"The best design explicitly acknowledges that you cannot disconnect the form from the material — the material informs the form." explains Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Design at Apple.

Mr Ive’s appetite for materials is essential in his obsession for simplification. The Germann House, in Feldkrich, Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten shows great sensitivity and emphasis on craft and disciplined detailing. Unsurprisingly, their eco-thinking has earned them a “New Materialists” title.

Austrian firm Marte.Marte, runs their architecture practice out of a farmhouse. “The power we have comes from our roots, … from our home.” Marte.Marte says. They must love wood. The softness and pure finish of the Germann House pale wood floors, walls and built-in furniture are a sensual interpretation of velvet.

A great experimentation of radical modernism and rural carpentry. Is the design experience full of contradictions?