Photographer: Ksymena Borczynska | ArchDaily

The 50 Best Houses of 2023

Benjamin Zapico — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 22:56:00 +0000

ArchDaily's curatorial team strives every day to present our readers with the most significant, inspiring, and innovative projects, while also ensuring a diverse representation of global architecture.

Negotiating Boundaries: Climate and the Building Envelope in Central American Architecture

Moises Carrasco — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

In temperate and cold climates, architecture typically begins with a defensive gesture. The building envelope is a sealed boundary designed to resist the exterior environment through insulation, vapor barriers, and mechanical control. In cold countries like Canada, where winter temperatures can plunge well below freezing, airtightness is not a luxury. In this context, buildings must resist the exterior environment entirely to maintain interior comfort. However, in Central America, a region spanning from Belize to Panama, architectural logic shifts from exclusion to negotiation. In this region, the envelope is not a wall of defense but a specialized filter.

Adaptive Cabins in Costa Rica: Designing for Humidity and Ventilation in the Jungle

Moises Carrasco — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Costa Rica is a small country in Central America, internationally renowned for its tourism, biodiversity, and tropical climate. Given this context, tropical design strategies for hotel design are often more studied, but residential cabin projects can represent a more surgical approach to understanding the landscape. Often situated in remote forest or jungle locations, these cabins, apart from the common tropical design strategies, have to prioritize long-term durability and low-maintenance costs, particularly in regions where access for repairs is logistically difficult. This necessitates a design philosophy that favors both structural and climatic resilience.

Open House in the Jungle / Ksymena Borczynska

Valeria Silva — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Traveling in Costa Rica as the pandemic started, my partner and I found a piece of land in the tropical rainforest and decided to create a home there. We set up a tent and spent a few months living in it and getting to know the area. Then we gradually started building the house, following the ideas and needs that came from an understanding of the place.