At the Four Seasons restaurant in New York, designed by Philip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe in the iconic Seagram Building, a rectangular pool played the leading role in the space, highlighted by four trees planted in pots at each of the vertices. The soft noise made by the water became consecrated. In addition to giving the hall some personality, it served to absorb the sounds of conversations (often secret) among tables. Just as the way that light enters a space, or how interior landscapes are perceived, sound is one more characteristic of an environment, though it is generally overlooked by architects. This goes beyond providing it with efficient acoustics, but creating a sound atmosphere for a space. This is the concept of soundscape.

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Living rooms are spaces dedicated to sharing time with family, receiving visitors, working, and carrying out a wide range of unpredictable activities. Regardless of their size, the key to an innovative design for this part of a house is in creative spatial organization, in its connection to other parts of the home and, above all, in programmatic flexibility. Here, we present a selection of exceptional living rooms captured by renowned photographers such as Hiroshi Ueda, David Foessel, and Wison Tungthunya.

Proven to be tied to the areas of the brain responsible for emotion and memory, smells are more tied to a perception of place than any other human sense. And there are few sensations more powerful than the smell of delicious food wafting in from your own kitchen. In that regard, kitchens are the true heart of the home, the space most closely related to joyfulness, childhood, and family.

Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite kitchens that also double as dining rooms – spaces where you can bake your cake and eat it too. Each different in material and arrangement, these kitchens all share one thing in common: We can’t seem to shake them from our memory. Check out the list below!

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In the spirit of Thanksgiving, ArchDaily looks back to present a compilation of the most stunning kitchens we've covered in the last year. While it may be a bit too late for this year, read on to get some inspiration for perfecting your feast and amaze your guests in 2017.

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