Articles by Sabrina Leiva

Designed by LMN Architects in partnership with executive architects Marmon Mok Architecture, the $150 million expansion and renovation project embraces the multi-faceted cultural identity of the city with a distinctive tapestry of form, materiality, light, and landscape. The project was one of eleven real estate development projects from around the globe to have been selected as winners in the ULI 2016 Global Awards for Excellence program, widely recognized as one of the industry’s most prestigious awards programs.

The 42 sqm skinny apartment, located in the heart of Tel Aviv, intended for a holiday home town for a family who likes to entertain guests has transformed by Interior designer Yael Perry into a minimalist white bright space.

When we received the demand, one of the first things we thought about was: let’s get away of the classic tipology of the exposed house, so massively used in the condominiums of the region – with from top to bottom glazing and a two-story high ceiling. The idea was that the house kept the privacy preserved and then, in the social lounge, opened to the deck in the backyard.  With the same premise in mind, we came up with another project attitudes that guided us, as raising the ground floor 50cm  to avoid that the parked vehicle was seen from the living room window, and, with this, the main access would be made by a minimum slope ramp, protecting the pushed back entrance door. We also had attention with the size of the windows, for privacy reasons, since the lots are narrows and the neighbors can have their openings 1,5m from the border.

The construction plan of the centennial memorial hall of Dongduk Women’s University was started from the concept of ‘Harbouring Daylight, Wind and Nature into the Learning’. Comfortable educational spaces were provided by voids that penetrate into a building and enable natural light and ventilation. Nature spaces like small gardens around the campus were created to be used as ‘another classroom’. Also visitors can easily perceive their destinations through the voids inside the building and access th their destinations by the main stairway with ease. Characteristics of educational spaces such that students get together and scattered in a short time were reflected.

CONCEPT: The project fits into a small plot in a highly inclined terrain overlooking the Geneva Lake. It is a urban plot where it is allowed a building of 4 levels above the floor of the garage. The shape of the building comes from the need to rework an existing project according to the Swiss town planning regulations: the result was an irregular and faceted prism.

The house is set in a small village, called Trafaria, located on the other side of the Tagus river, just in front of Lisbon.

Vila Madalena, a bohemian neighborhood in São Paulo, is one of the city’s most traditional places. Congregating residential buildings, shops, restaurants, and offices, it is a good example of a mixed-use neighborhood with a multiple, intense urban life. Highly sought after by companies and professionals in the creative industry, it has become one of the most vibrant destinations in the metropolis.  

One of the investors’ main design guidelines, something that determined the form and location of the building, was that we ensure maximum privacy without going so far as to construct a fortress. We sought out to create a building that expressed itself simply, one with a clear division of materials and that respected the investors’ introversion. 

The apartment is located in Niš, Serbia.  Its open-plan layout is mostly dictated by its tenant, a young male in his early 20s. The current layout is derived from two traditional apartments. All of the walls have been  torn down, leaving concrete beams and one  column. All the concrete has  been left exposed. The bathroom is the only space separated from the rest of the apartment and well hidden behind wooden panels which emulate a stack of beams, covering up the wardrobe as well as the bathroom door. 

The dwelling house is part of the design plan Mühle, which primarily aims to preserve the protected mill and the surroundings of the mill. On the south side the building group will be completed with the replacement building for the burnt-down barn, giving it the necessary spatial and historically justified importance. The result is an attractive place of a pleasant size, usable for various activities. Since the houses on the Sternenbergstrasse, which are also part of the design plan, are at a reasonable distance and clearly distinguished in the architectural formulation, the legibility of the historical ensemble is strengthened.