Neu 31 by SUPERBLOCK ZT GmbH; photo by Hertha Hurnaus

SUPERBLOCK ZT GmbH, the Austrian architectural practice established in 2003 has realised this 840-square-meters building located on Neuwaldegger Straße 31 in Vienna. Based on a ‘concept of the overlapping spatial structure’, the house boasts a number of residential apartments as well as office units and a centrally-located 30-square-meters courtyard, and its current residents amount to ’22 working and residing persons, one dog and two cats’. (more…)

photographer: © Roger Frei

DM2N, the project-developement arm of Zurich-based architects EM2N, have completed the conversion of a 1961 supermarket into five ‘hall houses’, which retain the volume of the original structure. (more…)

© Paul McAneary Architects Ltd

It’s all about the angle at one particular residence in Hammersmith, London. In response to a brief to remodel and extend a three-bedroom two-storey Edwardian house that was in need of considerable refurbishment and modernisation, Paul McAneary Architects have created a strongly geometric design that plays with 30° twisting to achieve intriguing physical and perspectival overlapping. One of the desired results of this is that the garden now functions as a continuation of the interior space. (more…)

'Villa A' in Pöstlingberg / Linz, Austria, by Najjar & Najjar

Everyone loves a breathtaking panorama. Think of the view from Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #22 (1960) of the city of Los Angeles, immortalised by photographic legend Julius Schulman. Vienna-based practice Najjar & Najjar have exploited another great view – of the Austrian city of Linz from the Pöstling Berg – in designing their ‘Villa A’.

(more…)

Apartment Harbour Isle by Lundgaard and Tranberg Architects

Harbour Isle Apartments by the Danish architect are part of the new Havneholmen area of Copenhagen, which is known as a former industrial area that has been transformed into a residential and business zone, taking better advantage of the harbour front location.

A former industrial area has been transformed into a residential and business zone

The project consists of 236 apartments in two U-shaped blocks with inner courtyards opening towards the harbour. Varying heights of 5 to 8 storeys visually reduce the scale of the project and, along with the thin proportions of the glass partitions, give the white façades a light and graceful appearance. The entire project, including the projecting bays, is rendered in warm white stucco with teak fenestration, giving the entire project a maritime feel.

Apartment Harbour Isle by Lundgaard and Tranberg Architects

to Lundgaard and Tranberg Architects

Private Residence 'Dwelling at Maytree' in Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Irish ODOS achitects strongly believe their clients deserve to be challenged and that buildings need to inspire their occupants: “As architects we have a duty to expose such possibilities. We hope to instill a sense of curiosity and excitement, stimulating a response, confronting and challenging traditional conceptions of architecture.”

"We hope to instill a sense of curiosity and excitement"

Set at the foot of a steep escarpment in the wicklow hills, this house, with it’s elevated living accommodation, allows the fluidity of the surrounding landscape remain uninterupted, whilst also giving the occupant a raised vantage point from which to engage with nature.

The residence is overlooking an escarpment in the Wicklow hills.

The young architects from ODOS, won ‘Best House 2009′ with 10A Grangegorman Villas in Dublin and got highly recommendet for Dwelling at Maytree.

to ODOS architects

to the Irish Architecture Award

Ourdoor terraces, 'Aqua Tower' by Studio Gang Architects

Soon the Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects will be finished with their 823 feet high Aqua Tower, which they planned for their hometown. The building is still under construction but received already the American Architecture Award 2008 conferred by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture & Design.

823 feet high, 'Aqua Tower' by Gang Architects

What Studio Gang Architects say about the project:

In an increasingly dense city like Chicago, views from a new tower must be negotiated between existing buildings. Aqua tower considers criteria such as views, solar shading and function to derive a vertical system of contours that gives the structure its sculptural form. Its vertical topography is defined by its outdoor terraces that gradually change in plan over the length of the tower. These terraces offer a strong connection to the outdoors and allow inhabitants to occupy the building façade and city simultaneously. The result is a highly sculptural building when viewed obliquely that transforms into a slender rectangle from further away. Its powerful form suggests the limestone outcroppings and geologic forces that shaped the great lakes region.

'Aqua Tower' by Gang Architects, Photo: David Seide, Rendering: Image Fiction

Architect: Studio Gang Architects

Architect of Record: Loewenberg & Associates

Owner: Magellan Development

Program: Hotel and Residential High-rise with retail and commercial spaces

Size: 1.9 m SF including parking, 823 feet high

Completion: Summer 2009, currently under construction

to the Studio Gang Architects website