The architects wanted to break free from the typical straight-angled housing enclosure. They wanted this holiday house to be more about fun, a break from the monotony daily routine.

Rethinking the volumes in three dimensions, they stretched and distorted all the facets of the house, producing slopes and angles that create unique visual experience through spatial intersections, incidents and accidents. The result is a unique project where you would expect the unexpected.

The architects explained the ideas behind their project quite well:

The Klein bottle is a descriptive model of a surface developed by topological mathematicians.

Klein bottle, mobius strips, boy surfaces, are unique surfaces that while they may be distorted remain topologically the same. I.e. a donut will remain topologically a donut if you twist and distort it, it will only change topologically if it is cut.

The Openhouse is embedded into a narrow and sharply sloping property in the Hollywood Hills, a challenging site that led to the creation of a house that is both integrated into the landscape and open to the city below.



Retaining walls are configured to extend the first floor living level into the hillside and to create gardens on two levels. The front, side and rear elevations of the house slide open to erase all boundaries between indoors and out, connecting the spaces to gardens on both levels.

Danish architectural company schmidt hammer lassen architects has won a 52,863 m2 mixed-use complex “Konstitucijos Avenue 21” in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The project is the result of a successful collaboration with Oslo-based Lund+Slaatto Architects, a strategic partner of schmidt hammer lassen architects. The client had requested cross-scandinavian architect teams for the task which led Lund+Slaatto to invite schmidt hammer lassen to join them.


"The inspiring cooperation with our colleagues from Lund+Slaatto has surely contributed to our winning the project. We would consider expanding our collaboration with them in future projects if they fit both our profiles," said John Lassen, responsible partner for schmidt hammer lassen architects.

This house is an exploration of the traditional division of a building into base, middle and roof. The solidity of the base is maintained. It reads heavy and rooted to the earth. The second floor is light and almost without walls.

The roof flies above. To accommodate the causal lifestyle of the Davis family, the architects developed an open floor plan on the first floor where the kitchen and family room are one and the same, opening up to the garden. Adjacent to the kitchen is a studio for the client’s wife.

One of the recipients of the 2009 AIA's Small Project Awards, the Accessory Building was designed for small office use in a residential neighborhood in the District of North Vancouver.  The building is categorized as a Non-Parking Use Accessory Building and at 269 sf is the maximum size and height for the neighborhood zoning.


The building contributes to an emerging model of infill mixed-use within established residential neighborhoods and specifically addresses the potential of the home-office. The building was designed to transition over time and is currently used as an art studio for the owner’s young family.

By its playful form and character, the Zenith music hall contributes to the great Varietee Theaters which were built since the Zenith building in Paris was erected in 1984.


The new Zenith building is an important project for the exhibition area in Strasbourg. It will be the new attraction which will give new impulse to the future development of the city’s infrastructure.


The project is currently nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award .