In Germany, the Dusseldorf loft with a whopping floor area of 600 square metres, embraces the owners' passion for architecture. AABE architects' Bruno Epricum was entrusted with designing this warehouse conversion. With brick throughout, the loft is a large cavernous space that houses the owners' penchant for furniture and art. The reconversion of this loft was monitored closely due to the building's heritage; it was one of the few buildings that miraculously avoided damage during the many bombings of World War II. They explain their design below:

A vast white space devoid of any accessories houses the sleeping accommodation in the conversion; the rotating door appears to be floating in the air. An enormous living room is arranged between the pilasters that are displayed with pride. The artist’s design highlights the existing brickwork that supports the flagstone roof; here again the wear inflicted over time is openly displayed. The architecture unpretentiously magnifies the materials. The kitchen is arranged in the exterior deambulatory. The bedroom is housed in a “white box” that has been perfected with the utmost care. It is encircled by a “night patio” illuminated using zenithal light that sweeps across the surrounding brickwork. 

Designed twenty years ago, and like any successful piece of modernism, the Casa Azul house still finds itself at the forefront of design today. Designed by AABE architecture, this 250 square metre property in Spain is sculptural in form, and makes a solid mark on the landscape. AABE explain their design to us:

As a tense curtain on the landscape; a long and narrow hall surrounds the service’s rooms ends in a square plan accepting the living rooms. In its centre, a water plan and a roof light mark the junction of the two axes of compositions, they organize the different areas under a blue concrete slab. The dark grey concrete floor is installed in different levels in order to organize the functions and to form support of the furniture inserted in the architecture. A particular care was brought in the preservation of the duality of atmosphere: the shadow of the forest for the fire place, the sunny swimming pool looking to the sea view.

Charles and Ray Eames nurtured a design imagination that knew few boundaries. Between them, the design duo produced not just some, but a vast majority of the most famous design furniture pieces in the world. So it can be said that if you were to look for its center — its heart — you may well have found it in the living room of their landmark Pacific Palisades house. 

Inside its 17-foot-high ceiling, with panels of glass opening to the courtyard of eucalyptus outside, houses a vast range of objects that have been collected over a lifetime. After the Eameses died — Charles in 1978, Ray 10 years later, to this day — the room, like the house, has been left largely untouched. Magazines have been left out for reading; the fresh flowers had been changed out — the entire scene still kept tidy by a caretaker whom the Eames’ hired more than three decades ago.

That frozen-in-time tranquility of the Eames’ home has finally been shattered- albeit respectfully. Movers and conservators from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have descended upon the Eames House and cataloged the living room's contents — 1,864 items — and transported them to the museum as an installation of a full-scale replica of the Eames living room. The room is a key component of the exhibition "California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way.’

When the "Living in a Modern Way" exhibition closes next spring, the contents of the Eames living room will be delivered back to the house in the Palisades - but their inspiration, no doubt, will have been taken back to an entire new generation of homes. 

You can view a time-lapse video of the room being dismantled below.

Authentic Eames furniture can be found locally at Matisse.

Story by Louisa Penney

This house on a cliff by Petra Gipp Arkitektur and Katarina Lundeburg is situated on the top of a cape, overlooking a bay from high up on a cliff. They explain their design:

Two distinct volumes take hold of each other to create the conditions for the life that is led here. One of the volumes contains elemental cells for sleeping, which have a direct connection to the outside via a separate entrance. There is also a large bedroom with an adjacent terrace and a bathroom, which is open to the sky. The other one of the two volumes houses a generous living room and a kitchen, where the public aspects of dwelling take place. The kitchen presents a degree of simplicity and abstraction, which aesthetically as well as functionally brings it into the same realm as the living room. The spacious living room blurs the boundary between inside and outside. Part of the volume forms an outside space with nothing but a roof as protection from the elements, this part transitions into the large terraces. The clients envisioned terraces to bring the house and the cliff together in a whole.

Set on the beach front of Piha, this idyllic and secluded beach escape ‘Pohutukawa Beach House’ is the perfect city getaway. Nestled amongst a site that was once 90% covered in mature Pohutukawa trees, the house was designed in a way that minimised their destruction, in turn, maximising the use of the wood that was taken down during the construction process. Designed by Herbst Architects, the result is a modern and intimate structure that re-connects its inhabitants with nature, placing them in direct contact with both life on the beach and under the trees.

Laced with wood and floor-to-ceiling glass, the coastal environment is the central focus of the design with bedrooms and garage housed in two towers, with a loosely defined public space that links both sections. Warm woods were used on the walls and furniture with a complementary color scheme of oranges, tans, and browns to keep the interiors cohesive with the exterior architecture while the mid-century furnishings provide a relaxing and comfortable interior that makes for the perfect weekend escape.

Cunningham Architect’s House on Cedar Hill, is a magnificent example of contemporary minimalism. Located in Dallas, Texas, the house is situated alongside a native stacked-stone wall that runs 181 feet long and stands 21 feet high. The main living quarters are long and low, nestled amongst the dense brush surrounding. This is contrasted by the observation tower, located at the Northern end of the building which gives the residents the ultimate view of the stunning scenery, including several thousand acres of protected native bush and the distant cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Utilising their natural surroundings, the architects have used many Texas woods such as native pigmented stucco. Copper, slate and glass materials are also used to complete the home. Architects have made sure that the home does not detract from its habitat, blending in with the native environment through its natural stone exterior. The building exploits the outdoors; many windows allowing the residents to feel a part of nature within the comfort of their own home. This 6,700 square foot home was the rightful recipient of the 2008 Dallas AIA Design Award.

Story by Sarah McKenzie

This impressive house, situated in Sao Paulo was designed and built by Fernanda Marques Arquitetos. Occupying 250 square metres, the objective to create a seamless transition between the interior and nature was met, as was the owners' idea of perfect architecture: a country home with a nod to architect Mies van der Rohe. Stone schist was used throughout along with limestone floors and a combination of glass and steel. Exterior living was equally as important to the owners, with a deck, nearly the same size as the house, surrounding the interior. Inside, the furnishings have a mid-century/ modernist appeal, with furniture pieces from many of the greats including Oscar Niemeyer's Lounge chair. Likewise, glass objects by coveted designer Jeff Zimmerman can be found lining the bookcases. A stunning execution from the architecture right down to the soft furnishings.

For more work by this architect go here.

The Millbrook house designed by Thomas Phifer architects is situated in Millbrook, New York. Set on a 200 acre site, the house maximises its spacious position by employing discreet geometric structures that complement its idyllic countryside setting. The main structure, a cantilevered weathering-steel box, hovers elegantly above the car park, whilst elsewhere in the structure, a glass pavilion flows out seamlessly to the lawn. The living space which combines the kitchen and dining areas, is dressed with classic furniture and floor to ceiling windows. The bedrooms face east for the morning sun with their own respective bamboo gardens out to the fields beyond.

This house, which pays homage to the style of Richard Neutra sits proudly in Mexico by architects Parque Humano. The AA house, was designed as a man-made pavilion so that the owners could observe and live in close proximity to nature. The L-shaped structure of the house utilises modernism's presiding aesthetic, whilst keeping the house enormously functional. All the rooms are centered around the central living areas, and back onto an adjacent courtyard and swimming pool. Floor to ceiling glass windows flank most rooms, enabling the interior and exterior of the home to seamlessly integrate, whilst brick is utilised throughout to provide insulation in winter, and protection from the intense high summer temperatures. The soft wooden tones of the interior enable this house to feel light and airy, maximizing its spacious interior.

Designed by Portuguese architects Bak Gordon, the residences replace former industrial sheds in the Santa Isabel district of Lisbon.  The design of this house draws reference to the city that exists within the city. The architects' brief called for the construction of two houses, a bigger one for the family’s daily life and another two-bedroom one to be rented -  all to be built in the area of about 400 square meters for which construction was authorised, replacing the existing sheds. The house is built solely of exposed reinforced concrete, with very regular and hierarchical spaces. Inside the house, we move among patios and gardens where trees have been planted, projecting the house’s scale over time. The peripheral limits have been covered in green climbers, while the other walls and roofs are left simultaneously powerful and delicate, to resist the pressure of the environment.