The Classic MUJI Home in Taichung, Taiwan, exemplifies minimalist design through a soft, light-hued, restrained personality. Designed by Angel Chen, it highlights the beloved MUJI aesthetics. The apartment features white walls, light wood flooring, an open layout, and efficient storage solutions. Natural light enhances the space, with every aspect from textiles to decor carefully considered to promote spatial harmony. The apartment is a testament to the owners’ understanding of their needs, embodying understated elegance and clever organization.
Angel Chen designed the Harmonious Love Haven, a 14-ping apartment in Taichung, Taiwan, for a couple embodying quiet elegance. Completed in 2022, the residence reflects their balanced relationship through minimalist Japanese aesthetics and sustainable features. The home doubles as a meeting space, providing a serene environment that respects the couple’s independence while nurturing their connection. Reconfigured layouts reduce confinement, earning a GD Gold Green Renovation certification with low-formaldehyde materials and adhesive-free finishes.
E House, designed by Setenay Erkul Architects in 2025, is a family home situated on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey. This three-story house, adjacent to a forest, showcases a sculptural and elegant design. The use of natural materials like wood and marble, along with various artworks, creates a sophisticated and inviting atmosphere, balancing sophistication with warmth.
Architectural studio Ayami Takada Architects overhauled a relatively new house in Shizuoka, Japan, by incorporating three translucent spaces and a sunroom equipped with solar panels. The team aimed to create a completely different environment through expansion and renovation, rather than rebuilding, by “taking advantage of the topography of the river breakwater bank and the privilege of having a panoramic view of the landscape beyond.”
Designed in 2023, the 143-square-metre home is characterized by a transparent box forming a junction between interior and exterior spaces.
In Wagstaffe, Australia, architecture studio buck&simple. has divided this 2021 house into public and private spaces through a solid brick courtyard. Known as Permanent Weekender, the home is elevated to maintain its water views and create an artificial ground plane, accessible from the upper floor living areas. A subdued, textural palette enhances the home’s friendly, warm and calm atmosphere, along with abundant natural light and tactile materials like recycled brick and blackbutt.
Wohnhaus AGM is situated in Montaccio, a small hamlet in the Bergell region, Switzerland. Renovated by Renato Maurizio Architekten in 2024, the house combines historical and contemporary elements.
The design focuses on preserving the building’s original 1719 structure, using rough stone masonry and lime plaster alongside exposed concrete for new structural elements. Old timber cladding and roof beams are repurposed as floorboards, wall cladding, window, and door frames, maintaining the house’s historical character and blending it with modern additions.
In 2024, Sara Gelibter Architecte reimagined Felsenburg, a historic house in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, originally constructed around 1860. An urgent roof renovation served as the catalyst, leading to a design featuring corrugated fiber cement panels and exposed wooden structures.
The project prioritizes economic and ecological considerations, showcasing a collaborative effort between architects and owners, resulting in a space that honors its historical heritage while embracing contemporary design elements.
The renovation preserves the original layout with a simplified design using simple and durable materials inside and out, retaining features like the whitewashed facades and red clay tiled roofs.
