The Mountain Dwellings, a contemporary housing building was designed by architect Jakob Lange, Bjarke Ingels Group is located in Orestad city and offer the best of two worlds: closeness to the hectic city life in the centre of Copenhagen, and the tranquillity characteristic of suburban life, in Denmark. The Mountain Dwellings are the 2nd generation of the VM Houses, same client, same size and same street. The Mountain Dwellings appear as a suburban neighbourhood of garden homes flowing over a 10-storey building – suburban living with urban density. Read more »

The housing block, Nova Gorica Architecture is situated in the centre of Nova Gorica (population 32.000, the west of Slovenia, adjacent the Slovene, Italian border. The 5-storey building was designed by Ofis Arhitekti lies 92 meters above sea level. The town has also very specific climate conditions, it is renowned is the hottest town in Slovenia in summer and very strong winds in winter.

The Lace apartments is positioned on the fixed urban plot 48 x 16m x 5 floors. The formal concept reinstates three-dimensional lace which embraces the volume of the building. Furthermore, the lace is transformed into functional elements, projecting roofs, pergolas, apartment dividing walls, terraces and balconies with loggias. These elements are protecting external spaces and interior of apartments and provide additional privacy to inhabitants. Read more »

In Tokyo an astonishing array of all kind of buildings, Japan 2005.

Tokyo: modern architecture and traditional housing, originally uploaded by Chris Kutschera.

Oia, originally uploaded by Wolfgang Staudt.

Oia is a community on the island of Thera, Santorini, in the Cyclades, Greece. Population 1,230 (2001). Along the cliff of Oia, houses have been delved into the porous volcanic rock (left over from a large volcanic explosion many years ago that sunk the center of the island). Parts of these houses are visible and the scenery that results from it is generally perceived as being typically Greek. The town is noted for its picturesque architecture, unique for its blend of relatively large (for the town’s space) medieval Venetian houses (dubbed “kapetanea” gr: “?????????” — as they belonged to the captains) with small incave village homes, called “yposkafa” (gr: “????????”, caved-in) which were the housing form of the rest of the town’s population. This is a reminiscent of the age of Venetian rule over the island. Other attributes of this era are the large Catholic population as well as the medieval fortifications to protect from pirates. To this day laws protect the natural and architectural beauty of the town from modern manifestations, such as public electrical wires. Oia remains one of the foremost tourist attractions of the Aegean Sea. The famous Oia sunset, considered by many as one of the most beautiful in the world, keeps tourists flocking down to the castle, waiting for the moment when the sun slips down on the calm sea of the caldera. Tourists are often told that the fishing docks at Oia are the oldest continually used docks in the world, supposedly being in service for 3000 years. While an interesting bit of tourist trivia, no evidence is supplied to validate the claim. In 2004, it was used for the location of a few scenes in the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Prefab courtyard low-cost housing. Flat, wood elements. you are looking at a single unit in two floors. This is a prototype done partly to serve as a sales pavillion and partly to learn how to assemble the next 124 houses effectively. Four different courtyard houses are archieved by combining 5.2×5.2 meter modules. Nine by nine, the courtyard houses are gathered around intimate communal spaces (kitchen always looking into this space). The resulting enclaves are placed freely in the gently sloping landscape. Read more »