Contemporary Design News

Belgian-based Bovenbouw Architectuur has created the 'Palazzo', an apartment building next to the Kattendijkdok in Antwerp. The Palazzo features an undulating facade on a prominent corner site and comprises 54 apartments over 6 floors with commercial units on the ground floor, a courtyard accessible from the street and underground parking. The building forms part of an urban block with the other buildings designed by Sergison Bates Architects and BULK Architectuur. Photo Stijn Bollaert. Bovenbouw Architectuur

The New Bivouac Fanton, a cabin designed by Italian architects DEMOGO, is situated 2,667m above sea level in the Marmarole mountain range in the Italian Dolomites. The structure is characterised by its inclined profile and designed as a telescope to frame the vast natural space with a distant view of the town of Auronzo at the base of the valley. The shade of the exterior, with its natural metallic coating, is influenced by the surrounding rocks and it contrasts with the raw timber interior. Photo Iwan Baan. DEMOGO

Berlin-based Sehw Architektur's project 'Twins for Modern Job Nomads' in Berlin Schöneweide provides temporary accommodation for 50 professionals on an urban in-fill site. Rather than completely fill the existing gap, a six-storey street-facing building is situated to allow entry to a semi-public courtyard, which then provides access to a 'twin' rear building via a private communal garden. Photo Helin Bereket. Sehw Architektur

Zurich-based Annette Gigon / Mike Guyer Architects have added a two-story extension to the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat in Bottrop's historic park Stadtgarten. The form, materials and colour of the structure are designed such that the architectural identity of the adjacent 1913 judge's villa and museum buildings from the 1970s and 1980s, are clearly legible. Photo Stefan Müller, Berlin. Gigon/Guyer

Portuguese architect Carvalho Araújo designed a glass and concrete house situated in dense woodland near the Caniçada reservoir in Portugal. The form of the three-floor house was informed by an existing building on the site. The openings have been designed to allow continuity between the inside and outside, while the surrounding spaces have been preserved with the vegetation providing a sense of enclosure. Photo ©NUDO. Carvalho Araújo

IQON is the tallest building in Quito, Ecuador, and BIG's first project in South America. The building is comprised of 33 stacked concrete boxes, each rotated to offer stunning views and outdoor terraces for residents. Native trees are planted in the balconies, which can be replanted in the city once they outgrow their planters. The building acts as an urban farm utilising the unique climatic conditions of Quito, one of the highest cities in the world at 2,820m. BIG

Rotterdam, São Paulo and Paris-based KAAN Architecten were commissioned by the Netherlands War Graves Foundation to create a building in Loenen, Netherlands, to commemorate Dutch victims of the Second World War. KAAN Architecten designed a stone pavilion keeping it as narrow as possible to minimise disturbance to the birch and pine trees in the forest. The design keeps the form horizontal by avoiding vertical elements which was the principle of the original landscape architect for the site, Daniel Haspels. Photo ©Simone Bossi. KAAN Architecten

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have created 15,500 sq m of workshop, studio and research space for the Battersea campus of the Royal College of Art in London. The textured brickwork and the large north-facing clerestory windows of the studio building, together with the metal fins of the research building, create a distinctive identity for the campus. The building achieves a BREEAM Excellent rating and is designed to be robust, low maintenance and flexible. Photo © Iwan Baan. Herzog & de Meuron, Royal College of Art.

Toronto-based architects Studio Architecture and Collaboration (StudioAC) have built a house clad in unfinished galvanised steel inspired by local farm buildings. The unfinished galvanised steel walls and roof reflect the changing hues of the landscape and sky. The house is situated on the Bruce Peninsula, north of Toronto, Canada. Photo Felix Michaud. StudioAC

The refurbishment of architect John Wardle's own home, Kew House, Victoria, remodels the house while preserving three ancient Scottish Elm trees. It updates the house both in terms of thermal efficiency and also spatially, to accommodate the inhabitants evolving use and to house an extensive art and ceramics collection. The works feature precision Victoria Ash joinery including an Ash lined study overlooking the gardens. Photo Sharyn Cairns. Wardle

Orma Architettura has created a low-carbon, three-apartment contemporary building on the site of a ruin in the village of Christinacce in Corsica. The building is primarily made of timber with wide windows framing views of the mountains. To reduce the carbon footprint the building is constructed using techniques that would allow the use of higher humidity local Laricio Pine to avoid transporting timber from outside of the island. Photo Julien Kerdraon. Orma Architettura

Bak Gordon Arquitectos have designed a bar and pavilion in Belém along the Lisbon waterfront in Portugal. The painted concrete skeletal structure has a small enclosure in glass, such that the glass elements can be completely removed to create one continuous space. The space is open to the river and also has a sense of enclosure under the overhanging roof. Photo Francisco Nogueira. Bak Gordon architectos