Tag: samyn-and-partners | ArchDaily

Every Second Counts, Every Space Matters: 15 Contemporary Fire Stations

Camilla Ghisleni — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

What should be taken into account when designing a fire station? The answer may seem obvious: functionality and efficiency. After all, every second counts in an emergency. But can a building designed for urgent operations also be aesthetically compelling, welcoming, and connected to its community? In recent decades, architects such as Zaha Hadid and Álvaro Siza have demonstrated that it can. By rethinking this building type, they have created spaces that go beyond emergency response—spaces that strengthen social ties, support the well-being of firefighters, and become urban landmarks.

All Aglow: New Fire Stations Bringing the Heat

Eric Baldwin — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 07:30:00 +0000

Architects are charged with protecting the public’s health, safety, and well-being. When buildings fail, whether through increased loads, poor design, or natural disasters, that charge also falls to those capable and willing to aid people in need. Firefighters regularly experience architecture’s collapse, often risking life and limb to save occupants and individuals they do not know. Yet firefighters and emergency personnel also have their own buildings they call home, rare typologies where recreational, domestic, and professional activities collide.

The 5 Points of Modern Architecture in Contemporary Projects

Susanna Moreira — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 06:30:00 +0000

In 1926, Le Corbusier developed the five points that would become the foundations for modern architecture. Once materialized in 1929 in the iconic Villa Savoye project, Le Corbusier's principles - pilotis, free design of the ground plan, free design of the facade, horizontal window, and roof garden - have been extensively explored in modern architecture and continue to influence the most diverse contemporary architectural projects to this day.

8 Beautiful Belgian Houses: The Expert on Ugly Belgian Houses Weighs In

Hannes Coudenys — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Sometimes an architect’s best intentions get lost along the way. Sometimes they get value-engineered out; sometimes they were never really there to begin with. That's where Ugly Belgian Houses comes in. The blog, run by discerning Belgian Hannes Coudenys, documents some of his home country's architectural misadventures - all with a sense of humor, of course!

Today, to celebrate Belgium's National Day, we asked the man behind the blog to select some beautiful Belgian houses. His choices - with a few words from him and the architects - after the break.