Luis Fernández-Galiano   Europeans vaunt about their tenacious experimental tradition in the field of housing, but a distracted review of the latest residential projects leaves a bittersweet aftertaste. Apart from some odd technical displays and a few typological novelties,

Santiago Calatrava   Sweden   In the interior of the Western Harbor district of Malmö, the third most important city of Sweden, stretches this 190 meter high tower. This is a renewed urban environment, which through initiatives such as Sweden’s first international housing exhibit

Clotet & Paricio   Spain   This residencial complex rises as an urban reference on Barcelona’s seafront. The urban planning development of this part of Diagonal Mar, which includes the park designed by Miralles, defines for this plot (called Illa de la Llum), a building ratio

Édouard François   France   This buiding, a nine-story block covered with vegetation, overlooks a park in the northern area of Paris. It is part of the ZAC of Porte d’Asnières – an area of subsidized development –, which has been coordinated by the studio of Christian de Portza

Mecanoo   Netherlands   The expansion of its activities has forced Rotterdam’s harbor to shift closer to the sea, thereby freeing up extensive areas of the city for other uses. The Wilhelmina pier lies between the River Maas and the Rhine Harbour, and is gradually developin

MVRDV   Denmark   The harbor of Copenhagen has become a suitable place for new residential developments. It is not an isolated case. Many old harbors in Europe also enjoy favorable conditions for the insertion of these new uses: the excellent views, the presence of wa

David Chipperfield Architects   Germany   This ten-story apartment building goes up in front of the Tiergarten park, in one of the most central areas of Berlin. This intervention finishes the northern edge of the urban complex of Beisheim (with a hotel, offices and housing), rounding off the

Carlos Ferrater   Spain   This project to regenerate and define the urban fabric, through the construction of three new residential pieces, has been carried out in a typical block of the Cerdá Ensanche. Two corners opposite the block remain open, thus creating an itinerary th

Martínez Lapeña & Elías Torres, Rafael Moneo   Spain   The building goes up on a triangular plot, next to the Vapor Sampere building, which is one of the most important examples of industrial architecture in the city of Sabadell, and was built at the beginning of the 20th century to provide energy to the

Richter Dahl Rocha & Associés architectes   Switzerland   Located on the shore of Lake Geneva, the city of Montreux enjoys a pleasant climate all year round, which endows it with a certain Mediterranean character. From the nineteenth century onward it has become a well-known tourist destination, particularl

Álvaro Siza   Spain   The continuous urban transformation of the city center of Granada during the last decades has created a rich urban fabric where different styles and periods are superposed. Located in the northern end of a long urban block, the plot had three buildin

Aranguren + Gallegos Arquitectos   Spain   This building goes up in an area of intense urban growth in the eastern part of Madrid, its volumes adapting to the configuration of the sloping site. The orientations and the unevenness of the western end of the plot recommended placing the landscap

Zaha Hadid Architects   Austria   This project is part of the revitalization initiative undertaken for the Wiener Gürtel, the name given to an oversized and ring-shaped slice that cuts through the urban fabric of the city of Vienna. Historically, the Gürtel has separated the city fro

Miller & Maranta   Switzerland   A peripheral neighborhood south of Basel provides the context in which this housing block goes up, acting as an articulating element between the urban fabric and a park dotted with tall trees. Extending the rhythm marked by a sequence of three elonga

Neutelings Riedijk Architects   Netherlands   In the city of Huizen, near Amsterdam, a residential area ends in a platform facing Lake Gooimeer. Resting on a fringe of reed, five new buildings stand perpendicular to the coastal promenade, rising with a sphinx-like profile over the water. This is

BIG Bjarke Ingels Group   Denmark   These two housing blocks go up on a site located amid the Ørestad and the Nordre channels. With the purpose of obtaining better views and illumination and avoiding the direct relationship between the dwellings of both buildings, the blocks are folded

amrein giger architekten   Switzerland   These two housing blocks are located on the edge of the historic center of Allschwil in Switzerland. The project design avoids the usual scheme used in detached houses, and hence the dwellings have been grouped in two compact volumes that form an ang

Bosch Architects   Netherlands   In the Netherlands, architects have focussed for decades on the study and development of minimum social housing prototypes, whereas the field of luxury housing has been reduced to the routinary typology of the freestanding house. This urban scheme fo

E2A   Switzerland   The high price of land in Switzerland turns the single-family dwelling type into a privilege within reach of only a few. In view of these circumstances, row houses emerge as an excellent alternative. The project for the construction of three dwelling

Promontório   Portugal   One of the consequences of Portugal’s adhesion to the European Union was the rise of a services-oriented professional middle class and an increasing demand for second homes, which had an immediate impact on the landscape. In addition to the improved

VHP s+a+1   Netherlands   This project consists of twelve lined up houses that form part of a soundproof embankment along a secondary road from Diependaal. The construction of the dwellings has been carried out against the retaining wall that contains the earth beneath the ro

These two American initiatives share the objective of building quality and affordable cost houses, from a modern perspective. The first one, designed by Edward M. Baum and inspired by the work of Sert and Chermayeff, is a modular piece raised in Dall

Edward M. Baum   United States   The tilting roof trusses above the auto court are constructed of the same wood as the remaining joists, with bracing struts made from metal electrical conduit. Galvanized steel sheet forms the roof surface... [+]

Marmol Radziner   United States   A plot of almost two hectares accommodates several closed modules, linked to the surroundings via large glass surfaces and articulated with the external galleries to trace an L-shape around the swimming pool... [+]

These two projects emerge within the context of a broad initiative for the construction of social dwellings promoted by a government agency. The first one, designed by Riken Yamamoto, consists of two blocks measuring 47 meters in height (joined by fo

Riken Yamamoto   Japan   In the smaller apartments, the kitchen and the bathroom form a unit that is pushed to the facade. This allows to bring in natural light while creating a large entrance hall that can be used in many different ways... [+]

Kengo Kuma   Japan   The distribution around the large atrium of basic units of 60 square meters and of additional units of 25 square meters allows a great flexibility of uses and lifestyles for those who live in this residential complex... [+]