This small garden pavilion, created by British architect Scott Kyson as a playhouse for his children, is covered in sheets of smoked glass and lined in lengths of charred larch. Read more
From the architect. The house to be extended, a very small rural stone building, formerly inhabited by a family of 11 members, fits into the rough terrain of a large plot of land in Melgaço, in the interior of Minho, in Northern Portugal.
The powerful landscape and the character of the existing ruin suggested an extension to the house like a timeless construction, with no defined boundaries, but limited by the local materials.
The extension to the house, which accommodates the lounge and three bedrooms, is an underground body which lets in natural light through the opening of a courtyard to the east, cut out from the land, and the west extension of the original façade: a granite wall made of stones from another local building since demolished.
The small house contains the dining and cooking areas on two floors, connected by an interior staircase against the north façade.
To complete domestic life, three small bodies are built which are independent of the main construction in terms of volume:
To the east, a concrete canopy for car parking and protection and to store firewood, and a glazed body for a small kitchen garden, and to the west a swimming pool, enclosed by a dressed stone wall to accommodate the tank.
The house has two distinct sides in shape and function:
To the east, the organic arrangement of the bodies and walls built into the terrain, and their routine function, confer a homely informality on the construction.
To the west, the relationship between the façades and the swimming pool tank creates an organic setting which eludes the period of each building and stabilises the relationship between the house and the landscape.
Dezeen has partnered with Taschen to give readers the chance to win a copy of Modernism Rediscovered, which features images of buildings from the USA’s mid-century modern movement taken by late photographer Julius Shulman. Read more
Penda has set this auditorium for a Beijing art museum inside a wooden box, which features arched openings, and mirrors that reflect endless iterations of its curved cutaways. Read more
Cedar, concrete and stucco were among the materials used to construct this spacious Texas dwelling by American studio Matt Fajkus Architecture. Read more
The global influence of the annual Serpentine Pavilion commission makes the Serpentine Galleries the most important institution to architects and designers, according to the first ever Dezeen Hot List. Read more
Leaders of the American Institute of Architects have issued an apology after their statement supporting President-elect Donald Trump caused outrage across its community. Read more
Donald Trump’s lack of infrastructure plans for America is debated in this week’s comments update, as readers react to the surprise result of the US presidential election. Read more
Forest Temple is a result of the Constructive Shamanism workshop in Lithuania, 2016. A multi-disciplinary tribe of artists, artisans, architects, writers, photographers, yogis and children of forest gathered in the ancient lands of Vytautas V Landsbergis to perform architectural rituals connecting the modern man with nature.
Living in tents and teepees and eating from the nature, the tribe started to do a circular meditative movement to connect a handful of pine trees with natural linen rope. The result is insect architecture, a man-made semi-transparent cocoon swinging together with the trees. Architecture is the art of reality. There is no other reality than nature.
Sig Nordal 