« Form follows function ». This statement has been at the core of Modern Architecture since Louis Sullivan. But how true are architects and designers to the principle when it comes to designing houses. Function has taken a secondary role, replaced in the majority of cases by the formal, spatial, and ideosyncratic requirements.

All pictures are courtesy of Michael Jantzen 

Designed by the talented architecture firm PIQUE, this single family residence rests on a prairie site in the high desert of Central Oregon and takes its design cues from the distant landscapes, the colors/textures/layers of the adjacent fields and the client’s demand to feel as though they live outdoors.

The transformation of the Winter Residence began as a simple request for a bathroom remodel. The owner Jerry Winter and his soon-to-be wife, Desi Rosenfield, were interested in creating bathrooms that matched the minimal and contemplative feel of the modern spas and boutique hotels they had visited in their travels. 

However, the spatial quality for which they were looking was in stark contrast to the haphazard flow and disparate finishes of their existing residence.

Photographs by Bill Timmerman, courtesy of the architect

A second platform and a new footbridge at the Stratford DLR station, North East of central London, designed by architects SMC Alsop, opened to passengers this weekend. While the first platform opened in June 2007, the opening of this platform marks the completion of the whole project. The striking new landmark terminus caters for significantly increased capacity, and planned 3 car train operations on the DLR.

Making space for the 2012 Olympics and future Crossrail, the new station is the first piece in the jigsaw of a wider Stratford masterplan.

The new Boston Public Library Allston Branch by Machado and Silvetti Associates is one of twenty-seven branches in the city’s library system.

Differing from the main library, these local facilities provide an important outreach to Boston’s neighborhoods, often serving as community centers in addition to their role housing books. This building type has, in the time since H. H. Richardson’s designs for various small libraries in New England, been characterized by a casual expression that is less authoritarian than other civic buildings, instead projecting an image of accessibility and democratic values.

  Text courtesy of Machado and Silvetti Associates Photographs courtesy of Michael Moran