Category: Villa

Le Marche Villa

My friends, hold on to your hats because today I am taking you to a breathtaking villa in Le Marche, to what seems to be a hidden jewel in Italy.

Converted into a vacation home with a guest house, Casa Olivi is located on a hill in Treia and is a result of a 4-year renovation process by Swiss architects Markus Wespi and Jerome de Meuron. The 300-year old villa was destroyed by fire in 1995 but the architects revived it with keen eye for modern lines while being respectful of the original charm. The result is a stunning home that is elegant, minimal and oh so delightful for the eyes!

If this is a “farmhouse”, we all might as well become weekend farmers, don’t you think?

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Villa in Ibiza

Yes I am aware that it is the middle of December and many of you are probably covered in snow… but doesn’t a quick trip to Ibiza sound quite tempting? Designed by French architect Pascal Cheikh Djavadi, today’s home is calling our name with its minimal structure on the outside and a couple of surprising and elegant curves on the inside. The curves are balancing just right with the rest of the home, somehow making it even more inviting and fitting to its environment. There is a nice sense of both simplicity and personality that is so fresh and inviting. Carefully edited furnishing and neutral color palette with selected hints of color only add to the overall concept.

Whether or not that was the plan of the architect, I love the play of rectangle being showcased in various scale throughout – from windows and doors openings, to fireplace, reading zone, selected seating, enormous bookshelf, and even seen in the design of the pool.

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O House

The O House, located in Vierwaldstättersee, Switzerland, was designed by Philippe Stuebi Architekten with Eberhard Tröger. Overlooking Lake Lucerne, its bold visual concept might classify it among slightly different minimal approach in architecture.

First, there is the proportion of façade’s large circular pattern, so strong in impact, one might not realize the actual beautiful simplicity of the O House as a whole. The simplicity is coming from the selection of materials such as concrete, glass and smooth wood flooring to the use of smaller version of circular screen application used as a repetitious element helping to lessen the transition between the outside and inside.

On both, the front and the lake side, this sculptural villa shows very expressive and ornamental facades. Facing Mount Pilatus, the white concrete elements are dotted with circular openings that allow glimpses into the two-levelled orangery with its exotic plants, as well as the lounge, the guest tract and the staircase accessed through one of the openings at the ground floor.

I love strong, well-executed design intent. Here, even something so bold (and somewhat fun) such as the circular openings is finished with confidence. Because of their scale, repetition and simple materiality throughout the rest of the space, the design is intentional, cohesive, and successful, what do you think?

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Solo House Casa Pezo

Solo House Casa Pezo in Matarranya region in the south of Catalonia, Spain, is proposed by the award-winning Pezo Von Ellrichshausen Architects from Chile. Part of the Solo Houses concept consisting of eight to ten vacation homes designed by international young talents such as Mos Office, Studio Mumbai or Sou Fujimoto, Casa Pezo is a nod to modern approach to vacation homes.

Like a geometrical sculpture raised above the ground, the 313 sqm Casa Pezo uses minimal shapes to achieve symmetry and strong but free direction of movement. Otherwise heavy concrete structure’s effect is lightened with generous openings wrapped around the entire home, some of which are filled with glass panels in opposing directions. I love that the only “enclosed” room has no roof but it does host a pool. The combination of the void of the roof, volume of water and wall openings on each side play on ones perception of interiors and exteriors.

Casa Pezo’s simple geometry and effortless blend with Catalonian countryside is an exciting affirmation of strong idea with minimal distractions. Successful combination indeed.

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Agbaria House

This home in Tel Aviv, Agbaria House, is a pared down, minimalistic rendition of traditional Islamic architecture. Designed by Tel Aviv architect Ron Fleisher, it combines the rich, lush element of the mashrabiya screens with simple, elegant lines of modernist architecture.

The house maintains certain typical building elements, like high vents for natural ventilation, high vaulted ceilings, and the traditional liwan, around which the private areas of the house are arranged, all the while adapted to contemporary needs and a simple, geometric aesthetic.

Being myself a lover of both Moorish architecture and their vast influence upon European architecture (as in Venice, southern Italy, Spain and Portugal), as well as modernist architecture, this house was a delightful find.

Photography by Shai Epstein.

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Adega Mayor

Portuguese architect and Pritzker laureate Álvaro Siza Vieira designed this winery at Campo Maior, Portugal, in 2007.

The building is an imposing, yet understated figure sitting atop a gentle slope amid the wide open plain of the vineyard. Its 120m x 50m volume is composed of elementary geometrical shapes and similarly basic construction materials.

This is “silent” architecture at its best.

Photography by Fernando Guerra.

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Guerrero House

This is one gorgeous house. Guerrero House, located at Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain, was designed by the famous Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza. The play on light, space and proportion is extraordinary. A small opening in an 8 meter high square wall is the only entrance. Center of the house is the 9 [...]

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Sandy Island

Set in Sentosa cove, Singapore, Sandy Island is a rare collection of 18 waterfront villas nestled within a tropical island oasis of privacy and calm.

Designed by London and Milan based architect Claudio Silvestrin, these villas are built facing the Java sea. Each villa is 700 m2 large with it’s own swimming pool and double height living area. The 18 villas have four different design configurations and materials, mainly natural stones and timber.

I especially like the fluidity of spaces where one space flows into another with a minimal intrusion of doors and barriers.  Starting at the front in a closed-off geometrical form to open up at the back with a dramatic double height frameless glass façade.

Sandy Island is due for completion in 2010.

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Krater House

A sunken area was situated on top of a hill on Antiparos, in the Cycladic islands, Greece. Deca Architecture conceptualized the challenge of filling in this crater with a primitive inspired dwelling that was both wind protected from the Aegean Sea and modestly out of view from the village below. The vast areas of the house lies underground, with straight lined boxes jutting out of the hillside constructed out of stone that fits seamlessly into the rugged landscape.

Deca Architecture really concentrated on tying the idea together with a strong concept. They explored the flow and the interweaving of the four basic ingredients of the dwelling: Stone, ‘lava flow’, ‘the alien’ and water. Here is an excerpt from the architects explaining the 4 areas. 

Stone: stone surfaces define the borders of the Krater. On the North side, a double height stone volume protects the Krater from the wind and houses multiple sleeping rooms and public gathering spaces. On the East, stone angled walls surround the Krater and form the entrance ramp. The South side features a stone volume, with a metal structure that supports a bamboo roof. Finally the West is open to sea views.

‘Lava Flow’: A path flows under the lap pool, like lava overflowing from the Krater. It is directed towards the guest house. Stone walls form its boundaries, folding back to let a small garden come to life. The guest house consists of two sheltered spaces and one roofless room (courtyard), in between them. One room is visible, the other is buried into the landscape.

‘Alien’: A long rectangular white volume is placed inside the Krater. It houses activities linked to the preparation and the consumption of food. Large glass sliding doors blur the boundaries between the interior space and the exterior courtyard. The kitchen windows frame specific views of the pool and the surrounding small islands.

Water: A 25 meter long lap pool marks the Krater’s Western boundary, in axis with a small rocky island north of Antiparos. The swimmer experiences a visual unification of the pool water surface and the sea, through the overflow on the western edge of the pool, right at the moment when turning for a breath. The lap pool becomes deeper and wider as it enters the Krater’s main courtyard.

What a clever concept that only accentuates such a beautiful and environmentally sensitive design.

House W

This is House W, located somewhere in China. Just two open boxes and a stair case connecting them. And don’t you just love that tiny little tree in the back?

House W was designed by Hong Kong based Fuquan Junze, who’s a furniture, interior and industrial designer. Junze started his own firm, Oil Monkey, back in 2007.

Interesting little fact about this Junze is that he never had any formal training. Before entering the design profession, he worked as a mechanical engineer, administrative manager and even school coach… Amazing.

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