House At The Pyranees by Cadaval & Solà-Morales. This old existing home in Spain made of dry stone got a completely modern makeover on the inside. Situated on top of a mountain with stunning views, you really can’t beat the location, so why build something new when such a gorgeous place exists already? Reimagined by Cadaval & Solà-Morales, this project called House at the Pyranees marries the old and new worlds. The architects kept the exterior completely original, respecting its history, while creating a very contemporary interior living space. But oh the views, the views! Project Name: House at the PyreneesLocation: Valle de Aran (Spain)Project: Eduardo Cadaval & Clara Solà-MoralesCollaborators: Mariona Viladot, Alex Molla, Pernilla JohanssonStructural Engineering: Carles GelpíConstruction Management: Ballarin TGN, slPhotography: © Santiago Garcés. Graffiti Cafe by Studio MODE. Nam June Paik Library by N H D M. The public library for an arts centre in South Korea is condensed into a cube at the centre of a room.
American architecture studio N H D M designed the translucent block, dubbed the Library Machine, to store the multimedia archive for the Nam June Paik Art Centre in the city of Yong-In. Reading areas, computer stations and video screens are integrated inside the cube, while books and paper archives are stored on the shelves between them. Extra tables and chairs can be placed around the library to provide additional workstations when necessary. Other interesting libraries we've featured recently include one covered in firewood and another made of shelves - see more here. Photography is c/o Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin Moon of N H D M.
Here's some more text from the designers: The Nam June Paik Library is a new public art library in Nam June Paik Art Center in Yong-In, Korea, open to general public on April 15th, 2011. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Liyuan Library by Li Xiaodong. Architect Li Xiaodong has completed a library in China that's covered in firewood. Located on the outskirts of Beijing, the single-storey Liyuan Library houses its collection of books within a chunky timber frame. Stepped platforms integrate low level shelves and provide seating areas for readers. The sticks cover a glazed shell that encases the library. We've also featured a library in Japan with an exterior of timber bookshelves covered by glass and another in Germany with a golden facade - see more stories about libraries here. Photography is by Li Xiaodong Here's some more text from Li Xiaodong: Liyuan Library This project is modest addition to the small village of Huairou on the outskirts of Beijing, just under a two hours drive from busy Beijing urban life.
On the one hand it forms a modern programmatic complement to the village by adding a small library and reading space within a setting of quiet contemplation. Private Residence by Garcia Tamjidi. Slideshow: Californian architects Garcia Tamjidi have completed a studio apartment in San Francisco that looks more like an art gallery or showroom. Designed for a couple who race motorcycles in their spare time, the apartment has yet to be furnished and currently features a motorbike as its central showpiece. Other pieces of art and sculpture are sparingly located around an open-plan living room that is split into two tiers.
A group of closets are clustered at the centre of the space to provide storage for the entire apartment. We've noticed a trend in minimal white apartments recently. Find all our stories about apartments here to see for yourself. Photography is by Joe Fletcher. Here's some more information from the architects: Private Residence, San Francisco, California Designed for a couple whose hobby is racing motorcycles and setting world land speed records, this flat becomes a private retreat from an adrenaline charged lifestyle. Villa Roces by Govaert & Vanhoutte. This glass house by Belgian architects Govaert & Vanhoutte has a 50-metre-long wall at the back and a sunken swimming pool at the front. Located in one of the forests surrounding Bruges, the house is long and narrow and contains staggered storeys that descend below the ground.
The swimming pool is located at the lowest level and is tucked into a recessed corner of the building. Doors leading into the house are as high as the walls and are difficult to spot when closed. Inside, a long ramp slopes up from the main living and dining room towards children's bedrooms that are half a storey above, while cantilevered stairs lead down into a second living room and master bedroom. Another ramp outside the building provides access to a car park below. We've featured a few houses in the past that are almost entirely glazed.
See one in Germany here and one in Sweden here. Photography is by Tim Van de Velde. Here's a little more information from Govaert & Vanhoutte: Villa Roces 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. A Wellness House. Archdaily. Architects: Herbst Architects Location: Piha North, New Zealand Contractor: John Armstrong Photographs: Patrick Reynolds The site with which we were presented was extremely challenging in that it was 90% covered in mature pohutukawa trees, the site being a part of a continuous belt of forest that edges the road along the beach front. The circumstances not so much allowed, but dictated a sensitive poetic response to a building that, in order to exist would require the destruction of a large number of mature trees. To do this we looked to the trees themselves to give us the cues that we needed. We separated the brief loosely into private and “public” components, giving us smaller individual masses with which to articulate the forms. The private functions of bedrooms and garage are housed in two towers which are construed as freshly sawn stumps of the trees that were removed.
Creative Home in Belgium, Alternating Open and Closed Spaces. Despite urban planning restriction, Tsl House displays an eye-catching design and plenty of sustainable features. Offering its inhabitants a total living space of 3,700 square feet, this modern Belgian home, designed by Brussels-based studio Adn Architecture and located in Walloon Brabant, is highly inspirational.
The building takes advantage of the small, but significant variation of the terrain. A garage was improvised on the side of the project facing the street, while the rest of the residence seems partially immersed in the ground. Once inside, a potential visitor is confronted with an interesting duality of open/closed spaces. Ski Lodge Meets Lift Station in this Slope-Straddling Home. In the rural Andes Mountains there is but a six-month window in which the weather can accommodate a construction process, a well-known concern to architects Nicolás del Río & Max Núñez (images by Felipe Camus). This structure borrows from relevant building types like chalets, lodges and other ski-resort essentials including prefab building techniques and a stark contrast of cold industrial exterior cladding and warm wooden interiors. It also bridges a strange vertical gap in the form of a retaining wall and road behind it and steeper slope in front of it, managing both via breathtaking trussed bridges and taking advantage of all possible views as well.
“First, an interior plywood cladding for a warmer atmosphere in the inside, then a double thermal insulation within the steel structure, next a waterproof membrane, and finally an exterior cladding of black slate stone. This external finish resists well the harsh weather of extreme low temperatures, snow and rain.