Category: Decoration & Ornament | ArchDaily

Habana Deco’

Rene Submissions — Fri, 08 May 2026 09:05:00 +0000

The original impetus behind this project was the desire to document the extraordinary richness, variety, and quality of Havana’s Art Deco architecture. Looking back at these photographs, he is still glad he made the decision to undertake that adventure, despite the fact that the result of that effort, due to a series of circumstances, lay dormant for decades in a drawer in his studio. There is no doubt that, the documentary value of the photographs remains intact or perhaps increased, since it is possible that over these thirty years some of the works portrayed have succumbed to successive cyclones and

Los Angeles: Lost and Found Essays on Identity, Place, and Belonging

Rene Submissions — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:10:00 +0000

Los Angeles Lost and Found is a collection of essays and photographs that explores Los Angeles as a city of constant reinvention, where history is often buried beneath layers of change. Experience designer Margaret Chandra Kerrison uses the lens of narrative placemaking to examine how LA’s physical spaces—its streets, neighborhoods, and landmarks—shape both individual and collective identity.

What sets this collection apart is Kerrison’s deeply personal approach. She weaves her own story into the fabric of the city’s landscape, grounding cultural analysis in lived experience. Her reflections on the recent Los Angeles wildfires are especially poignant, revealing how natural disaster can

Portuguese Houses with History

Rene Submissions — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:10:00 +0000

For almost a decade we had an interior design studio which led us a unique opportunity to discover and visit Portuguese family houses, with stories and beauty that deserved to be portrayed. Since then, time has passed and with the growth of tourism in our country, many of these houses ended up being transformed into hotels, vacation rentals, airbnbs and rural hotels, as it was too expensive to keep them just as family homes. Watching this made us feel the need to make a book about the ones that still resist. Our shared passion for these houses and their unrepeatable

JM House / Febrero Studio

Valeria Silva — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 20:00:00 +0000

Complete refurbishment of an old Villa including a new extention, where only the original load bearing brickwork structure was maintained. The house is articulated around a semi open entrance corridor which divides the public part of the house, at a lower level, the level of the pool, from the private area where all bedrooms and bathrooms are located overlooking the garden. The total built area is 300 sqm plus a small independent guesthouse. All spaces were designed for slow-life and relaxation without any shrillness and based in the purity of materials.

Oblique Experiments Claude Parent’s Architectural Installations (1969–1975)

Rene Submissions — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 09:10:00 +0000

With the radical proposition of life on inclined planes—a theory known as the oblique function—the French architect Claude Parent sought to free architecture of orthogonal form, renew its social relevance, and inspire people’s interest in the built environment. Oblique Experiments: Claude Parent’s Architectural Installations (1969–1975) explores the significance of a series of temporary interventions that he designed in an attempt to convert his theory into practice. Referred to as practicables, these installations incorporated oblique geometries, involved interdisciplinary collaboration, and made themselves at home in existing buildings, often inside of French cultural centers known as maisons de la culture. Using rarely

Fast Forward: How HKS Shapes the Future of Design

Rene Submissions — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:10:00 +0000

Fast Forward: How HKS Shapes the Future of Design showcases recent work by global design firm HKS and offers a look ahead to the future of innovation in architecture and design. The firm’s portfolio of architecture, interior design, urban planning and research demonstrates how HKS contributes to improving communities and transforming the design industry. For more than 85 years, HKS has brought a depth of knowledge and expertise to clients spanning diverse markets and sectors, crafting design solutions that rise to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. The firm is now poised to continue its path of progress, influencing

5 Houses on the Wild Side

Rene Submissions — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:05:00 +0000

5 Houses on the Wild Side is a visual feast showcasing the wildly imaginative, rules-free, cozy and sumptuous interiors Elena Agostinis has created for her family’s homes in New York, Montana, and Mexico.

Bold and courageous choices of colors and patterns, elements from the wildlife and fauna of her South African childhood, mixed and matched with the best of local artisanry, textiles purchased from souks and markets all around the world, giant papier-mâché’ animal garden sculptures, and wall art that spans from the elevated to the quirky and amusing, are Elena’s traits that will inspire readers to free-styling their own

Tashiding: Beyond Earth and Sky The Gardens of Douglas & Tsognie Hamilton

Rene Submissions — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 09:25:00 +0000

Visited by up to 500 guests annually, this number promises to increase with additional garden club registrations and publicity. Stunning photographs and the book’s elegant design take readers on an exquisite visual tour of the property and its development, including the origins and culture of its owners—Douglas Hamilton former president and chairman of The Walters Museum in Maryland and Tsognie Wangmo, the eldest child of the last king of Sikkim, shortly before the Himalayan royal kingdom was taken over by India.

Tashiding showcases the joining of two distinct cultures, and how their Western and Eastern backgrounds are manifest in the landscapes,

Searching for Authenticity Rustic Architecture in America 1877-1940

Rene Submissions — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:15:00 +0000

Rustic Architecture in America 1887–1940 is a history of a series of misunderstood masterpieces, the log-based architecture that emerged in the Adirondacks and the National Parks between 1890 and 1935. It is a history of how both form and technology of construction were determined by the tourist industry and the railroads who built the buildings and the social and environmental damage caused by the larger process of which they were a part. Many of these buildings were constructional shams driven by romantic pretenses, but there is also in the best of this architecture something truly original. It is also a

Courtyard Homes

Rene Submissions — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:55:00 +0000

A global tour of remarkable homes designed around nature-filled, light-filtering outdoor retreats

Courtyards are the heart of the home. Serving as centerpieces around which the rest of the living spaces flow, these private, tranquil spaces offer a connection to the sky and earth. This captivating global survey invites readers into 20 extraordinary contemporary courtyard residences, each uniquely designed to integrate the natural environment into everyday life.

Richly illustrated with more than 150 color photographs, Courtyard Homes features a diverse range of homes designed by distinguished architects and designers from around the world, including Craig Steely Architecture, mwworks, Mary English and Xavier Vendrell

Battersea Power Station: The Architectural Rebirth of a Romantic Ruin

Rene Submissions — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:47:00 +0000

Having stood empty for almost forty years since being decommissioned in 1983, Battersea Power Station reopened its doors to great fanfare in 2022. Originally designed in the 1930s by renowned architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the Grade II* Listed Power Station’s thirty-year neglect had created a modern ruin. It was in a critical state of disrepair when it was purchased in 2012 by an ambitious consortium of Malaysian investors who entrusted architects WilkinsonEyre with the design of its repair and regeneration.

Battersea Power Station - The Architectural Rebirth of a Romantic Ruin charts the practice’s journey and processes to transform

Everyday Architecture: A Vast Wasteland?

Rene Submissions — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:37:00 +0000

A long-deserved survey, of the everyday building types that line our suburban roads and parking lots, affords an informative and diver ting critique of their architectural and sociocultural foibles.

This project began with an essay on the “McMansion” phenomenon, and it grew to become a meditation on the assorted different building types that are found in every American city and suburb. While it’s true that good buildings do exist for each of those categories, they are very much the exception, these buildings more typically ranging from dull to assertively ugly. The book is meant to be a fairly pitiless and revealing

Reuse of Architectural Components

Rene Submissions — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:34:00 +0000

As the need for a circular construction industry becomes progressively more apparent, building practitioners are increasingly turning to salvaged building components to construct new projects. Yet the aesthetic potential of reused materials remains underexplored. Drawing from art history, architectural theory and constructed works, this book develops a set of design strategies practitioners might employ to develop thoughtful, architecturally rigorous reuse projects. Author Bailey Bestul illustrates the immense design potential of reuse using nine themes that follow the reader from the initial stages of building planning to the finishing of the interior spaces.

Following an overview of the history of component reuse

Home on Earth: Recipes for Healthy Housing

Rene Submissions — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:27:00 +0000

The prototypical recipe book provides a loose framework for BLDUS’s unique farm-to-shelter architecture in Home on Earth, offering delectable suggestions for healthy modes of human habitation. Using traditional materials processed with contemporary techniques, BLDUS designs and builds sustainable houses in and around Washington D.C. that pay tribute to their contexts and gain integrity as they age. Home on Earth showcases built houses alongside material studies and models to propose a healthy building cuisine specific to the Mid-Atlantic Region. These contextual houses are advocates for simple healthy building materials that work well in the Mid-Atlantic region and have low impacts on

The Echo of the Sea Holiday Home / Entopos Architects

Valeria Silva — Sun, 04 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Arched forms and textured facades define Entopos' coastal retreat in Crete. Greek architecture studio Entopos has transformed an existing coastal structure into a contemporary holiday retreat, 'Echo of the Sea', designed to accommodate eight guests. Located near the historic Venetian fortress of Frangokastello, the project draws inspiration from its surroundings, influencing both its architectural approach and name. Respecting the original building's footprint as outlined in the brief and program, Entopos reconfigured the interior to establish an open-plan living and kitchen area while carving out two private bedroom spaces on the south side of the building, offering uninterrupted views of the sea. The design embraces the fluidity between indoor and outdoor living, ensuring a seamless transition between the two.

Eventually Everything Connects: Mid-Century Modern Design in the US

Rene Submissions — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 08:55:00 +0000

An expansive account of the ever-popular mid-century movement, from the place where it all began

Embark on a surprising and joyful visual tour of American mid-century modernism through hundreds of photographs, drawings, and pieces of ephemera organized by the art museum at Cranbrook, where the movement began. Essential figures such as Charles and Ray Eames, Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll, and Eero Saarinen are represented alongside other women and designers of color that have been historically eclipsed, including Joel Robinson, Ray Komai, Ruth Adler Schnee, Olga Lee, Miller Yee Fong, Lucia DeRespinis, Dorothy Liebes, and many others. The book offers a fresh

Svenskt Tenn: Interiors

Rene Submissions — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 08:45:00 +0000

A special survey published to celebrate 100 years of the influential and innovative Swedish design company Svenskt Tenn

In 1924, the pioneering designer and entrepreneur Estrid Ericson founded Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm, Sweden. Initially a workshop and retail store dedicated to pewter, Svenskt Tenn’s range was quickly expanded by Ericson into one of the most successful home furnishings and interior design companies of the twentieth century.

Svenskt Tenn: Interiors celebrates the legacy of the company’s first 100 years, while also marking its position at the forefront of interior design today. Richly illustrated and beautifully designed, the book delves into the story of

To Reach the Source :The Stepwells of India

Rene Submissions — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 08:50:00 +0000

More than just a shaft dug into the earth to fetch water, these are entire buildings that descend several stories below ground; they are spaces to be entered and occupied, serving functional, social, and ritual purposes. Often, they are as monumental and ornate as a church, and this is intentional. They are a source of water, a gathering space, and a temple all at once, but instead of rising into the sky, they descend below the surface. They create a spatial experience unlike any other, in which one is below ground but remains connected to the sun and sky. Today

Fountain Safari

Rene Submissions — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 08:15:00 +0000

We build fountains—those vibrant symbols of life and physical embodiments of beauty—to mark and celebrate our favored places. This act is an honor to all, and like listening to music, it is understood on an intuitive level. We also build fountains to commemorate life. Water is the basis for, and the symbol of, life. Many fountains are articulated to recognize some person, institution, or idea. Those particular recognitions are fused with water’s deeper symbolism to convey everlastingness to the identities being celebrated.

Fountain Safari places on the shelf a sharply focused, comprehensive, useful, entertaining, and hopefully lasting survey aimed to provide

A Sign Is...

Rene Submissions — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 08:45:00 +0000

An insightful collection of essays on the overlooked sign. Each chapter explores the extraordinary connection that culture and society have to this common object. The book blends historical overview, graphic taxonomy, and design criticism on eleven signage types, ranging from signs that say no, to pharmacy signs, and all in-between. Every chapter uncovers the reasoning and logic of how and why our built environment is annotated the way it is form the simplest of signs to the largest of signs.

Defining Style

Rene Submissions — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 08:15:00 +0000

Discover 25 of the most recognizable design styles through 150 residential interiors from the world’s leading designers

From Coastal to Contemporary, Maximal to Mediterranean, Tailored to Textured, this inspirational lookbook guides beginners and enthusiasts alike through the most timeless interior design styles of the last century.

Learn to identify and understand each style like an expert through introductory texts describing key tenets and featured real-world examples by today’s best contemporary designers, such as Studio Shamshiri, Laura Gonzalez, and Vincenzo De Cotiis. Whether in a Manhattan skyscraper, along the coasts of Italy, or in the tropics of Bali, the rooms in this curated

The Green Box / Bruzkus Greenberg

Valeria Silva — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The apartment uses strong colors, natural materials, precise planning, contrasts of cool and warm – and a few surprises. By locating a single but complex green millwork box at the center of the long apartment, circulation can flow around all sides and the design makes the most of existing material conditions. The palette of rich colors and materials contrasts with neutral raw concrete walls and ceilings to harmonize cool and warm.

Arab Design Now

Rene Submissions — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Design Doha, Qatar Museums’ biennial showcase for excellence and innovation in the design community in Qatar and the MENA region, has released Arab Design Now, an unprecedented survey of local and regional design talent across disciplines, from architectural and material innovations to contemporary crafts, furniture, fashion, graphic, and object design. Published by Qatar Museums in collaboration with Silvana Editoriale, the exquisitely illustrated full colour 360-page book, edited by curator Rana Beiruti, celebrates the central presentation of the inaugural edition of Design Doha.

Arab Design Now includes a foreword by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani,

Xuan Lan Yoga Factory / Cosy Barcelona

Valeria Silva — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 17:00:00 +0000

The Xuan Lan Yoga Factory was born in an old cereal factory located in the heart of the Ciutat Vella in Barcelona. It is an interior design and landscaping project where the existing industrial character dialogues with the new elegant and Mediterranean imprint.