Modern House by David Coleman
From the street, this home by architect David Coleman appears as a straightforward stack of modern, white boxes. Moving past the cinder block privacy wall, however, a sense of complexity unfolds. The most prominent feature upon entering the front courtyard is the massive polycarbonate wall that reveals the inner structure of the home’s walls. It produces a lantern-like effect at night and allows the home to rely almost solely on natural daylight. The roof of the home is sloped toward the back of the site, following the terraced landscape. Large sliding doors dominate the side of the house that faces the yard, creating connection between interior and exterior. On his website, Coleman says, “The material palette has been minimized to focus attention on the spatial experience.”
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Dancing Living House by Junichi Sampei
Designing and building a new house on the urban outskirts of Tokyo is a daunting task, and the owners of the Dancing and Living House proposed an especially difficult project to Japanese architect Junichi Sampei. They requested that a full dance studio be incorporated into the design of their home. From the exterior, passing pedestrians are provided with little indication of the house’s interior content. An imposing white cube floats above a covered parking spot, with a lone window in the uppermost corner providing the only fenestration. Upon entering however, a unique juxtaposition is revealed. One level above the street, a single open room houses the kitchen, dining area, living area, and dance studio. Furniture is repositionable depending upon room usage, and the requisite floor to ceiling mirrors of the dance studio serve to visually enlarge the space. A level above the studio houses bedrooms, which incorporate large windows and skylights paired with glass floor panels to bring light down into the lower levels. A stark white color scheme also helps to keep the interior bright and open.
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The Wolfback Ridge FlatPak House
Architect Charlie Lazor has been at the forefront of prefabricated architecture in recent years with his creation of the FlatPak system. Designs are based on eight foot wide, one story tall wall panels, and size and configuration are otherwise limited only by the imagination and budget of the client. Lazor also created a series of kitchen and bath components and storage solutions that integrate directly into the system. The Wolfback FlatPak house was recently completed in Sausalito, California. At 4200 square feet, it is a particularly large example of a FlatPak home, complete with five bedrooms and a view of the San Francisco Bay. Like most homes created with Lazor’s system, the Wolfback house is dictated by relative linearity. Exterior walls are mostly glass, with dark wood siding separating the first and second floor. Inside, spaces are expansive and undivided. The first floor employs a black, polished concrete floor to minimize the inevitable maintenance that comes with the large sliding glass doors that open the interior to the environment. Elsewhere, a material palette of wood and stone reflects the home’s natural surroundings.
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Ikea 50-Year Exhibition
IKEA has opened a showcase of its designs in Stockholm, giving consumers a glimpse of the company’s past. Exhibits vary from the first flat-pack table of the 1950’s to the latest designs found in stores. Aside from showcasing products, the exhibit’s curator Steffan Bengtsson says that IKEA hopes to reveal “how we live our lives.” Much of the older furniture in the exhibit is being loaned to the museum by its current owners.
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Cascade House by Paul Raff Studio
Located in Toronto’s Forest Hill, the Cascade House by Paul Raff Studio is a dramatic departure from the surrounding built environment. The home’s straight-edged façade, composed of black slate and glass, was designed to reflect the owners’ love of modern art and allow copious daylight to flood the interior. The 3500 square foot home is spread over three levels, the lowest of which is partially sunken into the earth. In addition to designing in accordance with the owners’ modern preferences, the architects also emphasized energy efficiency as a foremost issue. Consequently, several basic but effective design strategies are incorporated into the design. For instance, the slate that adorns the exterior is carried into the interior on both floors and a central “spine.” During Toronto’s cold winter months, sunlight enters through the large windows during the day and is absorbed by the slate, effectively warming the house through the night. During summer months, automated shades and passive ventilation keep the home naturally cool. Despite its aesthetic departure from tradition, the Cascade house employs environmentally conscious design principles that can be adapted to any home.
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Concrete Modern Home by AFGH
Rising dramatically from a hillside in Switzerland, this monolithic concrete home was designed by the German firm of Andreas Fuhrimann and Gabrielle Hächler. The home serves as the vacation residence of an art gallery owner, and its austere concrete construction creates a gallery-like atmosphere in the home’s interior. The use of concrete transitions seamlessly from exterior to interior, where floors, ceilings, and walls are all formed by the material. Niches, benches, and shelving were incorporated into the concrete formwork to create integrated custom elements. In keeping with the gallery theme, furnishings are sparse and sculptural. The interior also features unfinished plywood accents to offset the use of concrete. The overall form is a slightly skewed cube, with interior volumes extruded from the façade. The architects chose concrete as a modern interpretation of the traditional architectural vernacular surrounding the home, which consists primarily of historic stone homes. Fuhrimann and Hächler tout their design as a modern reflection of the past.
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Lot 23 House by Juan Esteban Correa
A Colombian couple living abroad (in Spain) for many years decided to come back to the country to have a place to spend weekend and holidays with the family, a long established tradition among Colombians. Architect Juan Esteban Correa was responsible in helping them find the right place for their holiday house on a well inhabited and secure site with specific natural conditions like warm weather, nice views, not flat, among other. It was his mission to design a house for them and the kids with a modern, contemporary look that could remind them of their life in Europe and that could preserve that actual look. Defined by stylish intersections, pure volumes with character and a stunning scenery, the house’s exterior got beautiful wooden accents and a pool with a deck to enjoy the dry warm weather.
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LoftCube
The LoftCube is a simple prefabricated structure that proposes the reclamation of rooftop space in space-starved metropolitan areas. Assembled offsite and delivered by crane, the LoftCube is a refreshingly simple proposal. Inspired by traditional Japanese architecture, it is a compact but comprehensive package that strives to remain as open as possible, using translucent sliding panels in lieu of standard walls. Windows on all sides of the structure mean that occupants will inevitably enjoy the prime views that the highest level of a building affords.
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Ben Rose Home by A. James Speyer and David Haid
In Highland Park, Illinois, the 5300 square foot Ben Rose Home was recently placed on the market for $2.3 million. Its most notable feature does not lie in its design, however. Instead, it is most recognized for its role in the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It is a striking steel framed, glass-walled mid century structure overlooking a ravine where ‘Cameron’ famously kicks his father’s Ferrari through a pane of glass to the ground below. The home was designed in tandem by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid, and manages to maintain a modern aesthetic. Prospective buyers stand to gain both a luxurious modern home and a piece of cinematic history.
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The Moon Chair by Mike To
Mike To, of Hong Kong-based Objects Design Group, recently released The Moon Chair. While “moon chair” has come to describe any number of semi-spherical seating designs, To’s design sets itself apart. It exudes an air of solidity, and appears to be carved from a solid block of stone. Finishes options include high gloss gray or bronze.
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