Articles by Valeria Silva

Waterkloof is a highly sought-after suburb of the city of Pretoria in South Africa, located on a hilltop to the east of the city centre. It is named after the original farm that stood there when Pretoria was founded in the 19th Century. Most streets are named after British royalty and like many areas of the city are lined with large jacaranda trees. This home is located on one of the highest points of the ridge along the extension of Victoria street the steep and rocky natural contours of the property drop dramatically towards the North and open up views over the city and the Magaliesberg mountains beyond.

Waterkloof is a highly sought-after suburb of the city of Pretoria in South Africa, located on a hilltop to the east of the city centre. It is named after the original farm that stood there when Pretoria was founded in the 19th Century. Most streets are named after British royalty and like many areas of the city are lined with large jacaranda trees. This home is located on one of the highest points of the ridge along the extension of Victoria street the steep and rocky natural contours of the property drop dramatically towards the North and open up views over the city and the Magaliesberg mountains beyond.

House68 is a private family residence. The house is designed as a series of modern pavilions connected by large open terraces and water gardens. Each pavilion differs in program and allows for the large home to be sectioned. A guest pavilion, an entertainment pavilion, a living pavilion and a service pavilion; each of which functions independently and may be sectioned and closed off when not in use. This flexibility allows for the house to conform and to adapt to the changing needs of the family. 

Ambivert House is a residential project located in Jakarta, Indonesia. The house is inhabited by a family of 5. The programs include a living room, dining room, kitchen, and guest room on the first floor, 3 bedrooms on the second floor, as well as a communal gathering area on the rooftop. The house sits on an elongated land parcel with an area of 114 sqm. 

The designer’s task was to build a modern, budget-minded home that was livable and respected its rural environment. The Yelm residence is a contemporary take on a country home: using a combination of simple, cost-effective methods to create a warm, comfortable space through clean lines and precise design. A minimal exterior material palette of wood and stucco siding with metal panel accents helps to highlight the beauty of the 10 acres of land on which the house rests. Concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls frame the entry and a flat roof plane hovers overhead to ground the project into the prairie style landscape.

The project proposes to review an often practice associated to a self-construction not very sensitive to the environment, which continues using elements of sporadic occupation in more permanent occupations, such as those that occur today in the camps designed for weekend rest.

The starting point from which the design of the nursery was born, was the idea of making an analogy of the growth of a child. Like a child, who is growing through experiences, the nursery’s activities are developed through a ramp that communicates the different levels of the project: on the ground floor there are areas for infants, who are the youngest and, as the ramp grows in height, the educational grades also grow, passing through maternal and pre-kindergarten to finally reach the last level, where the roof garden and playground are located.