Interlocking levels define the renovation of Yurikago House in Barcelona
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Mas-aqui has renovated a 1924 building located near Park Güell in Barcelona. The two-storey structure has been transformed into a multi-level apartment that rethinks the entire space: mezzanines have been included to make the most of the height and the basement, abandoned for years and accessible only through an external staircase, has been recovered. Read full article here.
The renovation of a sentō, a traditional public bathhouse in Japan
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When Lucio Modesto, a spa engineer from ancient Rome, suddenly finds himself in a Japanese public bathhouse, he has the chance to grasp its innovations and take them back in time. This happens in Thermae Romae, a manga by Mari Yamazaki, who leads the reader in the amazing universe of sentō, the traditional Japanese public bathhouse used by the community for body cleansing and socialization. Read full article here.
A wooden ribbon gives a contemporary look to a Haussamanian apartment
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Toledano+architects renovates a Parisian local using two equipped walls that change its appearance as needed. In Paris, in a typical Haussmanian building, the studio renovated an apartment of a young couple. Redesigning the interior, the main purpose of the Parisian studio was to restore a strong contemporary character to the place, still preserving the original features. Read full article here.
A concept store in Shenzhen between brutalism and psychedelia
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Designed by Yebin Design studio, Conemoting Market is a new retail space in Shenzhen, the first in its area to embrace the concept store formula. Located in a residential neighborhood built in the '90s, the environment is divided between the basement, used for the sale of clothes and products by independent brands, and the ground floor, used as a café and, in the evening, as a bar. Read full article here.
A house in Maine where all the furniture is for sale
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In Kennebunk, Maine, the Brooklyn-based agency An Aesthetic Pursuit takes up the "Shoppable Stay" formula to rethink an old country residence of 280 square meters, now used as a holiday home. The vacation becomes a prelude to the eventual purchase of their Pieces collection, a line of carpets, tables and accessories, here complemented by other furnishings and accessories selected from Vitra's catalogue and Alvar Aalto’s masterpieces for Artek. Read full article here.
A play of tactile contrasts at Acne Studios store in Nagoya
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In Nagoya, Japan, Arquitectura-G completed the retail store of the Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios. The Catalan practice has accustomed us to its home interiors full of refined details and warmth, in both colour range and scale. Today, however, it is working on projects that go beyond the geographical and scale boundaries beaten until now: this is how Acne Nagoya surprises, in terms of finishes, space and contrasts. Read full article here.
Quotes from the masters in an architect’s penthouse in Milan
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In the heart of a district created to house the emerging Milanese bourgeoisie at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, where the old Lazaret once stood, architect Gino Guarnieri chose to recover the attic of an eclectic neo-Romanesque building dating back to 1913 as a home and studio for himself and his family. Today the area is an institutional centre of the city undergoing major urban transformations as well as vibrant ethnic and cultural liveliness. Read full article here.
A workshop-house in Indonesia is a catalogue of traditional and contemporary technologies
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An architect’s private house, his workshop, his gallery-library open to the public, as well as a dental clinic and a forthcoming coffee shop: these are the elements of a very rich program, challenging the mono-functional purpose of a single, tiny lot in Jakarta’s residential neighborhoods. The complex is called Guha, and his designer-client is Realrich Sjarief, who founded his firm RAW – Realrich Architecture Workshop in the capital city of Indonesia. Read full article here.
A spa in Caracas is inspired by 2001: A Space Odissey
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Atelier Caracas studio designed a day spa in Caracas, Venezuela, with the idea of creating something “out of this world”. Based on this concept, the project is inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s cult film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, whose sets are reviewed and deconstructed to create science fiction spaces in a busy Venezuelan neighborhood. The result is a place isolated from outside noise, between references to space and surreal interiors. Read full article here.
An apartment in Oslo reveals an “ethos for less”
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British architect Simon Dance completed the renovation project of a historical apartment in Oslo creating an oasis of calm through the use of bespoke floating screens. Is the subtle renovation project of a historical apartment in Oslo built in 1916-18, during the Nordic Classicism period. It appears as suspended in time, with translucent white screens contrasted by existing baroque wooden frames. Read full article here.