n . a . x . y . l . u . m

Cukrowicz Nachbaur, Burial Vault, Rottenburg am Neckar, 2014

Gota House in Zimbabwe by Sforza Seilern

Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk, Summerhouse Annex, Finnøya, 2004

Spread House in Nagano

Operable Boundary Townhouse/Garden in Brooklyn

In the words of the Dean/Wolf Architects:

Operable Boundary Townhouse/Garden creates a new field of openness excavated out of the lower level of an existing traditional townhouse in Brooklyn Heights. Removing all of the servant spaces from the house at both the garden level and the parlor floor liberates the space from it’s previous secondary status. The traditional boundary between parlor and kitchen is opened through the excavation of a two story space over the dining space and the light apertures between the parlor and the kitchen which cut into the security of the traditional floor which separates them. The kitchen/dining space becomes an entertaining space and a family space equilivant to the formal parlor spaces overhead. Open to each other as well as the garden, it becomes an open field of occupation rather than a closed relationship of proximity and view.

Good Hotel Design on a TIght Budget

Hostal Ritoque by Gabriel Rudolphy & Alejandro Soffia is a design with the philosophy that good design should not be exclusive to luxury and is not dependent on cost. 

In our society we customarily perceive architecture as a luxury, understanding luxury as something valuable and at the same time scarce. We agree with the first component of the definition, but with respect to the second point, we as architects have probably not been persistent enough to build a better quality environment, nor inside or outside the Centres. Now if we define luxury as Bruno Munari does, we realize that, in general, high-level architectural production is associated with improper use of costly materials, which produce an equality gap to the extent that the benefits of good design can only be taken advantage of by those that can afford it.