“Design Talk” is all about taking the time to get to know the faces behind a brand. Today, we introduce you to the future of mailboxes: meet Custo and its founder and CEO, Francis Delplanque, from Belgium. The e-commerce industry is booming, with online purchases increasing by 40% in 2021. This trend is likely to continue in the future. While home delivery is convenient, it is not without its flaws. More than a third of deliveries are missed and over…
architecture
Set within the wide-reaching desert dunes of Kuwait, Jasper Architects’ hotel concept truly embodies the idea of an oasis, its lush palms and spa creating a luxurious sanctuary that both plays with and against the local landscape. Grand geometry The competition prize-winning concept centres around the idea of the sprawling oasis, where luscious greens meet the ever-changing desert. Yet while the greenery stands out from the endless sand dunes, the lulling rise and fall of the structure itself mirrors the…
Ismail Solehudin Architecture has taken what could have been a compilation of apartments that looks just like any other in the built-up area of Bogor in West Java, Indonesia, and instead let it sing loud and proud by cladding it with stacked, rich red corrugated iron. Stacked volumes Rather than a single-family home, the ruby red building contains multiple residential units. These stacked apartments sit above and alongside each other, effectively using the limited space, one of the core…
Flexible and stunningly simple, the Spanish studio MuDD architects have designed and built a cabin in the north of Madrid for their children’s book writer client, bang in the centre of a lush green landscape. Contemporary calm As the writer owner was looking for a flexible space that could meet all of her needs, MuDD decided upon a simple, cabin-like structure with a contemporary twist. Rather a large room with open glazing, the feeling of the home differs between…
Nestled between the coast and the bushland of the South Island of New Zealand, a tiny settlement of 30 homes has now welcomed another escape within its handful of houses. An unbeatable location The owner originally discovered this area halfway between the two larger cities of Invercargill and Bluff while visiting a friend’s family home and spent a couple of years camping in the area in order to understand the land before she began to design the home, even climbing…
Set within the terraced slopes in the north of Serra de Sintra, the village of Eugaria looks almost like a settlement, each one of its buildings built in the same style and so projecting a unique identity. One home regenerated and reinvigorated by Jose Adriao Arquitecto knowledgeably draws on this area’s style and updates it, creating a space fit for a modern family. Heritage home This traditional Portuguese home underwent extensive renovations back in the 1980, during which the…
One of ARRCC’s latest ventures, Horizon Villa is a five-bedroom villa set seaside in Bantry Bay, Cape Town. Boasting an unbeatable view of the Atlantic, this family home’s classic materials, open feel and pops of colour create a contemporary modern home that wouldn’t be out of place in any interior magazine. Open concept Together with architects SAOTA, ARRCC’s Bantry Bay project successfully marries the feeling of modern luxury with a comfortable space for a young family. Apropos to its…
The recent renovation of a bungalow in the heart of Sydney by Vanessa Wegner Architects breathes new life into a classic Australian home, turning what looks from the outside like a dark and closed-off property into an open, airy space that embraces all that the outdoors has to offer. Blurring the lines The extension of this family home was brought about in the view of designing and creating a larger space for the residents while drawing inspiration on,…
Two private guest residences and a wellness centre sit within a small village on the Greek island of Kea. Referencing the local landscape, this minimal development by Bobotis+Bobotis lies half submerged within the landscape itself. The natural environment Nature plays a key role throughout this guest complex, primarily in the architects’ decision to sink the homes down into the ground and so making them almost part of the landscape, and secondly in the design choice of incorporating local…
The architectural historian and cultural theorist Charles Jencks’ name is known the world round. And now, after his passing in 2019, his former London home is set to open to the public as a museum in the autumn of 2021. Out of this world The writer and critic Charles Jencks was key in the understanding of postmodernism, making these theories and ideas accessible to the public, and his home is full of this movement’s influence. After purchasing the Holland…