
Black Rock
Mus Architects
Bielsko-Biała, Poland
This family home was designed to emulate the irregularities of a natural rock formation. Externally cutting at multiple angles, Black Rock sits on an eastern and southern declining slope on the outskirts of Bielsko-Biała. The ground level floor plan flows with the natural terrain, and so the entrance spaces (including a double garage) are connected to the living, kitchen and dining rooms by a vestibule. Upstairs, the home’s private spaces overlook views to the south, and have access to a loggia via floor-to-ceiling window doors.
Photography: Tomas Zakrzewski. Writer: Luke Halls

Black Rock
Mus Architects
Bielsko-Biała, Poland
The building’s exterior walls and multi-slanted roof are uniformly finished in fiber-cement Cembrit Quadra tiles. The inward-reaching niches at the loggia and ground floor communal spaces are made from larch wood panels, and direct sunlight and sprawling views inwards. The entrance is similarly withdrawn, accessed via an arcade opposite the driveway.
Photography: Tomas Zakrzewski. Writer: Luke Halls

Groundwater Pumping Station
Architekten
Hard, Austria
A new groundwater pumping station by Architekten has opened in the Austrian town of Hard. The cubic construct has a floor plan of 450 sq m, and houses the technical utilities and tanks used to prepare water for the city of Bregenz, as well as proximate towns Lauterach and Wolfurt. The three doors are made from dark blue enamel-coated metal sheets. From a distance, they seemingly disappear into the concrete exterior; yet subtly shimmer like the surface of water up close.
Photography: Adolf Bereuter. Writer: Luke Halls

Groundwater Pumping Station
Architekten
Hard, Austria
The station is finished in washed-out black concrete. It monochromatically contrasts a nearby late-16th century moated castle, Mittelweiherburg, which today hosts textiles and printing exhibitions. Since opening, a public space now sits between the two sites, which features a fresh water fountain and concrete blocks to rest on.
Photography: Adolf Bereuter. Writer: Luke Halls

Stacked Cabin
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Muscoda, USA
Set at the far corner of a forested clearing, Johnsen Schmaling Architects designed this woodland retreat to recede into its natural setting, using a palette of exposed concrete, black cedar, anodised metal and plaster. The home’s facilities are found on the ground floor (including a workshop and storage rooms), whilst living, dining and kitchen areas share space above with the bedrooms. An elevated study space occupies the third level, overlooking the surrounding treetops. Additionally, yellow curtains can be extended around the communal space, offering privacy for bedrooms or separating the kitchen when not in use.
As originally featured in Black: Architecture in Monochrome, published by Phaidon. Photography: Johnsen Schmaling Architects/John J.Macaulay

Casa Bruma
Fernanda Canales
Mexico
Due to a difficult plot shape, Fernanda Canales needed a new design strategy following preliminary meetings with the client behind Casa Bruma. Designed as a series of small boxes/pavilions, Canales and former fellow student Claudia Rodríguez drew up the plans for the property physically, setting out the pavilions at full scale on the ground using bits of wood.
Photography: Rafael Camo