18 ideas to rethink your terrace

DC.AC and Mariana Peralta studio renovated the ground floor of a 1930s building in Lisbon creating a restaurant soaked in red and pink. Photo do mal o menos

DC.AC and Mariana Peralta studio renovated the ground floor of a 1930s building in Lisbon creating a restaurant soaked in red and pink. Photo do mal o menos

The renovation project by Paulo Tormenta Pinto and Rosa Maria Bastos in Lisbon features open spaces that dialogue on four floors and include unexpected leisure areas. Photo Inês d’Orey

The villa renovated by Most - Monti Studio in Dakar makes two distant cultures live in one single architecture. Photo Andrea Ceriani

Exposed concrete and wood define the shared patio of the small residential building that R-Zero has completed in Mexico City. Photo LGM Studio, Juan Benavides

Attention to detail and valorisation of traditional craftsmanship and construction techniques are the principles according to which Lucas y Hernández-Gil has renovated a house in Villalba de Los Barros, a village in the south of Extremadura. Photo José Hevia

In the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, además arquitectura transforms a ground floor office into a domestic haven, taking advantage of the double height and organizing the space around the light of a patio. Photo Gonzalo Viramonte

Orense Arquitectos combines white colour, cement, wood and glass for an introverted single family house in Samborondón, Ecuador. Photo JAG Studio

The house designed by Studioninedots consists of a series of independent volumes brought together by a concrete roof. Photo Frans Parthesius

The front elevation of Casa Octavia by Pérez Palacios Arquitectos in Mexico City is designed as a semi-transparent filter, negotiating the relationship between its small, deep parcel and its urban surroundings. Photo Luis Garvan

The residential house designed by Vincent Appel / Of Possible in Massachusetts combines tradition and contemporary design, among frames onto the landscape and outdoor terraces. Photo Rory Gardiner

Local and Peeraya Suphasidh Studio give shape to a prototype dwelling entirely made of wood in the historical park of Bourdaisière Castle in France. Photo Atelier Vincent Hecht

Directly connected to the ski slopes, Faulkner Architects’ Lookout House interprets local materials and large openings with magma-coloured windows in dialogue with the Sierra Nevada landscape. Photo Joe Fletcher

A photographer’s studio in Mexico by Taller de Arquitectura stands out for its contemporary use of traditional materials and direct response to specific climatic conditions. Photo Rafael Gamo

In an English heritage district of Buenos Aires studio Alonso Crippa has designed a small residential building characterized by a facade cladding of metal panels. Photo Javier Augustín Rojas

In a natural protected area just outside Mexico City, Manuel Cervantes Estudio designs two houses and a studio which exploit the continuity between indoor and outdoor spaces on the same terrace to enhance the contact with nature.

In Ho Chi Minh City Atelier NgNg uses greenery and voids to separate the domestic spaces of Floating Nest, making the home into a single open, fluid and interconnected system. Photo Quang Dam

In the new Schoonschip neighbourhood created on the water in Amsterdam, each home has its own character and identity. The one designed by i29 architects is a multi-faceted volume, where the domestic space effortlessy floats between inside and outside. Photo Ewout Huibers

In Germany, the Jacoby Studios project by David Chipperfield Architects restores the architectural elements from the 17th century and adds new volumes in continuity with the original structure and the urban landscape. Photo Simon Menges

The house designed by Studioninedots consists of a series of independent volumes brought together by a concrete roof. Photo Frans Parthesius

The residential building in Porto renovated by Fala features essential geometric compositions and materials, and each room is arranged around a purely decorative column. 

Trough geometric rigour and plainness of construction Casa RR responds to a limited budget, offering at the same time a generous, flexible and adjustable architecture. Photo Jesus Granada

Trough geometric rigour and plainness of construction Casa RR responds to a limited budget, offering at the same time a generous, flexible and adjustable architecture. Photo Jesus Granada

Designed as an indoor garden, Zhe Tian specializing in desserts chooses the monumentality and malleability of concrete as a metaphor for the small joys of everyday life. Photo Peter Dixie / LOTAN

The front elevation of Casa Octavia by Pérez Palacios Arquitectos is designed as a semi-transparent filter, negotiating the relationship between its small, deep parcel and its urban surroundings. Photo Luis Young

The project for a condominium by TDC Office in Teheran starts from an analysis of the city. Photo Deed studio, Parham Taghiof, Rayan Sayadian

Ajile Architechts responds to the challenge of Parisian housing density through a building that optimizes the articulation of volumes and functions in the overlapping of several micro-storeys, 4.8 meters wide for a total surface of 204 sqm. Photo Cécilie Septet

Casa Santa Teresa, designed by Amelia Tavella Architectes, uses light as architectural element and terraces on different levels to connect interiors and exteriors. Photo T. Dini

Orense Arquitectos combines white colour, cement, wood and glass for an introverted single family house in Samborondón, Ecuador. Photo JAG Studio

House in Melides I is an isolated and intimate property, immersed in the Portuguese landscape. Composed of a succession of open and roofed spaces, the house is defined by an irregular grid. Photo João Guimarães

Baracco+Wright Architects’ experimental home contributes to the regeneration of the site’s ecosystem. Traditional architectural elements are reinterpreted to establish new boundaries between interior and exterior. Photo Rory Gardiner

In the consolidated fabric of the village of Cascais, Portugal, studio Esquissos renovates a single-family house reinterpreting the language and materials of the local architecture. Photo Ivo Tavares Studio

ORA studio designed Winery Nešetřil, a space for the production, sale and tasting of wine in the Czech Republic: a wooden pavilion facing the inner courtyard has been added to the original building. Photo BoysPlayNice

Gino Guarnieri recovers the attic of an early 20th century Milanese building, seeking a new domesticity through a close dialogue between past and present, ideologies and technologies. Photo Simone Bossi

On the hills of Bergamo, Italy, Edoardo Milesi & Archos designed Il Parco dei Gelsi, a sequence of residential units that entrust the quality of living to social relations and the connection with the environment. Photo Andrea Ceriani

A suburban refuge between forest and ocean, the Cosmos House designed by S-AR develops from a hypergeometric plant that dilates its spaces and senses towards the surrounding natural elements. Photo Claudio Sodi

The Casa Quattro by LCA architetti in Magnano, Italy, is a successful experiment on the topic of energy efficiency and its diverse possible aesthetics. Photo Simone Bossi

A blurred boundary between home and city, between private and shared spaces, defines the Lola Domènech and Lussi + partners' co-housing project in Barcelona's Poblenou district. Photo Adrià Goula

This salvage project in a former quarry by Ensemble studio saw light and stone carvings as an opportunity to rethink the dwelling in minimal terms.

With a pure and essential language that does not undermine the original identity of the manufacturing building, Anarchlab Arquitectura has inserted 12 flats in the former Devesas pottery in Porto. Photo Ivo Tavares Studio

In the capital of Western India, Saransh Studio radically changes a building through the peculiar graphic trait and the tactile quality of the local cladding. Photo the fishy project

Rama Estudio designs a modular raised room of 18 sqm where Sara, an Ecuadorian microbiologist, can sleep, study and work distanced from her family during the Covid-19 emergency. Photo JAG Studio

A suburban refuge between forest and ocean, the Cosmos House designed by S-AR develops from a hypergeometric plant that dilates its spaces and senses towards the surrounding natural elements. Photo Claudio Sodi

House for a seadog by Dodi Moss. Photo © Anna Positano

Kapsimalis Architects’ project for the Saint Hotel in Greece emphasizes continuity with the coastline and contributes to the enigmatic relationship between natural scenery and built space. Photo Giorgios Sfakianakis

For its office, the architecture studio R/Urban Design Office has reinterpreted some traditional Japanese spaces, creating a fluid space in continuity with the street. Photo Kenya Chiba

The project for a condominium by TDC Office in Teheran starts from an analysis of the city. Photo Deed studio, Parham Taghiof, Rayan Sayadian  

Kapsimalis Architects’ project for the Saint Hotel in Greece emphasizes continuity with the coastline and contributes to the enigmatic relationship between natural scenery and built space. Photo Giorgios Sfakianakis

Converted from a former 1920s cement factory, the residence and studio of Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill are a restructured ruin. In constant transformation since 1973, these spaces continue to adapt to the life they house, protecting and nurturing it. Photo Marc Goodwin

Saket Sethi transforms every space in Sunoo Temple House into a dialogue between the material and the spiritual world: a prototype home that grows its own food and generates its own energy. Photo Fabien Charuau