Articles by Valeria Silva

In a wood-lined field, near Wanaka’s lake edge, the Wanaka Crib is composed of two gables and a chisel roof slipping transcurrently past one another to make three enclosed courtyards. Each courtyard creates a specific relationship with the interior. The lounge and dining spill out to a north-facing entertainment patio, bounded by an angular concrete cooking fire. The kitchen connects to a sheltered southern working garden, enclosed by a grape bearing espalier frame made of reinforcing steel. The eastern terrace gives access to the self-contained bunkroom providing privacy from the public reserve and boulevard of trees.

A narrow and very sloping facing north site, a quite small surface (564 m²) with a third of its ground classified as a natural area, all located in a preserved area in a mainly new-Breton style neighborhood… At first, the exercise seemed quite ambitious for a family who dreamed of a contemporary and ecological home in there. But, seduced by this exceptional wooded environment and the patrimonial character of the neighborhood, they asked an architect to take up the challenge! 

Located within an upward steep slope and considering a wide program of necessities, the project required a dialogue of minimum topographic impact; that pursues something “special” in the terrain.

The site where the home is located is a residential area of Laguna de Duero, near the city of Valladolid, in Spain. The surroundings are formed by regular plots without any particular characteristics. That’s the reason why the house looks fundamentally inwards.

The project emerges from an investigation program called “From territory to the inhabitant”, organized by INFONAVIT through its investigation center for sustainable developments (CIDS) collaborating with international and national architectural firms. The result: 84 assisted auto- producing dwelling proposals. Each proposal presents a unique solution for a specific zone in Mexico, adapting to an economic limit and, depending on the region, its climate conditions.  

The project for the new headquarters in Porto Alegre of the digital security company Axur is a answer to the need to qualify its spaces and increase the number of jobs.

The design of the Lake Elmo weeHouse is a hyper-efficient home for clients who live in both Australia and Minnesota. The home was bound between several constraints: a modest budget, the flood plain below, and a 16’ maximum zoning height above. Nonetheless, the 990 sf box contains 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and ample open space.

In the contemporary city, the museum long since ceased to be simply a place for storing exhibits, school trips and the “cultural leisure” of adults on their days off. It should be a full-fledged participant in urban life, able to compete on equal terms with parks, cinemas and restaurants. Museum Park is a pedestrian zone and public space that helps draw city dwellers into the Polytechnic Museum.

Set amidst Southern Kerala’s sumptuous green backdrop of rubber plantations, The Captain’s Residence, captures one’s attention right from the far access. The dwelling morally gels in its natural context with its exemplary features popping out to catch the eye’s gentle attention. We can say that the house stands as a unique representation of tropical adaptiveness wrapped in modernist contemporary design outlook. Our client Mr. Jerin Zachariah, who lives abroad, wished for us to design the house   as an ode to his parents. The permanent residents of the house being Capt. P.C. Zachariah, who was a former Captain in Merchant Navy and his wife Mrs. Ponnamma Zachariah. Hence the name Captain’s Residence.