In-depth case studies on amazing architecture and the building-products that helped make it a reality.
When Mies van der Rohe uttered those three famous words “less is more,” he encapsulated the founding philosophy of an entire architectural genre, and nowhere does that phrase feel more poignant than in the quaint, tree-lined streets of New Canaan, Connecticut. In this small town, Philip Johnson’s Glass House — inspired by Van der Rohe’s…
Some of the greatest cultural buildings in modern history have been defined by stone, from the trave rtine tiles of Richard Meier’s Getty Museum to the great carved walls of Snøhetta’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The material is loved by architects the world over for its contrasting qualities of solidity and flexibility: its innate permanence is countered by…
Blending the influences of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Meier an d Partners Architects could be considered the ultimate conduit of 20th-century modernism in contemporary practice. The American firm’s distinctive aesthetic is immediately recognizable and stands as a present-day ode to those modern masters in contrast with a plethora of…
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” The words of Vincent Van Gogh must have resonated with Hans van Heeswijk of Amsterdam-based firm Hans Van Heeswijk Architects when he sat down to develop ideas for a new addition to the museum dedicated to the world-renowned Dutch…
For the last 50 years, designs for company headquarters have been dominated by thick slices of moder nism in steel and glass, from SOM’s iconic Lever House in Manhattan to Kohn Pedersen Fox’s glittering Samsung HQ in Seoul. The brief for such projects remains the same today — to formulate a structure that can come to…
Anssi Lassila has been a busy man, of late. The Finnish architect has scarcely had a chance to enjoy the all-too-short Finnish summer — the weather finally turned at the beginning of the month — as the long days can also mean longer hours in the office. As the chair of the most recent Alvar…
When William Morris completed the Red House in 19th-century London, he may not have realized the inf luence it would have on Arts and Crafts architecture across Britain, let all alone the rest of the world. However, the ideals associated with that movement have traversed the globe in the succeeding decades, and this is no more…
French architects have an abundance of colorful characters throughout their country’s history to tak e inspiration from, from Charles Garnier and Gustave Eiffel to Philippe Starck and Jean Nouvel. Indeed, those practicing in Gallic lands are spoiled for choice when discussing the impact on contemporary architecture from Calais to Cannes, and Strasbourg-based studio Dominique Coulon and…
Some buildings become permanently engrained in the collective consciousness of architects, such is t heir influence in both academic circles and professional practice, and Chilean firm Gubbins Arquitectos has channeled the spirit of one such icon for a residence on the picturesque coastline of Cachagua. Perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Mirador…