One of the hardest and most challenging tasks for an architect designing a house is to take an existing project and transforming it into a house that is geared towards a more contemporary lifestyle.

With Casa AV, BGP arquitectura has been able to achieve great results in the redesigning of a house from the 70’s of no significant architectural value and located in front of one of the most important avenues of Mexico City.

What is most impressive is the fact that, due to a retrained budget, the original structure was kept intact.

Zénith concert halls have been a major feature of French cultural life over the last twenty-five years, and these state-sponsored venues for rock concerts, political gatherings, and other cultural events. Bernard Tschumi Architects designed this latest Zénith Concert Hall built in Limoges.

Rojkind Arquitectos worked around the clock to turn their client's requirements for a Chocolate Museum into a remarkable spatial experience.

While Nestlé’s chocolate Factory in Mexico City (located in Paseo Tollocan near Toluca) was in need of an inner pathway for visitors to witness the production of their favorite chocolates, a group of experts put together by rojkind arquitectos and Traqs suggested bigger plans for the company.

Trahan Architects wanted to relay the spiritual atmosphere of the church complex through its architecture. The project is an honest exploration of form, function, natural light and materials, providing an engaging and profound study in sacred space.

The oratory is the focal point of its rural Roman Catholic campus, predominant by its unique placement and floating within the sacred precinct of a courtyard space.

Photographs courtesy of Timothy Hursley

The new city library in Turku is located at the historical centre of the city. The building is the latest addition to a block with the old library and several other historically valuable buildings. The historical and cultural value of the site presented a great challenge for the planning of the new building. The objective of the project was to create a new construct, which would harmonize with the historically invaluable setting while also manifesting an architecture of its own age.

A major concert hall space in Porto, Portugal designed by  Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas  and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture. It is located on a plaza between a historic area of Porto, the Rotunda da Boavista and a newer working-class neighborhood.

As a result of Porto being selected as one of the two cultural capitals of Europe in 2001, the Minister of Culture and the city of Porto founded Porto 2001, an organization which was to initiate and prepare different urban and cultural interventions for the city of Porto. In this context five international architectural practices, amongst which was OMA, were invited to participate in a restricted competition for a new concert hall to be positioned in the historical centre of Porto, the Rotunda da Boavista.

Image courtesy of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)