9 - Trahan Ranch - Hillary Kidd

     This project is located in the heart of Texas hill country. The residence is 3,200 square feet and is situated on a fourteen acre sloped site with native oaks, natural springs and unhindered views. The layout of the house is a direct response to the site conditions.

    

      The front exterior of the house is made of heavy materials that rise from the earth, which is in sharp contrast to the more ephemeral back. At the down slope side of the house, the structure becomes lighter and opens up to the landscape. Steel pipe columns spread-out at unsuspecting angles dancing along the rugged landscape. I really enjoy the materials that were used on this residence as well as the large overhanging roof and the structure that supports it.

--- 10 --- Azuma House - Luan Vinicius

Azuma House is a project of one of my favorite architects, Tadao Ando. What I love in this house is how it has two different ideas working in the same time. If you see this home outside, it looks like a heavy place, something claustrophobic. But when you see inside, the open courtyard shows a home largely illuminated by the natural light and with a presence of natural ventilation. The kitchen, living, dining and bathroom are located on the ground floor. The two bedrooms are located on the second floor, linked by a bridge. The home is so unique and singular that makes an interesting contrast between the houses where it is located, because it is in an area with a lot of traditional Japanese homes made by wood. The simplicity and pragmatic functionality of the project is something that really attracts and enchant me on this project.

--- 9 --- Dome Home - Luan Vinicius

I really like this home and I was impressed when I discovered its story. This home was built by a man and more two friends and the total cost was $8000 dollars. The time is not less impressive… only 6 weeks. Located in Thailand, the “home” is compound by living, kitchen, dining and a little lake. There is also a deck above the home to enjoy the views outside. The reason why I really like this project is because it is a really nice home with a different and cozy atmosphere. It was not necessary a lot of money to make it happens, in fact, it makes us to re-think about the housing process nowadays and the diverse financial challenges imposed to it.

#8 House in Nada / Fujiwarramuro Architects - by Blenda Araujo

This is an interesting project about how we can work perfectly in small spaces. Located in a downtown residential area of Nada, Hyogo, Japan; this small site has about 36.95 sqm. Which it is possible to compare with a size of a really small apartment. 

But, here the architects worked with the high of the building to give the sensation of a bigger space.

In addition, three-dimensional gaps and holes in the visual field give the sensation of complete elimination of any feeling of a two-dimensional spatial narrowness, or sensation of being fenced in.

The daylight is solved by the slatted, drainboard-like floors on the first through third floors are connected to the slatted tables, stairwell and skylights, allowing sunlight to reach right to the bottom of the house.

#7 Dovecote Studio / Haworth Tompkins - by Blenda Araujo

This project is about an old building in ruins located in the Snape Maltings -Snape, Suffolk,UK.

Build in ruins before the renovation

Inside the shell of an abandoned building, the office worked with a touch of sensitivity, uniting the old structure with the new aesthetic. 

Building after the intervention

Working as an art studio, a large north window provides perfect lighting conditions for artists. The studio is flexible enough to be used by artists in residence, by musicians as rehearsal or performance space or even space for temporary exhibitions.

--- 8 --- Something called Progress - The Trump Towers/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Luan Vinicius)

The Trump Towers are known as a symbol of progress and development. Rio de Janeiro is living an intense phase of evolution in your urban scenario. A lot of buildings are being constructed and areas are being revitalized. All these are to make the city be prepared to the Olympic Games and stay actualized with the others great capitals around the world. In fact, now Rio is not anymore a brazilian city, but a city of the world. The question is that Rio presents a different aspect from the others great cities. It is a city recognized not only by your lifestyle, but also by the nature  inside the city. Mountains and skyscrapers are side by side, dividing the city and living together, what make the city an exotic and different place from others around the world. But, with the recent advantages, Rio is suffering with the high increase of buildings that are changing the visual of the city. Not only buildings, but giants that can be the signal of progress, but also the destruction of the past. When I saw from the first time the Trump Towers Project in Rio de Janeiro, I was really scared because how strange it will look like there. They will be located in front of the harbor and they look like "giants" capping the view of the city. The mountains and the nature will be behind these massive big walls.The question is "What is the limit between the progress and destruction?"

--- 7 --- House Varanda - Carla Juacaba (Luan Vinicius)

The House Varanda is a project of the brazilian architect Carla Juacaba. It is located in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. The house has a steel structure and its compound by glass walls all the way outside. The glass permits a connection and strong relation between the house and the outside site compound by trees and tropical vegetation. The challenge in the implementation of this house on the site was a request from the owners to keep all the centennial trees untouched. There are some physical walls inside the house, but none of them interrupt the view of the house. The living room is in the center, the rooms at the ends. In the center of the house is located the terrace that shows up when the glass walls are open. It is a common feature that Brazilian homes have a terrace as a social place to socialize and to enjoy the cooling breezes, but in this case the own interior changes to a outside space with the opening of the glass walls, this is the reason why the house is called House Varanda, Varanda has the same meaning of terrace in brazilian portuguese.

8 - Modern Ranch Home - Hillary Kidd

 

     The owners of this home wanted a barn house that would reflect their commitment to sustainable farming, draw on the natural serenity of the site and build on the sense of place in western Petaluma, CA where farming and ranching are still a part of people’s daily lives.

      The house is certified LEED Platinum and features a number of energy saving features exceeding title 24 by over 50 percent. Passive heating and cooling with thermal mass and insulation, Geothermal, radiant cooling and heating along with solar and photovoltaic panels contribute to the house’s energy efficiency.

     An essential part of the design, the landscaping, includes several outdoor living areas, organized along a riparian restoration and native plantings.

 

4 1930's Home- Seth Gebhart

1930

A 1930 style home was a little bit different than the average home built today. While it featured many of the same features that we have today, such as a front door and covered porch, and patio they also have small but noticeably different characteristics other than style. 

Because the automobile had not taken off into the automobile era yet, the garage-ma-hal had not yet taken place. But as you can see, in this house below there is a covered car port that the owner could park his car under if he had a car. Often housing built during this time period had either a car port or garage behind the house. It allows for a much more revealing facade and open feeling to this side of the house. 

The large patios are what I notice most when I examine a 1930's home. Often times the patios are large and the car ports are large as well. The simpler days allowed for a more transparent home. 

The Portland Building - Simon Ott

Having grown up in Oregon I've visited downtown Portland several times in my youth.  Most of my memories of buildings and spaces are vague but have a distinct feeling about them.  Portland is "THE" city of my life, the first large city of my experience and all other cities are therefore compared to it.  I know for a fact that I've passed by this particular building several times in my childhood I may have even been inside but the only memory I have of it is of the statue "Portlandia" in front of it.  

As it turns out, this is one of Portland's most famous buildings.  Designed by Michael Graves, it is considered the first major post modern building and was the launching point of the career of the architect.  Completed in 1982, it serves as the Portland Municipal Services Building and helped put Portland on the Architectural map so to speak.  It was met with much criticism and the design requirements placed upon Mr. Graves contributed to some of the issues that the building has had over the years.  I required extensive renovations only 8 years after opening due to cracks in the cement roofs over the food courts.  In 2006 a green roof was added in partnership with the Oregon State University with purpose of testing plant varieties and helping to heat and cool the building as well as manage storm runoff.  

 Portland is currently considering several options to update the building including demolishing it and starting over.  Mr. Graves has actually returned to Portland to propose renovations to the building and still considers it one of his children.  The next few months will determine the future of this building but regardless of what happens it has had its impact, even on the young version of myself.  As a quote by Architectural critis Paul Goldberger says "For better or for worse, the Portland Building overshadows other things. It is more significant for what it did than how well it does it. It had a profound effect on American architecture and brought a return to classicism that brought us better buildings."  

#6 Tetris Apartments/ OFIS Arhitekti - by Blenda Araujo

For many people, there is an unfortunate stigma attached to social housing. Fortunately, some countries have realized that one of the best ways to combat this stigma is through good design, leading to some striking and unusual social housing blocks such as The Tetris Apartments located in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The Tetris has 650 apartments of different sizes from 30m2 studio flats up to 3 room apartment of 70m2. The given urban plot of the building was 4 floors high, 58 meters long and 15 in width.

Each apartment has view towards its own balcony, sometimes there is also a glazed loggia. On this way intimacy is created and there will be no direct views from ones apartment directly to the others in the opposite block.

The complex was made of economic but quality materials such as wooden oak floors, granite tiled bathrooms and have large windows with external metal blinds. The concept of structure is made in a way, that floor plans are flexible, since only structural walls are those, that separate apartment shell from the rest of the building.

3 Seth Gebhart- Light Cannon House

Light Cannon House: Carter Williamson Architects

The light cannon house located in NW Australia is a beautiful residential home, with tons of natural light entering into the space. This is a great example of housing that uses natural light.

The home is filled with tall forms reaching upward to the sky. Large open windows are there at the peaks of these tall forms to capture adequate sunlight to provide a space that is exposed with light. 

The use of light in housing to me is extremely important and can not see housing with out light. While some take this for granted there are some housing units around the world where light is not used to provide new meaning to space. 

I think that this is a good example of light in housing. I also can relate my own house in Norman to having proper light in housing. While I keep my windows closed at night, during the day, I always open up the blinds of my living room to allow as much natural light in as possible. 

I think that as architects and designers we should always consider the use of light to provide spaces with better living environments, especially in housing. 

2 Seth Gebhart- Habitat 67

HABITAT 67

Habitat 67, located in Montreal Canada is a housing complex made up of several apartment style housing units. The only difference is, it does not feel or look like an ordinary apartment at all. 

The architect, Moshie Safdie designed these buildings as apart of a thesis for his college course, and later developed the idea at the World Fair held in Montreal, Canada. 

The building has been noted as one of the most unusual looking buildings in the world, and definitely a significant piece of Canadian architecture. The building has received many critics, as well as praise. 

The apartment style building holds 354 identical prefabricated forms and reached 12 stories in height. The apartment complex can hold up to 150 residences. The housing apartment complex was a reaction and solution to the new style of living that Safdie believed would be popular and be taking place in the future.\

While this unit has received both critiscm and praise, Safdies idea is out of the box and challenges the way that we often times view and imagine something to look like. 

7 - Shipping Container Home - Hillary Kidd

 

     Using seven recycled shipping containers, architect Bernard Morin and wife Joyce Labelle built this modern residence in St. Adele, Quebec.  The home is the first of many to come for their new company, Maison Idekit, which will help homeowners turn containers into architecturally unique, and inexpensive, homes. 

     This home is 3,000 square feet with four-bedrooms and cost about $175,000 to build.  Rather than feature the exposed containers on the exterior, the containers are exposed on the inside — you can even see serial numbers, dents, and corrugated detail in several places throughout the home.  On the outside, the home has five inches of insulation that is topped by brown wood siding.