Twins: Houses in Five Parts by William O’Brien Jr.; image by Peter Guthrie

An award-winning American architect William O’Brien Jr. has recently completed these two single-storey holiday houses located in upstate New York. Situated on one plot of land, the minimalist, black stucco-clad dwellings have been realised as ‘a regular six-sided polygon and a regular four-sided polygon’ respectively yet are composed from the same five forms — ‘each are made up of the same four trapezoids and one triangle.’ (more…)

The Tamdeen Group Headquarters by Colacion Studio, photographer: Eric Laignel

Californian interior designer Yvonne Colacion and her namesake practice Colacion Studio have recently completed this 5100-square-meters headquarters of Kuwait’s renowned property developer, Tamdeen Group. Featuring traditional Arab geometric patterns on various surfaces and textiles and artful Arabic script, the light-flooded interiors reference cultural elements of the Gulf region while ’to evoke the feeling of being in a desert oasis’, a rampant garden wall has been incorporated in the ground-level reception area. (more…)

Endémico Resguardo Silvestre by Gracia Studio; photo by Luis Gracia

To prevent the development from disturbing its spectacular setting and to ‘respect nature in every possible way’, architect Jorge Enrique Gracia García along with his San Diego-based practice Gracia Studio has realised this group of 20 free-standing hotel rooms located in Baja California’s Valle de Guadalupe. At 20-square-meters each, the corten steel-clad, elegantly furnished rooms follow a concept of ’a “deluxe” camping houses, covering the guest’s basic needs, being in contact with nature and the environment.’ (more…)

Rosa Gardens by Brooks & Scarpa; photo by John Edward Linden

The Los Angeles-based architectural practice Brooks & Scarpa have recently completed this 7914-square-meters affordable apartment building located in the picturesque area of the famous for its mid-century modern architecture Palm Springs, California. Comprising 57, two and three-bedroom family units, Rosa Gardens prides itself with ‘more than a 75% recycling rate’ and many sustainable solutions such as; passive solar design strategies, wide use of recycled materials - insulation is made from recycled newspapers while building’s façade is clad with recycled aluminum cans formed into building blocks – have been employed in the design of this $12.5-million development. (more…)

Xeros Residence by blank studio architecture; photo by Bill Timmerman

Located within a late 1950’s era neglected Phoenix neighbourhood, this detached, weathering steel-clad building was completed by the American architectural practice blank studio architecture in 2006. Encompassing a two-storey design studio and a single storey residence located on the topmost floor of the development, the 153-square-meters Xeros residence (Greek for ‘dry’) has been named ’as a reminder that all design solutions should be in a direct response to the environment in which the project exists.’ (more…)

'About Time' wall clock by Louie Rigano; images courtesy of the designer

The young American designer and Rhode Island School of Design graduate Louie Rigano has devised this ingenious wall clock whose hour hands have been replaced by the Venn diagram composed of variously sized, translucent discs in three primary colours; red (hour), blue (minute) and yellow (seconds). While perhaps not the most legible, the highly-abstract appearance of ‘About Time’ is certainly an innovative reinterpretation of a traditional timepiece. (more…)

Clyfford Still Museum by Allied Works Architecture - West Elevation; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

The New York-based practice Allied Works Architecture have recently realised this austere concrete museum building dedicated to the late American painter Clyfford Still. Completed earlier last month, the two-storey development houses 94 percent of the acclaimed Abstract Expressionist’s creative work which is displayed in museum’s nine light-filled galleries. Situated in the heart of Denver’s Arts District (near the Denver Art Museum by Gio Ponti and Daniel Libeskind, the Denver Public Library by Michael Graves, and the Colorado History Museum) Clyfford Still Museum totals 2650-square-meters and encompasses number of additional facilities such as a library, educational and archival resources, a conservation studio, and collection storage. (more…)

Ray and Charles Eames examining the sling locations to be covered by fabric lapping in a prototype of the Aluminum Group Lounge Chair, 1957; photo © Eames Office, LLC

He was an architectural school dropout who never got his license and she was a painter that rarely painted yet the husband-and-wife powerhouse of Charles and Ray Eames has become one of the most significant creative practices in the history of modern design. Now, for the first time since their deaths, filmmakers Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey make ‘a definitive and unprecedented cinematic foray into the private world of the Renaissance-style studio that Charles and RayEames conceived in a cavernous warehouse on a gritty street in Venice Beach, CA’ in their recently-released feature-length documentary, Eames: The Architect and the Painter. (more…)