WORDS AND PRODUCTION Laurence Dougier PHOTOS Nicolas Mathéus

Perched on the hills of Melides on the Portuguese coast south of Lisbon, the house unfolds in sharp, defi ned contours of precise lines and natural light. Created by French architect and designer Christophe Bernard, the building explores a sensitive approach to its place among the indigenous flora – not an easy accomplishment given its boxy aesthetic.

Studio Christophe Bernard has been able to manage the interaction of the building’s volumes with the majesty of the landscape by following the land’s inclines and inviting nature in at every angle. “The site spoke for itself,” says Christophe. And viewing it from an east-west orientation, you get a real sense of the what he’s done: natural light flows through the spaces, regulating the interior temperature, while hanging gardens extend the structure, subtly blending house and vegetation.

French-born Christophe is based in Lisbon, and the home is true to a contemporary Portuguese school of architecture that favours simple lines and rigorous volumes. “Moderated Modernism” would be the most accurate descriptor. The influence of legendary Mexican architect and engineer Luis Barragán – whose desire to create emotional architecture led to his bold, chromatic approach to functional Modernism – is visible too, with certain volumes dressed in solar, mineral and oceanic tones. A water feature with deep-red walls frames the north patio, creating a warm, sculptural play of contrasts.

Inside, the building reads as a continuation of the exterior’s dramatic panorama. The east-facing bedrooms remain cool and intimate, while at the heart of the home, the north-south living room is organised around a double-volume fi replace clad in a polychrome bas-relief by ceramic artist Maria Ana Vasco Costa. Three trees planted directly into the fl oor enhance the sense of the garden extending into the interior. A spiral staircase leads to the main suite with an expansive marble bathroom, and a terrace that overlooks the valley and the ocean.

Much of the furniture has also been designed by Studio Christophe Bernard, using local materials – Estremoz marble, local stone, walnut wood – although some of the pieces were sourced in Brazil. The stone tables in the living room, the wooden island and dining table in the kitchen, and a main bathroom clad entirely in marble integrate harmoniously with the overall design.

Christophe has cleverly created a quiet space within these bold volumes – a discreet manifesto of contemporary Modernism that’s determined as much by the path followed by the sun as it is by the materiality of concrete and wood. Each volume carves out a perspective, each opening captures a fragment of horizon, and a calming dialogue ensues between the home and this singular site. |
@christophe_bernard_studio

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Mariela Apollonio

This 1920s home in Turís has a storied past – its old walls have seen generations of everyday life, family holidays, summer gatherings and even a medical practice – and now, almost 90 years later, it has been returned to its former glory, allowing the house to continue its long tradition as a place of gathering.

In 1941, Nilda’s grandparents rented this house, a dwelling built fifteen years earlier and distinguished by its generous backyard, which at the time still opened onto surrounding farmland. A few years later, they purchased the property and carried out the first major transformation, extending the house towards the garden. As the village doctor, her grandfather devoted part of the home to his medical practice, a common arrangement at the time. In the late 1970s, after his retirement, the family moved to Valencia, and the house became more of a holiday home than a permanent residence.

Small adjustments were made over the years, but as the family visited less and less, the house gradually fell out of step with contemporary living. Decades later, Nilda decided to return and make the house a home once more.

Jose Costa ARQ Studio was tasked with restoring the 300 m² home so that it could serve as both a primary residence for Nilda and a shared space for the extended family during summers and holidays.

The street-facing volume, with its brick facade, timber windows and tiled roof, now serves as accommodation for visiting family members, with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The entrance gate and carpentry were restored, while original tiles and flooring were carefully preserved and reused.

The main living areas – living room, dining room, kitchen – and Nilda’s primary bedroom are all contained in the garden-facing half of the house. Due to its deterioration, this section required a more substantial intervention. The architects replaced the roof and opened up the facade to strengthen the relationship with the garden. To bring natural light deep into the interior, a new courtyard was carved out above the kitchen. Enclosed in glass, it takes on the character of the garden beyond. The staircase, a central element in the house, links both halves of the home while establishing a visual dialogue with the courtyard.

With the renovation completed last year, the home is now a meeting point between past and present – a contemporary space where the family continues to come together, just as they always have. | josecosta.es

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COMPILED BY Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Ishita Sitwala, PHX INDIA, Arch-Exist Photography, Jeanne Canto, Fernando Guerra, Avesh Gaur and Sohaib Ilyas Design, Andrés Cedillo, FLINK Studio, Studio CAPN, Paul Warchol, Andrés Cedillo

The 2026 WAF shortlist features 416 projects across categories ranging from best Creative Re-Use, Housing and Education to best Hotel, Health, Sports and Culture. Selected from over 630 entries, this year’s shortlist celebrates incredible, groundbreaking architectural and design achievements.

Among the entries, these remarkable buildings celebrate architecture that responds to its environment while creating distinctive, immersive and sustainable places:

Ayana

by aslam.sham architects in Coimbatore, India

Terra House

by Atelier Design N Domain LLP (ADND) in Kerala, India

The Mountain Fold – Nanshanli Community & Visitor Centre, Mount Emei

by Lacime Architects in Shanghai, China

Kiaora Residence

by STRANG in Coconut Grove, United States

ES House

by Jacobsen Studio in Guarujá, Brazil

The Hungry Caterpillar

by lyth Design in Delhi, India

Mercado Nicolas Bravo

by AIDIA STUDIO in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Bisate Sanctuary

by Black Sable Designs in Ruthengeri, Rwanda

Stöng – (Re)interpretation

by SP(R)INT STUDIO in Stöng í Þjórsárdal, Iceland

Chatham Residence

by Desai Chia Architects in Chatham, United States

Parque Quintana Roo

by AIDIA STUDIO in Chetumal, Mexico

The World Architecture Festival 2026

This year’s 205 shortlisted completed buildings include everything from an immersive tropical clubhouse in Vietnam to a landmark fish market in Sydney and a 1.2-acre oceanfront park in Florida.

The 48 shortlisted interiors range from an off-grid private wildlife sanctuary and guest lodge in South Africa to a design-led rooftop bar in Bangkok, while the 12 shortlisted landscapes include a clubhouse in Vietnam designed as a living organism and an ecological landmark in the Philippines that showcases the structural material qualities of bamboo.

The 151 future projects shortlisted include a climate-responsive home in Mumbai and an ambitious vision for a children’s hospital in Texas.

World Architecture Festival and Inside World Festival of Interiors will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 18–20 November 2026. | worldarchitecturefestival.com

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WORDS Annette Klinger PRODUCTION Drew Architects PHOTOS Elsa Young

Estate design is a challenging typology. Cookie-cutter homogeneity isn’t a good look – but then, neither is a hodgepodge of unrelated architectural styles. The trick? Aiming for that sweet spot where singularity meets context. Architect Andrew Payne, whose Courtyard House in Serengeti Estate bagged an excellence award at the PIA Awards in 2025, knows a thing or two about estate architecture. “Estate guidelines almost always hamstring whatever design ideas you may have,” he says. “The funny thing is, I wrote the guidelines for Serengeti about 15 years ago, back when I was their estate architect!”

While Andrew’s past self was quite strict in terms of the estate’s architectural parameters, he maintains that his future self had enough creative leeway to design a residence that continues to turn heads. “We love the kind of home that gives you a little hint of what might be beyond the facade when you drive past,” he says. “This house tempts you to hit the brakes and ring the doorbell – because you’re desperate to see what’s inside.”

The low-slung rectangular street facade is almost unassuming in its simplicity, punctuated only by a slatted steel gate and porthole to the right. “To balance budget and aspiration we worked hard to keep the design simple and sculptural, using only concrete, brick plaster and white paint – almost as though the house has been hewn from a single material,” says Andrew. Beneath the seeming austerity, however, runs an undercurrent of fun. Visible through the front gate, a five-metre-long steel window box juts out from the bottom of a wall, allowing passers-by to glimpse – depending on their timing – the residents’ feet, their small dogs, or the eponymous courtyard beyond. And what a courtyard it is: accessible from all sides of the home via sliding pocket doors, the lush, tranquil space accommodates a lounging area with a mature jacket plum tree peeking its canopy through a cutout in the concrete slab above it. “The curved corners of the cutout bring softness and balance to all the straight lines, and the tree offers a layer of privacy between the main suite and the lounging area,” says Andrew.

A courtyard-centred design not only accommodated the clients’ wish for privacy, but also made the most of the plot’s golf-course frontage and nature-reserve views. “We started with the question of how we could create a building that looks only at itself and at nature,” says Andrew. “We pushed the building to the boundaries of the site to create the courtyard, which bleeds beautiful natural light into all the rooms, and north light into all the bedrooms.”

While the layout seems relatively simple on paper, it translates into an immersive experience in practice, with pockets of interest tucked around every corner. As you approach from the motor court, for example, a solitary olive tree stands marooned on a square island in the middle of a koi pond, which has to be traversed via floating slabs to reach the front door. The double-volume entrance hall is a gallery space that houses the family’s art collection – plus another gently gurgling pond, for good measure – and allows you to survey the landscape beyond through the courtyard. Then, as you make your way through the house, a discreet staircase behind the courtyard lounge leads up to a covered rooftop bar with views for days. A bonus level, if ever there was one. “We love the idea of being led through a home via a series of curated and playful experiences that both entice and delay the journey,” says Andrew.

It’s a journey that doesn’t get old, according to the home’s owner Daniel Courtney, who has lived there with his family for three years. “The way the house connects us to nature, the sound of the water features… We feel like we’re on holiday every day,” he says. “Stepping into the entryway and being greeted by that view through the courtyard and onto the greenbelt is something that doesn’t wear off . I’d say we probably leave the courtyard doors open for nine months of the year.” We’d say, with surroundings like these, an open-door policy seems par for the course. | studiodrew.co.za

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS María Missaglia

Rather than reconstructing an idealised past, idearch studio – a Spanish architecture practice – worked with what remained of the 140-year-old Menorcan lloc, allowing architecture, memory, and landscape to continue evolving together.

Son Martorell’s original buildings, a house and cattle barn, had fallen into advanced disrepair after years of successive alterations. Previous renovation attempts had split the main house internally into two independent units, profoundly altering its original configuration and dissolving the spatial unity that once defined the whole.

Driven by a desire to restore the deep connection between the property’s historical architecture and surrounding landscape, idearch studio approached the renovation not as an isolated gesture, but as a continuation of a place shaped by generations of farming and habitation.

The interventions introduced by the architecture studio were based on a strategy of careful subtraction and recovery. Deteriorated elements were removed, non-structural partitions cleared, and compromised roofs and slabs taken down. As a result, the studio was left with a ‘useful ruin’: a stable spatial and material base that allowed them to reorganise the house.

Son Martorell’s entrance, defined by a double-height void, is now the spatial heart of the home, organising circulation. A light staircase and walkway unfold within this space, wrapping around the existing stone wall, understood both as structure and as a material memory of the building. From this central core, all levels are connected. The new interventions do not compete with the existing fabric, but rather engage with it through precision and lightness.

Inside, new openings, cut through the marès walls, act as thresholds between rooms. The house is organised as a continuous sequence of spaces, where corridors disappear in favour of fluid transitions and direct spatial experience.

The renovation draws on the traditional logic of building in Menorca, where climate and place prevail over form. The positioning of new openings responds to this reading of the landscape rather than compositional rules, capturing light, framing views, and bringing the outside in. To the south, the main living spaces open fully to the landscape through floor-to-ceiling glazing. To the north, service areas are placed behind a more recessed facade, where smaller openings act as a buffer against the prevailing Tramontana winds. idearch-studio.com | @idearchstudio

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WORDS Chris Reid PHOTOS Helene Sandberg, Supplied

Concrete is not a material that has historically kept good company with living things. It doesn’t bend, it doesn’t breathe, and it’s difficult to love at times. Which is exactly what makes Eco-Brutalism – the movement built on the marriage of raw concrete and rampant greenery – one of the more surprising design stories of recent years. Yet the more you sit with it, the more inevitable it feels.

As a reminder, Brutalism is an architectural style that’s known for its pragmatic yet monolithic design, as well as its heavy use of unfinished building materials. (The latter is the source of the name: a reference to the French term for raw concrete, béton brut.) Emerging in the 1950s, it was used for institutions such as universities, civic buildings and hospitals. Post-war governments valued its speed and cost-efficiency. City planners loved its scale. The public was, however, oft en less convinced.

Eco-Brutalism takes the same commitment to material honesty and pushes it into more verdant territory. In this approach, hard edges aren’t softened with paint or embellishments, but with plants. And not just a discreet flowerbed here and there: we’re talking climbing vines, living walls, rooftop gardens and indoor trees – the kind of foliage that sprawls and reaches and eventually makes a building look more like a terrarium than a monument. It feels like it should clash. But in the right hands, it produces something genuinely arresting: the hard and the soft, the permanent and the growing, locked together in an aesthetic that feels both radical and deeply natural.

Tough Love

A shift in attitudes to Brutalism has been brewing for some time. In London, the Barbican is the most instructive example. Once polarising, it is now the subject of a £231-million renewal programme approved in late 2025, with plans to restore its public spaces and conservatory ahead of its 50th anniversary. What has long been regarded as a cold, labyrinthine edifice has become one of the most desirable addresses in Europe. Architecture tours are sold out. The shop sells Brutalist memorabilia. The turnaround is remarkable – and it signals something broader.

As a style, Eco-Brutalism has some associations that make it quite apt for the current point in history. For a start, it has an innately socialist bent and forward-looking perspective. At a time when income disparity feels like it’s constantly increasing and retrogressive politics are on the rise, that is comforting. It also taps into the biophilia trend that defined the last decade or so. But where biophilia often feels surface-level, this turns the volume up and takes the greenery from an accent to an essential core. Also, in a world where the future will only get hotter and where cities will continue to densify, the smart use of greenery alongside concrete creates instant oases that people can appreciate regardless of their feelings on the aesthetic itself.

More than Skin Deep

With this type of design trend, there’s an implicit question: how much of the green thinking is substantial, and how much is purely symbolic? After all, Brutalism with a few plants added to it hardly feels like it warrants a whole new name. Added to that, concrete is a material that has come under significant scrutiny in recent years for its environmental impact.

What we’re seeing in this new iteration of Brutalism, however, is the “Eco” aspect going deeper. New, sustainable cement innovations by companies like Seratech are helping to sequester carbon in the build process. Architects intentionally include passive cooling and rainwater collection to reduce their environmental footprint. Plus, there’s an argument that this kind of anti-ostentatious design removes the unnecessary features that tend to add to a building’s overall impact.

Perhaps most importantly, this aesthetic is defined by permanence. In a world of fast design and disposable interiors, there is something quietly radical about creating buildings that are designed around function and intended to be scaffolding for nature. Brutalism in all its forms resists simple interpretation. But sometimes the most beautiful things are the ones that refuse to be easy.

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WORDS Martin Jacobs PHOTOS Renata Dominik, Michael Lassman, Felix Mooneeram

One would think originality inevitable when access to the endless scroll places a world of architecture, interiors and design at our fingertips. Yet in a culture of constant visual assault, sameness persists, leaving us yearning for the shock of the new. Too often, we circle the expected when shaping our homes – but when convention is set aside, and different choices are given space, the results can be extraordinary. “Global thinking about how we use our resources is shifting, but architecture is lagging,” says Clinton Cole, founder of CplusC, a Sydney firm of architects, interior designers and builders, of the conventional bigger-is-better approach to bespoke homes. “What happens when we turn from excess towards nature? What does human-centred architecture look like now on our fragile planet?”

The collaboration between CplusC and interior designer Jase Sullivan, who brought his decorating expertise to this unusual home, offers a compelling response. Positioned above Manly’s Shelly Beach, with distant views of Manly Beach, the house could have followed the familiar path of its neighbours, maximising bay views. Instead, it turns inwards, focusing attention on a man-made body of water: a natural pool inspired by the homeowners’ love of a freshwater creek several hours from Brisbane. “We wanted our home to feel like the outdoors every day – like camping in the woods, but with the luxury of a house,” says Karin*, who commissioned the home with her husband Jurgen for their young family. In many ways, the pool is the heart of the home, with every room opening onto it.

In consultation with landscape architect Duncan Gibbs, CplusC’s design for the swimming pool is part of a broader rainforest creek concept. Following the slope of the property, water cascades through a series of biofiltration ponds and reedbeds into the pool, and down into a waterfall alongside the home’s entrance. Overhead is perhaps the most unusual feature: a canopy of timber, steel and translucent jade-coloured lattices into which more than 20 planters are embedded. Permeable to the elements, this is a breathing architectural structure that filters sunlight and heat, forging a constant connection to nature. “Eventually the canopy will resemble tree canopies, with leaves swaying in the wind and water dropping like rainfall into the tranquil watercourse below,” says Clinton. “It’s a contemporary interpretation of a landscape and environment, invoking memories of our human experience in nature.”

“With the doors open, the sounds of water outside make you feel as though you’re in a forest,” says Jase, a runway model-turned-interiors specialist whose award-winning work dots not just Australia but also Beverly Hills and Hollywood Hills in California. “I knew from the start that the furniture choices had to honour this incredible architecture. There is no way I could have gone subtle with this house – I had to take it to the extreme!”

The double-volume living room, with its stained-glass windows (in the colours of Sydney sunsets) inspired by Mondrian artworks, best illustrates Jase’s approach. Confessing that this may be his boldest pairing yet, he explains how the colour palette of the stained-glass windows was his starting point. “I’ve always had a passion for rare Mid-century pieces. When I began in the industry, at a time when most designers weren’t turning to them, I believed pairing such pieces with contemporary ones offered a fresh perspective on vintage design.” He’s combined a pair of 1960s yellow Pierre Paulin Ribbon chairs with Hessentia’s Gio sofa and two Soniah floor lamps by Ukrainian designer Victoria Yakusha. “Collaborating with DenHolm, I designed the pink coffee table to tie everything together,” he says. “Even though the pieces are from different eras, their curves complement one another beautifully.”

Jase’s decorating extends beyond aesthetics and, where possible, mirrors Clinton’s sustainability-forward measures, such as exterior timber cladding in a low-maintenance shou sugi ban finish, hydronic heating and cooling, electric car and bicycle charging stations, and a solar-panel battery system that generates more energy than it consumes (all of which contributed to this being the first certified Active House in Australia). “The drive towards sustainability always enhances my design thinking,” says Jase who, for seating at one end of the nine-metre kitchen island, turned to Dutch designer Dirk van der Kooij’s Chubby barstools, created from extruded recycled plastic. Upstairs, headboards and ottomans were made from upcycled plastic and clothing, and wooden furniture (as well as architectural elements throughout the home) utilised recycled timber.

“This is a home in which the air is filled with the play of water, a light- and soundscape awash in colour from stained-glass windows,” says Clinton, reflecting on the project. “It’s playful and rejuvenating all at once.” And for homeowners Karin and Jurgen, it’s about so much more. “We imagined a beautiful carbon-positive house that inspires others,” says Jurgen. “Our goal is for our home to generate more energy by 2050 than was used to construct and operate it.”

It’s ambitious thinking like this that jolts us into creating things that feel genuinely new. jasesullivan.com | cplusc.com.au

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Set within one of Cape Town’s most prestigious residential enclaves, Hillside Private Residence presents a rare opportunity to secure an architectural masterpiece on an extraordinary 6,000m² north-facing estate. Once completed, this 1,044m² luxury residence will command uninterrupted vineyard and mountain views, embodying timeless design, exceptional craftsmanship and uncompromising luxury.

Designed for effortless indoor-outdoor living, the home has been conceived with expansive entertainment spaces, elegant formal and informal living areas, and beautifully landscaped gardens that frame every outlook. Five luxurious bedroom suites, a private study, chef’s kitchen, wine cellar, cigar lounge, cinema, gym and sauna ensure every aspect of modern luxury has been thoughtfully considered.

Outside, an infinity lap pool will appear to merge seamlessly with the surrounding vineyards, while tranquil water features and generous covered terraces will create an atmosphere of complete privacy and retreat. A six-car garage, staff accommodation, borehole water supply, energy-efficient systems and comprehensive security infrastructure further enhance this exceptional offering.

Perfectly positioned in sought-after Upper Constantia, the residence affords residents immediate access to acclaimed wine estates, leading schools, world-class restaurants and some of Cape Town’s finest outdoor lifestyle experiences.

Represented under a sole and exclusive mandate, Hillside Private Residence is more than an exceptional home; it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future of luxury living in one of South Africa’s most coveted addresses.

Ready to experience luxury living.

Enquire today to receive full project information, architectural plans and pricing, and to secure this extraordinary residence before construction begins. View the full listing or contact Alexa Horne +27 82 349 7799 | alexa@dgproperties.co.za directly to schedule your private viewing.

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WORDS Robyn Alexander/Bureaux PRODUCTION Sven Alberding/Bureaux PHOTOS Greg Cox/Bureaux

“It was an old two-bedroom cottage on a vast 1 200m2 plot,” says homeowner Erica Schalkwyk. This was back in 2018, when she and her husband Werner bought the property, “gave the cottage a lick of paint, and moved in”. Their intention was always to redevelop, creating a new home situated towards the back of the long, relatively narrow piece of land. But, she explains, “We first had to live in it, plan, save and start our family.”

For three years, that’s what they did. “We had no timeline; we were enjoying the home as it was,” says Erica. “We waited for life to happen.” The couple now have two sons – five-year-old Mynhardt and three-year-old Migael. They eventually started the build in 2021, moving into the completed house in May 2022, but only fi nished the garage at the end of 2025. It’s been slow, steady going.

The couple asked architect Ruan Marsh of Monograph Architects to assist them with the design of the new house. Ruan and his practice partner Kevin Coetzee like to create work that isn’t style-bound, but that originates in critical regionalism – an idea that stresses the importance of architectural responses to site, local context and climate, as well as the client’s brief and needs. “The condition of the existing house was good, but its position on the site was not ideal, leaving a large, underutilised garden towards the back,” Ruan says. “The house also wasn’t functional for Erica and Werner – they host fairly big gatherings of people regularly, and needed a space more suited to this. Monograph aims to create spaces in which clients can experience delight and form core memories. We want to make great spaces the norm.”

A major part of the Schalkwyks’ overall design brief was that they wanted the biggest garden possible. The site is 15m by 76m, and north-facing on the street side of the narrow end; the land is also quite steeply sloped, with a change in level of just under fi ve metres from one end to the other. And both the clients and their architect wanted to ensure that, in Ruan’s words, “the connection between indoors and out be as seamless as possible”.

The design solution was to push the building all the way back, puncture it with courtyards, and use split levels for the garden level, says Ruan. “Inside the house, we wanted to create a public-private divide using levels as well.” As a result, the bedrooms and more private work and play spaces for the family are situated at the rear of the home, up two short flights of stairs.

“The design plays with light in creative ways, to draw the eye towards certain elements of the spaces and really connect with the outdoors,” says Ruan. This starts right at the front of the home with the wooden slatted enclosure within which the kitchen-diner is situated. “Kitchens should have morning and afternoon sun,” he says – and the timber slats create the variable shade needed within this glass-clad area. The timber is from the original 2018 conceptual sketch, and the fins are a shading device for east and west, with panels that can be opened in sections. In addition, the slats are “used to create oneness vertically in that element of the house” because there is a mini floor underneath for laundry and storage; it functions as a “basement” but is also light-filled and functional.

Adding an extra dimension of light to the dining area beyond the kitchen is a narrow courtyard on the eastern side, which enables morning light to enter this space. There are several compact, planted courtyards across the floor plan; they function as light wells and as a way to create natural air fl ow through the interior. “They create visual interest via the planted greenery, and are a further connection with the outside,” says Ruan.

Another noteworthy aspect of the design is the way undulating – rather than rigidly geometric – connections are made within the house. This “eases transitions between spaces”, says Ruan, adding that this sort of movement has a more human scale and feel, and is part of age-old principles of design encapsulated in traditions such as feng shui. The gradual stepping up of levels towards the more private zones of the house is an additional element of this thoughtful approach to layout.

The striking wooden slats that enclose the front edge of the facade are something of an homage to the design of Johannesburg’s Circa art gallery, creating an effect Erica very much wanted. Having worked as an interior designer for over a decade prior to “giving it up to enjoy this stage of life with small children”, she currently designs and makes jewellery – but she also conceptualised all of her home’s interiors. She and Werner spent many years putting together a collection of South African designer furniture, wall art and sculptures. “I wanted our new home to have that gallery feel,” says Erica. “Every single nook is designed with a specific art piece in mind.” The interiors combine bold, earthy neutrals with a strong monochrome colour theme, with additional visual and tactile interest created through skilful layering of natural textures, from wood and steel to leather and stone.

The house is designed to function as a unified whole in which, Erica explains, “the entire living space – the patio, living room, dining area, kitchen and pool – is in use daily.” And when asked about her favourite among these areas, she responds, “The patio! We spend all our time there.” Warmly welcoming, always connected and very much a true reflection of everything the Schalkwyks value and enjoy, their home is perfectly attuned to their wants and needs. | monograph-architects.com

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WORDS Martin Jacobs PHOTOS Aiste Rakauskaite, Andrew Lee, Iwan Baan, Tom Powel Imaging© 2025 Calder Foundation New York/Artists Rights Society New York, Jason keen, Jason O’Rear

LOST SHTETL MUSEUM Šeduva, Lithuania

When architect Rainer Mahlamä ki, of Finland’s Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, fi rst visited the Lithuanian town of Šeduva a decade ago with the intention of better understanding the site of the museum he was to design, it was the landscape that lingered. “I was struck by the open sky, the vast agricultural landscape, the adjacent cemetery, the quiet sound of the wind, and the grey houses of the countryside,” he says. Ten years on, the recently opened Lost Shtetl Museum is not just sitting in that landscape, it’s in dialogue with it. In August 1941, just short of 700 Jewish residents of Šeduva were executed in a nearby forest, an act marking the town’s destruction. The museum, built to commemorate not only the loss of life but also of Jewish and European culture, takes the form of a small shtetl (or village).

A collection of individual houses – each echoing the dimensions of a single-family dwelling, their interiors canopied by the pitch of their roofs rather than ceilinged – are interconnected by short passageways. The effect is twofold: it nods to Šeduva’s pre-war skyline while cleverly allowing for possible future expansion. The facades are constructed from shingle-like recyclable aluminium sheets which, up close, are textured, setting up a constant play of light across their silvery-white surfaces. For Mahlamäki, this wasn’t simply a reference to the weathered farm buildings that dot rural Lithuania, but an intentional counterpoint to the darker, rougher material palettes that characterise many Holocaust memorials.

The surrounding gardens and cemetery, conceived in collaboration with Enea Landscape Architecture, form a memorial park shaped by the idea of the last journey. The garden rooms – an orchard, wetlands and a flowering meadow – reimagine the landscapes that Jewish residents may have encountered en route to the forest, translating absence into a verdant presence. | lostshtetl.com

CALDER GARDENS Philadelphia, USA

Hemmed in by a highway, on-ramps and the city’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway – and with the Barnes Foundation, Rodin Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art within a stone’s throw – it was inevitable that Pritzker Prize-winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron would embrace a novel approach to the design of Calder Gardens. The museum is dedicated to an ever-changing selection of work by the late (and great) Alexander Calder, a Philadelphian sculptor best known for his kinetic mobiles.

“Form, colour and movement are the most obvious aspects in Calder’s art,” says Jason Frantzen, senior partner at the firm. “When the concept for Calder Gardens was conceived, it sought to avoid rather than adopt the use of these characteristics as possible design elements. Likewise, the design avoids the monumental architecture of the museums that line the parkway. With these parameters in mind, it was decided that the face of this project should not be a building – instead, it is a garden with a building within.”

Designed by lauded Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf, the garden is a showstopper, with his trademark pairing of plants and time as mediums. Heavily season-, weather- and light-dependent, the plantings are in a constant state of flux, unfolding across outdoor rooms that include a woodland, prairie matrix (composed of mostly North American species) and perennial meadow. On entering the garden, the architecture slowly reveals itself, initially in the form of a disc-shaped plaza (which doubles as a roof to the subterranean museum). Flanking the plaza are sunken open-air galleries carved into the ground; these off er protected outdoor spaces for sculptures, and draw natural light into the interiors, most a fusion of off -shutter, polished and shotcrete concrete. | caldergardens.org

NEW MUSEUM New York, USA

First opened in 1997 and in its current lower Manhattan premises since 2007, New Museum is the only one in our roundup that – ironically, given its name – isn’t entirely new. (It’s the only museum in Manhattan dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, describing itself as “future-facing, not a place for preserving and recording history”.) A recently completed addition, adjacent to the museum’s iconic flagship building by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, doubles New Museum’s exhibition space.

While it’s not uncommon for architects to be commissioned to design new wings alongside significantly older buildings, here the brief was trickier: contemporary beside contemporary. The architects helming the project – OMA’s Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu – had to grapple with that notion. “While maintaining the architectural integrity of the original building, our design seeks to create a new whole rather than two halves, adding space and openness with its own distinct identity,” says Shigematsu of the solution, which mirrors SANAA’s language in a manner that’s more suited to our times.

Located on Prince Street in the Bowery, the seven-storey extension connects to the original building on three floors, with ceiling heights accurately aligned. But while SANAA’s building is visually impenetrable from outside, OMA’s design opts for laminated glass with a metal mesh interlayer across its facades. Broad stripes running down the street-facing facade of the faceted structure are rendered in mesh-free glass, lending a heightened sense of transparency – especially at night – that connects those inside with the city, and engages passers-by with the goings-on and displays indoors. Semi-outdoor terraces with triangular apertures further encourage a dialogue with Manhattan. | newmuseum.org

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