All of the original structural concrete columns were left exposed, as were the cement floors and some areas of terrazzo. The effect is that there is a varied palette of stone and similar elements. "A nice surprise was finding numerals that had been painted on the structural columns and which date from the construction of the building," says Jáuregui. The studio decided to leave them as a nod to the structure's history.
Picture a building so raw and honest that it looks like it grew straight from the ground. That's exactly what Fernando Menis pulled off with the Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas in Tenerife, and the architecture world just named it the 2025 World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival. Located on the outskirts of La Laguna, Spain, this isn't your typical church.
Xuebei Home is hidden along a narrow lane in Qiaodong Old Town in Guangdong, where the buildings lean close enough for neighbors to exchange words through their windows. Designed by architect Huang Yimin of GongHe Construction Architectural Studio, the concrete project rebuilds an ancestral dwelling on a 44-square-meter (474-square-foot) plot. What emerged is a careful exercise in spatial negotiation, an act of renewal that acknowledges the intimacy of Guangdong's urban villages.
Interior design has been characterized by infinite alternatives in coatings, finishes, and furniture to achieve unique and unrepeatable spaces. Designers are constantly coming up with innovative solutions and materials specifically created for a distinctive spatial perception. However, there is also a trend that seeks the warmth of the interior spaces by exposing the raw building materials as
In central Tokyo's Koishikawa district, architectural studio AOIM completes a three-story residence, shaped around a softly curving roof that gathers, reflects, and diffuses daylight into the interiors. Hemmed in by factories, apartment buildings, and commercial blocks, the plot is long and narrow, with the only two sources of openness being its depth from the street and the strip of sky overhead.
