Casa Bendico, designed by Le Penhuel & Associés Architectes, is a villa nestled in the Val di Noto hills of Italy. Completed in 2024, this house draws inspiration from local farms, featuring a heavy, mineral structure coated with cement to blend into its forested surroundings.
A bio-climatic, energy-independent design, the house utilizes a shuttered concrete double shell with red and brown pozzolan from Mount Etna, contributing to its thermal efficiency and integration with the environment.
In 2024, designer Bouman created Casa Boratuna, located in Vall del Llémena, Spain. The house respects Catalan vernacular architecture, resembling traditional masia farmhouses. Positioned on cross terraces, it offers views of the valley. Local stone and wooden gabled roofs connect with regional history, while the compact, square floor plan includes a central living space and corner bedrooms. Highly insulated, the house uses aerothermal energy, aligning with passive house standards for low energy consumption. Casa Boratuna thus balances traditional aesthetics with modern functionality.
Itaúna House, renovated by Siqueira+Azul in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, combines an original Oscar Niemeyer house with a modern expansion. Designed in 2017, this project transforms an urban landscape, adding a garden and leisure annex.
The designers integrated three independent constructions, interconnected with pathways, and enhanced façades with large pivoting panels. The leisure annex incorporates natural materials like stone and concrete. An oculus allows viewing the upper courtyard, blending various elements seamlessly.
The Gardenias House, designed by Mano de Santo in 2023, is a single-family home located in Valencia, Spain. Instead of demolishing an unfinished structure, the designers conducted structural tests to preserve and revitalize it. Skylights flood the home with natural light, and it connects with the surrounding valley views. The project emphasizes minimizing waste, integrating efficient solutions, and ensuring energy self-sufficiency through a photovoltaic system.
The Lotus House, also known as Pedroso I House, is a single-family home in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, designed by Raulino Silva in 2022. Nestled on land once part of the Pedroso Monastery, the steep plot maintains its natural vegetation and trees. A large terrace on the upper floor provides views at tree level and serves the main living spaces, while the lower floor features a granite stone facade, a patio, and an indoor pool.
Casa Suna is a beachside vacation home, designed by YDR estudio, located in La Ribera, Mexico. The villa’s local stone walls and beige concrete tones draw on the simple palette of its surroundings, from the ocean to the desert. Organised around a central circular patio, which “invites gathering and contemplation”, the open-plan living spaces enjoy a cohesive connection to the outdoors, thanks to a serene, warm-toned material selection, characterised by wooden accents and elegant travertine marble countertops.
TAEP/AAP has updated the traditional architecture of the Northern Gulf with a cylindrical house surrounded by towering walls in Al Khiran, Kuwait. Designed in 2023, White Fortress contrasts its arid surroundings with an interior filled with spacious rooms, views of the Gulf Sea, and various oval-shaped patios and gardens. A rooftop tower acts as a “seacoast lighthouse”, framing sandy vistas.
Ignazio Mortellaro has transformed a 300-year-old Sicilian farmhouse into a sustainable, energy-efficient retreat called Casa Balat. Located in Noto, Italy, the project seamlessly integrates traditional materials with state-of-the-art green technology, like a geothermal system for air conditioning and water heating.
Casa Balat features an open-air shala for yoga, a saltwater pool, gardens, and a Bulthaup kitchen, all designed to minimize carbon footprint while providing luxurious and sustainable agriturismo accommodations.
