Month: October 2018

We were approached by a working couple to design their house on a small site of 20 ft x 40 ft. The site is located in a very densely populated residential locality, where most of the surrounding buildings either share walls or have very little setbacks between them.

Bêtania is a residence dedicated to social educative needs. A series of basic archetypal framework shape up the building in a very rational, simple and economical manner. Specific lengths are given to each section of the construction reducing distances to its neighbors as its best and implementing land use. At the center, significant common spaces are displayed: an open and a covered courtyard. Around those, exteriors passageways purposely distribute bedrooms for 78 female students. The residence also hosts a low budget restaurant and a library.

It began with one painting.
This traditional Japanese style painting is called “Yozakura Gekka” (by Hiroshi Senju), featuring an exquisite weeping cherry tree in blossom lit by the moon light.
It was for this painting that the owner wished to have a private space to admire – where he could spend his time quietly and feel the beauty of falling petals. He wanted to create simple but elegant atmosphere like luxurious hotel for his living room/study and bedroom.

Arches have long been used to mark the greatest achievements of Roman civilization. Constantine, Titus, and Septimus Severus built them to commemorate their military victories. Engineers at Segovia and Nîmes incorporated them into their revolutionary aqueducts. And fifteen hundred years after the Fall of Rome, Rafael Moneo gave a modern touch to the ancient structure in Mérida’s breathtaking National Museum of Roman Art, located on the site of the former Iberian outpost of Emerita Augusta. Soaring arcades of simple, semi-circular arches merge historicity and contemporary design, creating a striking yet sensitive point of entry to the remains of one of the Roman Empire’s greatest cities.

Arches have long been used to mark the greatest achievements of Roman civilization. Constantine, Titus, and Septimus Severus built them to commemorate their military victories. Engineers at Segovia and Nîmes incorporated them into their revolutionary aqueducts. And fifteen hundred years after the Fall of Rome, Rafael Moneo gave a modern touch to the ancient structure in Mérida’s breathtaking National Museum of Roman Art, located on the site of the former Iberian outpost of Emerita Augusta. Soaring arcades of simple, semi-circular arches merge historicity and contemporary design, creating a striking yet sensitive point of entry to the remains of one of the Roman Empire’s greatest cities.

The house is situated in a corner hidden from the small alley in Sai Gon where people usually pass by in their first visit. This position leaves us with a feeling of silence of the site inside as well as an astonishment at its wide yard when we go through the gate.

the entire scheme has been conceived as an interpretation of a typical spanish plaza, a welcoming public square that visitors can occupy in a variety of ways.
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