ARCHITECTT

Journal

Daily Notes From the Built World.

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Rammed earth buildings with corrugated metal roofs provide shade over open courtyards under a clear sky.

Living Typologies

Francis Kéré: Crafting Thermal Comfort with Earthen Materiality in Gando

Francis Kéré demonstrates how regional building traditions and readily available earth can deliver thermal comfort and significantly reduce embodied carbon in architecture.

2 Sept 2026

An open timber door with brass hinges framed by rough stone blocks, leading to a dark wood floor interior.

Landmark Stories

Northern Italian Adaptive Reuse: Three Architectural Destinations

A curated guide to three significant adaptive reuse projects in Northern Italy, spanning Verona and Milan, showcasing thoughtful interventions.

1 Sept 2026

Vals Thermal Baths, a concrete building with textured layered stone walls, seen from a low angle on a grassy hill.

ARCHITECTT Cases

Thermal Baths Vals: A Haptic Architecture of Stone and Water

Peter Zumthor's Thermal Baths Vals, completed in 1996, are renowned for their monolithic structure of Valser quartzite, creating a deeply haptic architectural experience.

31 Aug 2026

Close-up of a reddish-brown terrazzo floor with multicolored stone chips, partially shaded by a dark furniture leg.

Daily Line

Gio Ponti: Tactility in the Milanese Interior

Exploring Gio Ponti's enduring influence on interior design through his meticulous attention to surface tactility and the haptic experience of space in his Milanese projects.

30 Aug 2026

White concrete seaside structure with an open doorway and low wall, overlooking a rocky coast and blue ocean.

Visual Essay

Álvaro Siza: Leça Pools and the Provenance of Form

Álvaro Siza's Leça swimming pools integrate architecture with the Atlantic coast through precise material selection and a site-responsive design approach.

29 Aug 2026

Stained glass window in shades of blue set into a deep concrete recess, illuminated by sunlight.

Architecture Travel

Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence: Light as a Designed Material

The Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, designed by Henri Matisse, demonstrates how light, color, and material can be integrated to form a singular architectural experience.

28 Aug 2026

Modern concrete, tile, and stucco building with corten steel details by a lake with mountains in the background.

Field Notes

Mjøstårnet: Crafting Height with Engineered Timber

Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal, Norway, stands as a prominent example of tall timber construction, utilizing glulam and CLT to achieve significant height without a conventional concrete core.

27 Aug 2026

Long, narrow interior hallway with textured red concrete walls, wooden built-ins, a glass door, and a vibrant pink partition

Stories of Place

Museum of Modern Literature: Choreographing Darkness and Light

The Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, carefully manages daylight

26 Aug 2026

Concrete staircase with bold blue tiled walls and railings winding upwards, seen from below.

Details That Matter

Zeitz MOCAA: Carving the Silos of Cape Town

The Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town repurposes forty-two concrete grain silos into a contemporary art museum, demonstrating a radical approach to adaptive reuse.

25 Aug 2026

A white concrete spiral staircase with a metal handrail rises through a multi-story interior space with windows.

Light & Atmosphere

Concrete Shells in Lisbon: Acoustic Logic of Renaissance Labs

Lisbon’s architectural history reveals a persistent interest in formwork and material expression. Concrete shells, emerging from this tradition, offer precise acoustic control in research environments.

25 Aug 2026

Deep recessed window opening with rough stone reveals and painted blue plaster walls, showing a distant sea view.

Material Notes

Northern Light: Four Houses for the Day-Lover

Explore four iconic Northern European houses—Villa Mairea, Woodland Chapel, Jacobsen House, and Can Lis—each a masterclass in harnessing natural light.

24 Aug 2026

Wood-clad courtyard with glass windows and a natural wood beam, viewed from inside the space looking up to the sky.

Living Typologies

Cycladic Georgian Houses: Proportion and Patina in Timber

This piece examines a unique Georgian-era shotgun house in the Greek Cyclades, focusing on its timber construction, copper roofing, and the profound psychological effects of its precise proportions.

23 Aug 2026

Wavy, sculptural concrete roof with skylights, viewed from above, with a city skyline in the background.

Landmark Stories

Southern Cross Station: A Victorian Echo in Contemporary Timber

Southern Cross Station in Melbourne exemplifies a modern transit hub, integrating a vast, undulating roof structure that pays homage to Victorian-era railway architecture.

22 Aug 2026

Green slate shingles with moss meet a window set into verdigris copper cladding on a building exterior, viewed from an angle.

ARCHITECTT Cases

Ibrahim Ibn Yusuf: The Cape Dacha and Slate’s Verdant Patina

This piece examines the architectural biography of Ibrahim Ibn Yusuf, a master builder who integrated Mughal design principles and intricate slate work into Russian dachas in Cape Town.

21 Aug 2026

White concrete interior looking through an open door to a minimalist white outdoor patio and water feature under clear sky.

Daily Line

Zurich’s Hydrologic Veil: Passive House with Anodised Aluminium and Water

This Zurich passive house demonstrates precision in material application, marrying advanced thermal performance with traditional water features and a stark white aesthetic.

20 Aug 2026

Aerial view of stone buildings with moss-covered tile roofs, green roofs, and verdigris metal roofs amidst a rural landscape.

Visual Essay

Cycladic Barns: Terracotta Roofscapes and Thermal Resilience

The Cycladic tithe barn, traditionally a robust agricultural structure, finds new purpose in contemporary architecture. This essay explores its thermal mass and passive climate control. Terracotta tiling contributes significantly to seasonal resilience.

19 Aug 2026

Timber staircase with dark risers and light treads, contrasting with light wood ceiling beams overhead.

Architecture Travel

Cienfuegos Lighthouse: Acoustic Echoes in Colonial Timber

The Cienfuegos Lighthouse keeper's house offers a unique study in the interplay of colonial design, timber acoustics, and the distinctive soundscape of its maritime context.

18 Aug 2026

Rammed earth wall with a timber-framed window overlooking a coastal landscape with green dunes and ocean waves.

Field Notes

Rammed Earth at Kommetjie: Seasonal Shifts in a Colonial Cabin

This piece examines the reinterpretation of rammed earth in a Colonial Caribbean-influenced beach cabin near Kommetjie, Cape Town, focusing on its seasonal adaptation.

17 Aug 2026

Modern timber building with dark Shou Sugi Ban cladding and natural wood accents, surrounded by lush rooftop garden planters.

Stories of Place

Sir John Soane: A London Penthouse Reimagined for Air Quality

Examining how Sir John Soane’s principles of material honesty in Georgian London offer a blueprint for contemporary concerns about indoor air quality, particularly in modern urban dwellings.

16 Aug 2026

Earthen ksar interior with a glowing oil lamp on a stone shelf, complementing the mud plaster and timber ceiling.

Details That Matter

Aït Benhaddou: Dry-Stone Vernacular and the Ethics of Revival

Examining the dry-stone masonry of Aït Benhaddou, this piece explores the ethical considerations and practicalities of preserving and adapting heritage structures in Morocco.

15 Aug 2026

Modern block home constructed from terracotta-colored concrete and textured bricks, surrounded by sparse desert vegetation.

Material Notes

Casa de la Madera: Arts and Crafts Timber Framing in Mexico

Casa de la Madera, a 1920s Mexican hacienda country estate, reinterprets Japanese machiya principles through Arts and Crafts timber framing, emphasizing circular design.

14 Aug 2026

Modern building with dark timber and textured concrete walls, reflecting in a black tiled ground and water feature.

Future Living

The Singapore Baroque Institute: Concrete Shells and Reflected Light

The Singapore Baroque Institute employs precise concrete shells and rammed earth formwork to create a contemporary research environment, integrating water features as central design elements. Its design in black basalt and charred cedar reflects a new approach to tropical architecture.

13 Aug 2026

Upper perspective of a stone and timber building, with weathered green copper eaves and a planter box with ferns.

Built Intelligence

Cistercian Monasteries in Quebec: Form, Ironwork, and the Eaves of Contemplation

Cistercian monasteries in Quebec demonstrate a profound understanding of how architectural elements, from precise proportions to carefully crafted thresholds and hand-forged ironwork, influence psychological states and foster contemplation.

12 Aug 2026

Rough, dark rammed earth wall meets glossy black square tiles, a material contrast in the Copenhagen rammed earth research ce

Architect Minds

Copenhagen’s Black Earth: Mughal Tiles and Rammed Earth Colour

Exploring a contemporary research centre in Copenhagen where the deliberate choice of black ceramic tiles and pigmented rammed earth shapes its aesthetic and functional narrative.

10 Aug 2026