For the dreamer in every home buyer or builder comes a showcase of the most ambitious and innovative contemporary home designs.

In New Houses, editor Llorenc, Bonet takes us through thirty six of the most spectacular houses built in recent years. Located all over the world, they are set apart by their imaginative and innovative design, as well as their use of the latest in construction technologies, newly developed building materials, and furnishings from leading designers. Some projects focus primarily on the landscape, while others take into account the conservation of both space and energy.

Each architect faces the challenge of producing work that enriches both the local surroundings and the lives of its inhabitants--in other words, the challenge of creating functional yet exceptional architecture. Organized into four specific sections, New Houses presents the best original and innovative designs from the world’s most renowned architects.

ALTHOUGH THE TRENDS OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY ADVOCATED THE INTERNATIONALIZATION of architecture, nearly a century tater, globalization has had the effect of homogenizing building practices. This homogenization is due to the proliferation of both architecture schools and manufacturers of construction materials at lover the world in the past hundred years, as well as the emergence of the computer as an essential toot in the latter part of the twentieth century. Despite this uniformity in training, materials, and construction methods, however, architects do not share identical interests so the buildings they produce do not resemble each other-in fact, just the opposite is true, and this diversity perhaps represents one of the fundamental characteristics of today’s architecture.

This disparity is clearly evident in domestic architecture, despite the increase in extensive suburban neighborhoods of semi-detached houses since the 1950s. In the face of this overwhelming reality, it has become necessary to break free from this type of construction, and nowadays architects seek to adapt their budget and terrain to the requirements of residents and thus create an environment with its own personality, far removed from any uniformity. This adjustment to occupants’ needs is achieved by means of various strategies and by highlighting particular construction aspects.

In New Houses, some projects focus primarily on the landscape, while others express a desire to find a coherent way of coming to terms with the natural surroundings or a specific demand made by the client. Other factors taken into account include saving energy, both during the construction and in the final building, or paying close attention to the subjects under debate in specialized magazines, such as the construction of a form on the basis of a folded plane or the search for clear, readily understood volumes. In all these circumstances, however, the architect faces the same challenge of producing work that enriches the life of the people using and living in a house by drawing on all the strategies at his or her disposal--in other words, the challenge of creating architecture.

INTRODUCTION

HOUSES IN THE SUBURBS

BEVERLY HOUSE Da[y Genik Architects

HOUSE IN BELOURA A-LDK

JALAN AMPANG HOUSE Guz Architects

VILADA HOUSE Agusti Costa Estudi de Disseny

VIA ARRIBA RESIDENCE Kirkpatrick Associates Architects

HOUSES ON VICTORIA ROAD  WOHA Designs  

CUTIPOL HOUSE Criacao e Estudios de Arquitectura e Engenharia

HOUSE ON BERRIMA ROAD WOHA Designs

VALLDOREIX RESIDENCE Ars Spatium

BERGER HOUSE Graser Architekten

HOUSES IN BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS

ROBERTSON HOUSE Dawson Brown Architecture

M&M HOUSES Roldan + Berengue

GARCIA RESIDENCE Ibarra Rosano Design Architects

BROOKLINE HOUSE Jonathan Levi Architects

ENGINEER’S HOUSE Factoria Diseno v Construccion

ALBRECHT RESIDENCE Salmela Architects

ANTON 10 Tatanka deenvertriebsgesellschaft

BASSlL RESIDENCE Archika

UNIQUE HOUSES

HOUSE IN MOTOAZABU Ceil Space Architects

HOUSE IN LA FATARELLA Casaamida

VILLA SlLVlA Mamen Domingo i! Ernest Ferre Arquitectes

MAS CANTALLOPS HOUSE Land PI.anificaci6 i Projectes

WHITE BLUE BLACK Future-scape Architects

FABRIC WALL RESIDENCE Oishi Kazuhiko Architecture Atetier

TWO HOUSES IN OROPESA DEL MAR b720 arquitectos

HOUSE A Estudio Campo Baeza

AIGUABLAVA Greek Design

M&R HOUSE Peripheriques

HOUSES WITH A GARDEN

HOUSE ON MAPLE AVENUE WOHA Designs

PARKHOUSE Hotodeck

CH HOUSE BAAS Arquitectes

SlSTEK HOUSE Felipe Assadi

SHIMA STYLE Oishi Kazuhiko Architecture AteLier

PORSCH HOUSE Rockhill and Associates

ACHIO HOUSE Datumzero

SINQUEFIELD HOUSE Barton Phelps & Associates