Architects Directory 2010

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 1

Architects Directory 2010
About
For this year's Architects Directory, we've opened up the minds of our 30 chosen studios,
giving them a dream brief with just a few qualifications. Divided between town and country,
the 30 conceptual structures shown here are intended as architectural provocations,
practice statements that embody individual approaches, without ever losing sight of the
economic and environmental concerns that have been pushed to the forefront of the
agenda as never before. Scattered across a selection of sites from the Ukraine to
Argentina, half in cities and half on rural sites, these houses are the fresh visions of
emerging architectural talents, each designed to maximise the qualities of its particular site,
as well as point to new ways of making a home.

This year’s chosen architects photographed at the Centre Pompidou Metz

Image: Jonathan de Villiers

Architects Pictured Not present

Spora Architects (HU)
Carson & Crushell (IE)
Walker Architects (IE)
NArchitekTURA (PL)
Suárez Santas (ES)
Frei + Saarinen (CH)
OnOffice (PT)
Marchal Fürstenburger (CH)
Rocha Tombal (NL)
Ramdam (FR)
Edgeley Design (UK)
Scenario Architecture (UK)
Hein-Troy (CH)
X -Arquitectos
Zoka Zola Architects
Moto Designshop
Rory Hyde Projects
Dieter Janssen
Claudio Vilarinho
Aas/Thaulow Axelrod Architects
Takao Akiyama
Jose Ulloa Davet & Delphine Ding
Skourtil-Stavropoulou Architects
Najjar & Najjar
Obra Architects
Owen and Vokes
Johan Sundberg
2-B-2 Architecture
Tennent + Brown Architects
Axelrod Architects

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 2

Architects Directory 2010: sporaarchitects
sporaarchitects

Hungary

WEEKEND-CITY | View in Google Earth: 47.502822, 19.061550

PROFILE
Budapest-based sporaarchitects is a multi-disciplinary practice, set up in 2002 and currently
hard at work on the city's Metro4 underground line, a major infrastructural project. The four
partners are all in their late 30s and early 40s, and have wide-ranging experience in
architecture, urbanism and development. Tibor Dékány, Sándor Finta, Ádám Hatvani and
Orsolya Vadász are also all graduates from the Budapest University of Technology and
Economics (BME), and also maintain membership of the Hungarian Contemporary
Architecture Centre, a nexus for new ways of thinking in the country. 'At the core of our
architecture is the ability to take a fresh look at things through experienced eyes,' they state.

WEEKEND-CITY
This cascading structure is spora's response to shifting perceptions of what it is to be urban.
As planners argue as to whether suburban or inner city conditions are the best means of
generating life, community and economic vitality, the Weekend-City marches in with a
tumble of ideas, a blend of the traditional summer house with an urban site. Designed to
counter Budapest's proliferation of courtyard-centric dwellings and meagre apartments,
spora suggests an agreeable architectural jumble. 'The project combines the benefits of
metropolitan and rural life,' they say, 'it would create a vertical village with criss-crossing
terraces and gardens connected to each flat, while the apartments are overrun by plants
and everyone would have a small garden to grow fruit and vegetables.'
https://www.sporaarchitects.hu

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 3

Architects Directory 2010: Carson and Crushell
Carson and Crushell
Ireland

CCORACLE FOR THE FUTURE | View in Google Earth: 53.330232, -6.263267

PROFILE
‘While our work is deeply specific to persons and place, the making of architecture
inevitably throws up more universal questions. How can we 'make' meaningful the material
at our disposal? Where do our responsibilities as global citizens lie? How can the built world
embody how you feel when you are in love?’ Thus, Dublin-based Douglas Carson and
Rosaleen Crushell in assessing the role of architecture. The pair met during their student
years at University College Dublin and have been collaborating ever since. Having worked
in London with the likes of Eric Parry, Edward Cullinan and Lynch Architects, Carson and
Crushell love to research and hunt for landscapes and materials that excite and resonate.
The architects live and work in Dublin, a city that fascinates them and remains their
‘primary, stable architectural resource’.

CCORACLE FOR THE FUTURE

Designed as an alternative to Ireland’s many ‘poorly designed one-off houses’, Carson and
Crushell’s ccOracle for the Future is, in its essence, a canal-boat house, but one that’s been
juiced up to a whole new dimension. The architects redesigned the classic boathouse in
order to combine the benefits of city living with the opportunity for rural escape. The flexible
and adaptable space is inspired by traditional Irish boat-building methods. Conceived as a
series of ‘coracles’ linked together by a grid shell of synthetic rods, the clever design
conserves heat thanks to a lining of fiberglass, tatima matting and wool rugs. Ease of travel
and comfort are assured with plenty of hidden storage spaces and multi-function areas.
https://www.carsonandcrushell.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 4

Architects Directory 2010: Walker Architects

Walker Architects
Ireland

DUBLIN ROW HOUSE - View in Google Earth: 53.333691, -6.272808

PROFILE
After working in Europe and America with artists, designers and architects on a wide variety
of projects (including a spell at the Centre Pompidou), Dublin-based architect Simon Walker
founded his own firm in 1998. The University College Dublin graduate combines private
practice with teaching, writing, furniture design and curating; he even worked with Patrick
Lynch on the Irish exhibition at the 2008 Venice Biennale. Born into an architectural family -
his father was a partner in the great Irish modernist firm of Scott Tallon Walker – Walker
has seen the country's fortunes rise and fall. 'Now the climate is very different,' he admits
'There is no appetite for ostentatious excess, even among the rich, and many people are
unable to borrow the money to develop even the most modest proposals.' Which explains
Walker’s belief and growing body of work that architecture must deliver more than the mere
provision of value or spectacle.

DUBLIN ROW HOUSE

Walker's proposed Dublin row house updates – some would say, reinvent – a common
typology so as to practically double the density of a typical site. 'Two residential units share
the plot, yet both have access to front and back of the site, and both are distributed over
upper and lower levels,' he says. Designed to slot neatly into the many empty sites
scattered around the mews and laneways on Dublin’s south side, the template house gives
the sense that qualities like sustainable design must become utterly integrated into new
architecture, while the stylish mix of old and new should be second nature.
https://www.walkerarchitects.ie

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 5

Architects Directory 2010: NArchitecTURA
NArchitecTURA
Poland

'SHELTERING SKY' | View in Google Earth: 13.905407, -4.553833

PROFILE
Bartosz Haduch founded NArchitecTURA in 2007. Based in Krakow, the studio takes its
name from the fusion of nature and architecture, with a remit that extends to landscape
design, graphics, photography and even journalism (Haduch has contributed to
wallpaper.com in the past). Haduch has worked in Holland, Austria and Spain, as well
making research forays around the world. Working together with Bartosz Kardaś, Michał
Haduch and Michał Sapeta, Haduch combines practice with PhD studies at Wroclaw's
University of Technology. Attuned to the media age, NArchitecTURA's work explores the
ways in which architecture conveys information, 'transforming it into a game of searching,
hearing and reading, to which all users and visitors are invited.' Vernacular forms are a
constant inspiration, 'simple buildings and objects designed by people whose names will
probably never end up in Google.'

'SHELTERING SKY'
Inspired by Bernando Bertolucci's 1990 film, the Sheltering Sky House is designed for the
city of Djenne in Mali, where the streets are made up of traditional clay buildings. 'The
house is a hypothetical proposal of a scenery for the future life of the film's' main character,
Kit Moresby, after her husband's death,' says Haduch. With a fictional client in hand,
NArchitecTURA's wedge-shaped design is effectively a stage set, a void around which two
floors of 'furniture walls' are placed, freeing up the internal space. The living space has just
one window, a vast opening roof – 'to connect with ever changing nature and the 'sheltering
sky''. http://www.narchitektura.pl

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 6

Architects Directory 2010: Suárez Santas Arquitectos
Suárez Santas Arquitectos
Spain

X HOUSE | View in Google Earth: 43.414016, -2.960263

PROFILE
Asier Santas Torres and Luis Suarez Mansilla’s practice, Suarez Santas Arquitectos, spans
the whole spectrum of architectural design, including urban planning, design research and
architectural theory. Both the architects graduated from the University of Navarra School of
Architecture (ETSAUN), where Santas was also awarded his PhD (Suarez is currently
pursuing one). Their joint firm was established in 2003. Working with public projects as well
as private clients, the north Spanish practice has already been awarded in more than 15
national and international competitions. Now, apart from heading their fast-growing studio,
the pair frequently lecture and exhibit, such as at the 11th International Architecture
Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Their multi-levelled approach is part of their philosophy.
“We understand architecture as a discipline based on three principles: theoretical research,
teaching and professional practice”, they explain. Their design influences include masters
like Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Aalto or Kahn, but also Terragni, Bunshaft, Breuer,
Koening, and Ellwood.

X HOUSE
'The X House is not piece of architecture,' the architects clarify, 'it is a mark on the
landscape that has been drawn with the spontaneity of the ancient surveyors, and with the
optimistic spirit of travellers that aspire to discover new places.' Located in North Spain on a
Biscay Coast cliff facing the Cantabrian Sea, the location is blessed with stunning views,
which the architects took full advantage of. Designed to highlight the link between
architecture and its user, the house is low, graphic and horizontally planned, open towards
all directions. http://www.suarezsantas.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 7

Architects Directory 2010: Frei + Saarinen Architekten
Frei + Saarinen Architekten
Switzerland

RURAL HOUSE | View in Google Earth: 43.151045, -77.046969

PROFILE
Barbara Frei and Martin Saarinen had worked in well-known practices like NL Architects,
Sadar Vuga, Erick van Egeraat and Herzog & de Meuron before setting up their joint firm in
Zurich in 2005. Both graduates of ETH Zurich, the architects state that while they do not
prefer to use the word ‘inspiration’ for their work, ‘the list of practices and works that we
admire is long. “Nomen Est Omen” (“name is omen”) suggests similarities to Frei Otto’s or
Eero Saarinen’s work. A nice thought…’ Using new technologies only if they contribute to
an architectural idea, the architects do not share many of their colleagues’ fascination with
digital technologies as a means in itself, preferring to allow their work to be influenced by
the social changes.

RURAL HOUSE
Inspired by the brief’s requirement for a ‘standalone house in a rural location’ Frei and
Saarinen reference Andrea Palladio’s Villa Rotonda and chose to work on a farmhouse
including 11 cows and confront the challenges and the ‘spatial and atmospheric potential of
sharing a house with farm animals.’ Integrating the animals’ presence in the house design,
they used the cows’ body warmth to help heat up the rooms. The house was seen as ‘a
domesticated piece of nature’, working to reinforce the inhabitants’ natural experience but
also, in a way, an art piece. ‘By putting the fully glazed stables on a socle, like Damian
Hirst's Golden Calf, the relation of watching and being watched is shifted’, they explain,
adding, in a deadpan way that ‘in fact, the inhabitants work as entertainment for the cows.’
www.freisaarinen.ch

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 8

Architects Directory 2010: OnOffice
OnOffice

Portugal

SHUFFLE HOUSE | View in Google Earth: 41.153612, -8.625136

PROFILE
OnOffice is the epitome of the trans-European architectural practice. Established in 2008 by
the Portuguese architects Joao Viero Costa, Ricardo Guedes, the Italian Francesco
Moncada and the Japanese-American Leon Rost, the studio's first port of call was Oslo,
where the quartet spent a year before relocating to Porto in 2009. With experience in large,
media-savvy acronym-heavy studios like MVRDV, FOA, KSARK, OMA and PLOT
(subsequently split into JDS and BIG), OnOffice emerged into the world with a fully-formed
understanding of the relationship between architecture and modern media. Their practice is
fully committed to extensive research - 'the greater the research, the more departure points
we find for design' - with the aim of distilling ideas down to a single solution. Currently most
influenced by the 'economy and ecology,' thanks to the knock-on effect of the global
downturn, they place their practice at the heart of the current 'sustainability revolution',
considered integral to their work.

SHUFFLE HOUSE
OnOffice's global approach is informed by their experience of Dutch, Scandinavian and
Japanese architecture culture. The proposed Shuffle House transcended their initial
impulse for a piece of paper architecture and is instead intended for a specific plot, located
close to their office, with a specific client in mind. With one question at the heart of the
design - 'if each room has different demands for space, shouldn’t each room claim the
space it needs, like a Mondrian grid?' - the Shuffle House is a jigsaw of internal volumes
that uses the typical massing and forms of the Porto townhouse, reorganised around a
thinly sliced circulation section that allows for a multiplicity of internal spaces. The adhoc
external facade reflects this reorganised interior logic, while the facade is clad in a design
based on a scaled up Azulejo ceramic tile. http://www.onoffice.no

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 9

Architects Directory 2010: Marchal Furstenberger
Marchal Furstenberger
Switzerland

CITYHOUSE | View in Google Earth: 47.552383, 7.588974

PROFILE
Sacha Marchal and Philippe Furstenberger met at the Basel offices of Herzog & de Meuron,
where they racked up 20 years of service between them before setting up on their own in
2006. Both in their early 40s, the Franco-Swiss studio has an ethos of providing quality of
life, not just to their clients, but to everyone who has to engage and interact with their
architecture. Without wishing to pigeonhole themselves as purveyors of flowing
inside/outside space or tightly controlled interiors, Marchal Furstenberger's projects
frequently bring together both approaches, influenced by the broad spectrum of modern
media and culture, eg the recent Arlesheim House that appears to float above its site with a
fully glazed ground floor and rendered first floor.

CITYHOUSE
Designed for a plot in the heart of their home city, the Cityhouse is an attempt to tackle a
site with 'extreme geometry', just five metres wide but 30m long, stretching between two
streets, one with a commercial focus, the other residential. Marchal and Furstenberger
began by posing the question, 'What does living in the city mean?', rapidly concluding that
the modern city dweller considers the urban realm as an extension of their house .'The time
we used to spend in our living room is nowadays shared with the cinema, the theater or a
museum of art. We share our lunch with some friend in the restaurant or we just go to the
park to enjoy our free time. What is the role of the house in the city?' The solution is this
cave-like form, a throwback to the house as fundamental shelter.
http://www.mfarchitekten.ch

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 10

Architects Directory 2010: Rocha Tombal
Rocha Tombal
Netherlands

PRINSENEILAND HOUSE | View in Google Earth: 52.385050, 4.887756

PROFILE
Ana Rocha and Michel Tombal left major roles at Dutch mega-practice Mecanoo to set up
Rocha Tombal in 2006. Their work is an attempt to reconnect with the emotional resonance
of architecture, the remembered spaces of childhood, 'the light reflection in the corridor, the
intimacy of the attic shape, the excitement of the open doors to the inviting garden.' The
recently completed Huis Bierings and Huis Ijburg illustrate this approach: superficially
modernist in form and materials, but actually rather uncanny and intricate in feel, their
spatial eccentricities are exaggerated by window placement and the play of natural light
paired with a healthy disdain for the self-conscious traditionalism of the open plan.

PRINSENEILAND HOUSE
Their proposed house is set in Amsterdam's Prinseneiland harbour extension which Rocha
and Tombal describe as ‘a battlefield where warehouses, residential blocks, freighters and
private boats have attempted to establish its hegemony'. Set amongst the scrubby
vegetation of post-industrial decay, the house is designed as a 'sounding box where natural
lighting and the variety of views generated a state of constant transformation.' Intended as a
low-impact house that maximises sustainability and solar gain, the Prinseneiland House is
arranged around a service nucleus (the kitchen and stairs) with the rest of the house open
and flexible like the original brick warehouses that dot the surrounding landscape. Finally,
the house's close relationship to nature and decay is cemented by the use of recycled
panels in the facade. 'A good building has a structural role in its surroundings,' they say,
explaining that they ‘create a relationship between the inside life of a building and the
surroundings.' http://www.rocha.tombal.nl

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 11

Architects Directory 2010: Ramdam
Ramdam
France

THE DOMINO HOUSE | View in Google Earth: 51.557915, -0.105970

PROFILE
Founded in Paris by Germain Bouchon, Franck Dibon and Olivier Misischi in 2009,
RAMDAM is a small idea-driven architectural practice. 'The studio developed naturally out
of our attachment to public spaces,' says Dibon, 'our name is designed to evoke the
effervescence of the Bazaar, the image of a town that is open, free, unrestricted and full of
contrast.' RAMDAM's deliberate strategy of cultural blending underpins their laissez-faire
approach to use; future changes and alterations are positively encouraged. Proposals like
the BeTwin Passive Townhouses illustrate their preoccupation with intelligent green
solutions that also add a playful visual pluralism to the modern city.

THE DOMINO HOUSE

With a knowing nod to one of Le Corbusier's most celebrated conceptual ideas, RAMDAM's
Maison Domino is a deconstruction of the traditional terrace, featuring a monolithic block
'whose stability depends on the stability of its neighbours'. Set at an alarming angle, the
idea is to evoke the sense of flux and change within the city, with the infill site playing a
critical role. Those canted voids created by the house's tipped rectangular form don't go to
waste either - they're designed to function as passageways, parking, small stores, cellars or
storage, as the need arises. Solar panels can festoon the sloping roof, which also scoops
up rainwater for irrigation and recycling. https:/www.atelier-ramdam.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 12

Architects Directory 2010: Edgeley Design
Edgeley Design
UK

PLANE HOUSE | View in Google Earth: 51.412816, -2.054637

PROFILE
Edgeley Design grew organically out of a self-built project in Islington – the Secret House –
which the firm’s director, Jake Edgeley began in 2004. Officially establishing his practice in
2006, Edgeley, a Manchester University and Architectural Association graduate, has since
built a strong portfolio of residential commissions. An admirer of all things simple, Edgeley
explains the practice’s approach: “Our aesthetic is derived from simplicity, from a desire to
distil a project to its essentials and at the same time maximise the spatial and material
quality of the building.” Consciously focusing on low tech and environmental design, the
studio now works a lot with structural timber design and highly insulated buildings that
require little energy. The architect counts among his influences the 'pure material aesthetic
of David Adjaye, the referential creativity of Herzog and de Meuron,' as well as Frank Lloyd
Wright, Scarpa, Kahn, Le Corbusier, Picasso, Ray Kappe vernacular architecture and
minimalist and landscape art.

PLANE HOUSE
Plane house was designed for a location in Wiltshire, UK. A minimal composition of basic
orthogonal shapes, the house is defined by a series of walls, which enclose the interior’s
free-flowing open-plan spaces, extending organically into the landscape through the
structure’s large windows. The absence of window frames also accentuates the openness,
giving the impression of a ground floor united with the scenery. Placing kitchen and dining
areas on the eastern side and living spaces to the west, Edgeley orientated the house so
that it would make the most out of the garden views. The bedrooms are placed on the top
level. The house is designed to be fully self-built with the help of local material, adding to its
minimal nature, and can be adapted to different sites and scales.
http://www.edgleydesign.co.uk

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 13

Architects Directory 2010: Scenario Architecture
Scenario Architecture
UK

A HOUSE FOR TWO | View in Google Earth: 51.531784, -0.103712

PROFILE
Young London-based practice Established in 2007, Scenario Architecture consists of
Architectural Association alumni Ran Ankory and Maya Carni, both in their 30s. Their skill
set includes digital visualisation, construction work and even blacksmithing, making them
well suited to the hands-on nature of contemporary practice. Describing themselves as
'spatial problem solvers,' their work to date has been small on scale but large on ambition,
frequently involving a twist of surfaces or materials to create spaces with a sense of the
strangely familiar. For example, the Focal Shift (shortlisted for the Emerging Architecture
Awards last year) is a sculpted fireplace that pokes subtly out into the room, angled so as to
make a psychological divide in an open plan living space.

A HOUSE FOR TWO

Research, specifically into day-to-day activities and routines, drives the way Scenario
shapes spaces. To this end, they're working on tools that'll decipher such 'habitation
scenarios', helping shape environmental and social variables for future homes. 'The core of
our inspiration is a pure fascination with the archetypes of dwelling; elusive, organic,
beautiful and intangible.' This is illustrated in A House For Two, their conceptual design.
Intended for young professional couple living in North London, the slim terraced structure
slots into an infill site, its form notched at critical junctures so as to allow 'specific sun and
daylight patterns,' illuminating daily life and assisting environmental performance. The
house inverts traditional living patterns, with a garden at the front first floor level, a skewed
roof for better solar panel angling and a lower ground floor master suite for maximum
privacy. www.scenarioarchitecture.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 14

Architects Directory 2010: Hein-Troy

Hein-Troy
Austria

STAGGERED HOUSE | View in Google Earth:

PROFILE
Graduates from the architecture schools of Innsbruck and Vienna, Matthias Hein and Juri
Troy established their separate practices in Bregenz in 2002 and Vienna in 2003
respectively. Although they keep their own offices, in 2006 they went on to merge, and have
worked together ever since. Stimulated by art, film and photography, they are also
influenced by their travels, applying their inspiration on their numerous residential,
commercial and educational projects. 'We always try to work with basic materials and find
new ways of using them and playing with their own particular characteristics. The same
approach is applied to each project’s site - location helps us react to the maximum
parameters that a site offers’, say the architects.

STAGGERED HOUSE
‘We wanted to create a house with both closed areas and some open space in between’,
explain Hein and Troy. Creating a dialogue between the private and the social functions of a
house, the architects treated their proposal for a house in the country as a solid structure,
conceived though as a combination of open and closed spaces, featuring a completely
open-air part as well. Covered by climbing plants, the open part acts as a skylight in the
winter - allowing the light to come in - and shade in the summer - protecting the interior from
the hot sun, transforming the house into a living green sculpture. Democratically sited in a
cornfield in Anif, the conceptual design is placed exactly in the same distance from their two
offices in Vienna and Bregenz. https://www.hein-troy.at

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 15

Architects Directory 2010: Takao Akiyama
Takao Akiyama
Japan

HOUSE IN TOKYO | View in Google Earth: 35.670121, 139.809179

PROFILE
Takao Akiyama is one of Japan's legion of very talented sole practitioners. Devoted to
carefully crafted domestic designs for discerning clients who want a house that is perfectly
tailored to their needs, the 54 year-old set up Akiyama Architecture Design in 1995, 15
years after graduating from Nihon University and an early career in various architecture
firms around Japan. Throughout his solo career, his philosophy remains unchanged.
'Architecture is the background that illuminates the inhabitants,' he says, even though the
constant march of technology means he is ceaselessly researching how lifestyles change.
He cites the films of Jean-Luc Godard as inspiration, admiring the emotionless
performances and comparing them to the lack of geometries or colors in his own work. 'I try
to visualize the relationship between people and architecture with a design ego.'

HOUSE IN TOKYO
This urban house reflects Akiyama's desire to create a sense of distance between inside
and outside spaces so as to detach the dwellers from the bustle of the city. Located in
downtown Tokyo, the house backs onto a canal. A punched aluminum roof brings dappled
light into the interior spaces, as well as a light mist of rain and wind. 'It's pretty close to a
natural environment,' the architect says. The quasi-open upper storey also houses the
glass-walled bathroom and a clear acrylic water-covered terrace, creating a translucent 'sky'
above the main functions on the ground floor. The ground floor is intended as one long
room that can be divided into several narrow rooms by punched aluminum walls.
Minimalism is the order of the day: closets and furnishings are intended to become 'interior
scenery', visible through the perforated metal walls and casting shadows against the real or
artificial light. https://www.akiyamatakao.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 16

Architects Directory 2010: Dieter Janssen

Dieter Janssen
Canada

SECOND SKY | View in Google Earth: 42.853487,-79.680450

PROFILE
Currently teaching at the University of Toronto as well as practicing, Dieter Janssen has
been directing his studio, DJA, since 1999. The architect works with a range of residential
projects and keeps an open mind about inspiration, although he admits that photographers,
such as Thomas Demand as well as travelling with his own camera have proved to be a
valuable resource. 'My architectural ambition is that type of experiment: one in which the
potential of establishing an exchange between people and spaces could lead to a novel
form of intimacy,' says Janssen. Influenced by his teachers, he also finds the work of
designers like Maarten van Severen, Karel Martens and Jorg Conzett an exciting
knowledge pool.

SECOND SKY
Set on a breathtaking location at the edge of Lake Erie, Janssen’s country house proposal
takes its cue from the area’s cloud formations. The name is inspired by the structure’s wavy
roof, which works creatively with the horizon line, also prompting a light and shadow play
inside. Working with nature in terms of materials as much as it does in terms of concept, the
building uses a green roof water system and is made of a combination of reclaimed
components sourced from condominium sales centres and recycled materials from a
nearby quarry. The lightweight structure’s interior layout is as simple as it gets, with two
partition walls, also doubling as storage space, defining the house’s main areas.
https://www.dieterjanssen.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 17

Architects Directory 2010: Tennent + Brown Architects
Tennent + Brown Architects
New Zealand

OTAKI RIVER HOUSE | View in Google Earth: -40.815380, 175.196515

PROFILE
Ewan Brown joined Hugh Tennent’s existing practice in 2003 to form Tennent + Brown
Architects. The two architects obtained their architectural degrees from Victoria University
and Auckland University respectively before setting off to work for different New Zealand
practices; eventually joining forces. Focusing on residential projects, but also working on
community and commercial commissions, the practice seeks to innovate, to fulfil each
project’s vision and to use quality architecture to clarify function through design. Aiming to
employ more sustainable systems in their coming projects, the architects also hope to use
their skills in different areas of culture and in enhancing their country’s urban environment.
The pair draws inspiration from many and varied sources: 'local and regional cultural
expression, design from other nations of similar climate and scale and the developing world,
as well as leading thinkers like the American author Ken Wibler.'

OTAKI RIVER HOUSE

Taking its name from its location – on a river terrace overlooking the Otaki River, near
Washington, New Zealand – Tennent and Brown’s house is orientated so that it can make
the most of the sweeping views towards the coastal bush clad ranges and plains. Clean and
simple in its design, the house provides communal and personal spaces around a central
sheltered deck. Most of the material required for its construction can be locally sourced or
produced; laminated veneer lumber panels are alternated with double-glazing. Solar panels
support the structure’s energy needs and roof water is collected for use in the house and
garden. http://www.tennentbrown.co.nz

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 18

Architects Directory 2010: Johan Sundberg
Johan Sundberg
Sweden

URBAN ROW-HOUSE | View in Google Earth:

PROFILE
Johan Sundberg began his practice while still a student at the Lund School of Architecture,
shifting from graphic design into interiors and small houses. By the time he had graduated –
and bagged a Swedish best debut project award for the Villa Bergman – the 33-year old
was practically an established name. Currently collaborating (and office sharing) with
Blasberg & Andréasson Architects, he also teaches. Sundberg's approach is pragmatic. 'I
would say that form, space and order surpasses any kind of conceptual ideas or beliefs,' he
explains, 'but ultimately, what after some serious thought feels right, is usually right.' Taking
inspiration from his students, as well as the work of Zumthor and Utzon – 'but I could just as
well say Jackson Pollock' – Sundberg's work is crisp, refined and shot through with
common sense.

URBAN ROW-HOUSE
A proposal for a three-storey house on a site in Malmo's old town, Sundberg's design
displays its 'moral clarity' through a simple material palette, beginning with a solid concrete
ground floor and gradually becoming more open as it rises. The 'stuck-on' facade
references the 18th and 19th-century structures around it, only the new proposal uses
glass, steel and timber panels that can be folded back to open it up to the street if needed.
The proposal is unnamed, 'otherwise it would suggest that there was an underlying theme
that rises above all else,' says Sundberg, 'I don't believe in that sort of thing.' Instead, the
architect describes the houses as a symphony of 'spaces and functions, material and
structural consistency, light and emotion', all brought together in order to 'create a whole
larger than the sum of its parts.' http://www.johansundberg.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 19

Architects Directory 2010: Rory Hyde Projects

Rory Hyde Projects

Australia

MANY HAPPY RETURNS | View in Google Earth: -33.893872, 151.187913

PROFILE
Rory Hyde set up his studio in Melbourne in 2005, originally as a side project to help him sift
through a number of ongoing themes, such as writing, installation and design. Having
worked for Ashton Raggatt McDougall and Black Kosloff Knott Architects following his
graduation from the city's RMIT, Hyde starting working full-time on RHP in 2008. Still in his
20s, Hyde belongs to a generation entirely comfortable with extracting, evolving and
exploiting the social patterns that manifest through the Internet. 'Architecture should be
social, not formal,' he says, 'useful, not iconic; experimental, not safe; pluralist, not pure;
collaborative, not protective; and smart, not pretty.' Above all, Hyde is a passionate believer
that 'architecture has to change something - it has to be an active participant.' He also
acknowledges that all architecture now exists in the broad context of finance, sustainability,
politics and social change, rather than just aesthetics.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

The Many Happy Returns house is a proposal for an urban house that doubles up as a new
social centre, thanks to a series of spatial interventions into the conventional form of the
streetscape. Hyde and his team have rearranged the floor plan, creating a stacked four-
storey house bisected by a community garden and a public staircase. Hyde suggests this
space could be used for film screenings or meetings, as well as attracting customers to any
small businesses that might want to set up in the adjacent private workshop. As its name
suggests, the house gives back to its site, both through its response to the streetscape and
community, but also through the incorporation of a self-contained apartment. 'Every street
should have one,' the architect concludes. https://www.roryhyde.com

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 20

Architects Directory 2010: 2-B-2 Architecture
2-B-2 Architecture
Ukraine

PROJECT | View in Google Earth: 46.955194, 31.909485

PROFILE
Architect Dmitry Burnashov and designer Andrey Bondarenko describe their work as a
'gathering the whole out of parts,' and have an eclectic portfolio that embraces everything
from yacht interiors to restaurant designs. Their aesthetic approach is also admirably broad.
Clients clearly call the shots in country where a unified design culture has yet to find its feet.
Their interior for the 30m Ocean Star yacht, constructed in Nikolaev's Liman Shipyard, is a
heavy fusion of contemporary art deco and traditional gentleman's club, whereas the
Tamplier restaurant is, to Western eyes, straight out of a theme park, pushing even the
most liberal definition of post-modernism to the limit. That said, the architects rail against
the system of 'thoughtless consumption' that pervades their contemporary scene.

PROJECT
For Wallpaper*, 2-B-2 relished being left to their own devices. Without the weight of
commercial pressure, it's clear Andrey and Dmitry have much to offer. This two-storey town
house for a traditional family unit is intended for a site in the south of Ukraine, where there
is a random scattering of various house designs from the past few decades. 2-B-2's design
is characterized by its clean lines and contemporary influences, a distillation of classic
'white' modernism and the slashed facades of Ito and Libeskind. These latter forms
reference the house's steel construction; 'it has the structure of a tree, with a strong trunk
and thin branches that frame the building's volume.' The criss-crossed facade fills the
downstairs living space with ever-changing patterns of light.
http://www.archi.com.ua/en/main/

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 21

http://www.wallpaper.com

Share and Enjoy:

http://digg.com/

http://sphinn.com/

http://delicious.com/

http://www.facebook.com/

https://www.google.com/bookmarks/

http://www.linkedin.com/

http://www.myspace.com/

http://www.reddit.com/

http://slashdot.org/

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

http://www.technorati.com/

http://www.tumblr.com/

http://twitter.com/

http://www.yahoo.com/buzz

Architects Directory 2010 | Maurijones J. de Albuquerque 22