Some projects help the architect to think about the basics. This is more important in these times when, they are questioning their methods, and needs to be done differently to obtain a more eco-friendly and sustainable project.

In that perspective, Sou Fujimoto built this prototypical project that kept him thinking of the primary functions of the house.

Here are the ideas behind the project, in the architect’s own words.

« I wanted to create an ultimate wooden architecture. I thought through this bungalow, which can be considered as a small and primitive house, it was possible to do a primitive and simultaneously new architecture. 350mm square profile cedar is piled endlessly. At the end of the process appears a prototypical place before architecture became architecture."

All photographs © Iwan Baan

A post-secondary facility that combines traditional aboriginal culture with cutting-edge sustainable technologies.

The Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) is one of Canada’s first post-secondary facilities shared by a native and non-native institute. It is funded by the Province of British Columbia, and located on a 17.5 hectare site on the north side of the City of Merritt in the BC interior.

Photographs courtesy of Nic Lehoux.

With undeniable talent, Zaha Hadid Architects keep pushing the envelope of architecture, while injecting innovative ideas that make their projects more dynamic and fluid.

A perfect example is this recently designed museum, located in Au-Di, Taipei county, northern part of Taiwan. This dynamic site is situated on the end corner of a steep sloping hill.

The form harmonizes with the surrounding landscape and is embedded into its natural topography. The structural system of the conic walls give a distinct character to the inside of the museum. The interstitial spaces of each conic wall create the fluid circulation system linking all the spaces from exterior landscape to interior museum.

Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects have designed the new Wing Luke Asian Museum. The firm’s design preserves and restores the historic fabric of the East Kong Yick Building and offers new and expanded space to the Wing Luke Asian Museum, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate and America’s premier pan-Asian Pacific American museum. Rick Sundberg, principal of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, led the design.

The new Wing Luke Asian Museum, in Seattle’s Chinatown International District, offers space for community meetings and events, public space for the neighborhood, theatre space for performances and presentations, exhibit spaces for community art and emerging Asian Pacific American artists, family-centered learning environments and leadership development for neighborhood youth.

Overlooking the San Francisco Bay with a view that spans from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge, this attractive Oakland house by Kanner Architects uses its minimalist composition to bring in both the surrounding view as well as natural light that manipulates natural light to articulate the space.

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city in the province of Manitoba, located within the prairies of Western Canada. Winnipeg Centennial Library, originally constructed in 1976 as a three-story building, occupies a city block along with a large public park. Both library and green space stand on a below-grade parking garage.

The library, which is roughly triangular in plan, is constructed of reinforced concrete; the concrete is exposed on the interior, while the exterior is clad in pre-cast panels. Connection between the 1976 library and park is surprisingly limited. The monolithic concrete and the disconnection from the setting result in a fortress-like building with generally closed and introspective interiors.

Interactive Public Space Design.

Low Rez / Hi Fi is an interactive public space project that activates the sidewalk and engages the public by interfacing between the public space of Vermont Avenue and the interior of the 1110 Vermont Avenue lobby.