The Year's Sexiest Houses, Selected by the American Institute of Architects
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By Cliff Kuang on May 10, 2010
Fresh from announcing the year's Top 10 Green Buildings, the American Institute of Architects has just announced its 2010 Housing Awards, which recognize the 18 best projects, designed in America by American architects. What follows is a sampling of 10 which caught our eye.
The Spiral House, Greenwich, CT, by architect Joeb Moore, which also gets Fast Company 's nod for least understandable project description: " Projective geometries render the site as pure landscape; that is, as an expanse of scenery that can be viewed from a single point." Did he just call our mommas fat?
The Dry Creek Outbuildings, in Woodside, CA, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: A guest-house and office that fold into the landscape around them.
A view of the interior.
Formosa 1140, in West Hollywood, CA, by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects. The apartment complex has 11 apartments, but the designers ditched the typical interior courtyard in favor of creating a public park.
Up close, it's easier to see how the layout creates privacy: The apartments front the park, but circulation spaces--that is, the stairwells and corridors--offer a buffer zone from the surroundings.
Cellophane House, in New York, NY, by KieranTimberlake. The house is basically like a Lego kit: The interior details--such as floors, bathrooms, and stairs--hang from the house's aluminum frame. As a result, the house can be configured--and changed--according to the owner's whim. And when it's time to move, the house can be disassembled and shipped.
An interior view of the Cellophane House.
The Ferrous House in Milwaukee, WI, by Johnsen Schmaling Architects. The house is made almost wholly of reclaimed wood and metal...
...which add a richness impossible to find in new materials.
The Waterworks at Chestnut Hill in Chestnut Hill, MA, by Gund Partnership. The project was preserves a 19th-century pump station and attached carriage house...
...but inside, the building has been transformed into a modern, 32-unit apartment building.
Safari Drive in Scottsdale, AZ by The Miller|Hull Partnership. The complex is a sea-change for Arizona, one of the country's most sprawled-out states: Business and residential units are mixed together on the upper floors, while retail lies on the ground floor. A heat chimney--an ancient Middle Eastern invention which passively funnels hot air away from the building, using pressure differentials--cools the central courtyard.
Step Up on 5th in Santa Monica, CA, by Pugh + Scarpa. The building houses 46 studio apartments for the homeless, and using cutting edge green technologies.
These include passive heating and cooling. For example, a sunscreen shields the building from the elements, lowering cooling costs.
Swarthmore College Residence Halls, in Swarthmore, PA, by William Rawn Associates. The buildings share the campus's historical stone architecture.
The building is topped by a green roof that echoes the surround lawns. Each building revolves around a main lounge, which is accessed by open stairways that let the kids "see and be seen."
The buildings mark the transition between the campus's main lawn, and the center of town--so they're meant to have a welcoming feel.
14 Townhouses in Brooklyn, N.Y, by Rogers Marvel Architects. There hasn't been a new brownstone development in Brooklyn since the 1920s, so the architects took it upon themselves to create something that would fit in with the local architecture--but with just enough variation in the windows, fittings, and entryways that each residence stands out from the next.
The townhouses of course have modern interiors.
Another interior shot.
David Sundberg/EstoNic LehouxNic LehouxLawrence Anderson/EstoPeter Aaron/EstoPeter Aaron/EstoDoug Edmunds StudioDoug Edmunds StudioChuck ChoiChuck ChoiRaul J. Garcia Photography Robert Benson PhotographyRobert Benson PhotographyRobert Benson PhotographyDavid Sundberg/EstoNathan Sayers Nathan Sayers
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