Apartment in the Center of Florence sits on the ground floor of a 19th-century building in Florence, Italy, with an internal garden tucked just beyond. Designed by Sante Bonitatibus, the 150-square-meter (1,615-square-foot) apartment was reimagined for a young entrepreneurial couple who collect ancient indigenous crafts, giving their everyday rooms the quiet poise of a gallery. Light and silence shape the mood, and the plan stays refreshingly open.
Nestled in Ljubljana’s Mirje district, Vila Mirje stands as a dialogue between past and future. Layers of Roman heritage, Plečnik’s timeless interventions, and early 20th-century bourgeois elegance intertwine with contemporary design. Restored with care, the house preserves its frescoes, stoves, and stone staircases while embracing new garden pavilions and adaptable interiors. More than a renovation, it is a living palimpsest — a space where memory, change, and modern life coexist in harmony.
Tintorum stands in Klausen, Italy, where Stefan Gamper Architecture reworks a 15th-century poorhouse into four pared-back apartments. The project keeps the building’s gravitas while drawing in daylight and calm, reading as both restoration and reinvention. Inside, old stone and timber hold company with glass, steel, and larch, creating a measured conversation between eras.
Altes Gericht lands inside Klausen, Italy’s listed Old Courthouse, where Stefan Gamper Architecture converts the upper levels into two compact apartments. The real estate type is apartment, but the project reads as a precise interior refit with a gentle hand. Under steep roofs and between old beams, the studio shapes calm rooms and puts every centimeter to work without noise or fuss.
Many people still see a modern home as all about pretty finishes and trendy décor, but these days it’s more about comfort and smart technology in design, not just the visual side. More and more, homeowners and designers are adding movement to interiors, spaces that adjust to you instead of the other way around. The secret behind these smooth, hidden motions? Small but powerful devices called linear actuators.
Naxxar House sits in Naxxar, Malta, where AP Valletta recasts an 18th-century palazzino as a contemporary house. The architects add a sculpted stone screen to guard privacy from a new apartment block while opening the interiors to gardens. Completed as a 2023 reworking, the project folds local craft, reclaimed materials, and measured light into a lived-in domestic setting. It feels grounded and quietly sure of itself.
Riba House sits in Puembo, Ecuador, a two-level house by TEC Taller EC that takes its cue from a venerable carob tree at the site’s center. The bar-shaped plan wraps the tree to frame views toward Quito and the Andes, then loosens into a terrace that stretches the daily routine toward the horizon. Urban edge meets valley quiet here, and the plan mediates both with poise.
North South House sits on a ridge in San Juan County, WA, United States, with Allied8 behind the 1,300 SF cabin’s measured footprint and lift. The house is a compact retreat for three generations, shaped by north–south outlooks and a precise structural strategy. Its long gable holds living and sleeping rooms that open to forest light, while a steel moment frame touches the land at only six points.
