Photographer: Casey Dunn | ArchDaily

Integrating Creative Spaces: Designing Art Studio Additions at Home

Olivia Poston — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The home carries multiple identities as shelter, sanctuary, workplace, and stage for daily rituals. In recent years, its role has expanded in unprecedented ways. The pandemic, notably, coerced the home to act as a site of extraordinary adaptability to absorb functions once delegated to schools, offices, gyms, and studios. This transformation has shifted how we imagine domestic life, urging us to think of the home not simply as a backdrop for activity but as a dynamic framework for living, producing, and creating. Within this expanded understanding, artists find themselves asking a renewed question: how can the home allow the flexibility needed for creative practice?

SHED/HOUSE / Side Angle Side

Hana Abdel — Mon, 05 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Shed/House sits on a central Texas hill oriented to cast a sweeping southern view of Texas Hill Country. As you meander up the private road leading to the house, you are confronted with a blank facade that is shaped to be a common depiction of a shed. This blank vernacular silhouette faces the public road in order to camouflage the house as a shed within the agricultural landscape. The house then extrudes from this silhouette into a linear plan organized by six rectangles that are a progression of public to private space. As you pass the shed, you are led through a breezeway that doubles back on the view and starts the sequencing of interior spaces, which all feature a view/connection to the outside.

The Lawn as Battleground: How Domestic Landscaping Became a Symbol of American Identity

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 07:30:00 +0000

The almost cliché image of the white picket fence has become synonymous with the ideals of the American Dream. Behind the fence, there is invariably a perfectly manicured lawn, a green carpet upon which life can unfold. This image and its associations are not, however, accidental. In her book, "Domesticity at War", Beatriz Colomina notices that, since the Second World War, the lawn has taken a central space in the imagination of the country, becoming first a in order to make space for diversity, both social and ecological. symbol of the stability of the homes soldiers were hoping to return to, offering a space where those at home could still perform duties for the nation, and, after the war, propagating the image of an idealized lifestyle, one maintained with hard work and dedication. In recent years, the lawn has emerged once again as a site of conflict, this time between those hoping to preserve this idealized image, and those seeking to break the uniformity in order to make space for diversity, both social and ecological.

Westbrook Residence / Alterstudio Architecture

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 16:00:00 +0000

The Westbrook Residence proposes an alternative model for building in the sprawling post-war suburbs of Austin, Texas. It embraces the changing demographics of this once-modest neighborhood without losing its low-slung character. In a neighborhood where every property is maximizing its allowed FAR (floor area ratio)—either through overwhelming additions or immodest new buildings—the 3,494-square-foot home's modest scale and demeanor from the street maintains the historic scale of the neighborhood, while its carefully constructed presence allows for an updated disposition more in keeping with its newfound value. In embracing this lower ratio of building to garden, the home is positioned such that its inhabitants live immersed in nature, engaging the different gardens that encircle the building.

The Blanton Museum of Art / Snøhetta

Hana Abdel — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Snøhetta has created a comprehensive grounds redesign for The Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin. The initiative unified and revitalized the museum campus across approximately 200,000 square feet, including two buildings and Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin.

Roam Ranch House / Baldridge Architects

Hadir Al Koshta — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Roam Ranch is a 4,362-square-foot single-family home on a working ranch outside of Fredericksburg, Texas. It is a testament to the rigorous modern design presented in a central Texas vernacular in its form, finishes, and spirit—a unique assembly of contemporary and traditional design.

River Hills Residence / Miró Rivera Architects

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Emerging from a sloping berm, the River Hills Residence embodies the laid-back ethos of Austin. The lakeside retreat overlooks a sweeping lawn shaded by towering native pecan and bald cypress trees. A path from the house leads to a swimming pool, guest cabin, and boat dock.

Arrive East Austin Hotel / Baldridge Architects

Alexandria Bramley — Fri, 03 May 2024 14:00:00 +0000

The Arrive East Austin Hotel comprises eighty-three rooms and a multi-use podium housing two restaurants, three bars, a coffee shop, leasable street-side retail space, and parking. The owner/design team sought to question established anti-public hotel tropes -- the grand entry… the “hotel” restaurant… the empty lobby. Instead, the team chose to minimize the hotel identity and create something that is not so much a hotel with supporting amenities beneath than a collection of public-oriented food and beverage establishments that happen to have hotel rooms above.

Descendant House / Matt Fajkus Architecture

Pilar Caballero — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 16:00:00 +0000

Descendant House allows three generations to co-exist harmoniously in a single structure through a balance of independence and interconnection. Each family unit has its own private zone complimented by a unique interaction with the landscape while also being connected to one another through cooking and gathering areas that form the heart of the home.

The Second Studio Podcast: Interview with Andrew Kudless

The Second Studio Podcast — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 03:30:00 +0000

The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.

Cuernavaca Residence / Alterstudio Architecture

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 16:00:00 +0000

The Cuernavaca Residence is the latest installment in an evolving constructed landscape on a family compound that is shared by the client and her sister. Nestled in a wooded lot, the home forms an ensemble with an existing pool house. The latter’s board-formed concrete walls establish the material basis for the new residence, which is home to a family of five and includes two home offices.

From Tiny Squares to Urban Parks: 100 Public Spaces From All Around the World

María Francisca González — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 07:30:00 +0000

The key to successfully designing or recovering public spaces is to achieve a series of ingredients that enhance their use as meeting places. Regardless of their scale, some important tips are designing for people's needs, the human scale, a mix of uses, multifunctionality and flexibility, comfort and safety, and integration to the urban fabric.

To give you some ideas on how to design urban furniture, bus stops, lookouts, bridges, playgrounds, squares, sports spaces, small parks, and urban parks, check out these 100 notable public spaces.

RaveOn / Nick Deaver Architect

Alexandria Bramley — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 17:00:00 +0000

In 1956, Austin architects Fehr and Granger designed a wood and glass house to hover above the ground beneath a future cathedral of live oaks. Their design left only a minimal backyard on the steeply sloped site. The emphatic lines, limestone base and gracefully pitched roof of the 2,680 ft² structure embodied the modern architecture of the day. Inside, a back-switching stair bisected the private and social sides of the house pinching circulation between interior spaces and restricting flow.

Constant Springs Residence / Alterstudio Architecture

Clara Ott — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The opportunity to live simultaneously in the center of the city and in an isolated refuge presented a powerful circumstance for this family of four. Within a very ordinary neighborhood, this home is oriented to take maximum advantage of the unexpected escarpment, creek and natural views offered at the rear of the property.

Parmer Ponds The Pitch / Mark Odom Studio

Bianca Valentina Roșescu — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Mark Odom Studio repurposed shipping containers to create a one-of-a-kind experience at Austin’s exciting new hospitality complex Parmer Ponds The Pitch. The Pitch -- Austin’s distinct hospitality and entertainment complex for Austin FC soccer fans and the community debuted this spring. The two-acre site is a one-of-a-kind destination hub for retail, food, office and outdoor gatherings served from flexible two-story repurposed shipping containers. The unique project was designed by Austin award-winning architecture and interiors firm, Mark Odom Studio.

Towards Sustainable and Affordable Housing: Is 3D Printing the Future or the Present?

Valeria Montjoy — Wed, 25 May 2022 06:45:00 +0000

In recent years, the construction industry has faced unprecedented challenges. A lack of skilled workers is driving up costs of labor, there is a global housing shortage, and the effects of climate change around the world are clearer than ever. Therefore, questioning traditional construction methods and pushing the limits of innovation has become a top priority, forcing the industry to implement new technologies as they get on board the digital transformation era. There is one innovation, however, that looks particularly promising: 3D construction printing. Although relatively recent, the technology has already been successfully tested in numerous structures, houses and apartment buildings, reshaping residential construction as we know it. Hence, 3D printing could very well be a viable alternative for more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective mass housing solutions in the near future, positively impacting people’s lives and contributing to greener, healthier cities.

Hill Country Wine Cave / Clayton Korte

Pilar Caballero — Sun, 22 May 2022 19:00:00 +0000

Located at the eastern edge of the Texas Hill Country, this private wine cave serves as a destination along a secluded bend in the Blanco River. Excavated into the north face of a solid limestone hillside, this shotcrete-lined tube is protected on the East and West by tall oak and elm trees, allowing it to nearly disappear within the native landscape. The unassuming exterior entry court reveals a bit of mystery as it provides just a glimpse of what lies within. Heavy limestone boulders, collected from the excavation, and lush vegetation further camouflage the entry as you descend into the mouth of the cave.

AIA Announces Recipients of the 2022 Architecture Awards

Dima Stouhi — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 06:30:00 +0000

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected 11 projects as winners of its 2022 Architecture Awards. The annual Architecture Award program celebrates the best contemporary architecture, and highlights how spaces can cater to their residents and context and include a sense of place, purpose, history, and environmental sustainability. The selected projects include commercial, residential, and civic typologies, all designed by US-licensed architects.