Rice Architecture Anderson Hall Renovation / Kwong Von Glinow

Design through Finding: three new spaces in MD Anderson Hall — Rice University School of Architecture commissioned Kwong Von Glinow to design three new spaces within MD Anderson Hall: a Welcome Center, a Student and Community Forum, and a Faculty & Staff Lounge. These new spaces are located along the school's central axis. Our design process began with a deep dive into the building's history to understand the original 1947 building by Staub and Rather and the subsequent 1981 addition by James Stirling and Michael Wilford.  One of the texts mentioned Philip Johnson's observation of the James Stirling addition: "I came to see Jim's building but couldn't find it." (Cite Fall 1992-Winter 1993) This notion of  "finding" space became integral to our design approach.

Cruda House / MEII ESTUDIO

At Cruda House, two levels are clearly distinguished: a renovated base, floor, and wall coverings, and an upper part that remains bare, authentic, and intact. Thus, in a single continuous space, the new and the existing, the technical and the artisanal, the repaired and the preserved coexist; a synthesis between past and present that allows one to inhabit time in all its layers.

Mapping as Design: A Resource-Based Approach to Rural Design in the United States

In 1982, at a conference on earth building in Tucson, Arizona, an unusual presentation challenged everything architects thought they knew about rural resources. Instead of focusing on construction techniques, the presenter, architect Pliny Fisk III, spread out a series of hand-drawn maps that revealed something extraordinary - rural Texas wasn't resource-poor, as conventional wisdom suggested, but material-rich beyond imagination. The maps showed volcanic ash perfect for lightweight concrete, caliche deposits stretching across vast territories, and mesquite forests that could supply both hardwood flooring and insulation. The revelation redefined prevailing notions of value in architecture.

MS House / Studio Saransh

Can Brutalist architecture embrace nature so closely that it feels like the trees have shaped it? Studio Saransh's MS House in Ahmedabad offers a bold answer. The design of the house begins with a simple promise: to preserve the site's nine mature neem trees at all cost. The result is a concrete structure that bends to nature's will, influencing every decision—from spatial layout to the architectural form and material palette—in the process. This sensitivity to context and environment is a hallmark of Studio Saransh's design ethos, which emphasises functional elegance with an impactful design language.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Follow Us On