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.

I was reading recently in an architectural magazine some comments that an architect was uttering about prefabricated construction, putting the whole industry in a single bag and qualifying the results as “ugly”. As I find the comment to be out of touch with the reality, I believe that the esthetics of a prefabricated house lies in the skills of its designers and builders.

A great example of fabulous prefab is this latest house by New York based Res4 Architecture. Overlooking the Great Peconic Bay in the south fork of Long Island, this compact house is sited beyond a wildlife buffer in a wooded enclave, steps from the bay.

Residence for a Sculptor positions itself frontally within a hillside. It consciously projects itself as a series of constructive polemics that help in building a solid design concept:


1. Facade / Face vs. Viscera / Musculature: A smooth, taut facade is lifted above the hillside, reflecting the linear displacement of spaces. The facade is supported by a steel frame that is exposed on the rear, uphill side. The dialog here is between fineness and unrefined, between an outward effortless presentation and the physical efforts that are required to present it.

© All photographs courtesy of Sharon Risedorph Photography

Brazilian architects una arquitetos designed this house for friends. The region is located at the foot of the one thousand feet high Mantiqueira Mountain, on the border of São Paulo and Minas Gerais states.



The development is located along the banks of Piracaia Lake which belongs to the water supply system of the capital, and nearby the village of Lopo, which used to be an old route of Pilgrims from the 19th century.

Location: near Barcelona, Spain
Status: Completed in 2008
Area: Two levels: 230m (2475ft) 130m (1400ft)
Max height: 10 meters (33 ft)

If architecture is music in stone can its “limbs” dance? Architecture only remains still in pictures. In real life its natural state is one of transition. Both man and light move within it.

Inside a house among coarse Mediterranean glades and corrugated stone walls, a slanting light, pierced by innumerable narrow repeated blades, inscribes and describes the walls with its impermanent, mutable hand. How many possible stories will this light tell over the course of a year?

Located on the top of a hill, southwest of Madrid, with splendid views to the mountains in the north, the design of this residence is essentially a derivative of its site and its surroundings.

The architect needed a platform as a base to settle his project. A large concrete box was built as a podium on which a transparent glass box was placed, delicately covered with a light and simple structure of white-painted steel.

The house is designed for a retired couple with the need for guest bedroom suites and a large communal space for the living, dining, and kitchen areas.



This 2,600 square-feet single-family residence is located in Palm Desert, California. The house is located on a flat, irregularly shaped lot at the end of a cul-de-sac.  The neighborhood contains a variety of styles and references to the preferred typical suburban desert subdivision architecture.

All photographs are courtesy of Ciro Coelho

The project is located in Guatapé- Antioquia, Colombia,  just two hours away from Medellín, a place with natural potential for ecological tourism development.



It consists of a series of refuges immerged within a natural landscape which offers visitors an escape from the daily monotony of the agitated city life.