Brick House by the River: Pi House

In the northern mountainous provinces of Vietnam, there is a type of vernacular house called the Trinh Tuong, standing for over 100 years with rammed earth walls (a technique now known as pisé). Such walls are completely handmade by compressing earth into even and flat cubes, which allows houses to be constructed without steel reinforcement. […]

Read More… from Brick House by the River: Pi House

Multi-functional basics: Binh Thuan House by MIA Design Studio

blank

This home for a young family of four exemplifies how “basic is best”, focusing on necessities when faced with constraints. Designed with a limited budget, and constructed remotely during the pandemic with local builders, the architects concentrated on key elements of residential buildings. “The basics are the organisation of daylight, natural ventilation, and creating functional […]

Read More… from Multi-functional basics: Binh Thuan House by MIA Design Studio

Private Houses, Public Good?

blank

How does the architect balance their larger ecological/social responsibilities as stewards of the built environment with the client’s personal goals? This question is especially interesting in the context of private residential houses, because architects and owners have a more direct working relationship for such projects—no layers of bureaucracy or multiple stakeholders to deal with—and hence […]

Read More… from Private Houses, Public Good?

Inidi Twin Villas

blank

RELATED: Private Houses, Public Good? An Architect’s Perspective Placed on a site wedged between a residential neighbourhood of an informal building fabric and a public beach used by fishermen from the same community, this building design attempts to morph socio-physical pressures from both sides: i.e., the fragmented spatial sprawl and the culture of everyday constructions […]

Read More… from Inidi Twin Villas

Veil House

blank

The architecture of Veil House seeks to have a larger social impact or, at least, the ambition to provide an alternative to closed-off gated developments. Ayutt and Associates design, the architects behind Veil House, revealed that the house was “designed not as a unicentric project that adds little value to the community, [but rather] a […]

Read More… from Veil House

ESPACE: A home that directs daylight

blank

This small two-storey, wood-frame house is tucked into a downtown residential neighbourhood in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The clients—a couple with minimalist taste and few superfluous possessions—wanted a private home on the compact lot, one that prioritised a spacious atmosphere over rooms that were physically large. The lot abuts the north side of a narrow road and […]

Read More… from ESPACE: A home that directs daylight

Siargao Resettlement Project: Designing safe post-disaster homes

blank

In December 2021, the catastrophic Typhoon Odette struck the island of Siargao in Philippines, claiming hundreds of lives and destroying buildings—affecting 99 per cent of the island’s population.1 Nation-wide, around 1.4 million homes were damaged, with around 360,000 structures completely destroyed.2 Through the Siargao Resettlement project initiated by the Municipality of Del Carmen, the Philippines-based […]

Read More… from Siargao Resettlement Project: Designing safe post-disaster homes