As the common phrase attests, “history is written by the victors.” We therefore know that the story of the West is that of Europe and the United States, while the other actors in world history are minimized or invisible: it happened to the Chinese and Japanese during World War II, to the Ottoman Empire in sixteenth-century Europe, and to racial majorities in the common reading of Latin American independence. The same thing happens in architecture.

The current boom of the Global South is based not only on new work, but rather on the recognition of an invisible architecture which was apparently not worthy of publication in the journals of the 1990s. The world stage has changed, with the emergence of a humanity that is decentralized yet local; globalized, yet heterogeneous; accelerated, yet unbalanced. There are no longer red and blue countries, but a wide variety of colors, exploding like a Pollock painting.

This serves as a preamble to consider the outstanding projects of 2016 according to the British critic Oliver Wainwright, whose map of the world appears to extend from New York in the West to Oslo in the East, with the exception of Birzeit in Palestine. The Global South represents more than 40% of the global economy and already includes most of the world’s megacities, yet has no architecture worthy of recognition? We wanted to highlight the following projects in order to expand the western-centric world view, enabling us to truly comprehend the extent of architectural innovation on a global scale.

Lideta Market / Vilalta Arquitectura
Ethiopia

Lideta Market / Vilalta Arquitectura. Image © Gonzalo Guajardo

Ethiopia balances a decade of economic growth with increasing social, economic and racial tensions. It’s still one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, but its growing middle class (and foreign investors) demand more products and services, creating unprecedented changes in its cities.

In the capital, a new market draws inspiration from the vernacular, traditional Mercato, the largest open-air market in Africa. Eschewing the glass-clad box typology of contemporary shopping centers (which are not efficient, but project an air of “development”), the building functions as an environmentally-appropriate public edifice, with the perforations in its prefabricated concrete skin harkening back to the traditional Ethiopian fractal patterns used to moderate the entry of light. The generous interior volume encourages natural ventilation and the rooftop features photovoltaic umbrellas to combat deficiencies in the energy supply. 

Capilla San Bernardo / Nicolás Campodónico
Argentina

To the east of the province of Córdoba—in a place that doesn’t even have basic utilities—architect Nicolás Campodónico melds nature and brick into a chapel that borders an estate and opens up to an ample field. Facing the sunset, natural light bathes the chapel in warmth, serenity and symbolism. In a year when brick was lauded for its versatility, popularity and availability at the Venice Biennale, the Capilla San Bernardo brings together a precise alignment of individual bricks around an invisible, six-meter diameter sphere. The resulting structure is not only exquisite, but also echoes the shape and form of traditional Argentinian coal ovens.

UVA El Paraíso / EDU
Colombia

UVA El Paraíso / EDU. Image © Alejandro Arango

Still recovering from its stigma as the drug-trafficking battleground of the 80s and 90s, Medellín is now a city transformed, and public investment in architecture has played an essential role in this renaissance. The EDU (Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano de Medellín) has been an exemplar in the initiative to bring high quality public spaces to the city, including projects like the Unidades de Vida Articulada (UVA). The UVAs are inserted into low-income, dense neighborhoods and are primarily reformulated or refurbished existing spaces that provide opportunities for cultural programming, performances and sports. EDU is a powerful example for other states and governing bodies to follow; the potential and impact of investing in architecture and urbanism can make cities better, more equitable places.

Leixões Cruise Terminal / Luís Pedro Silva Arquitecto
Portugal

Leixões Cruise Terminal / Luís Pedro Silva Arquitecto. Image © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

The Leixões cruise terminal is not only a beautiful physical interpretation of the flows it distributes, but also a great response to its site—at the center of the the connection of Souto de Moura’s conversion of the South Matosinhos coastal promenade and Álvaro Siza’s historic Piscinas de Marés. The building is expected to welcome over 130,000 passengers per year and it currently shares spaces with the Marine Science and Technology Park of Oporto University. Local artisans created hexagonal ceramics inspired by the Portuguese “calçada” to imbue a modern building with meaning and utility.

Terra Cotta Studio / Tropical Space
Vietnam

Terra Cotta Studio / Tropical Space. Image © Hiroyuki Oki

Le Duc Ha’s workshop sits on the edge of the Thu Bon river, which it shares with communities which work in the production of Terracotta and silk. Structured as a three-dimensional bamboo grid, the studio gives the artist the flexibility to work, have tea, rest, and store his finished works, without endangering the property should the river flood. Beyond reveling in the material qualities of bamboo and clay brick, the project is a beautiful volumetric exercise in which a permeated facade reveals little of the interior while maintaining the privacy of the artist, and allowing adequate ventilation and connection to the outdoors.

Community Primary School for Girls / Orkidstudio
Sierra Leone

Community Primary School for Girls / Orkidstudio. Image © Peter Dibdin

In Sierra Leone, projects like this one must deal with societal fissures, educational issues and public health crises. Orkidstudio asked, “What role can architecture play in the aftermath of such a crisis?” Avoiding a paternalistic approach and collectivizing the construction of a better future, this architecture in particular mends the wounds of a broken country. In this primary school, architecture activates and mobilizes the parts of society that will surely contribute to a solid transformation of this African nation.

Da Chang Muslim Cultural Center / Architectural Design & Research Institute of SCUT
China

Da Chang Muslim Cultural Center / Architectural Design & Research Institute of Scut. Image © Yao Li

China’s rapid urbanization stimulated the planning and construction of gargantuan cultural hubs as a symbol of economic development and a catalyst for tourism. The projects are often characterized by a grand formal gesture that allows it to perform on its own, detached from its contents, in an attempt to capitalize on the elusive “Bilbao effect.”

Even though China has more than 20,000 mosques around its vast territory and Islam is the third most popular religion in the country (uniting 10 of the 55 recognized ethnic minorities), the Da Chang Muslim Cultural Center is an exception. In Dachang, a Muslim enclave close to Beijing, this project reinterprets the spatial structure of the mosque, typically seen in arches, domes and Islamic symbols with new materials and an even grander scale. As a center for cultural activities, the architecture aids in bringing a physical space to a practice that has strong roots in western China as it approaches the megacities of the coasts. 

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre / Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Greece

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre / Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Image © Michel Denancé

Investment in Olympic infrastructure often yields better returns for private financiers than for cities. Greece, and in particular Athens, ended up abandoning much of the sports infrastructure they constructed for the 2004 Olympic Games. However, twelve years later, Renzo Piano’s project reused an old parking lot on the site of a former Olympic racetrack, bringing together the National Library and the National Opera in a single volume. Conceptually defined by its raised ground plane, Piano’s single gesture creates a new green lung in the city and reconnects the urban fabric of the port of Kallithea with the sea. The project also generates enough solar energy to be self-sufficient in terms of electricity. At a time when cultural projects are often seen as a chance to create self-absorbed, questionably appropriate icons, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre is a welcome addition.

Salas de Lectura / Fernanda Canales
Mexico

Salas de Lectura / Fernanda Canales. Image © Jaime Navarro

Latin American architecture has recently garnered attention for projects that re-evaluate public space in the city. A  similar situation precedes many design challenges: the resources available are public and limited; the spaces created must be multifunctional to meet multiple needs; the sites are leftover spaces; and the community must care for  and manage the new public space, or else it will die. Along those lines, Fernanda Canales proposed a civic and cultural module created from concrete. Its size was based upon another module: the standard dimensions of a parking space (2.5 x 5 meters), thus fitting into residual spaces in residential areas of the Latin American city. Answering  multiple programmatic needs, its form is designed to optimize the internal spaces while its thermal solution also offers four configurations to cover a series of different activities. This ensures its use throughout much of the day, while at night the structure functions as a lantern, improving the safety of the surrounding environment while also assuring its own.

Constitución Public Library / Sebastián Irarrázaval
Chile

Constitución Public Library / Sebastian Irarrázaval. Image © Felipe Díaz Contardo

In the embrace of the Pacific Ocean and at the mouth of the Maule River, Constitución was one of the cities most affected by the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile in 2010. As a result of the ensuing public-private urban transformation plan, one of the projects built in front of the city’s heart, the Plaza de Armas, was Sebastián Irarrázaval’s Constitución Public Library. Three reticulated cubes of laminated pine order the project into three thematic areas; three showcases; three invitations to enter and three spaces for those who wish to pause while walking down the street. In a city sustained by the timber industry, the architects opted to use high quality local carpenters and the abundant wood to build a project that makes the  construction process and structural loads are intentionally evident.

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Courtesy of LOLA

LOLA Landscape Architects have won the Adidas Competition to design the sportswear corporation’s “World of Sports” campus. While Adidas had already chosen a design architect prior to this competition, LOLA will be adding to the planned city with a star-shaped central space. 

Courtesy of LOLA

The campus landscape is the gathering place of the employees of the adidas Group; the quintessence of the adidas brand experience is what athletes, co-workers, media and retailers visit the campus for – to get inspired and awed by what adidas is developing, testing and performing stated the architects in a recent press release. 

Courtesy of LOLA

The stars will act as the connecting fabric in the landscape. LOLA describes them as the center of convergence for sports and work-related activities. Places for bike parking, sports pitches, and seating areas are important components of each star. However, each one will be based off a certain theme or activity.

LOLA’s lake is the other crucial element in the landscape. Distinguishing the space between HALFTIME and the ARENA buildings, the lake will produce a physical barricade in addition to a view between the southeast public and private area. Additionally, it will provide the lawns and trees with water during droughts while serving the sustainable function of cooling the HALFTIME building. 

Courtesy of LOLA

In an incremental way the campus becomes further developed with both interior and exterior spaces. Buildings are merely covered squares; the landscapes are like open air buildings.

News Via: LOLA 

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© Przemysław Turlej

• Architects: Ultra Architects
• Location: Września, Dworcowa 1, 62-302 Września, Poland
• Architects In Charge: Marcin Kościuch, Tomasz Osięgłowski
• Area: 406.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Przemysław Turlej, Jeremi Buczkowski, Dawid Majewski, Skyflash

• Collaborators: Łukasz Piszczałka, Przemysław Fedorczuk, Kamila Dębińska
• Construction: PMB Piotr Kosz
• Interiors Architecture: Ultra Architects
• Landscape Architecture: Ultra Architects
• Client: Kropka Publishing House Jolanta & Waldemar Śliwczyńscy

© Jeremi Buczkowski

From the architect. The form of a three-storeyed building for Wiadomości Wrzesińskie (Wrzesińskie News) editorial office was determined by its functional program as well as  a low budget. Terrace-shaped silhouette is an answer to different needs of publishing house’s various activities. At the same time reduction of surface and optimization of functional program let to reduce costs of investment. 

© Dawid Majewski

On the ground floor there are customer service, conference room with facilities, cafeteria and a small car park with parking place for bicycles as well. Because of the most complex functional program of this storey its area is bigger than next floors. Due to its public function, the ground floor is also the most open part of the office building – its facade is glazed and enclosed with a small roof that creates a welcoming entrance area.

Ground Floor Plan

First floor, with a slightly smaller area than the ground floor, accommodates editorial rooms. Designing this part of the building was the biggest challenge, because we had to combine two different assumptions: the first is openness and transparency of journalism, the second one is related to the specific nature of this job. Journalists spend most of their work time in front of computer monitors, and to provide them with a comfortable environment we had to limit the amount of sunlight entering the interior.

© Przemysław Turlej

© Jeremi Buczkowski

 On the northern side of this floor are located editors’ offices, small dining area and a conference room. All these rooms have access to outside terrace. Open space with journalists’ desks is located on the southern part of the storey. To protect interiors against the sunshine we decided to cover front elevation with perforated screens made of aluminium composite panels with holes cut on the basis of our project. The pattern of a perforation was inspired by newspaper’s columns. In this way an elevation can be a visual identity of a building.

1st Floor Plan

2nd Floor Plan

The perforated façade, that during a day provides protection against light, after dark is almost invisible. Illuminated building is alive late into the night, so long as the work lasts. We chose this kind of cladding also because of extensions plans for the future. Mesh panels enable seamlessly junction of older and new part of a building while still maintaining its contemporary look.

© Dawid Majewski

The second floor of a building accommodates Internet television studio, small guest room and technical infrastructure. From the observation deck one can admire the city skyline.

© Jeremi Buczkowski

© Jeremi Buczkowski

Thanks to terraced shape of building’s block we received exterior spaces that is covered with greenery. They create recreational areas for workers while at the same time  they cause that the building is more environmentally friendly. Greenery is a natural air filter and it absorbs rainwater reducing the amount of water discharge to municipal sewers.

© Skyflash

Product Description. Southern facade of the building is covered with perforated screens to protect interiors against the sunshine. These screens are made of aluminium composite panels with holes cut on the basis of our project. The pattern of a perforation was inspired by newspaper’s columns. In this way main facade acts as a visual identity of a building. The perforated facade, that during a day provides protection against light, after dark is almost invisible and one can see what is happening inside. Illuminated building is alive late into the night and looks like a big lantern. 

© Przemysław Turlej

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© Leonid Balanev

While Yekaterinburg’s avant-garde architecture is the city’s hallmark, and Moscow’s avant-garde is the subject of arguments, in Saint Petersburg the prominence of the style and its influence are somewhat harder to identify. Some researchers even suggest that the avant-garde is an “outcast” or a “non-existent style” here, and its presence in has remained largely unrecognized. Alexander Strugach sheds light on this phenomenon:

In Saint Petersburg, the avant-garde style is simply overshadowed by an abundance of Baroque, Modernist and Classical architecture, and is not yet considered an accomplished cultural heritage category. Meanwhile, gradual deterioration makes proving the cultural value of avant-garde buildings even more difficult.

In this article—written by Svetlana Kondratyeva and with photographs by Leonid Balanev—which originally appeared on Strelka Magazine, experts on the Russian avant-garde put forward ten of the most important examples in Saint Petersburg.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Leningrad architects designed unique buildings and complexes to developed the city’s own avant-garde schools and techniques. According to Margarita Shtiglits, one of the authors of Leningrad Avant-Garde Architecture, the Leningrad avant-garde was influenced by both Modernism and Neo-Classicism, and many buildings feature references to these styles. Close attention to the expressiveness of the selected form is another important detail. Strugach suggests that the formation of the Leningrad avant-garde had two major influences: the ideas of Suprematism developed by Kazemir Malevich and his disciples, alongside European architectural elements ushered in by Erich Mendelsohn. Nearly eighty buildings of that period have already been listed, but many more still demand protection.

Traktornaya Street and Narvskaya Housing Estate. Image © Leonid Balanev

Traktornaya Street and Narvskaya Housing Estate (1925-1935)

Location: Narvskaya Metro Station District

The Narvskaya metro station district is an avant-garde haven and a place where architectural experiments once took place. The first school in Soviet Leningrad was built here, as well as the first district council building, first housing estate and first large palace of culture. Architect Alexander Strugach points out that unlike many other locations, the Narvskaya metro district preserved its unique layout.

Lev Ilyin, a talented urban planner, proposed using a two-center system. The district is centered around two squares: a historic square near Narva Triumphal Arch and a new square near the Kirovsky district council. Later Ilyin developed his idea of a polycentric approach even further. He would go on to embed it into the Leningrad master plan, proposing the creation of a new city center around Moskovsky Avenue in addition to the existing historic center around Nevsky Avenue.

According to Strugach, a housing estate on Traktornaya Street (1925-1927, designed by Alexander Gegello, Alexander Nikolsky and Grigory Simonov) is the most valuable object within the entire district. In order to design the estate, Grigory Simonov travelled to Germany and Sweden to collect foreign experience. The resulting development ended up being quite European. Sixteen three to four-store houses facing each other across the street simply reject Saint Petersburg’s traditional side-by-side development style. The buildings on the opposite sides of the road are not even identical: layouts of balconies, staircases and cornices on the paired buildings vary. Expressive semi-arches, Traktornaya street’s hallmark, adorn the corner houses.

Traktornaya Street and Narvskaya Housing Estate. Image © Leonid Balanev

The Narvsky Estate was built from any available materials: in some of the buildings old bricks were reused. The houses on Traktornaya have tramway rails for ceiling beams,” says Alexander. “The houses also lacked bathrooms, although the builders insisted on adding them. The USSR had not yet been producing any baths at that time.

Margarita Shtiglits names several other important buildings within the district. The Maxim Gorky Palace of Culture (built 1925-1927) and the factory kitchen / general store (built 1929-1931) are located on Stachek Square. Another two buildings, the 10th Anniversary of the October Revolution School (built 1930-1935) and the Kirovsky District Council (built in 1930-1935) are located on Stachek Avenue. According to Shtiglits, the latter is the single most important city-forming building among the entirety of constructivist buildings.

The District Council catches the eye with its emphasized outline, an intense confrontation of its horizontal and vertical lines, clashes of its rigid and soft round spaces. Its exaggerated ‘endless’ glass panels are an anthem for continuous windows.”

The length of the continuous glass line is nearly 120 meters, which is a rare find in Leningrad. The Council building is accentuated by a 50 meter-high tower etched with a comb-like pattern of balconies.

Leningrad City Council First Residential House. Image © Leonid Balanev

Leningrad City Council First Residential House (1931-1935)

Location: 13 Karpovka River Embankment

The Leningrad City Council First Residential House is an avant-garde era elite development. A relatively large building, it contains only 76 three-to-six room apartments, some of them two-story. Party officials living here enjoyed premium living conditions: the improvements ranged from internal stairs made of oak and built-in furniture to a rooftop solarium and a gazebo in the yard. Some design proposals even included plans for the construction of a footbridge over the Karpovka River in front of the building.

“The city used to suffer from frequent flooding, and embankment houses were usually built on a raised foundation. The house had a kindergarten on the second floor and external stairs were added to the layout to provide evacuation routes,” says Alexander Strugach. Evgeny Levinson, who designed the building together with Igor Fomin, called these stairs a “graphic example” of the plastic capabilities of reinforced concrete. Although the stairs were not the most convenient solution because of the Leningrad climate, nowadays they remain one of the building’s signature features.

Leningrad City Council First Residential House. Image © Leonid Balanev

“The Leningrad Council First Residential House features the latter stages of avant-garde style, influenced by both expressionism and Art Deco,” say Shtiglits and Kirikov. They continue:

A dynamic play of spaces, contrasts between straight and curved lines, a confrontation of a light gallery downstairs and a heavy-set upper body, an alternating pattern of smooth surfaces and deep cavities, spikes of unsupported corners and ‘levitating’ external stairs mold an image of deliberate sharpness. The intricate layout of every side of the building, including the side facing the backyard, emphasizes the elite status of the house.

Leningrad City Council Palace of Culture. Image © Leonid Balanev

Leningrad City Council Palace of Culture (1931-1938)

Location: 42 Kamennoostrovsky Avenue

In the vicinity of the First Residential House stands the Leningrad City Council Palace of Culture, formerly known as Industrial Cooperation Palace of Culture, another building designed by Eugene Levinson. The building is designed akin to a construction set: the Palace was built upon a pre-revolution Sporting Palace. The previous neoclassical style building accommodated a restaurant, a mixed-purpose cinema and concert hall, and a roller skating rink. Its entertainment functions were preserved during a reconstruction in 1930s.

Leningrad City Council Palace of Culture. Image © Leonid Balanev

The new house of culture contained two halls: a theatre hall with a speaker-shaped acoustic ceiling, and a small cinema hall protruding from the side of the building. Plans to construct a sport section with a swimming pool were scrapped. Despite Levinson’s personal insistence, only a 30 meter tower was built instead of a 46 meter one. That decision stripped the building of its potential height accentuation and gave it a stretched appearance.

Leningrad City Council Palace of Culture. Image © Leonid Balanev

The authors of Leningrad Avant-garde Architecture point out similarities between the floor-to-ceiling glass panels of the Palace’s library section, located in the corner of the building, and Bauhaus.

The suspended glass surfaces and glass structures concealed within them dominate the corner and form a single large body. The spatial glass design—a radical functionalist technique—was inspired by Gropius’s Bauhaus. However, in the final design the transparent surfaces are instead decorated with an intricate geometric pattern. A lonely balcony piercing the smooth glass screen is a single high-pitch tone within this melody.

Communal House of Former Political Prisoners Society. Image © Leonid Balanev

Communal House of Former Political Prisoners Society (1929-1933)

Location: 1 Troitsky Square

Avant-garde architecture was mainly developing in the Leningrad outskirts, but sometimes projects of high importance were admitted to the historic center. The Former Political Prisoners Society Communal House, built across from the Peter and Paul Fortress, is one such example.

Communal House of Former Political Prisoners Society. Image © Leonid Balanev

The Former Political Prisoners Society was established in 1921 by former political prisoners of the tsarist government. In late 1920s the society had 2,759 members and more than 50 branches across the country. However, when the construction of the communal house began, the lifespan of the Society was already approaching its end – the Society was officially closed in 1935. Many of the house residents fell under a new wave of Soviet repressions; their names have since been commemorated on a memorial stone near the house. But back when the house was still in construction, hardly anyone could expect such a dark turn. The house was built with the idea of the bright future of a new communal lifestyle and cultural life.

Communal House of Former Political Prisoners Society. Image © Leonid Balanev

The communal complex was divided into three buildings with 200 two- and three-room apartments each, meant to accommodate one person per room. The communal apartments lacked kitchens and were fitted only with electric ovens for heating up the food. The house had a developed infrastructure, including a 500-seat hall, a cafeteria, a kindergarten, a solarium, a laundry and a library. The building also accommodated a Labor Camp and Exile Museum. Most of the infrastructure was located downstairs. Continuous glass panels on the first floor created an impression of the building floating above ground.

Just a minute’s walk from the house takes you to the Stalin Rail Transport Academy, another remarkable avant-garde building created by the same architects (Grigory Simonov, Pavel Abrosimov, Alexander Khryakov). The house, allegedly built in the shape of hammer and sickle, features an expressive curved façade with embedded vertical staircases. A protruding wedge-shaped corner of the building pierces the air.

Ilyich House of Culture. Image © Leonid Balanev

Ilyich Palace of Culture (1929-1931)

Location: 152 Moskovsky Avenue

Two remarkable avant-garde era buildings are located on Moskovsky Avenue. The Ilyich Palace of Culture, one of them, was designed by Nikolay Demkov for the employees of the Electrosila plant. Demkov is known for designing numerous bland public buildings; however, the Ilyich Palace of Culture, a unique project, is considered to be Demkov’s magnum opus.  

Ilyich House of Culture. Image © Leonid Balanev

A bird’s-eye view reveals that the palace is built in a zigzag shape. The theatre section of the building facing the Moskovsky Avenue contains a main hall, a lobby and a foyer. The club section,with rooms for hobby classes, sports classes and a cafeteria, is located further inside. The architect uses both glass and windowless elements to create a certain dialogue between these two parts of the building. “On the southern side of the building trapezoid bay windows absorb light with their wrinkled glass panels, creating a pulsating light effect inside,” says Margarita Shtiglits. She continues:

Ilyich House of Culture. Image © Leonid Balanev

The second floor foyer faces the Moskovsky Avenue with large, almost ceiling-high windows, giving it an appearance of a glass terrace. A large stairway in the club section is illuminated by two vertical floor-to-ceiling panels. The entrance to the club part pierces a huge white square of a windowless wall. The pattern is repeated in a gym room where a black circle is formed by a singular window.

Moscow District Council. Image © Leonid Balanev

Moscow District Council (1931-1935)

Location: 129 Moskovsky Avenue

Across from the House of Culture stands a more monumental building. The Moscow District Council building is the first large project developed by Igor Fomin, son of the renowned architect Ivan Fomin. A five-store giant cylinder is the centerpiece and the most prominent part of the building. Inside, the most popular departments of the city council were arranged in a circular pattern. Instead of corridors, the departments were interconnected by a series of galleries. The central part of the cylinder contains a domed hall. Interestingly enough, windows are not used to create either vertical or horizontal accents; instead, glass elements are dispersed evenly just like the other external elements. The rest of the building largely copies the layout of other district councils. The linear part of the building accommodated administrative departments, while the round part contained an audience hall.

Moscow District Council. Image © Leonid Balanev

Even a rough visual comparison of the two buildings located on the Moskovsky Avenue demonstrates that the construction of the second building took place in a later time period and was influenced by other styles. According to Shtiglits, this “adulterated constructivist vocabulary” could be considered one of the hallmarks of the Leningrad avant-garde.

Red Banner Factory Substation. Image © Leonid Balanev

Red Banner Factory Substation (1926-1928)

Location: 53 Pionerskaya Street

The Red Banner factory used to be one of the largest textile facilities in the country. In the early 20th century the factory manufactured nearly 40% of all textile products made in Russia. In 1920s a decision was made to renovate the entire factory complex. The renovation project was offered to invited German architect and industrial construction expert Erich Mendelsohn. Unfortunately, the unique daring project proposed by Mendelsohn was not implemented. The omission of the official contest procedure in favour of a foreign architect caused an uproar among Leningrad’s own architects. Additionally, the project proposed by Mendelsohn could not be implemented at the chosen location. As a result, the German architect renounced his authorship and abandoned the project. Nowadays experts agree that the factory substation, despite being the only implemented element of Mendelsohn’s original design, still made a significant impact on the Leningrad avant-garde style.

Red Banner Factory Substation. Image © Leonid Balanev

The substation is divided into several distinctive blocks. A rectangular block, distinguished by a horizontal rhythm of glass panels and reinforced concrete frames, stretches along Pionerskaya Street before ending with a pronounced rounding. The lower rounded brick section contained filters, while the upper part held water reservoirs. The upper part, almost windowless and bounded by metal hoops, creates an image of a ship towing the rest of the factory.

According to Kirikov and Shtiglits, the substation can be considered to be Mendelsohn’s own manifesto. “Mendelsohn’s ‘function plus dynamic’ concept was successfully implemented in the architectural appearance of the substation, which combines the elements of both functionalism and expressionism. The building, despite the lack of public recognition, was one of the most important pages in the development of the Leningrad avant-garde.”

Water Tower and Rope Production Facility (Kransy Gvozdilshchik). Image © Leonid Balanev

Water Tower and Rope Production Facility – Krasny Gvozdilshchik Factory (1929-1931)

Location: 6 25th Liniya Street

Another Leningrad avant-garde masterpiece is located at 25 Liniya Street on Vasilyevsky Island. The local factory was established in the 19th Century; later, in the 1920s, it underwent modernization and was renamed. The project was joined by the “Soviet Piranesi,” Yakov Chernikhov. At Krasny Gvozdilshchik, Chernikhov designed an expressive water tower and a rope production facility (the latter has since been stripped of Chernikhov’s original design).

Water Tower and Rope Production Facility (Kransy Gvozdilshchik). Image © Leonid Balanev

The shape of the water tower, as simple as it is, is a perfect showcase of the advantages of reinforced concrete. A thin and high rectangular structure supporting the water reservoir hides a staircase inside. Two additional columns provide extra support for the reservoir. The water tower resembles a nail, adding symbolic value to an object located at a nail-production facility. “The Tower at Krasny Gvozdilshchik is a unique example of a successful project designed by Chernikhov,” says Alexander Strugach. “Only a handful of Chernikhov’s projects were actually implemented; this architect is largely known thanks to his sketches and ideas. I personally recommend his books Architectural Fantasies: 101 Compositions and Constructing Architectural and Mechanical Forms. In these books, even his choice of wording is unusual. The tower represents the scale of Chernikhov’s architectural calibre. No wonder Zaha Hadid spent time to personally study the tower during her stay in Saint Petersburg.”

Vyborgsky District Factory Kitchen. Image © Leonid Balanev

Vyborgsky District Factory Kitchen (1929-1930)

Location: 45 Bolshoy Sampsonievsky Avenue

In a way, avant-garde architecture can be regarded as a reflection of Leningrad’s overall development during the 1920s and 1930s. Avant-garde buildings and blocks were meant to bring change into people’s lifestyles, especially on the outskirts of the city. “Workers who used to live in old, shabby houses or even at the factories where they worked before the revolution were granted new places to live, complemented with necessary infrastructure. I doubt that they found their new homes beautiful. But the quality of their lives still improved,” comments Strugach.

In order to provide proper infrastructure, new types of buildings, such as factory kitchens, were designed. In Leningrad, factory kitchens were developed by the ARU group (ARchitecture Urbanists) consisting of Armen Barutchev, Isidor Gilter, Joseph Meerzon and Yakov Rubanchik. In total, four factory kitchens were built in the city, each under a unique project. One of these kitchens was built in Vyborgsky District. According to a 1933 city guide, this factory kitchen served 22 enterprises employing over 40,000 workers and produced 22,000 to 33,000 meals every day. The facility also included a cafeteria and a shop.

Vyborgsky District Factory Kitchen. Image © Leonid Balanev

Inside, differently-shaped rooms are arranged in a circle pattern, fitting the process of preparing food and getting it delivered to the cafeteria. The building was originally surrounded by a garden and cafeteria patrons could sit outside on the open terraces. Nowadays, that concept can barely be recognized. However, a large canopy, a glass panel decorating the main staircase, continuous windows and a play of spaces are still present. The latter marks the building’s resemblance to the Moscow constructivism school, says Strugach. Also, the cafeteria’s windows appear to have been designed to face the nearby Saint Sampson’s Cathedral built in the 18th Century.

Round Bathhouse on Muzhestva Square. Image © Leonid Balanev

Round Bathhouse on Muzhestva Square (1927-1930)

Location: 3 Muzhestva Square

A round bathhouse designed by Alexander Nikolsky has two reasons to be considered remarkable. First, the bathhouse is a daring example of a modern multifunctional building. The original plan involved placing baths inside a round cylinder structure running around a glass-domed internal yard with a swimming pool. The rooftop, accessed via several ramps, would be used as a solarium, while the cylinder building itself could be accessed through an adjacent rectangular lobby. In order to preserve heat the bathhouse would be partly buried into the ground. Unfortunately, this idea, as well as the glass dome concept, was scrapped due to technical issues. However, the bathhouse, which continued to function even through the Siege of Leningrad, still serves its purpose today. The second important feature of the building lies within the minimalistic appeal of its forms, which reflect one of the unique attributes of the Leningrad avant-garde school. According to Strugach, the bathhouse should be regarded as a Suprematism style composition.

Round Bathhouse on Muzhestva Square. Image © Leonid Balanev

Alexander Nikolsky and a circle of his architect friends shaped the essence of the Leningrad avant-garde style. They focused their efforts on promoting the Suprematism movement and working with pure large forms, unlike the Constructivists, who preferred to augment the buildings with various protruding elements. The round bathhouse designed by Nikolsky features brutal European forms. It is an uncut piece of material placed on the ground. People used to plasticity may find it hard to discover the true value and appeal of that building, but that does not diminish its significance.”

You could compare it to the recently opened Museum of Russian Impressionism, where the very same concepts found further development.

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Courtesy of YAC

YAC – Young Architects Competitions – and Automobili Lamborghini  have announced the winners of Lamborghini Road Monument, an international architectural competition launched last September in cooperation with the Region of Emilia-Romagna, the Municipalities of Bologna and Sant’Agata Bolognese, the School of Fine Arts of Bologna and Unindustria Bologna. The aim of the competition was to design two architectonic installations in order to emphasize the importance of Lamborghini’s sites in Sant’ Agata Bolognese, near Bologna (Italy).

The installations had to embody the values of a world-renowned brand, aiming at sculpting in matter the history of speed, power, and innovation.

Four distinguished architectural studios like Zaha Hadid Architects, Studio Fabio Novembre, Libeskind studio, Foster+Partners assessed the submitted projects with Francesco Dal Co, Director of Casabella magazine, Giuseppe Cappochin, President of the Italian National Association of Architects, Annalisa Trentin from the University of Bologna and Stefano Domenicali, Chief Executive Office of Automobili Lamborghini. 

The jury noticed a high-quality standard of designs and Automobili Lamborghini decided to award two projects the 1st Prize, rewarding ACQ studio and ZERONOVE ARCHITECTURE teams with a cash prize of € 12,000 each and with the construction of their installations.

The second (€ 4,000) and third (€ 2,000) prize were respectively awarded to FPMG and Casamassima Mazzocchini Notari teams. Moreover, CDA and Mass & Volume / Architecture, Art & Design Studio teams won a gold mention (€ 1,000 each). Follow up 11 Honorable Mentions and 30 Finalist Mentions. All 47 rewarded teams were awarded one year subscription to Casabella magazine.

Further information about the competition on YAC’s website.

First Prize Winner – Team ACQ Studio
Alessandro Galastri, Guido Quirici, Nicolò Campanini, Giacomo Cozzi, Andrea Maltinti – Italy 

TEAM ACQ studio. Image Courtesy of YAC

From the architect: Lamborghini’s origins are deeply rooted in a pristine landscape. Not unlike a mechanized plow, it brought a revolution to this land’s quiet world and has been the driver of ongoing change ever since. The proposed installation celebrates the identity of the Sant’Agata Bolognese area through two monuments that embody its history and the never-creasing, cutting-edge growth of a unique brand. The piece folds and shoots upward dynamically while maintaining purity in its jagged, yet continuous line. Through this new symbol of speed and power, visitors from around the world will immediately grasp the essence of this place that has spawned such excellence in automobile engineering.

First Prize Winner – Team Zeronove Architecture
Davide Pontoni, Viola Gurioli – Italy 

TEAM ZERONOVE ARCHITECTURE. Image Courtesy of YAC

From the architect: Like the perception of reality is distorted while driving at a high speed, the monuments, finished with mirroring panels, aim to deform the reality by scattering the reflection of the surrounding. The geometry of a Lamborghini Reventon has been first simplified in a number of vertical sticks (Monument 1) and then in a number of vertical planes (Monument 2). To emphasize the sense of speed, the sticks and the planes are tilted by 30°. From the cockpit of a Lamborghini the reality is blurred, in constant mutation, un-framable. Likewise, the monuments are.

Second Prize – Team FPMG
Francesco Pergetti, Mattia Grilli – Italy 

SECOND PRIZE – TEAM FPMG. Image Courtesy of YAC

From the architect: Like inside a bottom-up pulsation modeling the land in determined way, level until that moment, the two elements will seem excluded from the territory, reminding the long canal banks along the streets of this area. Without optical interruptions along the main axis, the road will be framed by the two identical elements, highlighting its importance for the territory and Lamborghini brand.

Third Prize – Team Casamassima Mazzocchini Notari
Giorgio Notari, Alessio Casamassima, Damiano Mazzocchini – Italy 

TEAM Casamassima Mazzocchini Notari. Image Courtesy of YAC

From the architect: An elegant and sharp design, dynamic and slim, both installations aim to represent moving elements, enhancing the purity of shapes and the sense of movement and speed, thanks to their plastic and sculptural composition: each installation is composed of four gate structures, combined so that each of them melts inside the following creating a strong dynamism and a clear balance between lights and shadows.

Gold Mention – Team CDA
Chris Dawson, Jan Baros, Klara Konecna, Rob Jones, Ava Helm – USA 

TEAM CDA. Image Courtesy of YAC

From the architect: Researching the model history of the House of the Raging Bull, it was evident that the Lamborghini body design vacillates between angular and curvilinear styling. Structural steel frameworks are wrapped with perforated metal skins in dynamic forms that strike powerful and varied memorable poses as one approaches from any of the 4 directions and then circles the roundabouts.

Gold Mention – Team Mass & Volume / Architecture, Art & Design Studio
Constantinos Louca, Konstantinos Nikolaou – Cyprus

TEAM Mass & Volume / Architecture, Art & Design Studio. Image Courtesy of YAC

From the architect: To highlight Lamborghini’s pioneering tradition in automobile aerodynamics, the design finds inspiration in airflow lines and vents commonly incorporated in the design of supercars for improved aerodynamic performance. The repetitive parallel linear nature of airflow lines and the layered design of Lamborghini rear vents are expressed with the composition of repetitive vertical slabs. With an angular placement of each slab, the design communicates a dynamic aesthetic, expressing movement and high speed.

Honorable Mention – Team GKCF
Chris Falla, Giota Kotsovinou – UK 

TEAM GKCF. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team Enrico Pata
Enrico Pata – Italy 

TEAM Enrico Pata. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team HYPNOS
Jan Popowski, Nicola Brembilla – Italy 

TEAM HYPNOS. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team ims
Berat Sezer, Gazmend Imeri, Raphael Maurer – Switzerland 

TEAM ims. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mantion – Team FLORIAN MARQUET
Florian Marquet – Japan 

TEAM FLORIAN MARQUET. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team Project Initiative
Chayothorn Songtirapunya, Pichayut Vacharavikrom, Napone Chinwatanakit, Nitiwath Thipakkarayod, Pathawee Khunkitti – Thailand 

TEAM Project Initiative. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team AI studio
Alexandra Sinitaru, Andrada Ispas – Ireland 

TEAM AI studio. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team AWGE
Wesley Liew, Engeland Apostol, Azhar Azmi – UK 

TEAM AWGE. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team MK2J
Julien Giammarchi, Maud Laronze, Catherine Bui, Johann Baisamy – France 

TEAM MK2J. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team Balloon
Lukasz Wojciechowski, Paulina Libiszewska – Australia 

TEAM Balloon. Image Courtesy of YAC

Honorable Mention – Team Didone Comacchio
Paolo Domenico Didonè, Devvy Comacchio, Gianmarco Miolo – Italy 

TEAM Didone Comacchio. Image Courtesy of YAC

Flip through the gallery below to see all 30 finalists. 

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© Christopher Rudquist

• Architects: DSDHA
• Location: Margaret Pyke Centre, 73 Charlotte St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4PL, UK
• Project Team: Deborah Saunt, Tom Greenall, Matthew Lambert, Arnold Seligmann, Deb Adams, Natasha Reid, Luke Jackson, Jeremy Corminboeuf, Marine Fleury, Marianna Filippou
• Area: 1800.0 m2
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Christopher Rudquist , Luca Miserocchi, Helene Binet

• Contractor: Knight Harwood
• Structural Engineer Services: Elliott Wood
• Sustainability Engineer: GDM Partnership
• Cost Consultant: Core 5
• Project Management: Gardiner & Theobald
• Delivery Architect: Veretec
• Fire Consultant: BWC Fire Limited
• Landscaping: Del Buono Gazerwitz Landscape Architecture
• Housing Association: A2Dominion

© Christopher Rudquist

From the architect. DSDHA has worked in collaboration with Derwent London to deliver a discreet yet alluring brick corner building in Fitzrovia, central London, that brings delight to its surroundings while engaging in an active dialogue with the wider context of the city.

© Christopher Rudquist

Corner House strives to introduce a new type of contemporary beauty, one which is less ostentatious yet captivating, building on the qualities of its location to provide a highly sustainable solution that embodies high quality design and craftsmanship.

© Luca Miserocchi

While at an urban level it celebrates the ordinary street corner, Corner House inverts this typology (typically presenting a more articulated treatment of the façade at the ground level) and places two jewel like crystalline pavilions on the rooftop, opening up a series of unexpected views onto Londonʼs variegated and ever changing roofscape.

Axonometric

Corner House provides a mix of private and affordable homes, along with a commercial space on the ground floor. Over its six-storeys the building comprises 11 apartments, nine private and two affordable, all of which comprise double or triple aspect rooms with exceptional levels of daylighting.

© Helene Binet

The original site comprised three distinct buildings, which were subsequently replaced by a large modern scheme. Corner House attempts to bring back the character of the original structures, consolidating their identities into a single block that reflects the urban hierarchy of the surrounding streets – the grander Charlotte Street and quieter Tottenham Street, and the more utilitarian identity of Tottenham Mews.

© Christopher Rudquist

The entrances to Corner House are configured to respond to the local context; the commercial unit faces the noisy thoroughfare of Charlotte Street with its commercial frontages; the apartments have entrances on the quieter street and mews.

© Luca Miserocchi

The pavilions on the roof offer a hidden terrain to the project that only becomes apparent upon enquiry, occupying as they do the Rights Of Light envelope established by neighbouring buildings. Corner House does not disrupt the consistent morphology of the solid brick facades that characterise the neighbourhood – however the shifting planes of its slightly angled windows on the uppermost floor suggest something unexpected.

© Luca Miserocchi

Drone photography, satellite views and new forms of mapping technologies have changed the way we understand and navigate the urban landscape. We are now accustomed to visualise the latter mainly from above, with the consequence that the roof has become a relevant fifth elevation. The articulated geometry of Corner House facade and pavilions reflects this perspectival shift, it multiplies focal points and dissolves traditional linear perspective therefore suggesting an alternative dimension from which to appreciate the building and its surrounding views. Technically challenging yet appearing disarmingly simple, they are in an effortless dialogue with other roof structures scattered on the horizon nearby.

© Helene Binet

Unlike most new projects that use brickwork as a non-structural cladding, here the brickwork for the main body of the building is self-supporting, bearing its own substantial weight, thereby relieving loading on the superstructure, and minimising amount of the concrete used on the project and the energy embodied in its production. What could have become a monolithic façade is refined by the use of lime mortar, to eliminate expansion joints, and bespoke metal work balustrades.

© Helene Binet

DSDHAʼs analysis of Charlotte Streetʼs Conservation Area informed the design and ensured a contextual response. The design seeks to restore some key local features of typical Fitzrovian terraces, such as an emphasis on verticality where strong horizon lines mark a tripartite division of plinth-body- roof, masonry construction with punched apertures and a high ratio of wall to window.

© Christopher Rudquist

The stepped reveals to the facades were the result of extended research and testing to capture the craftsmanship of masonry construction yet it is treated with plasticity to achieve a dramatic effect. Bespoke lintels help span the bays which relate proportionally one to another, reflecting the geometric derivations of most of Fitzroviaʼs architecture. As a result each floor has a slightly different relationship between the sill and the internal floor levels, making the building appear less relentlessly stacked and subtly differentiated.

© Christopher Rudquist

Corner House is part of a wider regeneration plan to improve and restore the character of Fitzrovia ahead of the arrival of Crossrail to Tottenham Court Road in 2018. With over 36% of its property portfolio located in Fitzrovia, Derwent London have a good relationship with its community and working closely with London Borough of Camden they have been able to redevelop this part of central London in a holistic way. Corner House is within a 500m radius of Suffolk House, a former warehouse building that DSDHA converted and extended into affordable residential accommodation for Derwent London in 2014. The attic floor sits lightly on the existing building and its triangulated roofscape shares a formal language with the pavilion roofscape of Corner House.

© Christopher Rudquist

To the west of Corner House DSDHA is leading the rejuvenation of the public realm around Tottenham Court Road, a commission by the London Borough of Camden which is just starting on site. DSDHA have devised a highly sustainable transport scheme and designed new ʻpocketʼ parks, which punctuate the individual journeys through the area, lowering the speed at which one engages with this unique part of the city.

© Christopher Rudquist

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Courtesy of Workshop architecten

• Architects: Workshop architecten
• Location: Rijswijk,The Netherlands
• Area: 270.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of Workshop architecten

• Contributors: Sander Gijssen, Johan de Wit, Laura Berasaluce Achaerandio, Ergin Kurt
• Contractor: Legemaat van Elst

Courtesy of Workshop architecten

From the architect. On an estate of 4.5 hectares, surrounded by a century old fruit trees, the client wanted to replace a neglected sixties barn by a contemporary design. The new barn fits to both the landscape and the historical buildings on the estate, where the main building is the monumental farm ‘Rottenburg’. Besides shelter for the sheep and storage, the new barn also accommodates an apartment.

Courtesy of Workshop architecten

Floor Plan

Courtesy of Workshop architecten

The main structure consists of four timber slabs that divide the barn into three zones: a barn area, a semi-transparent intermediate zone and an apartment. Openings in the slabs offer a view from the apartment in the yard and the old orchard. The semi-transparent intermediate zone connects the south-west side with the north-east side of the farmyard. The facade consists of black-stained Douglas, which contrasts with the raw wood on the inside.

Courtesy of Workshop architecten

Structure

Courtesy of Workshop architecten

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© Farshid Nasrabadi

• Architects: Sarsayeh Architectural Office
• Location: Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran
• Architect In Charge: Behnam Sefidi
• Area: 1350.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Farshid Nasrabadi

• Design Assist : Hengameh Akbari
• Contractor : Farhad Bahramipour
• Client : Ali Mirhosseini

© Farshid Nasrabadi

From the architect. For those people who have a long experience of living in single-unit houses with a courtyard, it is a great challenge to change their life style and live in apartment houses.

Losing many of desirable advantages of single unit houses such as independency, fellowship with nature, existence of hierarchy and, natural ventilation and … is a trouble for the people who want to live apartment units.

© Farshid Nasrabadi

And also in this project the client had decided to transform his single unit house into a triple unit apartment for himself and his two children.

In fact Mehrabad House is an effort to reduce the negative impacts of this transformation in peoples life style. 

© Farshid Nasrabadi

So in design career the following decisions were made:

-According to the emplacement of fatherhood house in highest level, some part of roof area considered as a courtyard for this unit (as an equivalent for old yard in old fatherhood house), and some spaces in old fatherhood yard like flower bed, some roofed spaces for sitting and a barbecue, recreated in the new courtyard.

© Farshid Nasrabadi

-In the next step for having the maximum visual connection between this unit and its courtyard in roof area, we broke the saloon’s roof in to two parts with different height. So we gained better ventilation and lightening condition and a desirable visual connection.

Basement / Ground Floor

1st / 2nd Floor

-Creating an open space in north side of building as a patio beside the family room and creating a green wall inside it in order to making the sense of freshness and having natural ventilation inside.

-As old fatherhood house had a semi-open and very useful space called AIVAN(a Persian word) beside the main hall, we tried to create an equivalent for it in new fatherhood house in north side of building.

– Trying to creating suitable spaces as a reply to privacy need of people.

© Farshid Nasrabadi

-Creating some green spaces with plants in different levels of building, in order to running away from spiritless sense of living in an apartment.

– making some places in building’s façade for plants growth and using material like wood and brick (as we believe that they are breathing all the time) to make the building alive.

© Farshid Nasrabadi

Product Description. Brick is one of the main materials used in this project. And it is because of the historical background of the project’s city that logically leads the architect’s mind toward vernacular materials in order to harmonize the project with its context.

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Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

• Architects: C&C DESIGN
• Location: Huizhou, Guangdong, China
• Architect In Charge: Peng Zheng
• Design Team: Peng Zheng, Huang Zhijian
• Area: 1565.0 m2
• Photographs: Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

From the architect. The project is located in Hedu Village, Heng River, Huizhou. It is a resort area integrating ecotourism, agricultural experience and leisure vacation. The main building of the project is rebuilt from the discarded primary school buildings. The project is school-enterprise cooperation in social charity  which is leading participation by C&C DESIGN CO.,LTD.

Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

The Design advocates the harmonious relationship between man and land, respect for the ecological civilization of land, do not do new town, do not Peach Blossom Spring, must to do poetic dwelling under the modern civilization, while avoiding excessive business and impetuous and low-end homogenization of development.Nature and simplicity constitute the tone of the entire site, leisure and tranquility is the soul here, local ecology and farming culture is the life here, is the site of the most valuable resource.We hope that through our efforts, let the design to meet livable ,play and visit at the same time, re-lit here  faded rural vitality gradually, to explore the possibility of rural revival of modernity.

Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

Elevation – Section

Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

Heduli Paddy Hotel –Pure natural B & B, stay in will be able to feel the frogs voice, flowing springs in the mountains, rice fragrance, lotus breeze, star moon . It is 18 km from here to the Luofu Mountain 5A-class scenic area , the hotel covers an area of 4,000 square meters, 30 different styles of farm-themed rooms and 3 single-family villas embedded in rice fields or hillside, one-stop restaurant, multi-dimensional office.Viewing smoke in the morning, visiting agricultural park in the afternoon,  strolling country greenway the evening, like bamboo fishing, jungle shuttle, mountain cross-country, 

Courtesy of C&C DESIGN

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© Hey!Cheese

• Architects: HAO Design
• Location: Kaohsiung city, Taiwan
• Area: 165.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Hey!Cheese

© Hey!Cheese

From the architect. Scenery as an Integral Part of Everyday Life 

A better understanding of our clients’ tastes enables us to more clearly envision what they need within their homes. In this particular case, the client, who yearned to live in a home with an expansive park view, contacted us during the pre-sale stage of an apartment in a new building to be constructed in the city of Pingtung and requested assistance for the design of their home. Mr. and Mrs. Hsu are very fond of the classic style, while their children prefer simple yet stylish decor. We endeavored to find middle ground by taking into account the different needs of each individual so as to formulate an all-encompassing design. This was how we proceeded: we started by identifying the apartment’s strength, which is the beautiful park scenery just outside the window, and we considered how the Hsu family would enjoy it from all angles of their home. At the same time we attempted to fulfill everybody’s needs in terms of their preferences for style.

© Hey!Cheese

Even though the “classic style” is typically associated with the complex and resplendent, we selected the spectacular view outside the window as our point of departure and gradually veered toward the decision to leave the entire interior space “blank.” That is to say, we proposed to create an environment of serenity and comfort by employing pure white as the primary backdrop. To elegantly exhibit aspects of classical design, we utilized symbolic elements and simplified the complex lines by interpreting classical beauty with a modern approach. We chose white as the background color of the living room wall, to which we added European-style cornices. The original black window frames were replaced by round, arched windows in order to soften the space and to form a visual reference. We strategically arranged the placement of the dining table, lamps, sofas, all the way to the window seat, in a way so that they form a visual continuity extending toward the scenery outside the window.

© Hey!Cheese

Plan

© Hey!Cheese

In the original layout of the apartment, the kitchen faced south; we altered the floor plan by creating an open space combining the kitchen with the living room. We additionally installed a kitchen island to facilitate the preparation of cooking ingredients. In consideration of Mrs. Hsu’s baking interests, we also designed a simple yet spacious cabinet, which not only provides ample storage but moreover adds a touch of elegance to the overall environment. With respect to the north side of the apartment facing the window, we designed a personal space for Mr. Hsu that accommodates his reading needs and his habits of watching TV and listening to music. We defined the space of the “study” using a heavyweight armchair and designed a stainless steel TV wall which automatically rotates 360°and a side section that provides storage for headphones, magazines and other beloved objects. Thanks to the chair with a foot bath we purposefully installed, Mr. Hsu will be able to fulfill his dreams of enjoying the scenery inside of the small adjacent balcony without suffering from the winter cold.

© Hey!Cheese

The common family space, which begins with the pleasant external scenery, is designed so that each individual may focus on their preferred pastimes yet at the same time interact and communicate with each other within an open space. Their bedrooms in turn serve as private enclosures each designed in their favorite styles. The master bedroom is a continuation of the white tonal backgrounds of the living room. The wooded floor however is tinted several shades darker to give warmth to the room. On the back wall of the bed and on the ceiling, we designed symbolic natural “leaf vein” patterns to resonate with the greenery outside the window and to mitigate the weight and presence of the low beams. For the bathroom, we decided on a combination of white stones and tiles with detailed embellishments such as lighting and metal trimming to accomplish an eclectic mix of casual and classical. As for the two secondary bedrooms, we proceeded according to the children’s unique personalities, which is why each door seems to lead into a distinctively furnished boutique hotel room. The boy’s room, furnished with leather and metal ornaments, manifests the staunch, virile and resolute character of a young man who is still somewhat introverted. The girl’s room on the other hand emits an ambiance of casual coziness with its cement textured backdrop and matching designer furniture. All of this ultimately culminates in a home in which each individual is able to locate their preferred space and place for comfort and contemplation. 

© Hey!Cheese

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