architecture

Designing a new house can be challenging, big decisions like the exterior cladding is one you don't want to get wrong. This choice impacts the overall visual appearance (yep you'll be looking at it everyday), the homes long term durability, level of insulation and importantly how it fits with the surrounding environment.

MAPA are an architectural studio with offices in Brazil and Uruguay. They create compact beautifully designed prefab homes. This compact house was prefabricated in a factory near the Uruguayan capital, before then transported 200 kilometres by truck to a picturesque olive grove surrounded by rolling hills. 

This New Zealand inspired house is located in José Ignacio Uruguay, but would feel right at home in the New Zealand countryside. Architect Martin Gomez was highly influenced from his time spent traveling the world - in particular the months spend in New Zealand. He describes the 'kiwi' style as something that transfers well into his local landscape, as does the use of timber. "We love working with wood," says Martin, whether natural or stained black. "Black is the best colour to go between the trees and the green farmland."

Herbst Architects are producing some of New Zealand’s best modern homes, and now they have a string of awards to prove it. Lance and Nicola Herbst have a special gift in defining both style and elegance, the trick is they can do it without indulging every available modern convenience. Their work endeavours to have a positive and meaningful contribution to the environment, rather than just another self serving monument.

This incredible apartment and living room design by Cometa is a definitive example of small space architecture. It’s situated near Barcelona’s Olympic Marina where price and space are at a premium. 

For a while now I’ve been admiring this stunning little prefab house. This beautiful home is a fantastic piece of modern architecture that has turned up on my Pinterest feed multiple times - it’s taken until now for me to track down it's origin. So firstly, where did this prefab cabin come from? Well after a bit of research (and seeing the brand on the side of the cabin) I was excited to discover that it’s been developed by a company called Vipp, a designer home decor business in Copenhagen.

This incredible piece of modern architecture by Saota Architects is situated just above the shoreline of the Benguela Cove Wine Estate in the Overberg region in South Africa. This beautiful piece of architecture takes full advantage of the views over the Botrivier Lagoon and Overberg Mountains. The indoor outdoor flow has been carefully designed to create some irresistible modern living spaces. There is a thoroughness to the approach, detailing and finishing on this house that reflects on how skilfully it's been put together.

These incredible minimalist window frame designs by Keller  open up a whole variety of architectural features for designers. The frame profile is reduced to allow seamless integration into floor, ceiling and walls. It means the glass can take up to 98% of the area giving incredible light flow and near perfect finish. It also seems to substantially reduce the border between glass doors and helps minimise overly heavy appearance of vertical mullions. The office pod design was produced by Podspace