The Slot House / Katerina Valsamaki Architects

How do you inhabit beauty? The question, perhaps too general if not vague, at least is not unfair since it refers to the fact that often the anxiety caused to us by our concern to do "right" - for the owner, for the planning authorities, for the contractors – conceals the implied imperative form of the question, "How must we inhabit beauty?", the implication being that it is not enough to do merely the right but what befits the situation, what is "proper" with an ethical component. Even so, what is appropriate when we plan to inhabit beauty in the landscape? And here lies the dilemma: Nature, by its nature, is beautiful by birth. This is what the country house in Tinos is aimed at, the pleasure of habitation discreetly weaving itself into the sensitive Cycladic landscape.

Earth by the River Residence / Luigi Rosselli Architects

Working on rural residential projects requires a degree of restraint from the architect's hands; a simplicity and essentiality that eschews waste.  Contemporary farmhouse Earth by the River, which provides family accommodation and a studio designed as a space for artists to create and share their works and foster a sense of community, was shaped by such an approach. 

Phoenix Feather Tea Pavilion / Kong Xiangwei Studio

At the northernmost tip of Yunnan's Wuliang Mountains, Phoenix Mountain (Fenghuang Shan), with an elevation of 2,380 meters, plays amidst the clouds. It rests like a giant bird with folded wings in Bixi Township, Nanjian County, Dali. This area is not only a geological epic formed by the collision of the Hengduan and Ailao mountain ranges but also one of China's renowned migratory bird corridors. Every September, tens of thousands of birds spiral down along this ancient migratory route, turning the mythical vision of "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix" into reality.

Wonderful Wooman / IDR Architects

Blending into the Landscape – In the 1970s, as apartments became dominant in Korea, a quieter housing typology emerged: modest three-story brick homes built by small-scale contractors. With red bricks and white railings, these houses still shape the identity of many low-rise neighborhoods today. Wonderful Uman responds to this context by integrating into its surroundings rather than overwriting them. Its red-toned brick façade is slightly lighter than that of its neighbors, just enough to assert its presence while maintaining harmony with the streetscape.

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