Modernism

 The existing Auditorium, is a great example of Modernism, designed by iconic Israeli architects Arieh Sharon and Benjamin Idelson in 1955. The 2,000m² building is the largest performance hall on the Weizmann Institute campus.   HQ Architects were commissioned to undertake the renovation and extension of this iconic building, which falls under strict ‘preservation’ rules, and where the facades and contour of the building cannot be modified. However, the ambition for the new Michael Sela Auditorium was to double the area of the existing lobby, and add a new social space suitable to accommodate different activities that go beyond the standard use of foyer as a waiting space. The concept is based on the observa... More

House 2 is the design of a 3,500 square feet courtyard residence to be located in Aguada, Puerto Rico.  This house belongs to a series of houses that explore spatial and conceptual volumetric configurations of the frame and the box.Essentially, three extruded frames and a box are reconfigured volumetrically to define the public spaces of the house. The configuration is initiated by connecting two extruded frames with a box, resulting in a continuous open plan. The intersection of these two elements transforms the volumetric configuration in order to merge the spaces. This transformation is later connected to a perpendicular extruded frame that, on the one hand, creates a fluid space and, on the other hand, defines each space locally th... More

The small house was designed and crafted for an eminent author and professor of Native American Studies. After losing her husband a few years ago, the Professor decided to downsize from a 3200 square foot house to something smaller. The final design is a little over 1600 heated square feet, which is about half of what she used to live in and about 1000 square feet less than the average American house of 2500 square feet.  The final design includes:​   Design for aging in place, with zero thresholds from the entry bridge to the curdles showers inside.​  A small garage with an electric car charging station.​  An ample open living and dining great room with soaring clerestory windows and f... More

This 9-story, mixed-use building re-animates the abandoned corner of Sixth and Howard streets with 67 affordable family apartments, including 14 units for developmentally disabled adults. The housing units sit over restaurant/retail and community space at the ground floor.To resonate with the rhythms of the surrounding historic district, the design begins with a double-height commercial space above which the building breaks into two brick-clad volumes, the taller marks the intersection as a tower; the other steps down with a roof terrace. Residential amenities include private balconies, two common roof gardens, day-lit corridors, and flexible spaces for community gathering, offices, and child play.The building required a storm water retenti... More

This three-story municipal building is planned as a civil center in the spirit of the modernist movement, reminiscent of many of the public buildings built in the first half of the previous century in the kibbutzes and moshavs of the area.The first floor of the building houses the departments that receive the public: money collection, education, social services and psychological services. The last two departments have separate, more intimate entrances from the outside, enabling them to function independently and discreetly. The first floor offices are arranged around patio gardens that serve as a backdrop for the public waiting areas. Other departments, demanding less public accessibility, are situated on the intermediate floor, while manag... More

Heritage is this gamut of inherited objects, ideas, culture, and traditions. Not to be confused with preserving or restoring old things, values and ideas; It is often the collective of the tangible and intangible that has been passed on over time. Chettinad in Tamil Nadu is a city known for its wealthy merchants that were once hosted to wealth from across the globe.  But the Great Depression of the 1920s’ led to their gradual downfall. Even the opulent homes crumbled as the inhabitants couldn’t afford its upkeep. The city today, perhaps, resembles a discolored painting. A standalone palace haunts a desolate land with impressive exteriors but disintegrating within. In the case of Chettinad and alike, what does the current time inherit?&... More

Author’s report The assignment for me as the designer and my studio - as the implementer, was as follows - Recreate a relatively new, medium sized maisonette apartment in Prague city centre for the needs and level of cosmopolitan couple, while I got almost unlimited freedom as the author. Inspired by modernism and the love of the Tugendhat villa in Brno, I drew the concept from just these sources - not as formal as ideologically rather. As the clients, constantly on the road, should use the flat as a point of contact and a haven, I had the pleasure to create it calmly and comfortably, with a spark of playfulness - what I was aiming for in a purely geometric scheme, simple to strict shapes and a noble material scale supported by uncompr... More

"What qualities should an intimate residential building of the 21st century have?" - this question was asked by the Wrocław studio Q2Studio, which aimed to reinterpret the form of a traditional urban villa. The final project, which will be built on the Nowe Żerniki housing estate, will refer to the most important elements of the old style. A simple, compact body immersed in the surrounding greenery, sculpted loggias and terraces, enriched with a minimalist detail, is to meet the expectations of the most demanding customers.Wisualization: BLOK studio More

Single family villa design in a modernism context of Orłowo district of Gdynia. Contemporary approach to the modernism style exspecialy Gdynia Modernism. More

To design addition to an already existing object is always a challenging task, above all considering newly established relations and autonomy of annex building. Moreover, with financial limitations imposed by a society in transition, which favors a “quick” design and “cheap” construction, realization of respectable building becomes a demanding task for every architect. Here, an example of addition design is presented – the Annex of Faculty of Medicine in Niš, which won the Annual Prize of Serbian Architects’ Society for 2010. Later on, Garage Group Architects also won GRAND PRIX at the Triennial of Architecture 2012th - Architecture Days of Nis, in the category of architectural projects – realization. The addition was built in 2009/2010, an... More

Semi-detached house is a transitory form between free-standing houses and row houses, and can be organized as a group of linear or spotted units. Two parts of a semi-detached house are usually identically spatially and geometrically designed, which interferes with user’s identification with his living space. A designing process of this semi-detached house was marked by the architect’s effort to ideally use conditions offered by location and avoid this cliché. The main task of the designer was to conceive two different units with almost identical living areas within the object treated as an individual house.This semi-detached house is designed in, to a certain extent, limited conditions, on a small lot, and adjacent to several newly built st... More

This family home in southern Sweden was designed by Lindvall A & D. The project began as the revamp of an existing summerhouse dating back to the 1940s. The initial plan included additions and alterations to the existing structure. However, due to building regulations stipulating that the footprint remain unchanged, house was rebuilt entirely.Falsterbo is one of the most popular resort regions in southern Sweden, becoming densely populated over summer. Although the site sits within a residential neighbourhood, one of the criteria of the brief was to create a family home that offered privacy. This was achieved by placing the garage at the front of the house, facing the street. Visitors must follow a path that leads alongside the garage t... More

Built on a 925 m2 plot in the centre of Limhamn in Malmö, House L1 consists of two apartment blocks containing seven homes, centred around a private courtyard. Within the courtyard is a communal swimming pool. The street-facing building harmonises in scale with the characteristic brick cottages of the former fishing village. The block consists of five split-level apartments laid out over four levels, ranging from 72-141 m2. To the back of the plot, the second block contains two three-storey apartments measuring 167 m2 and 207 m2.Each home is laid out over two or three levels. Four of the apartments have mezzanines with double-height sliding windows measuring up to five metres, offering optimal natural light and the possibility to interact w... More