BiBi house is located within a tiny ward in the Dong Nai province of Vietnam. The young owner, a software engineer, wanted an ‘open house’ for his family, including his mother and sister. The main request was to connect everyone in the house via the altar so that they could organize and celebrate their traditional Vietnamese holidays and other family occasions together with their ancestors.



Keeping this demand in mind, the architects designed the house featuring two isolated boxes serving as the bedroom and auxiliary space. Outside the private boxes are common spaces where many people can gather and celebrate, and between the boxes is a huge void that would serve as the dining room. Connecting the two secluded boxes is a steel bridge.



This was chosen rather than a concrete corridor because the architects wanted to use a different material than that used for the boxes, plus it also creates the impression of a larger space.



Two balconies extending to the void were also constructed in boxes where people could intermingle. It was arranged on the balcony on the second floor facing the front of the house when it came back to the altar. Thanks to a wide area extending from the ceiling to the ground floor, guests entering the house can easily spot the altar on the balcony.



The other balcony serves as a relaxing space for the bedroom.
All indoor spaces, even the toilets, were designed to be naturally lit during the day. Two skylights were built above both balconies to fulfil this requirement, allowing the sun’s rays to shine directly onto them. Skylights also enhance other aspects of Mother Nature – the sun’s early morning rays, the mild afternoon sun, the moonlight night and stars, and rain.



As for the materials used, the owners wanted something close to nature. So, we used materials with earthy and neutral tones inside and outside the house, such as raw concrete, raw brick, natural stone, and timber. These materials are not only durable, but as they age, they echo nature’s time. Moreover, using raw bricks with uneven colors for the floor creates a unique sense of spatial transformation, creating a fascinating courtyard with bold and light areas.



Photo by Quang Dam

L'articolo BiBi House / Atelier TAs proviene da Design42day.

Red Dot Jury selects the year’s best products – the winners of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2022 have been chosen

• The Red Dot Jury: 48 experts from 23 countries

• Hybrid judging process held successfully once again

• Publication of the winners and award ceremony on 20 June




In 2022, designers, design offices and manufacturers from all over the world entered products in the Red Dot Award: Product Design. Following the motto “In search of good design and innovation”, the 48 international members of the Red Dot Jury assessed each product entered professionally, individually and comprehensively.



Only those products that won over the experts with their outstanding design quality won a distinction.
The award-winning companies set new standards in the design industry with their entries. The winners include major well-known brands as well as newcomers that are more than able to compete with the big players. “The quality of this year’s award-winning products is impressive. Innovative, highquality and well-designed industrial design features in all of the competition categories. Once again, the Red Dot Jury used its extensive expert knowledge and nuanced understanding to take the right decisions and safeguard the quality of the Red Dot Label,” says Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of Red Dot, speaking about the result of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2022.



The Red Dot Jury 2022

The Red Dot Jury is an independent panel of experts. This year, it is made up of 48 judges from 23 countries. What they all have in common is their design expertise, which they have accumulated during their careers as professors, consultants, industrial designers or journalists.



Hybrid judging process

The fair assessments carried out by the Red Dot Jury each year involve touching and trying out the products entered and discussing them directly with the other jurors. Professor Dr Peter Zec, founder and CEO of Red Dot says: “A product cannot win a distinction in the Red Dot Design Award based on an assessment that only uses a photo. Our standards are higher than that.”
To meet these standards even in an extraordinary year like this one, the originals of the products entered were available to view in situ in the Red Dot Judging Hall. The hybrid judging process put in place in the previous year was used again. This involved introducing the products to the jurors in video calls. The jurors discussed the products at length during those calls.
“The basis for the Red Dot Award is a good assessment platform, and we made sure this was in place again this year. The jurors were able to scrutinise the details of all of the products. Everyone involved wanted to ensure that the assessment standards were maintained, even in these different circumstances”, explains Peter Zec.

Mülheim/Essen airport was available for the evaluation of the cars and motorcycles. There were also two jurors present: Lutz Fügener, Professor of Engineering Sciences Design and Mobility, and Vincent Créance, Head of “The Design Spot” at the University of Paris-Saclay, test drove and assessed the vehicles. A live call with fellow juror Ken Okuyama in Japan was made for the final assessment.



Award ceremony and publication of all winners on 20 June 2022
After a two-year enforced break, the Red Dot Gala will take place in person again this year in Essen. All of the laureates are invited to celebrate their success together in Essen’s Aalto Theater and in the Red Dot Design Museum on 20 June.
The names of the winners will be published online in the Winners section at www.red-dot.org on the same date.

L'articolo Red Dot Award: Product Design 2022 proviene da Design42day.

nnU House gets its name from the symmetrical shapes of its two arched doors (‘nn’) and the up-and-over frameless glass box (‘U’) while viewing the house from the garden. This exclusive kitchen extension is the genius work of Studio Jayga Architects.



The requirement was for a young family with challenging careers located in Loughton, Essex, UK. The brief involved developing a modern-day space with an open-plan living that connected with or overlooked the 300 ft. stretch of a lovely garden.



Originally, the ground floor of the 1930s semi-detached property featured three areas towards the back: an outdated narrow kitchen, a 1980s extension that was used as the dining room, and a confined windowless living room. All the rooms were on the same level, about one meter above the garden with steep steps leading to it. Moreover, a daunting outbuilding near the house obscured the view of the garden and restricted natural daylight.


The architects demolished the outbuilding and redesigned the three areas with a new back extension, creating a split-level design linked with internal steps. This put the new kitchen floor on the same level as the outside. Also, metal arched doors allowed a direct visual and physical connection with the garden without having to change any levels.



A linear roof light placed between extensions linking the two internal areas and the existing house allows natural light to penetrate the centre of the house. The external casing of the extension was clad with timber charred on-site, using an ancient Japanese technique called ‘shou-sugi-ban’.



An up-and-over frameless glass box creates an exclusive curved window seat that provides a continuous view of the beautiful garden and the sky above. It is a relaxing place for working, reading, or writing throughout the year, and also floods the dining table below with natural sunlight.
Coming back to the kitchen, the units and island were designed to complement the smooth curves of the glass box and arched doors.



The elliptical island featured curved flutes on all sides and a colourful and exuberant terrazzo worktop, while the wall units were kept high to maximise storage space. Again, natural tones were used to highlight the cheerful colours of the garden.



Photos by: Marcus Peel

L'articolo nnU House / Studio Jayga Architects proviene da Design42day.

This project embodies a combination of rural-urban environments. It caters to the needs of a small family currently living in the middle of urban chaos and feeling deprived of fresh air, freedom, and bucolic life. The principal idea behind this weekend retreat was to reserve the essence and simplicity of ancestral living and transfer some of that to future generations via contemporary design distinguishing regional culture, context, and vernacular approaches. 

The building has an east-west orientation, allowing maximum airflow from the south, reducing solar heat gain, and exposing the retreat to the south sun during extensive monsoon rains. The verandas and balconies also serve a crucial buffering role for the indoor living space by offering protection from direct sunlight and showers. Such semi-outdoor spaces are extremely important in warm and humid regions for additional comfort and for creating a channel between the indoors and outdoors. Moreover, the verandas and balconies constructed at different levels facilitate various spatial experiences and scenes.

Moving into the retreat, there is a kitchen, three bedrooms, and a study room, two living spaces of which one is on the ground floor, and the other is on the mezzanine level, a dining area, and a caretaker room. The master plan has been outlined to preserve all the presently planted trees. Also, the compact design reduces the building’s original footprint, leaving the whole site extremely green and natural-looking.

The core of the building is the dining area and central living space, which owing to its double-height volumetric construction, is always naturally cool. There are operable tall windows located on the northern side, which allow heavy heated air to escape and create a pressure difference inside, producing continuous cross-ventilation, which is vitally critical in a humid atmosphere. The traditional concept of a “Kachari Ghar” in Bangladesh architecture was adopted for the library – a single study room with book storage that superficially floats on top of the designed water body, generating feelings of tranquility. Overall, the entire landscape was refashioned with locally-sourced vegetation.

The core structural system is based on a column-beam frame accompanied by supporting load-bearing walls.  To retain the true essence and look of brick throughout the landscape, a compound column was constructed using RCC enclosed by a single layer of bricks. Inverted beams provided support for the roof with a twofold benefit; first, it provided a beam-free clean ceiling, and second, it helps sustain packed earth for rooftop vegetation.

The main building material used was locally-sourced gas-burnt brick; the exposed brick look means to induce robust tactile feelings. The furniture and door windows were made using local wood. To reduce material waste, unused broken bricks were utilized as brick chips for casting work in landscape pavement blocks. Moreover, locals were prioritized during the procurement of materials and workforce.

All in all, the landscape, via its detailed expression, evokes feelings of belonging to its residents, whereas the architectural concept, spatial experiences, and formal expression, are intensely motivated by regional context.

Photos by: Noufel Sharif Sojol

L'articolo Weekend Retreat / Lightscape Architects proviene da Design42day.

The Palazzo del Luce is a sixteenth-century building located within the ancient walls of Treviso that overlooked the enormous Temple of San Nicolò. Built originally by the military commander Mercurio Bua, it was used as his personal house.

Over the centuries, the Palazzo del Luce underwent some huge transformations. From the late medieval era to the present, Treviso has endured damage and reconstruction from bombings during two world wars, which resulted in altering its identity and subsequently its destiny via the conversion in headquarters of many public institutions. Hence, the renovation and conversion provided a great opportunity to learn about the centenary history of the city.

The first phase of the project involved removing erratic integrations within the building to preserve what remained of its original structure. This also facilitated a clearer reading and helped revive some ancient murals/paintings on the main fascia. As per the essence of Treviso, this is also called Urbs picta because of its various frescoed buildings.

With openings created towards the city, the need for a new name also arose – Palazzo Della Luce. This also highlights the public aptitude of the building and its ability to serve as a novel place where unique structural design and spatiality mix with contemporaneity to create new forms of sociality and professionalism, combined with a fluid practice of superior technological services.

Photos by: Marco Zanta

L'articolo Palazzo del Luce Restoration / EXiT architetti associate proviene da Design42day.

The patented Kineki “lifestyle” construction method combines natural elements with idealistic and experiential architectural styles. Its governing principles are a fusion between flexibility, affordability, use of high-quality renewable materials, low-impact sustainable elements, and abundant local flora. These values successfully deliver an exceptional product in less time than traditional construction systems, all within specific budget and schedules.

Kineki construction offers many options to build a variety of products, including a house, pavilion, store, classroom, hotel room, dock, cabin, and #Kinekioutdoor terraces. The construction method is simple yet elegant, offering baseline units for bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms. It accommodates infinite design configurations which can be adapted according to budget, growth requirements, and space configurations. Every base module is 3.6 meters in width, 3.6 meters in length, and 3.6 meters in height, guaranteeing that each module interconnects with the other properly.

Pablo House Prototype. Built within six months, this prototype comprises 28 modules and is spread over an area of 200 m2. Ten modules cover the terraces; seven are for the interior features, four for bedrooms, three for bathrooms, two for the kitchen, and two are circulation modules. This comes to a total of 450 m2 of covered area.

Julio House Prototype. With an area of 52 m2, this prototype is a collection of eight modules spread over two levels. The ground floor consists of the kitchen module, bathroom, living, and one bedroom. The upper floor comprises two-bedroom modules, a bathroom, and a vacant module that fills the room’s double height, adding 150 m2 of constructed area.

Japo House Prototype. This prototype is a single-story house measuring 78 m2 in height. It comprises six modules: one module for a bedroom, one for a guest/study room, one for a kitchen with a loft, one for a living room, and two modules for two bathrooms, adding up to 140 m2 of building.

Prototype Outdoors. These were terraces originally constructed in the Rosetta Restaurant (Mexico City) as well as in the Bakery with the same name. Each terrace is constructed within a week and installed within a few hours. The architects cleverly adapted and scaled the wooden structures to measurements similar to a car. Moreover, two Kineki Outdoors modules momentarily dwell in a parking space to expand the table area during the ongoing pandemic.

Photos by: Jaime Navarro, Fernando Marroquin

L'articolo Kineki Prototypes / Amezcua proviene da Design42day.

Jaume’s House features a triangular floor plan and is located within a small urban population surrounded by the freeway, underpass of the freeway, Virgili & Rovira Street, and the graveyard.

The entire area contains distinct morphological features and consists of small houses, many of which were built between the middle and the end of the 20th century. Due to the plot’s small size, the space between existing buildings is also small, resulting in a lively an active community with low separating fences and residents staying in visual contact with one other. The houses can be accessed via a U-shaped entrance and exit which also lead to an inner square.

A detailed analysis of the prevailing houses in the area revealed many of them to be compact in terms of volume while occupying a large proportion of the plot. This gave rise to small leftover non-built spaces with limited or no visual connection and connectivity with outer buildings. Simultaneously, the main façades featuring the biggest openings are lined up along the street, irrespective of their solar positioning.

In accordance with the analysis, the house exhibits a unique architectural plan: the main front overlooks the garden and faces south instead of the street. In fact, the whole building is designed to look onto the garden; however, maximum integration is found on the ground floor, which showcases a central porch connecting the interior and exterior of the house. A productive break creates a central shaded living area so that the width of the plot is free of buildings and directly in contact with non-built areas.

Both sides of the porch feature practical living spaces; there is a suite with a dressing room and bathroom on one side, while the other side showcases a living-kitchen-dining room linked to the first-floor study via a double-height. This space is also linked to the basement, which is meant for storage and facilities. The first-floor interior program is finalized with two bedrooms and an extra bathroom, whereas the outdoor program completes with one first-floor terrace and another terrace on the covered floor that provides a lookout point to appreciate many visual landmarks of Tarragona city, such as the sea, the old town, and the Ermita de la Salut.

The volumetry’s design features simple shapes and a combination of different structures as per the existing buildings in the area, careful not to change the original topography. The street façade with two height levels intends to adjust and create a transition between an initial adjacent ground floor building and a second four-story building. The non-building external areas must accompany a reformed or vegetable garden, as well as a sidewalk on the edge of the building.

To conclude, the limited area of Jaume’s House required various strategies to cleverly utilize the space and magnify the perception of its dimensions, such as the double-height living-dining room, outside porch, incorporation of circulation areas within different rooms, capture of sunlight via purposefully constructed windows/skylights, and three distended triangular windows that can also function as floating interiors spaces of isolation with visual contact of the garden.

Photos by: Adrià Goula

L'articolo Jaume’s House / Guillem Carrera proviene da Design42day.

Casa Houlpoch, an ancient Yucatecan house from the late last century, is named after a snake from the region known to visit the property often. This construction project aimed to rescue the historical integrity of Yucatecan colonial design while integrating contemporary details and the luxuries of today’s life in an interpretative, sober, and pure manner to create various relaxing atmospheres to enjoy the warm peninsular outdoors.

The rooms feature pastel shades and are furnished with casual and modern chairs and tables while incorporating greenery. The rooms also display works of art, including a spirited Timoteo on the center table and a painting by Pedro Friedeberg placed on the sofa.

The kitchen, varnished in quartz and paste, features a refurbishment of ancient Yucatecan bells above the stove. Dangling lamps synchronize the entire space and complement the wooden tzalam furniture and the dining room. The latter is linked to the terrace via a window, creating feelings of spaciousness. Overall, the furniture here is a combination of the three cultures that owners identify with – a table, centerpiece, a drum brought from Mozambique, and patterns on the fabric of two Utrecht chairs from Dutch designer and architect Gerrit Rietvelt.

Placed on another sofa is a painting by Mexican artist Fernando Andriacci. While, the opposite side features a cow’s beaded head from Huichol and a traditional Dutch bicycle with colors of Prinsenvlag. The master bedroom on the first level has a much simpler design, showcasing a headboard featuring pasta tiles and a painting by Neon Caron. A beautiful view of the pool and the interior and tropical gardens can be seen from the bed.

The central courtyard contains a chukum pool surrounded by ancient colonial architecture stone remnants and an enormous poplar tree, producing an amazing play of light and dark with an ideal ambiance to host an outdoor kitchen. The volumetric back of the house contains steps leading to the second level, which features a terrace and two rooms and serves as an optical axis and a sculptural hallmark of architecture and dynamism. Moreover, a winding staircase is inspired by the millenary stairs of the ancient temple of Kukulkán, a feathered serpent, and god from Mayan mythology in Chichén Itzá.

Photos by: Tamara Uribe

L'articolo Huolpoch House / Workshop, Diseño y Construcción proviene da Design42day.

House R is situated within Rovinka city known for the low-density development of family homes dating back to the 20th century. Its longitudinal dimensions make it easier to locate the house within more intimate spaces, the latter having been constructed away from the hustle and bustle of traffic linking the southern cities of Bratislava.

Brick cladding covers the whole house, the irregularity of which features a contrast with the suave glass surfaces of its aluminum windows. The enormous frame of the two-story house complements the size of the garage, which is entirely covered in the wooden cladding that extends into the entrance loggia. A mechanism featuring concealed garage doors further augments the density of the bulkiness.

The basic architecture of House R was determined by its location and environment. The longitudinal and narrow plot defined space requirements and characterized the house into two main facades; a northern façade that concludes alongside the newly built multi-story residential construction and a sunny southern façade that is broadly open to the garden. Side façades are completely covered, respecting the privacy of the neighboring residential area.

The secrecy of the northern façade is substituted by its contrasting meaning once someone enters the house. The scene visible from the entrance hall through the symmetrical doorway connecting areas shared with the entrance serves as a filter between the diametrical features of the outside atmosphere. Moreover, the house can be accessed from the northern side via the concrete courtyard, which stands in contrast to the southern garden. A green island showcasing a tree beautifully balances the arrangement of simple façade and also gives the study room some privacy.

The roof skylight complements the central staircase, illuminating the spacious entrance area. The minimalism of materials used for the interior produces a clear canvas and creates a delightful play of constantly varying light; this same principle of light is also showcased in the bathrooms and wardrobe on the second floor.

Photos by: Matej Hakár

L'articolo House R / Jakub Kolarovič Architects proviene da Design42day.

House 1603, essentially a townhome, features many traditional elements such as stone-bearing walls, a key characteristic of the Baix Empordà region. Located right in the middle of the small town of Begur, it stands out due to its mountainous scenery and rocky beaches.

The reconstruction process was planned because there was a need to link various points of the house, improve the connection between the kitchen and subsequent exterior regions to give it a central location within the house, and lastly to enlarge the house via a new living room plus an additional room featuring nice views of the landscape.

To eliminate lack of connectivity between different levels of the house, a concrete body was constructed within the interior, functioning as a cut-out volume staircase that compliments the weighty charm of the original building. The area facing the garden was set via an old-fashioned reinterpretation of the curtain wall that serves as a spacious void between old and new spaces.

Primary living spaces are located on the ground floor. All these spaces adhere to the logic of accretion, which enunciates them one after the other. With a lack of corridors, this concatenation of spaces facilitates visuals to overlap and allows guests to discover different areas while moving forward. The first floor features a sleeping area and a versatile space as a connector and a living room. There are also three in-suite bedrooms; two are located in the refurbished area of the house, whereas the third one is within the new extension.

The designers were able to maintain the original defining character of House 1603 by valuing original materials and adding some new and latest elements to increase the overall essence of the house.

Photos by: Filippo Poli

L'articolo House 1603 / Nordest Arquitectura proviene da Design42day.