White Walls Jean Nouvel + Takis Sophocleous Architects

From the architect:

On the south façade a vertical landscape covers approximately 80% of the building’s façade area. This exceptional living environment is working like a natural “brise soleil”. The plants will act as a natural sun control shielding the apartments and the offices from direct sun during summer while admitting a maximum of sunlight in winter. This “living “façade” supports a variety of Cypriote climbing and spreading plants and will be continually transformed by the cyclic movements of the different seasons. 400 years old olive trees continue this vertical landscape on the perimeter of the building. It creates the link to the adjacent urban park and gets a part of the scenery of the city.

Images and text via Jean Nouvel

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Galley House Williamson Chong Architects

From the architect:

Situated on a long, narrow ‘leftover’ lot, the Galley House occupies a once-neglected site – its basic lot configuration having not matched a desirable parcel in the mind of the market. The aim was to consider the project for the Galley House prototypically: how a new, slender detached housing type in Toronto can be viable in terms of square footage while not shortchanging itself on natural light. The attempt to re-use leftover lots by re-forming typologies is hoped to be a sound, healthy approach to building in the North American city – especially within a city that may already appear dense enough and where buildable lots are seemingly unavailable.

Check out this other project by Williamson Chong Architects featured on archatlas:  House in Frogs Hollow

Images and text via Williamson Chong Architects

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