nothing in nature is square. Nature is amorphous, dynamic, and always in formation. From the beginning, the ambition was to create not a building, but a piece of landscape that had always been there - shaped by local geology, water and time. That idea has been carried all the way from the competition stage to the museum that stands there today, a place where the story of our planet is experienced as a physical journey through terrain, light and space,' says Kim Herforth Nielsen, founder, senior partner and creative director at 3XN.

The design addresses the museum as a destination and space for exhibits, but also as a significant civic landscape, 'shaped by the same forces of erosion that define the site’s two ecological systems,' the Yanzi Hill and the Pingshan River. Beyond the important conceptual grounding of the scheme, this also translates into physical space: the museum's entire roof is accessible as a public park and free for visitors to stroll in and enjoy.

Meanwhile, the curvy façade, clad in granite and lamella shingle-like elements, was chosen to resemble the appearance of a cliff, emerging from the water underneath this walkable rooftop park. Up there, five thematic zones span a variety of plant species, some rare and many native, tropical planting from the broader region, and species specifically featured in Chinese literature.

Parametric architectural programmes and advanced digital models checked against on-site scans for coordination with the existing topography were essential in developing this forward-thinking, complex design. This blend of technology and nature that the museum's process and final form represent also reflects Shenzhen's own journey - a city that experienced tremendous growth into becoming China's tech capital. It is now again evolving with projects such as this, shifting towards culture and nature.

'Shenzhen is one of the world’s most dynamic urban centres, but it is also a city of exceptional ecological richness, shaped by its mangroves, wetlands, mountains and coastal habitats. Shenzhen Natural History Museum responds to that dual character. Our role was to carry that ambition through from concept to delivery, ensuring that the museum’s flowing form, roofscape and public spaces make the city’s relationship with nature visible at every scale,' says David Stavros, senior design principal and former executive vice president for Asia at B+H Architects.

Wing Cen Yingyin, senior Landscape Designer at B+H Architects adds: 'Shenzhen is often understood through the speed of its urban growth, but its natural history is equally compelling. It is a city where mountains, rivers, wetlands and the South China Sea exist in close proximity to one of the world’s most dynamic urban environments. This is an important story to tell and from the beginning, we wanted the landscape to become part of the experience of the museum itself.'

'The roof park, arrival spaces and routes to the wetland extend the visitor journey beyond the galleries, inviting people to encounter planting, water, views and changing seasons as part of the museum’s story of nature.'

3xn.com

An abandoned theatre building in a historic Florentine district provided the raw material for this spectacular architect's home, a conversion now on the market through Savills for the first time since its completion. Discovered by architect Stefano Tozzi of AE5 Partners in 2015, the space was once the fly loft of a 19th-century theatre in Santo Spirito, retaining the original monumental masonry walls – as well as a spectacular brick arch – and some architectural elements that date back even earlier.

Explore this architect's home, now on the market

After acquiring the space, Tozzi undertook the long process of converting it into his own home. According to the agents, Savills, he was originally searching for a property with a city view, but his estate agent was insistent that he give this primarily top-lit space a look. Over a period of six years, Tozzi transformed the interior into a richly theatrical space, playing with the original form language, whilst also extending the sense of scale and drama.

After a spell of living there with his family, the yearning for a view has become too much, so the Fly Loft is on the open market for the first time. First impressions of the space are dominated by the impressive 13m height, with the central living area set beneath the brick arch, which in turn is mirrored by a ribbed timber form that serves as a divider on the lower level.

The new residence is arranged across three levels, with bedrooms and bathrooms given lofty perches high up in the eaves, and the kitchen and living area on the lowest. The central level houses a suspended glass-bottomed swimming pool, which allows light to filter down from the roof lights to the lower level.

No expense was spared on the materials and finishes. The three levels are connected by a winding teak staircase, which reaches through the original arch and its wooden counterpart to create dramatic, Piranesian imagery. Elsewhere you’ll find walnut, Calacatta marble and translucent polycarbonate panels that further filter the light and shadow.

The lower-level kitchen adjoins a dining niche, separated by freestanding custom cabinets. The primary bedroom suite not only has direct access to the pool but also its own private fitness area with a Turkish bath, while a vertical garden installation sees greenery cascade down the interior. In addition to guest rooms, there is also an independent annexe and a private parking garage, as well as a modest urban patio. A bar and cinema lounge are also located on the uppermost floor.

In all, the residence offers 600 sqm of accommodation, all meticulously finished and tucked away in one of the city’s most desirable areas.

Theatre conversion by Stefano Tozzi, Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy, €13.5m, Savills.com

In Kentish Town, the slightly sleepier side of Camden, a newly renovated Victorian residence artfully blends midcentury interiors with characterful, original period details. The clients, a designer and creative director working in film, had owned the building's upper maisonette for 14 years; when the lower flat became available, they saw the potential for a project.

Step inside this modern Victorian conversion

Working closely with Architecture for London (which also recently completed a Neo-Georgian Islington house), the couple converted the Victorian structure's two separate flats back into one. The transformation wasn’t intended to be a huge revelation, however; instead, it whispers.

‘The clients loved the Victorian character of the house, so we tried to retain and reuse as much of the existing fabric as we could,’ explains Sophie Armstrong, senior architect at Architecture for London. ‘Instead of choosing between old and new, we wanted the two to sit side by side comfortably. The house had been divided into two flats, so much of the work was undoing that and restoring the generosity of a single family home.’

The big focus of the project was for the client’s midcentury furniture to fit effortlessly into the space. The architecture firm completely reconfigured the space. The former maisonette’s kitchen, on the first floor, was converted into a laundry and shower room, while the second floor was reconfigured, including moving the stairway, to create a spacious main bedroom.

The roof was replaced with a new loft conversion, which allowed space for two additional bedrooms and a large bathroom. The ground floor opens up into a spacious Shaker-style kitchen and a generous living and dining room.

Says Armstrong, ‘The exposed timbers and large rooflight [in the kitchen] give a generous sense of height, and the metal-framed glazing, reclaimed brick and Portland stone lintels help it sit seamlessly against the existing house. The kitchen is at the heart of the plan, and the lowered snug beside it adds a cosy pocket of space.’

Achieving this result wasn’t as effortless as it seems, as the biggest challenge was converting the two flats back into one while the clients continued to live on site. There was also a planning challenge.

Armstrong tells Wallpaper*, ‘The house lies within a conservation area, so external alterations had to respond sensitively to the area and meet the council's requirements. Every visible change, from the rear extension to the lead-clad loft dormers, needed to sit naturally within the character of the Victorian terrace.’

The house feels unfussy and welcoming. ‘It's a home for a working, creative family, so it should feel relaxed, rather than precious,’ shares Armstrong. ‘Tactile materials like timber and marble bring warmth, and the light-filled kitchen at the centre of the plan draws people in. It should feel like a Victorian house that has been quietly and thoughtfully refined, rather than being completely transformed.’

architectureforlondon.com

Design lovers might already be familiar with the residence: Los Angeles architectural photographer Julius Shulman, famous for spreading California's midcentury architecture around the world, captured this particular unit in 1964.

Explore this Cerritos Circle property on the market

Today, the four-bedroom garden home is on the market for $1,450,000, offering the opportunity to own a piece of Long Beach’s modernist architectural history. Located on Del Mar Avenue in the Los Cerritos / Virginia Country Club neighbourhood of Long Beach, an area known for its historic homes, the property is one of the 42 post-and-beam residential units designed by Clifton Jones Jr in 1963.

Spanning 2,768 sq ft of living space, the residence is arranged over a single storey as two mirroring side-by-side apartments, each featuring two bedrooms with their own ensuite bathrooms. At the centre of each home is an open-plan kitchen. East-facing dining areas were designed to capture the morning light, while west-facing family rooms receive the afternoon sun. Lofty, 10ft ceilings, sliding doors and monumental glass walls create a sense of spaciousness throughout, with living spaces leading to an entry courtyard and a fenced patio at the back.

The Cerritos Circle was developed on land that previously belonged to the Jones family and had been used for racehorse training. Influenced by his academic background at the USC School of Architecture, where he studied under Edward Killingsworth and Calvin Straub, and inspired the Southern California’s Case Study House programme of experimental homes built between 1945 and 1966, Jones Jr was eager to put his education into practice. His transformation of the site into a residential development reflects the midcentury ambition to rethink the relationship between architecture and contemporary everyday life.

‘This particular unit is being sold by the family of the original architect and developer Clifton Jones Jr. They have held onto it as a rental property since it was built’, says Nate Cold of Modern Californian House, an estate agency dedicated to the preservation of great architecture and design. ‘The side by side units feel more like single family homes, which works well for an owner to live in one and rent the other.’

More than six decades after it was built, the simple structural forms, flexible open-plan layouts and indoor-outdoor harmony of the unit remain a compelling expression of modernist ideals – and a sought-after piece of California’s architectural heritage.

For Sale: Cerritos Circle Duplex, Clifton Jones Jr. (1963), 4175 / 4177 Del Mar Ave., Long Beach CA, $1,450,000, via Modern California House

Set in the leafy meadows of Sun Valley, Idaho, Three Barns is a new-build home in the American wilderness – a structure designed as much to provide cosy shelter as to nod to its striking, surrounding nature. The project is the first in the state by the California-based firm Field Architecture – a studio known for its high quality, crisp family homes and retreats, such as a Big Sur house completed in 2024.

Explore Three Barns by Field Architecture

The Sun Valley house was conceived as a complex of three gabled structures – forms that nod to the region's agricultural barns – which also lends the project its name. Surrounded by windy planes and undulating mountains, the architecture was always going to be influenced by nature's movement in the area, a part of the US wilderness that never stands still.

The architects explain: 'Mountain ranges rise in four directions, grasses bend with the prevailing winds, snow gathers and recedes with the seasons, and water moves across the hillside toward the Big Wood River below. Rather than level this terrain into a platform for the house, the architecture takes its cues from the land’s existing structure.

'Natural benches become places of occupation, drainage patterns remain legible, and the native meadow continues between and around the buildings. The house emerges from this reading of the site as a collection of inhabitable terraces, each held within the larger topography of the watershed.'

Each of the three barns is rotated to respond to its terrain and, as a result, has its own specific view, relationship to the valley and quality of light. But together, the three buildings form their own little mountain range – containing discrete areas for the bedrooms; the entertaining areas with the kitchen and dining space at their heart; and the entry sequence and main living room.

Meanwhile, 'circulation becomes an encounter with the land', the architects highlight, pointing out that when residents move between the volumes, glazed breezeways mean they experience stepping out into the open air and leafy meadows.

Inside, contemporary design meets the concept's robust nature, with all mods cons making this a true, four-season alpine landscape. The Three Barns' two large chimneys, built out of local stone, serve as marks, gently highlighting the Sun Valley home's presence.

fieldarchitecture.com

This grand house in Ahmedabad, India, was completed by architects FLXBL, led by Cunal Parmar, with a team overseen by Arivanandh Manirathinam. Covering some 18,000 sq ft, the house has been dubbed ‘Solidus’, as well as ‘Private Residence No. 09’, in the FLXBL portfolio.

Step inside this sculptural new house in Ahmedabad

From the exterior, Solidus presents itself as an appropriately monolithic form, with shuttered concrete exterior walls that incorporate slots, openings and setbacks to shape the volumes and alignments of the interior accommodation. According to the architects, ‘the project is based on a single architectural operation: the progressive subtraction of a monolithic volume’.

As a result of this approach, the single block is struck through with different voids, from the courtyard at basement level to covered verandas on the ground floor and balconies and terraces on the two floors above. ‘The subtraction produces a sequence of edge voids, planted terraces, elevated gardens and light wells through which landscape, daylight and natural ventilation enter the built volume,’ say the FLXBL team.

Careful management of the planting brings vegetation into every level, a ‘connected landscape system across multiple levels’. The studio has taken care to stick with indigenous species and has incorporated rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling and automated drip irrigation into the design to sustain and nurture the landscaping as it matures.

Plants also play a key role in providing solar shading and creating a microclimate to mitigate Ahmedabad’s intense heat. The scheme encourages greenery to become enmeshed with the house itself, while the interior scheme also allows plenty of space for large interior plants. ‘Framed views, planted edges, shaded terraces and seasonal growth allow the landscape to remain part of everyday occupation rather than a separate layer surrounding the building,’ the team say.

FLXBL not only undertook the architectural design but also the interior, the furnishings and the landscaping. Key modern pieces are given prominent placement in the generous interiors, while spaces like the basement home theatre and the many reception areas offer plenty of opportunity for collection and display.

The ground floor is dominated by the central great room, with a kitchen, veranda, utility spaces and two ensuite bedrooms are also located at this level. On the first floor, a more private lounge has direct access onto a balcony, flanked by a study area and three more bedrooms, one of which has its own private terrace. The second floor is mostly given over to a generous common terrace, along with a lounge, private terrace and service terrace.

Interior features include stone floors, bespoke fabric wall coverings and carpets. The primary staircase rises alongside a brick spine wall, providing a warm central focus in the heart of the house, contrasting with the vegetation that encroaches on the openings in the solid form.

FLXBL.in

These two Croatian houses represent the concise architectural approaches of the two partners of Zagreb firm Njirić+ arhitekti. Founding partner Hrvoje Njirić set up the studio in 2001 and was subsequently joined by Iskra Filipović. Both have recently completed their own residences, with each one set on a very different site and therefore representing the firm’s varied typological and theoretical approach.

Double-Villa Bukovac: a Croatian house that redraws suburban rules

Hrvoje Njirić’s Double-Villa Bukovac was shortlisted for this year’s EU Mies Awards. Described by the architects as a ‘dialogue with Zagreb’s Urban Master Plan,’ it is in fact more of a critique.

Deliberately shaped to diverge from the many rules and regulations set out in the city’s General Urban Development Plan of the City of Zagreb, Njirić calls the house a ‘vision of reimagining the green foothills of Zagreb for a lower-density residential typology.' In summary, the architects state that they favour 'smaller volumes, lower structures, a gentler footprint and larger plots with a minimum area of 1200 sqm.’

In a way, this is an argument for preserving the city’s suburban character, using idiosyncratic and decidedly non-suburban forms, to provide something of a ‘case study that proposes a new form of urban decency for the city.’ The house actually contains two attached dwellings, deliberately undercutting the allowable maximum built space (600 sqm for a 1,200 sqm lot) in favour of a total of 180 sqm.

The Double-Villa Bukovac also goes out, rather than up, with a linear plan designed for multigenerational living arrangement consisting of a single structure spanning two adjacent lots. The public-facing street façade on the northwest is close to the road, maximizing the amount of available open space behind the houses.

In public, the houses present an austere façade of perforated brick, whilst the private rear to the southeast is glazed, open and shared, with views towards the city.

Double-Villa Bukovac embodies myriad architectural influences, old and new, from Palladio (who inspired the two components’ ‘disciplined symmetry’) to the Eames House and Studio. Even Thomas Jefferson’s work at the University of Virginia gets a nod for influencing ‘the relationship to the terrain and the classical rhythm of the façades,’ while a slightly more contemporary source was the American Case Study House programme.

All of these and more can be detected in the twin mirrored structured, with materiality that becomes lighter further up the structure, a love of unconventional materials (those bricks, the use of cable tray mesh on the façade, billowing ribbons of curtains) and a subterranean garage that also serves as a private art gallery and ‘party venue’. The orientation of the glazed façade minimizes winter energy demands, while passive shading comes into play in the summer.

Zagreb House Extension: A vertically extended city house

In contrast, Iskra Filipović’s residence at 140 Petrova Street reuses an original structure and adds a layer of new accommodation. A rejoinder to Zagreb’s current wave of redevelopments, Petrova 140 ‘was conceived as a way of creating additional living space while retaining and working with as much of the existing structure as possible.’

The prominent site sits on traditionally residential street that has been substantially redeveloped in recent years. By adding a new, distinct volume with twin sawtooth roofs, the architects have opted to preserve the area’s original character, along with its mature trees, as a way of supplementing and not erasing an established identity.

For that reason, contrast and contradiction are brought into play. The metal-clad addition is clearly distinct from the building below, yet in scale and use it remains consistently domestic – ‘different architectural languages sharing the same address,’ according to the studio.

The new addition is made of lightweight prefabricated steel structure to avoid adding any additional stress on the original building. It was also cheaper and quicker to build, qualities that the architects have decided to emphasise and not conceal.

Inside, there’s a welcome uplift to the character of the room thanks to the high-pitched ceilings, while new openings were aligned to predefined views and light paths to ensure daylight reached into the heart of the apartment.

Just as the Double-Villa Bukovac challenges the accepted way of building new houses in the suburban context, Petrova 140 is a riposte to unthinking redevelopment. Construction cost and cultural memory are both given equal play, adding another layer to the changing life of the city.

Njiric.com

Villa Pieds Dans L'Eau is a waterside property on the small Corsican island of Cavallo, located in the Strait of Bonifacio. Designed by the architect Savin Couëlle (1929 – 2020), it was constructed over a four-year period in the 1970s, as Corsica and Sardinia became favoured Mediterranean destinations for France and Italy’s smart set.

Tour Savin Couëlle’s organic villa, Villa Pieds Dans L'Eau

Couëlle was the son of architect Jacques Couëlle, who also built in the region, most notably the Cala di Volpe hotel in Sardinia, familiar to cinema fans of the era as a location in the 1977 Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. Cavallo also found favour as a cinematic backdrop. It was the location for Marco Ferreri’s 1972 melodrama Liza, starring Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni.

On Cavallo, Couëlle had to contend with strict building codes, that included a 4.5m restriction on height and naturalistic planting that screened new buildings from the sea. Taking the landscape as his cue, Couëlle integrated the villa directly into the coastline, incorporating granite outcrops into the design, carving steps directly into the rock and creating a naturalistic series of curved roofs and cave-like openings to frame the sea view.

For sale through Lionard Luxury Real Estate, the villa sprawls for 700 sqm along the sea front, set within a private coastal park of 4,700sqm. All that space has been designed for sharing, with a total of no less than 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, as well as additional staff accommodation, an independent guest house and dock. There’s also a private white sandy beach, offering the direct sea access that gives the house its name.

In keeping with Cavallo’s rules, the house is almost completely invisible from the sea, with monumental masonry carefully spliced between the existing granite rocks. Arranged across multiple level changes, with existing and new planting arranged naturalistically across the site, it offers the new owner an organic and immersive place in nature.

The main living area is dominated by a large chunk of granite, into which the house’s central staircase has been painstakingly carved, as well as a sculptural fireplace. Rough white lime plaster rendered walls twist and turn as they sprout from the tiled floors and rocky surfaces, framing views within and without the space. All windows are bespoke, shaped according to Couëlle’s principles of organic architecture.

The accommodation includes a number of self-contained suites as well as a fully equipped professional kitchen. Shaded sun decks and covered verandas are scattered around the complex, with ever-present sea views and an unrivalled sense of privacy and seclusion.

Pieds Dans L'eau Villa, Cavallo Island, Corsica, €18m through Lionard Luxury Real Estate, Lionard.com

Guadalajara modernism might not get as much airtime as other regional examples of the International Style, but it remains a fascinating case of its genre. Yes - the capital of Mexico's Jalisco State was a major playground for forward-thinking, experimental 20th-century architecture.

The fascinating case of Guadalajara modernism

Modernist architecture found fertile ground to grow in the North American country, and Guadalajara, specifically, is a captivating chapter in the movement's evolution here. Louis Barragán, who was born in the city, is a key proponent, joining many peers who worked on modernist and brutalist architecture across the city and the wider state of Jalisco. Meanwhile, the region's movement influences creatives to this day, such as Laura Barba and Luis Aurelio of Barbapiña Arquitectos, one of the leading emerging Mexican architecture studios.

Louis Barragán and Tapatía Architecture School

During the 1920s and 1930s, four local architects and civil engineers, including Luis Barragán, Ignacio Díaz Morales, Pedro Castellanos Lambley and Rafael Urzúa, formed Escuela Tapatía de Arquitectura (Tapatía Architecture School) in Guadalajara. The four embraced a contextual approach to architecture, connecting modern influences with the vernacular tradition of Jalisco State.

The most well-known among them, the legendary modernist Barragán, was born in Guadalajara in 1902. After travelling in Europe during the 1920s, he settled back in the city and began the first phase of his famed architectural career, a period that lasted until 1936, when he moved to the capital of Mexico City. During his time in Guadalajara, Barragán’s work was strongly influenced by Spanish colonial architecture.

His work there comprises more than a dozen private homes in the Colonia Americana district, an area now situated near the city centre but once a semi-rural suburb where Barragán’s houses were surrounded by farmland and pastures. In these projects, the architect drew on colonial traditions and Art Deco, blending them with his signature sensibility for colour and light; this formed the beginnings of the colourful minimalism he later became known for.

Notable examples of this period include Casa González Luna (1928) and Casa Cristo (built a year later), where Barragán combined simplicity with arcade shapes and bold plaster colours, featuring shades of yellow and red. By the early 1930s, Barragán was moving away from his colonial influences, with designs drawing significantly closer to the avant-garde, functionalist architecture of his era.

In 1934, for instance, he designed the stark white home and studio of the renowned painter José Clemente Orozco, as well as a house for Emiliano Robles León just around the corner. Although Barragán’s early work remains relatively little-known, it was in Guadalajara that the distinctive profile of one of the 20th century’s most important architects began to take shape.

Architect Pedro Castellanos Lambley was also an influential representative of the early stages of Guadalajara modernism. Born into a wealthy family, Lambley studied engineering and became one of the founding fathers of the Tapatía Architecture School. Casa Quiñones, designed in 1930, is considered the first modernist house in the city, blending international Art Deco influences and Streamline Moderne with a distinct regional twist. In 1938, Lambley stepped away from secular architecture and joined the Franciscan Order, becoming ordained as a priest in 1940.

Another cultural synthesis of modern and vernacular styles is a series of 57 murals in the city, painted by famous artist José Clemente Orozco in 1938. Located inside one of the oldest and largest former orphanage and hospital complexes in the Americas, Hospicio Cabañas (now the Instituto Cultural Cabañas) is a complex built during the first half of the 19th century. With its neo-classical architecture and stunning courtyards, the campus is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Guadalajara Bauhaus and artistic monuments

In 1948, Ignacio Díaz Morales founded the architecture department at the ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (now part of CUAAD at the University of Guadalajara). Based on the ideas of the Bauhaus and other avant-garde educational establishments of its time, this architecture department invited many young architects to teach. Among them were German and Austrian exiles, such as Mathias Goeritz and Erich Coufal.

German-born architect and sculptor Goeritz became famous in Mexico City in the 1950s, designing public sculptures and frequently collaborating with Barragán and others. In addition to his teaching activities based on a Bauhaus-inspired curriculum at the newly founded Escuela de Arquitectura of the University of Guadalajara, he also designed El pájaro de fuego (The Fire Bird). This large-scale, exposed-painted-concrete sculpture was created in 1957 for the city's Jardines del Bosque development. Since then, many interesting sculptural monuments were built in Guadalajara. Often placed in parks or in the centres of roundabouts, these sculptures became signature symbols of the city.

One of the most influential designers of these monuments was the architect and sculptor Fernando González Cortazár. After studying architecture in Guadalajara, González Cortazár studied Aesthetics with Pierre Francastel at the Superior School of Art and Archaeology, and the Sociology of Art with Jean Cassou at the Collège de France, both in Paris. After returning to Guadalajara, he designed several notable urban interventions, including La Gran Puerta, built in 1969. This yellow-painted gate is a symbolic entrance to the city.

Two Brutalists

After the Second World War, Guadalajara went through a period of rapid urban development, which led to the creation of many new public spaces. Particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, architecture in Guadalajara was thriving, embracing the signature style of modernist and brutalist architecture and their bold geometric forms.

One of the most significant architects of that era is definitely Félix Aceves Ortega. Aceves Ortega, who is currently 83 years old, built a handful of important brutalist structures around the city, including multipurpose commercial buildings, administration complexes, apartment buildings and private houses. His bold geometries highlight the sculptural qualities of exposed concrete. Casa Robot (Casa Vargas) or Edificio Vasarely, both designed at the end of the 1970s, use primary geometric shapes, such as circles and rhombuses, to form striking facades. His Edificio Luviano, built in 1978, was recently restored to its former glory.

Alejandro Zohn Rosenthal's work shares some similarities with Aceves Ortega's style. Zohn Rosenthal, who was Jewish, was born in Vienna and fled to Mexico with his family in 1939. He studied both engineering and architecture, graduating in 1955 in Guadalajara. His degree included a thesis on a market design, titled Mercado Libertad, a project he eventually realised as one of his first completions, built between 1953 and 1958.

Besides teaching at the University of Guadalajara, Zohn Rosenthal co-founded Arquitac (Arquitectura, Asociación Civil) in 1961 and later conducted extensive research on affordable housing solutions across various cities in Mexico. Some of his striking designs in reinforced concrete include the mixed-use building Edificio Mulbar, completed in 1974. Here, a shopping gallery is located under garages with a perforated concrete skin. One of Zohn Rosenthal's later works is Archivo del Estado de Jalisco, which opened in 1989. It features dramatic stacks of vertical concrete volumes.

Like Barragán and his contemporaries decades earlier, Aceves Ortega and Zohn Rosenthal created an original local version of modernism in Guadalajara that is no less interesting than the more famous projects of the same period in Mexico City.

Across three timber-swathed storeys, this family house in Belgium takes the classic domestic archetype and subverts it through a rigorous, stripped back geometry. Inspired by the classic parlour game of constructing pitched-roof houses from a pack of cards, the structure has steeply raked roofs that fold seamlessly into detail-free façades, with meticulously aligned slim timber cladding creating uniformity and simplicity.

The house itself was built on existing foundations in a neighbourhood where zoning restrictions constrained the volume and height of the building. Vantieghem Talebi, the practice responsible for the new design, created a form that evoked historic beach houses in the neighbourhood, maximising the available envelope on the original foundations with a cruciform shaped structure that informed the position and height of the structural bays.

The project makes extensive use of prefabricated CLT (cross laminated timber) panels, which were assembled on site in a matter of days. Each of the house’s four bays houses a room with a ceiling that reaches up into the eaves. Described by the architects as ‘pitched chapels’, the interiors feature timber cladding on the walls and timber flooring throughout, while the living areas on the floor below have white walls and timber flooring.

In the basement level, there is poured concrete and rendered walls, creating a distinct progression as one ascends through the house. The façade and roof use the same chemically seasoned Douglas-fir battens, all pre-made to avoid screws or nails from intruding on the simple aesthetic, with concealed gutters and drainage also preserving the house’s lines.

Thanks to the structural panel construction, the 265 sqm interior is free of columns and other visible structural elements. The suspended main staircase, which appears to float just about the floor level, hangs from the timber first floor. Window openings are free of glazing bars whilst other minimal touches include the glass banister that surrounds the stair to the lower floor. The surrounding landscape was restored, while concrete incisions create slots for access and parking.

Based in Venice Beach, California and Basel, Switzerland, Vantieghem Talebi consists of Paul Vantieghem and Raha Talebi. Vantieghem previously worked with Stéphane Beel Architects and Herzog & de Meuron, where he was involved with the Tate Modern Extension in London. Talebi also worked with H&deM, on projects like Hong Kong’s M+ Museum and Powerhouse Arts in New York, as well as at FOA in London.

VantieghemTalebi.com, @vantieghem_talebi

Desert Dreaming is the perfect book to chase those autumn blues away, as part of the world, at least, is heading fast towards colder weather and shorter days. Authored by writer and regular Wallpaper* contributor Jessica Ritz, this new title for publisher Gibbs Smith zooms into the desert architecture of North America and the often-minimalist styles of living, and building, in arid landscapes.

Explore the homes in 'Desert Dreaming'

The new book, full title Desert Dreaming: Design in the Southwest and Beyond, offers a thorough look into residential architecture in the challenging, hot climates and barren landscapes of the US deserts. Tracking the country's four corresponding key territories - the Chihuahuan, Mojave, Sonoran and Great Basin regions - the book spans from homes in the popular style of desert modernism to the equally appealing vernaculars in adobe and earth-building techniques.

The book is a fascinating journey across time and territory, discussing challenges and opportunities the desert environment brings - and how architects and builders' ingenious solutions not only overcame them, but produced results that fascinate and command our attention to this day.

'Desert dwellers are a unique bunch. Indigenous populations, settlers, subsequent native-born denizens, transplants, and seekers - who run the gamut from exploitatively opportunistic to earnestly enlightened - are made of hardy stuff. Tough realities can quickly dispel any romanticized ideals. It takes a certain constitution to be lured by the punishing realities of parched ecosystems where what sustains all life forms is extra precious,' writes Ritz in the book's introductory essay.

Featured projects include striking schemes by architects that often grace our pages too - from Wallpaper* Best Use of Material 2026 winners DUST and their New Mexico house Sombra de Santa Fe, to the origami shapes of OPA's Shapeshifter House in Nevada and an elegantly austere Arizona home by architecture studio A-I-R.

'Nature is the best designer,' Ritz concludes in her opening essay. 'Even the most confident architects concede this basic point and extract its lessons. Compelling tensions arise when human beings make their mark on a tabula rasa that comes with significant constraints.'

'From millennia-old adobe building traditions to sleek, innovative modernism and recent experiments that land somewhere in between the poles on this spectrum, desert-based design best evolves in tandem with people and places - whether at high or low elevation, in a coastal or rain shadow area. And, much like the residents themselves, its buildings and interiors are startlingly diverse.'

'Desert Dreaming: Design in the Southwest and Beyond', Jessica Ritz, Gibbs Smith, $50

simonandschuster.com

An art deco envelope has been transformed into a minimalist London workspace, courtesy of architecture practice SODA (Studio of Design & Architecture). The scheme, titled Elsley House and located in a 1920s building on Great Titchfield Street in London's West End, was designed not only to create a functional, 21st-century office for the client, Great Portland Estates (GPE), but also to produce an interior that exudes the warmth of the 'family hearth', the architects explain.

Explore Elsley House, a new London workspace by SODA

This idea of introducing the 'hearth' as the conceptual core of the design is not arbitrary – nor simply adhering to modern trends that bring a sense of hospitality into the London workspace. The building is named after Thomas Elsley, a local metalwork fabricator from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His craftsmanship and tiles often adorn fireplaces – inspiring the building's connection to the 'hearth'.

Today's equivalent, here, becomes the office tea point, which SODA places at the centre of its design. Around it, an elegant, solid-surface kitchen and communal seating arranged around blue-stained timber tables form the space's social heart. Soft bolster cushions juxtaposed with hard-edged frames complete the composition.

This London workspace is, as a result of this approach, conceived as a contemporary, pared-down interior featuring calming colours and a natural material palette. Crittall banding is matched by bespoke furnishings and details, from storage and shelving to rugs – making working here a thoroughly tailored experience.

'Everything was centred around the notion of the hearth, a primaeval concept predating building, where people gathered for warmth and protection and where storytelling and conversation evolved. Thomas Elsley provided the historical grounding for us; his understanding of a room and the need for a focal point to draw people in. Working with GPE, we had a real opportunity to translate these ideas into a contemporary workplace and to do it in a way that is rooted in the history of this building and the wider context of the area,' says Evelyn Sung, architect at SODA.

A basement gym, complete with a yoga room wrapped in a warm Maharam curtain in orangey-peach colour, and an outdoor courtyard featuring patterned tiles, soft furnishings and lots of planting, ensure wellness is also central in this modern office project – with the art deco geometry of the building's façade echoed in the patterns across surfaces throughout.

sodastudio.co.uk

A new West London extension is a contemporary showcase of how to make the most of a boutique footprint and modest budget. Ealing Return, a new residential design by specialist experts Kitchen Bee and Brown Urbanism, a Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024 alumnus, is situated in West Ealing. The team – Brown has award-winning work such as Triangle House under his belt – worked in harmony to craft a rear addition to an existing period property in order to expand the family home's kitchen and dining area towards the garden.

Explore a west London extension with Ealing Return

The ground floor project also included the full refurbishment of the terraced house to provide an open-plan lounge, kitchen and dining space for the users – a family of three. The new-build element replaced a pre-existing lean-to rear extension that had become unfit for purpose, allowing only space for a galley kitchen layout with poor light.

Brown and Kitchen Bee's Mioko Fujisaki recall: 'The client appointed Kitchen Bee Design Ltd to consider options for improving the kitchen layout. It became clear that a replacement ground floor extension would unlock the ground floor layout – at which point Kitchen Bee invited their collaborator architect Brown Urbanism to work with the client to consider how to arrange a new extension to provide the additional requirements.'

The aim? 'More light and openness across the ground floor; better flow from the front to the back of the house; additional utility space for a washing machine and dryer; a larger, more efficient kitchen; the addition of a ground-floor guest WC; a built-in seating area and dining room; more space to spend time with friends and family; lots of storage yet feeling spacious,' explains the team.

Kitchen manufacturer Armony Cucine took on the build.

'Our approach was to provide great light, volume and storage without sterility. We wanted to create an opportunity for a subtle and distinctive character internally,' says Brown.

'We considered around 7-8 iterative options which tested the idea of various walk-in utility rooms that would divide the ground floor plan into distinct segments - the chosen option favoured the double route approach which carefully divides the lounge and kitchen/dining spaces via two mirrored arched openings that allow light and views from the front to the back of the house, maximising the sense of volume whilst retaining a sense of enclosure to the cosier living space.'

He continues: 'Mioko and Lucy from Kitchen Bee provided all the required utility room functions within a bank of tall units within the kitchen itself. We designed the pitched side infill section with exposed painted rafters spanning below the roof lights, creating a continuous rhythm along the ceiling whilst subtly dappling the direct sunlight.'

brownurbanism.com

kitchenbeedesign.com

The late American architect Rick Mather (1937-2013) called London home for many decades. This new monograph about his life and work charts his path towards designing some of the UK’s most significant cultural projects, although since his death his profile has remained determinedly more low-key than many of his surviving contemporaries.

Born in Portland, Mather came to the UK in 1963, working first at the firm of Lyons Israel Ellis. One of the more successful exponents of Brutalism, LIE had an impressive roster of alumni, including James Stirling, James Gowan, Alan Colquhoun, John Miller; Neave Brown and Richard MacCormac, all of whom, like Mather, went on to set up era-defining modernist-infused practices.

Mather’s own firm was started in 1973, after a hitherto little-known spell toiling in Southwark's architecture department, back in the days when councils had such a thing in house. He also worked for the Architectural Association in Bedford Square, becoming close with the organisation’s radical and influential coterie of young architects. Early projects included bookshops, homes and refurbishment works to the AA itself, along with unpublished schemes for Heaven nightclub in Charing Cross.

Mather’s commitment to modernist aesthetics was rarely tempered, but his projects were never oversized and grandiose. Instead, he worked on a succession of discretely luxurious private houses, including his own reworked Georgian townhouse in Camden with its spectacular roof garden (a lifelong passion) and the multiple award-winning Priory in Hampstead, a grand modern dwelling in the spirit of the area’s 1930s modernist villas.

In some respects, Mather’s white-walled ascetism seemed to align perfectly with the vogue for minimalism that permeated the retail and residential heart of upscale 80s and 90s London. His love of Le Corbusier’s sculptural idiosyncrasies was always in play, as were experiments in structural glass, but it was the careful and bravura fusion of the old and the new that gave his studio its most significant commissions.

Three major London works – the glass courtyards in the Wallace Collection and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and the new quadrangle at Dulwich Picture Gallery – were all completed between 1999 and 2000, cementing a well-deserved reputation for sympathetic but dynamic updates.

Other major projects include the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, the updated Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and Now and Zen, a cultish Covent Garden restaurant with a ‘dragon’ waterfall made from a cascade of glass bowls – somewhere that would have been perfectly at home in the Instagram era.

Written by the experienced architectural journalist and critic Kester Rattenbury, Rick Mather: The Complete Works is richly illustrated – Mather loved architectural draughtsmanship - and also evokes the spirit and atmosphere of 80s and 90s UK architecture culture.

Rick Mather: The Complete Works, Kester Rattenbury, Lund Humphries, £60, LundHumphries.com, RickMather.com