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30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Chile

These annual rankings were last updated on August 9th, 2024. Want to see your firm on next year’s list? Continue reading for more on how you can improve your studio’s ranking.

A vast yet narrow topography and a booming design community, Chile continues to gain recognition for its architectural achievements and innovative experimentations of space. Nestled between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the varying landscape — deserts, coastlines and mountainscapes — has led to interesting design variations and organizations. On the other hand, as a nation prone to seismic activity, Chile has experienced its fair share of natural disasters, leading to significant advances in earthquake-resistant structures.

Historically, a country’s notable moment was the end of the Pinochet regime that led to a boom in architecture schools and a broader curriculum. From Pritzker Prize-winning Alejandro Aravena to Cecilia Puga, an impressive cohort of Chilean architects has taken center stage in the international design community, and many new studios are on the rise, setting the bar high for continual national architectural feats.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in Chile based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

  • The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2024)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of Chile architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in Chile:


30. Duque Motta & AA

© FG+SG | Fotografia de Arquitectura

© FG+SG | Fotografia de Arquitectura

WE ARE an architectural practice based in Santiago de Chile, founded in 2004 by Rodrigo Duque Motta, first as RDM architecture. Our work seeks to build value based on a methodology focused on customer needs and collaborative work; intensively using design as a tool for improvement that multiplies the possibilities; with sensitivity and respect for the physical, cultural and environmental context; and a focus on the definition of identity and construction of human experience.

Some of Duque Motta & AA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Duque Motta & AA achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 1

29. Cristián Axl Valdés

© Leo Basoalto

© Leo Basoalto

mutarestudio | Cristin Axl Valds is an architecture office located in the Central Valley of Chile. Our work covers the fields of architecture, urban design and landscape.

Our work has been widely published in the media in France, Argentina, Germany, Croatia, Romania, the Netherlands, and others; and has been exhibited in various places, such as the XVIII Biennial of Architecture and Territory of Chile, the XXI Pan American Architecture Biennial of Quito, Ecuador, the XIII Architecture Biennial of Bolivia, where we obtain the prize for best international work, and Madrid, Spain. We were selected among the fourteen emerging Latin American offices to be part of the 2019 Latin American Architecture Biennial to be held in Spain.

Some of Cristián Axl Valdés’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Cristián Axl Valdés achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 1

28. Pablo Larroulet | LARROU_Arq

© Pablo Larroulet | LARROU_Arq

© Pablo Larroulet | LARROU_Arq

Chilean architect graduated in 2010 from the Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile with studies in Polytechnic of Milan, Italy and Master of Architecture, Design and Innovation at MArch, Valencia. From 2015 to 2019 he worked in Sydney at Villa + Villa Architects. In 2020, he moved to Valencia, Spain, were he worked at Fran Silvestre Arquitectos where he specialized in the development of residential, hospitality and interior design projects.

He is currently living in Chile, where he is developing projects in different parts of the country, mainly in the Magallanes Region, collaborating with various architectural and construction offices.

Some of Pablo Larroulet | LARROU_Arq’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Pablo Larroulet | LARROU_Arq achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 1

27. Estudio Base Arquitectos

© Estudio Base Arquitectos

© Estudio Base Arquitectos

Our work is based on adding value to architecture, through a methodology based on the client’s needs and collaborative work. Design as the main tool to solve problems; Considering that conditions change constantly and the use of technology is increasing, our office has developed a way of working that allows us to carry out projects from idea to execution in a comprehensive manner; with sensitivity and respect for the geographical, cultural and environmental context. This is what we are passionate about and motivates us day by day in each project.

Some of Estudio Base Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Estudio Base Arquitectos achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

26. Tidy Architects

© Tidy Architects

© Tidy Architects

Albert Tidy Architects is an architecture office based in Santiago, Chile. We define our work as an exploration of architecture and design as plastic phenomenoma. Our search centers in the reduction of perceptible constructive complexities, to try to shorten the distance between the original idea and the complete building. This process is taken through a wide spectrum of scales, from object design, furniture design and architecture in a variety of scales.

Some of Tidy Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Tidy Architects achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

25. Alex Plana Arquitecto

© Alex Plana Arquitecto

© Alex Plana Arquitecto

Alex Plana Arquitecto is an architecture firm based in Chile, working mainly on residential projects.

Some of Alex Plana Arquitecto’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Alex Plana Arquitecto achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

24. Elton + Léniz Arquitectos Asociados

© Elton + Léniz Arquitectos Asociados

© Elton + Léniz Arquitectos Asociados

Since 1993, the elton_léniz office has carried out a wide spectrum of requests independently, along with a varied list of associated collaborators in which there are included artists, architects and designers. This diversity and versatility in the designing capacity on different levels and topics has been developed as one of the main features of this office.

Within the projects developed there are objects and furniture, mounting of exhibitions, commercial spaces, interior design, single-family and collective dwellings, art galleries, offices and residence buildings, urban development, educational spaces and more.

The partners are architects Mirene Elton and Mauricio Léniz. They have carried out numerous presentations and conferences at the Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Federico Santa María, Universidad del Desarrollo, Universidad Diego Portales, London University, XV Architecture Biennal in Santiago de Chile, among others.

A constant collaborator in the elton_léniz office is photographer Natalia Vial. A considerable part of the photographic record of the office work is of her own.

Some of Elton + Léniz Arquitectos Asociados’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Elton + Léniz Arquitectos Asociados achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

23. Etcheberrigaray – Matuschka Arquitectos

© Etcheberrigaray - Matuschka Arquitectos

© Etcheberrigaray - Matuschka Arquitectos

Etcheberrigaray – Matuschka Arquitectos is an architecture firm based in Chile. Their projects deal mainly with residential challenges.

Some of Etcheberrigaray – Matuschka Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Etcheberrigaray - Matuschka Arquitectos achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

22. Felipe Assadi + Francisca Pulido Arquitectos

© Fernando Alda

© Fernando Alda

Felipe Assadi is an architect from the Finis Terrae University and a master in Architecture from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. In 1999 he received the Youth Promotion Award from the College of Architects of Chile, awarded to the best architect in the country under 35 years of age. He has been a professor at several Chilean and other foreign universities, in Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Colombia and the United States. Since 2011, he has served as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Design of the Finis Terrae University. He has been invited to give lectures in Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Argentina, the United States, Italy and Spain. His work has been published in several countries, in magazines such as Wallpaper and Architectural Review, in London; Arquitectura Viva and AV Monografías, in Madrid; Architectural Record, in New York; GA, in Tokyo; Domus and Casabella, in Italy, among others; as well as in specialized books around the world. He has participated in exhibitions in Chicago, Barcelona, Pamplona, London, Quito, Tokyo, Venice and Santiago. His work has been developed in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the United States, and Ecuador.

Some of Felipe Assadi + Francisca Pulido Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Felipe Assadi + Francisca Pulido Arquitectos achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

21. COMUNarquitectos

© COMUNarquitectos

© COMUNarquitectos

COMUNarquitectos is a firm created in 2010 in Tokyo, Japan with the idea of make architecture mainly for the community. We, its founders think that architecture is a social-design issue and our goal is designing for and by people without neglecting art. Now we are in our mother land, Chile sharing all that we learned.

Some of COMUNarquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped COMUNarquitectos achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 3

20. DX Arquitectos

© DX Arquitectos

© DX Arquitectos

We are a professional support that promotes individual and collective undertakings for the development of a conscious and consistent architecture.

We work as a network, with passion and commitment, generating proposals that fully resolve the uniqueness of each project.

Some of DX Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped DX Arquitectos achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 3

19. Masfernandez Arquitectos

© Nico Saieh

© Nico Saieh

Our office seeks to develop projects that are inserted into its environment, adding real value to their owners and users, with a contemporary architectural language. Since we left 26 years ago, we have combined the traditional work of the architecture firm, the use of new technologies and constructive innovations to design memorable buildings and houses. Our team mixes multiple talents who work together with our clients in achieving strategic and creative designs that put people at the center and improve their environments.

Some of Masfernandez Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Masfernandez Arquitectos achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 3

18. Alejandro Soffia

© Alejandro Soffia

© Alejandro Soffia

Alejandro Soffia Arquitecto is an architect based in Santiago, Chile. He focuses on material optimization and prefabrication, as a way to improve buildings impact on the environment, and give access to good design, to a wider range of population. Projects have been done in different scales and destinations, but they have been focused on materials, techniques and details.

Some of Alejandro Soffia’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Alejandro Soffia achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 4

17. Gonzalo Iturriaga Arquitectos

© Pablo Casals Aguirre

© Pablo Casals Aguirre

The project exercise of the office is based on establishing a broad and reflective view around the multiple variables that each assignment presents. Under this perspective, each project is proposed as a particular formal and spatial investigation, on the program, the place, the material and the requirements of the client. Solving in this exercise, a project that seeks to respond to the imperative needs of the assignment, but advancing in the project practice of the office.

Some of Gonzalo Iturriaga Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Gonzalo Iturriaga Arquitectos achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 4

16. REPUBLICA PORTATIL

© REPUBLICA PORTATIL

© REPUBLICA PORTATIL

Activism, art and architecture. República Portátil (Portable Republic, in English) is a creative company formed by architects and designers along with the cinematographic production agency Terkofilms.

Some of REPUBLICA PORTATIL ‘s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped REPUBLICA PORTATIL achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 8

15. 2DM

© 2DM

© 2DM

2DM is an architecture firm based in Chile. Their work revolves around residential architecture.

Some of 2DM’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped 2DM achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 2

14. Alvano y Riquelme Architects

© Alvano y Riquelme Architects

© Alvano y Riquelme Architects

Alvano y Riquelme Architects is an architecture firm based in Chile. Their work revolves around residential and hospitality architecture.

Some of Alvano y Riquelme Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Alvano y Riquelme Architects achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 2

13. Jorge Figueroa + Asociados

© Jorge Figueroa + Asociados

© Jorge Figueroa + Asociados

The office of architects Jorge Figueroa + Asociados has been characterized by carrying out a large number of works and projects especially housing, in addition to commercial and offices, in which assertiveness, empathy, rigor, creativity and functionality have predominated as key elements, added to a unique teamwork born from the sum of the great talents that make it up.

Some of Jorge Figueroa + Asociados’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Jorge Figueroa + Asociados achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 2

12. CONOR

© CONOR

© CONOR

CONOR ® – Architecture / Construction from the driest place on Earth. Desert is brutal build strong.

Some of CONOR’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped CONOR achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

11. L A N D

© L A N D

© L A N D

We are architects, landscape architects, environmental and urban planners, artist, and motivators committed to innovation in the design of projects that enhance the relationship between the built and natural environments. We integrate environmental and social initiatives in the design process, in projects that promote and empower local values for the long term. We work on projects from a city-wide scale to the individual, accounting for ecological, social, real estate, regulatory and economic variables that result in informed designs able to adapt over time. Our commitment is to collaborate with the people, communities, companies, governments and teams that believe in change and innovation through environmental design.

Some of L A N D’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped L A N D achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

10. 01ARQ

© 01ARQ

© 01ARQ

01ARQ is an architecture firm based in Chile, entered around residential architecture.

Some of 01ARQ’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped 01ARQ achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

9. Cazu Zegers Arquitectura

© Cazu Zegers Arquitectura

© Cazu Zegers Arquitectura

We are a multidisciplinary and diverse creative ecosystem, made up of architects and leading professionals in their areas. Our purpose as a team is to articulate spaces, communities, projects and infrastructure that can accommodate being, in order to create responses to the problems that today’s living brings.

Cazú Zegers has a different angle of approach towards architecture, in an expressive search, closely related to Latin America, its territory, landscape and traditions. From here arises a work “in progress” that involves a poetic reflection on the way we inhabit the territory.

The thesis that inspires her work is to build in a “light and. precarious way”, referring to a lo-tek architecture but with a high experiential impact; understanding that the greatest value of Chile and Latin America is in its territory: “The territory is to America what monuments are to Europe,” says Cazú.

Some of Cazu Zegers Arquitectura’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Cazu Zegers Arquitectura achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

8. Gonzalo Mardones Arquitecto

© Gonzalo Mardones Arquitecto

© Gonzalo Mardones Arquitecto

Gonzalo Mardones gets his degree as architect from the Universidad Católica de Chile, where he graduates with the Maximum Honors. He receives the First Prize in the Architecture Biennale, for the best degree project among all the Architectural Schools in Chile, for his project for urban renewal of the South-West Center of Santiago. He has been a professor of architectural design workshops and directed degree projects in the Faculties of Architecture of the Universidad Católica, Universidad de Chile, Universidad Central, Universidad Andrés Bello and Universidad Finis Terrae, in addition to having been guest professor and lecturer in different universities in Chile, and abroad.

His work has been published by the main architectural magazines and honoured at Biennales. He has been a member of the National Commission of Competitions of the Architects Association in Chile and a Founding member of the Association of Architectural Practices (AOA). In 2008 received the ‘Degree Distinction’ by the UMSA Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia. In 2016 received the Honorary Fellowship by the AIA American Institute of Architects in Philadelphia.

Some of Gonzalo Mardones Arquitecto’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Gonzalo Mardones Arquitecto achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

7. Azócar Catrón

© Azócar Catrón

© Azócar Catrón

Azcar Catrn is an architecture and urbanism office established in Concepción, Chile in 2016 by Ricardo Azócar and Carolina Catrón.

Some of Azócar Catrón’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Azócar Catrón achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 3

6. Pezo von Ellrichshausen

© Pezo von Ellrichshausen

© Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Pezo von Ellrichshausen architects was established in Concepcion (Chile) in 2001 by Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen. With a cross production between art and architecture, the studio has built a series of singular houses, art pavilions and residential buildings. The office has been awarded at the V Iberoamerican Biennial, at the XV Chilean Architecture Biennial and at the AR Awards for emerging architecture and has been nominated for the Swiss Architectural Award (endrisio, 2010). The studio has been selected for the official exhibition at the 12h international architecture exhibition of La bBennale di Venezia.

Some of Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Pezo von Ellrichshausen achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 5

5. Grupo Arquitectos

© Grupo Arquitectos

© Grupo Arquitectos

Architecture and Interior Design firm based in Chile and the United States. Grupo Arquitectos focuses on designing the future for the human experience and its well-being in inhabited space.

Founded in 2002 by Architects Jorge Hasbún N. and Catalina Valdés Tocornal Grupo Arquitectos develops innovative design for the Airport Industry, Real Estate development, Retail, F&B, Corporate, Fuel and Housing Desing.

Some of Grupo Arquitectos’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Grupo Arquitectos achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 50

4. ValdesHagemann Architects

© ValdesHagemann Architects

© ValdesHagemann Architects

ValdesHagemann is a Chilean practice, launched at 2009 by architects Nicolás Valdés and Constanza Hagemann.ValdesHagemann, as the word explains, aims to research every possible aspect of an assignment. We emphasize the idea that every client is different, every site is unique and the formal outcome must be true to all those parameters.

Some of ValdesHagemann Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped ValdesHagemann Architects achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 4

3. MARSINO Arquitectura

© MARSINO Arquitectura

© MARSINO Arquitectura

Marsino is a practice of architects, designers, engineers and consultants based in Santiago with an office in Lima. We work together with clients and users to create special places where people want to live, work, learn and be.

Some of MARSINO Arquitectura’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped MARSINO Arquitectura achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 5

2. 57STUDIO

57STUDIO is an architecture office founded in 2002. Its two partners are Maurizio Angelini and Benjamín Oportot, both architects from the University of Chile. Their work has been published, exhibited and awarded around the world. In 2004, they won the XIV Chilean Architecture Biennale and were selected in the Chilean sample to exhibit at the IX Venice Biennale. In 2016 they win the First Prize of Casa FOA Chile and are awarded at the X BIAU Ibero-American Architecture Biennial. And in 2018 they won the Best Object Design Award from ED Magazine. His work seeks to maximize the relationship between the building and its context.

Some of 57STUDIO’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped 57STUDIO achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 9

1. GUBBINS POLIDURA ARQUITECTOS

© GUBBINS POLIDURA ARQUITECTOS

© GUBBINS POLIDURA ARQUITECTOS

GUBBINS ARQUITECTOS is an architecture and urbanism studio, it was founded in 1996 by Victor Gubbins and Pedro Gubbins. In 2017, Antonio Polidura joined as a partner with Gubbins Arquitectos and created the GUBBINS POLIDURA ARQUITECTOS studio. In 2015, Pedro Gubbins was recognized as a MEMBER OF HONOR AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS AIA (Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, F.AIA).

His work has been developed in different areas of architecture, such as urban planning, urbanism, small and large-scale architectural design, in addition to interior architecture. His work consists of public and private buildings, developing projects in different cities in Chile, from Arica to Puerto Montt. A great diversity of architectural projects have materialized; interventions on heritage architecture, single-family homes, housing complexes, office buildings, universities, schools, soccer stadiums, sports and cultural centers, shopping Centers and retail. They have participated in countless architecture competitions, obtaining first places in more than 21 projects.

The multiplicity and programmatic variety of the projects developed, allows a look and a versatile development, with a broad look at the development of architecture, its cultural, geographical, social environments and the alternatives for its materialization according to its budgets.

Some of GUBBINS POLIDURA ARQUITECTOS’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped GUBBINS POLIDURA ARQUITECTOS achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Chile:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 35

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

  • Project completed within the last 3 years
  • A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
  • Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
  • High quality, in focus photographs
  • At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
  • Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
  • Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

 


 

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

The post 30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Chile appeared first on Journal.

Branching Out: 5 A+Award-Winning Projects Featuring Forest-Inspired Design

Architizer is thrilled to announce the world' best architecture firms in 2024, all winners of the 12th Annual A+Awards! Want to get your firm in the running next season? Stay up to date by subscribing to our A+Awards Newsletter. 

Within an ancient camphor tree lives Totoro. With pointed ears and an unmistakable grin, the towering grey figure is the guardian spirit of the forest. Since the ’80s, Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro” has been somewhat of a cultural phenomenon, and the film’s supporting character, Totoro, a forest-dwelling entity, has become a truly iconic figure in Japanese culture and across the rest of the world. It may be the cuddly creature’s expressive face and gentle nature that make him so beloved, but it is Totoro’s deep connection with nature, captured so beautifully in the 1988 animation, that leaves viewers of the film contemplating their own relationship with nature.

“My Neighbor Totoro” invites its viewers into a stunning world where humanity and nature coexist in balance. The film stands out for focusing on creating an atmosphere of wonder and tranquility through its drawings and soundscapes as much as its storyline. The movie reminds us that magic and serenity can be found throughout the natural world and that we should cherish and care for it as Totoro does for his forest.

This sense of obligation to and love for nature has inspired the following A+Award-winning architects to take a leaf straight out of Totoro’s book (or off his head) by embracing the natural surroundings of their projects and celebrating the beauty of the trees that dwell there. These five projects stand out as true champions of nature that would surely put a smile on the faces of Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe. Just as Totoro’s presence brings peace and joy, these brilliant projects create spaces that champion the beauty of living in harmony with nature, combining modern design with the ancient beauty of forests.


Harudot By Nana Coffee Roasters

By IDIN Architects, Tambon Samet, Thailand

Jury Winner and Popular Choice Winner, Restaurants (L >1000 sq ft), 12th Annual A+Awards

Photographs by  DOF SkyGround

Harudot is a café located in the town of Chonburi, Thailand. The name “Haru” translates to “Spring” in Japanese, referring to “new beginning” and “growth,” while “Dot” symbolizes a “starting point.” From the exterior, the building, clad in black timber, is striking and dominating, sharply extruding from its surroundings. It is distinctly modern yet has an air of traditionalism. Inside, the space is calming, bright and surprisingly huge. Its vastness seems to cocoon visitors under its pine gables with their warm hues. Sweeping curved openings bring a sense of movement to the relatively sharp-looking building, and it makes the space feel like it could be a living thing in itself.

Trees are integral to the design, and many varieties feature prominently inside and out. However, the central focus is a large bottle tree (baobab) that sits pride of place. The gigantic tree is placed in an inner courtyard, where the architects have opened the gable roofs in a way that makes it appear as though the impressive tree is pushing its way out through the building’s apex. This clever design gives a sense that the tree was planted long ago and is breaking out of the roof while also giving the beautiful tree the space and light it needs to flourish.


Mawhitipana House

By MacKayCurtis, Auckland, New Zealand

Jury Winner, Private House (S 1000 – 2000 sq ft), 12th Annual A+Awards

Photographs by Simon Wilson

Mawhitipana House is the perfect example of a home that integrates with its natural surroundings. The owners of this stunning property wanted to make the most of the views over Mawhitipana Bay below while flooding their homes with as much sunlight as possible. Additionally, they wanted large outdoor living areas that they could use to relax outside as much as possible, and it does so perfectly.

The home has a relatively small footprint (compared to the land it is on) and tucks comfortably back into its steep site. It juts out on top of glazed walls that look to hold the timber box sleeping structure in mid-air while the timber cladding, in its varied thicknesses and shades, reflects the rhythm of the surrounding forestry. The area around the property is covered in mature protected P?hutukawa trees, which form a large dominant green canopy, keeping the hoe comfortably ambient. Mawhitipana House feels like it belongs in this location, not dominating the landscape but becoming part of it.


River Bend Residence

By Lake|Flato Architects, New Braunfels, Texas

Jury Winner, Private House (M 2000 – 4000 sq ft), 12th Annual A+Awards

Photographs by Casey Dunn ?

Like Mawhitipana House, River Bend Residence is envisioned as a home that embraces the outdoors and respects its natural surroundings. It is comprised of four structures, each with its own function: living, sleeping, art studio and carport. Surprisingly for a development this large, only six trees were removed to build the property.

Each building was carefully positioned to minimize the number of trees that needed to be taken away during construction. The two primary structures are located on a relatively steep slope and are supported by piers, with only the back third of the buildings sitting on the ground. This allowed for minimal excavation, reducing the impact on the site and its existing wildlife.

Simple in form and finish, the home, intended to be a retreat for a retired couple, focuses on maximizing light and minimizing maintenance. A gorgeously striped back intervention that does just enough and no more to become an unfussy and elegant home wrapped in nature.


Upper House

By KOICHI TAKADA ARCHITECTS, South Brisbane, Australia

Jury Winner, Multi-Unit Housing, High Rise (16+ Floors), 12th Annual A+Awards

Photograph by Tom Ferguson

Photograph by Scott Burrows

Sustainability is at the core of Upper House, a multi-residential project by Koichi Takada Architects. The building achieves a 5-Star Green Star rating and employs both passive and active Environmental Sustainable Design strategies, with features like a 40kL rainwater tank for irrigation, extensive landscaping to reduce heat-island effect and a 20% reduction in water consumption.

The bold architecture celebrates Brisbane’s natural beauty and draws inspiration from the native Moreton Bay Fig tree, replicating its organic structure with architectural ribbons that meander down the unique façade. The building, with its impressive form, is topped with a natural timber pergola and tropical rooftop oasis and claims to be setting a new standard in multi-residential design, where connection to nature, quality of design, resident wellbeing and environmental sustainability each align.

Throughout, FSC-certified Siberian larch glulam timber was sustainably sourced and chosen for its durability and longevity in Australian weather conditions. The timber purlins are designed beautifully to shade the rooftop facilities and protect users against the harsh summer sun in a dramatic way.


Totoro House

By ROSSETTI+WYSS ARCHITEKTEN, Gunzwil, Beromünster, Switzerland

Jury Winner, Multi-Unit Housing, Low Rise (1 – 4 Floors), 12th Annual A+Awards

Photographs by Juerg Zimmermann

Finally, a direct ode to the big fluffy grey guy, Totoro House. The building by ROSSETTI+WYSS ARCHITEKTEN takes its inspiration from the rawness and attitude of the natural forest. Restrained in its use of materials, the architects have chosen raw, uncoated and imperfect finishes that will patina over time to give the building a sense of being a living structure.

The building is regarded as an unusual design for the area of Gunzwil in Switzerland, and so it stands out as unique and daring in form and finish. However, the architects have, in their wisdom, retained some of the traditional elements that are typical of the surrounding architecture. Timber canopies wrap around the structure, extending the interior outwards to create private outdoor spaces that also help to reduce the impact of the strong wind and weather that is common to the location.

Totoro House is a stunning example of a building that isn’t afraid to embody the simplistic foundations of nature and truly reflects the calming existence of its namesake.

Architizer is thrilled to announce the world' best architecture firms in 2024, all winners of the 12th Annual A+Awards! Want to get your firm in the running next season? Stay up to date by subscribing to our A+Awards Newsletter. 

The post Branching Out: 5 A+Award-Winning Projects Featuring Forest-Inspired Design appeared first on Journal.

Paradise Found: 5 Artful Examples of Place-Based Hotel and Resort Design

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

Hotel and resort design combines luxury, comfort and cultural immersion. For this year’s Architizer A+ Awards program, the projects recognized in the Hotels and Resorts category are setting new benchmarks for excellence in the hospitality industry. These are not just buildings; they are experiences meticulously crafted to captivate and rejuvenate visitors from around the globe.

What sets these award-winning designs apart is their intrinsic connection to place. From tropical paradises to urban sites, each hotel and resort is a manifestation of its surroundings. The architects behind these projects blend local materials, diverse aesthetics and new innovations to create spaces that resonate with both the locale and the global traveler. These projects demonstrate that the best hotel and resort designs go beyond opulence and comfort. They embody a narrative of place, offering an authentic and enriching experience that leaves a lasting impression on visitors. Join us as we delve into new architecture that has rethought hospitality design this year.


Murka Hotel (Phase II)

By Thinking Design, Wenzhou, China

Popular Choice Winner, Hotels and Resorts, 12th Annual A+Awards

Murka Hotel is part of a rural revitalization initiative aimed at attracting urban citizens to the countryside and encouraging young locals to return and contribute to their hometown’s development. Nestled on a south-facing slope, the building complex features staggered blocks that blend seamlessly with the mountains. Using local rocks for the buildings and retaining walls creates a visually cohesive extension of the natural environment, paying homage to traditional culture and harmonizing with the village context.

The design includes a restaurant with preserved trees that penetrate the roof, giving diners the sensation of being in a forest. Two buildings around large rocks house a shared restaurant and bar, using the rocks as visual focal points and structural supports. Old-timber beams and a roof adorned with wild grass add nostalgic elements. Guest rooms, built alongside a tranquil stream, feature private courtyards and overpasses for entry. Maintaining fair-faced concrete finishes and incorporating variously sized courtyards, the design floods the space with natural light, enhancing the serene atmosphere. Locally sourced rocks, reclaimed timber, and expansive French windows connect the interior to the valley landscape, offering a tranquil escape from urban life.


MAISON BRUMMELL MAJORELLE

By Studio Bergendy Cooke, Marrakesh, Morocco

Jury Winner, Hotels and Resorts, 12th Annual A+Awards

The Maison’s architecture reinterprets Arabic elements with a fresh perspective, drawing inspiration from Marrakech’s rich history without replicating it. The design’s sculptural form nods to the ancient rampart walls of the Marrakech Medina, with openings that transition into private interiors, much like a sandcastle or sculpture. Deep recesses, reminiscent of traditional Mashrabiya screens, ensure bedroom privacy and create terraces that connect to the surrounding gardens.

Embracing Morocco’s artisanal heritage, the design incorporates local materials and craftsmanship in innovative ways. Exterior walls of the recesses are finished in Tadlelakt, a polished plaster that contrasts with the rough Pisé exterior. Inside, terrazzo in grey and pink is used extensively, defining spaces and creating basins and baths within bedrooms. Bejmat handmade tiles adorn lower public spaces and the terrace, enhancing the seamless flow. The building, spread over three floors, features a lower level that mimics a traditional Riad’s courtyard, housing the lounge, dining area, kitchen, pool and a Hammam with a plunge pool.


Kona Village Resort

By Walker Warner, Hawaii

Situated on the island of Hawaii, Kona Village offers a truly unique Hawaiian experience rooted in centuries-old culture and tradition. This reimagined resort, spread over 81 acres, draws inspiration from the rich history and local sensibilities of the ancient Ka??p?lehu. Every aspect of the property has been designed to honor the essence of the original resort, showcasing a deep respect for the natural environment and cultural heritage.

Under the architectural leadership of Greg Warner and Mike McCabe from Walker Warner, Kona Village now features 150 traditional guest hale, the new Asaya Spa, and five dining options, including the cherished Shipwreck and Talk Story bars from the original resort. The resort’s dedication to sustainability is evident, with several buildings achieving LEED Gold certification and the entire property powered by solar energy. Additionally, an on-site cultural center enriches visitors’ understanding of the area’s profound natural and cultural significance.


Radisson BLU Ka?

By Ye?im Kozanl? Architecture & Interior Design, Antalya, Türkiye

This Radisson Hotel project is tied to Ka?, a district of Antalya known for its turquoise sea, natural beauty and historical ruins. The design began with an analysis of the region’s topographic and cultural areas. Inspired by ancient Lycian granaries and the monumental architecture of Antiphellos, the design incorporates natural stone façade cladding, traditional tiles and wooden joinery. The goal was to offer a lodging experience that feels private and comfortable, akin to the comfort of one’s home, while providing beautiful social opportunities in common areas without losing touch with greenery, nature and simplicity.

The project respects the region with its low-rise, spacious and human-scale designs that blend with the natural environment. Emphasis is placed on natural ventilation and air conditioning features, using earth tones to reflect the local colors and textures. Landscaping with the region’s natural vegetation in pathways and common spaces ensures a continuous connection with nature. Radisson Hotel Ka? is more than a hotel; it’s an experience where guests can immerse themselves in the spirit, history and nature of Ka?.


FORT & PORT

By Heesoo Kwak + IDMM Architects, Yeosu-si, South Korea

FORT & PORT offers stunning views to the northwest and southwest. The northwest view showcases Yeosu City around Jonggo-Mountain, with Marae-Mountain and Jasan Park along the coastal plain. The southwest view contrasts Seguji Village with the South Sea, creating an attractive city skyline. Known for its beautiful night sea, Yeosu became a prominent marine tourist destination in 2012, highlighted by Odongdo Island, maritime bridges and the Dolsan strait.

The complex layout includes a tower-type zone for enjoying city views and a single accommodation zone for recreation. The tower zone features a reception room, city-view accommodations and terraces for outdoor dining and parties. The exterior spa mass facing the terrace ensures privacy and offers a unique facade. The lounge cafe and swimming pools are accessible to both guests and cafe users, with the rooftop designed to provide panoramic views like a ship’s deck. The lower level of the cafe features an Infinity Pool with views of the city’s skyline, while the surrounding areas offer spaces for sunbathing and recreation, allowing guests to enjoy the vibrant sunset over Yeosu.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

The post Paradise Found: 5 Artful Examples of Place-Based Hotel and Resort Design appeared first on Journal.

Paradise Found: 5 Artful Examples of Place-Based Hotel and Resort Design

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

Hotel and resort design combines luxury, comfort and cultural immersion. For this year’s Architizer A+ Awards program, the projects recognized in the Hotels and Resorts category are setting new benchmarks for excellence in the hospitality industry. These are not just buildings; they are experiences meticulously crafted to captivate and rejuvenate visitors from around the globe.

What sets these award-winning designs apart is their intrinsic connection to place. From tropical paradises to urban sites, each hotel and resort is a manifestation of its surroundings. The architects behind these projects blend local materials, diverse aesthetics and new innovations to create spaces that resonate with both the locale and the global traveler. These projects demonstrate that the best hotel and resort designs go beyond opulence and comfort. They embody a narrative of place, offering an authentic and enriching experience that leaves a lasting impression on visitors. Join us as we delve into new architecture that has rethought hospitality design this year.


Murka Hotel (Phase II)

By Thinking Design, Wenzhou, China

Popular Choice Winner, Hotels and Resorts, 12th Annual A+Awards

Murka Hotel is part of a rural revitalization initiative aimed at attracting urban citizens to the countryside and encouraging young locals to return and contribute to their hometown’s development. Nestled on a south-facing slope, the building complex features staggered blocks that blend seamlessly with the mountains. Using local rocks for the buildings and retaining walls creates a visually cohesive extension of the natural environment, paying homage to traditional culture and harmonizing with the village context.

The design includes a restaurant with preserved trees that penetrate the roof, giving diners the sensation of being in a forest. Two buildings around large rocks house a shared restaurant and bar, using the rocks as visual focal points and structural supports. Old-timber beams and a roof adorned with wild grass add nostalgic elements. Guest rooms, built alongside a tranquil stream, feature private courtyards and overpasses for entry. Maintaining fair-faced concrete finishes and incorporating variously sized courtyards, the design floods the space with natural light, enhancing the serene atmosphere. Locally sourced rocks, reclaimed timber, and expansive French windows connect the interior to the valley landscape, offering a tranquil escape from urban life.


MAISON BRUMMELL MAJORELLE

By Studio Bergendy Cooke, Marrakesh, Morocco

Jury Winner, Hotels and Resorts, 12th Annual A+Awards

The Maison’s architecture reinterprets Arabic elements with a fresh perspective, drawing inspiration from Marrakech’s rich history without replicating it. The design’s sculptural form nods to the ancient rampart walls of the Marrakech Medina, with openings that transition into private interiors, much like a sandcastle or sculpture. Deep recesses, reminiscent of traditional Mashrabiya screens, ensure bedroom privacy and create terraces that connect to the surrounding gardens.

Embracing Morocco’s artisanal heritage, the design incorporates local materials and craftsmanship in innovative ways. Exterior walls of the recesses are finished in Tadlelakt, a polished plaster that contrasts with the rough Pisé exterior. Inside, terrazzo in grey and pink is used extensively, defining spaces and creating basins and baths within bedrooms. Bejmat handmade tiles adorn lower public spaces and the terrace, enhancing the seamless flow. The building, spread over three floors, features a lower level that mimics a traditional Riad’s courtyard, housing the lounge, dining area, kitchen, pool and a Hammam with a plunge pool.


Kona Village Resort

By Walker Warner, Hawaii

Situated on the island of Hawaii, Kona Village offers a truly unique Hawaiian experience rooted in centuries-old culture and tradition. This reimagined resort, spread over 81 acres, draws inspiration from the rich history and local sensibilities of the ancient Ka??p?lehu. Every aspect of the property has been designed to honor the essence of the original resort, showcasing a deep respect for the natural environment and cultural heritage.

Under the architectural leadership of Greg Warner and Mike McCabe from Walker Warner, Kona Village now features 150 traditional guest hale, the new Asaya Spa, and five dining options, including the cherished Shipwreck and Talk Story bars from the original resort. The resort’s dedication to sustainability is evident, with several buildings achieving LEED Gold certification and the entire property powered by solar energy. Additionally, an on-site cultural center enriches visitors’ understanding of the area’s profound natural and cultural significance.


Radisson BLU Ka?

By Ye?im Kozanl? Architecture & Interior Design, Antalya, Türkiye

This Radisson Hotel project is tied to Ka?, a district of Antalya known for its turquoise sea, natural beauty and historical ruins. The design began with an analysis of the region’s topographic and cultural areas. Inspired by ancient Lycian granaries and the monumental architecture of Antiphellos, the design incorporates natural stone façade cladding, traditional tiles and wooden joinery. The goal was to offer a lodging experience that feels private and comfortable, akin to the comfort of one’s home, while providing beautiful social opportunities in common areas without losing touch with greenery, nature and simplicity.

The project respects the region with its low-rise, spacious and human-scale designs that blend with the natural environment. Emphasis is placed on natural ventilation and air conditioning features, using earth tones to reflect the local colors and textures. Landscaping with the region’s natural vegetation in pathways and common spaces ensures a continuous connection with nature. Radisson Hotel Ka? is more than a hotel; it’s an experience where guests can immerse themselves in the spirit, history and nature of Ka?.


FORT & PORT

By Heesoo Kwak + IDMM Architects, Yeosu-si, South Korea

FORT & PORT offers stunning views to the northwest and southwest. The northwest view showcases Yeosu City around Jonggo-Mountain, with Marae-Mountain and Jasan Park along the coastal plain. The southwest view contrasts Seguji Village with the South Sea, creating an attractive city skyline. Known for its beautiful night sea, Yeosu became a prominent marine tourist destination in 2012, highlighted by Odongdo Island, maritime bridges and the Dolsan strait.

The complex layout includes a tower-type zone for enjoying city views and a single accommodation zone for recreation. The tower zone features a reception room, city-view accommodations and terraces for outdoor dining and parties. The exterior spa mass facing the terrace ensures privacy and offers a unique facade. The lounge cafe and swimming pools are accessible to both guests and cafe users, with the rooftop designed to provide panoramic views like a ship’s deck. The lower level of the cafe features an Infinity Pool with views of the city’s skyline, while the surrounding areas offer spaces for sunbathing and recreation, allowing guests to enjoy the vibrant sunset over Yeosu.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

The post Paradise Found: 5 Artful Examples of Place-Based Hotel and Resort Design appeared first on Journal.

25 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Paris

Paris is arguably one of the most romanticized cities in Europe and potentially the world. Its architectural history is rich, influenced by an array of architectural styles — from being the birthplace of Gothic structures to the renowned Belle Époque and the Art Deco movement. During the 19th century, one of the biggest urban planning programs was initiated by Napoleon III and directed by architect Georges-Eugène Haussmann: the city’s medieval neighborhoods were demolished, creating wider boulevards, new infrastructural systems as well as uniform façades aimed at dealing with Paris’s overcrowding, diseases and criminality rates.

In the 1980s, the “grands travaux” concept reimagined the city once more by introducing contemporary landmarks that have “moved” Paris to the next millennium, turning it into a hub of architectural innovation. Today, by blending historic preservation with contemporary design, famous architects like Frank Gehry and Herzog & de Meuron have added new, modern landmarks, including the futuristic Fondation Louis Vuitton and the strikingly modern Tour Triangle, that respond to the current architectural, social and environmental setting.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in Paris based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

  • The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2024)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of Paris architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 25 best architecture firms in Paris:


25. Architecturestudio

© Architecturestudio

© Architecturestudio

Architecturestudio is an international architecture, urban planning and interior design practice founded in 1973, with offices in Paris, Shanghai and Zug. It brings together, around 13 partners, a multidisciplinary team of 150 people of 25 different nationalities. Its commitment to promoting architecture is reflected in a collective work that has won numerous distinctions. Architecturestudio is founded on shared knowledge and dialogue to increase the creative potential of a collective design. This approach promotes a plural understanding of the world, which achievements for more than forty years on 5 continents allow it to respond to the major challenges of the 21st century.

Architecturestudio relies on a wide expertise of projects carried out to develop its conceptual approach, responding to specific challenges for each case study.

Some of Architecturestudio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Architecturestudio achieve 25th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 15

24. Antonini Darmon Architects

© Laurent Desmoulins

© Laurent Desmoulins

We founded the agency Antonini Darmon Architects in Paris in 2006. Our creative system was born from the partnership of two complementary yet different personalities. We aim to propose an original architectural interpretation, where each project follows a path having its own identity and dynamics. Our architecture is contextual: functionality, rigor and sobriety are combined in order to transform the project into an object of beauty. We are more especially dedicated to the new architectural and urban stakes involved with sustainable development.

Some of Antonini Darmon Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Antonini Darmon Architects achieve 24th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 10

23. Avenier Cornejo Architectes

© Avenier Cornejo Architectes

© Avenier Cornejo Architectes

Miguel Cornejo was born in Santiago, Chile and studied architecture in France (Paris Malaquais). He worked for Mathias Klotz (Santiago, Chile), Francois Roche (R & Sie (n)) and with other agencies such as XTU Paris, Jacques Ferrier & Galiano & Simon. Christelle Avenier, graduated from the School of Architecture Malaquais Paris and subsequently worked in various agencies including Deremer Architect Douglas (San Francisco, USA) & Mathias Klotz (Santiago, Chile).

After graduating with honors, they were short listed for the Robert Auzelle prize «Lumières de la Ville» and won funding from Electra (EDF) in 2000 for a project in Valparaiso, Chile. Christelle Avenier and Miguel Cornejo founded an architecture agency (SARL) together in 2008. Their approach is inventive, without preconceptions or prejudices.

Some of Avenier Cornejo Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Avenier Cornejo Architectes achieve 23rd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 7

22. Chartier Dalix

© Chartier Dalix

© Chartier Dalix

ChartierDalix, architecture is envisaged as a built system combining the means to welcome life, poetry, and the commons. Whatever the purpose of the building, our main objective is to offer generous spaces, a quality of life and pleasurable places to be in. In our opinion, architecture is above all linked to the senses, to the human and to nature, it accompanies society and participates in its evolution.

We are convinced that it is important to strengthen the commons, just as in an ecosystem where everything plays a role. As in a garden, there is always something more to do for those who come.

Some of Chartier Dalix’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Chartier Dalix achieve 22nd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 10

21. CUT architectures

© CUT architectures

© CUT architectures

Our practice as a 4 hands design studio started in 2005 and we founded our company CUT architectures in 2008. CUT, 3 letters standing for our aim to contrast deeply with the conformist Parisian Architectural practice and the expected positions and trends. Breaking the boundaries between architecture, urbanism, interior design & art we are taking the inherent qualities of every of these fields in order to initiate inspiring hybrid projects.

We don’t make hierarchical distinctions between an art installation, a piece of furniture, a shop, a flat, a set design, a house or a building and put the same effort with the same process: we first search for the optimal plan layout and the most effective section and we then implement the material which is the key to a project for us. Through material we create, reinterpret, divert, innovate.

Stainless steel, expanded metal or wood take part of the aesthetic aspect of a building as much as they are important for their inherent properties. This close relation to the material, the building elements and building processes are the guaranty of our knowledge of construction costs and the keeping of a budget.

We have a strong knowledge in project management from our former professional careers which we used and developed for our own practice. We are working on projects for municipalities and public housing developers.

Some of CUT architectures’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped CUT architectures achieve 21st place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 11

20. BFV ARCHITECTES

© BFV ARCHITECTES

© BFV ARCHITECTES

BFV Architectes is an architecture studio funded by Jean Bocabeille, Olivier Fassio and Jean-Brice Viaud.This acronym stands for more than 20 years of experience. It embodies both a historical continuity and a strong desire to grow together and broaden the scope of action. The idea of creating a new practice was obvious to the three men, as much as their will to keep building a consistent, efficient and meaningful kind of architecture. Bocabeille, Fassio and Viaud’s projects have been carried out either as collective journeys ([BP] Architectures, Plan01 or Fassio-Viaud Architectes) or individual adventures (Jean Bocabeille Architecte).

Some of BFV ARCHITECTES’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped BFV ARCHITECTES achieve 20th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 13

19. Architecture Patrick Mauger

© D. Boy de la Tour

© D. Boy de la Tour

The agency contributes to the transformation of the city, designing buildings that enrich life by multiplying their possible uses. The fields of activity are highly varied, ranging from urban spaces with studies to modify the reception areas in the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie and the northern Vilette esplanade (definition study) to interior architecture and design for the new layouts of the Louvre museum restaurants and delivery of the first “monolith”, inspired by an lfood on the terraces of the Richelieu wing. Through their uses, contexts and budgets, the projects reveal a strong personality and are characterised by the emphasis on materials, such as marble powder on a honeycomb structure and Corian for the Louvre, or The Arte Povera treated wood for the CROUS centre in Mabillon.

Some of Architecture Patrick Mauger’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Architecture Patrick Mauger achieve 19th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 20

18. Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)

© Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)

© Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)

DORELL.GHOTMEH.TANE / ARCHITECTS is a partnership founded in January 2006 in Paris and practicing Architecture, Urbanism and Space Design.

Some of Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT) achieve 18th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Finalist 3
Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 9

17. PCA-STREAM

© PCA-STREAM

© PCA-STREAM

The PCA-STREAM agency brings together 90 architects, urban planners, designers, and engineers, capable of responding to the complex challenges of the contemporary world. PCA is the architecture and urban planning agency, STREAM, a unique transdisciplinary research program to which more than 150 researchers from around the world contribute, and whose work is widely disseminated and applied in PCA’s large-scale projects.

Some of PCA-STREAM’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped PCA-STREAM achieve 17th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 16

16. Dubuisson

© Dubuisson

© Dubuisson

Dubuisson is an architecture agency, based in Paris, Nice and Nantes. With an international and multidisciplinary team, it has around fifty employees: architects, interior des igners and engineers.The complementarity and transversality of its skills guarantee a project of high architectural quality, integrated and sustainable. Dubuisson designs and supports projects in all environments – tertiary, housing, retail, facilities – and in all dimensions of architecture: from town planning to furniture.

Some of Dubuisson’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Dubuisson achieve 16th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 8
Total Projects 19

15. NZI Architectes

© NZI Architectes

© NZI Architectes

We founded the NZI ARCHITECTES agency in 2012. Our association is based on a project approach by creative, complementary and participatory experimentation. Fervent activists for environmental innovation, our work is based on the search for contextual urban insertions, paying constant attention to sustainable development. We are lucky to be able to work on atypical programs that range from participatory housing to straw construction, but also from wood construction to the recycling of offices into housing.

This journey, enriched by the diversity of solutions we experience on programs, requires us to be combative to get out of the pre-established standards. Our work is oriented towards the exploration of other and innovative techniques.

Some of NZI Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped NZI Architectes achieve 15th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 5

14. GARDERA-D

© GARDERA-D

© GARDERA-D

GARDERA-D is a pluridisciplinary architecture agency established in Paris and Biarritz, France. The agency explores a wide scope of investigation and responds to a varied demand for projects, ranging from architecture (housing, workplaces, teaching, equipment ) to interior design and object design.

Each project is approached and studied in a specific way, according to an approach based specifically on a particular attention to usages of buildings and the search for an optimum level in the relationship between architecture and location.

Some of GARDERA-D’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped GARDERA-D achieve 14th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 8

13. PETITDIDIERPRIOUX

© Sergio Grazia

© Sergio Grazia

Cédric Petitdidier and Vincent Prioux founded Petitdidierprioux Architectes in 2004. With more than forty staff and two offices in Paris and Lyon, PPX has completed more than forty projects, with just as many currently in development and in construction. Through its work, PPX has garnered expertise in residential housing, consistently striving for social mixing and ‘pleasurable density’ in an effort to reconcile individual and collective housing, including for high-rise buildings. Each project delivers thoughtful consideration of typological variations and the notion of comfort, through particular attention to context, orientation, materials and energy use.

PPX makes understanding any new situation the starting point of its process, and approaches each project free of preconceptions, always with a fresh, yet seasoned perspective.

Some of PETITDIDIERPRIOUX’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped PETITDIDIERPRIOUX achieve 13th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 13

12. Mikou Design Studio

© Mikou Design Studio

© Mikou Design Studio

Mikou Design Studio is a place of creation and experimentation in architecture and its inter-disciplinary cross-fertilisation. We work in a continuous workshop spirit with a multidisciplinary team of architects, engineers, graphic artists, scenographers and town planners from very different cultural backgrounds. Every project is an excuse for re-questioning and redefining the meaning of a brief, a function, and an urban, social and human context, in order to invent new ways of living, places for sharing and gathering that are more sensitive and more sensual, and which stimulate feelings. Our aim is to get away from preconceptions of form and function in order to transmit more and better.

Some of Mikou Design Studio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Mikou Design Studio achieve 12th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 7
Total Projects 14

11. STUDIO RAZAVI + PARTNERS

© STUDIO RAZAVI + PARTNERS

© STUDIO RAZAVI + PARTNERS

Our work rests on a fundamental principal: the mediation between engineering & architectural culture. It is our belief that successful designs can only materialize by fully synthesizing building technology and architectural sensitivity. Our approach to space is hence determined by a rigorous understanding of existing relationships between technique and culture, free of stylistic limitations, open to context.

Our designs cover a wide spectrum or architectural services from interiors to master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. Operating as one firm with two offices (Paris and New York) our portfolio of works spans from Europe to the Americas and includes residential, corporate, hospitality, civic, transportation, and mixed-use projects.

Some of STUDIO RAZAVI + PARTNERS’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped STUDIO RAZAVI + PARTNERS achieve 11th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 16

10. Nomade Architectes

© Nomade Architectes

© Nomade Architectes

Raphaël Chivot, Matthieu Laviolle and Vincent Le Garrec – open-neck shirts and no Rolexes – are self-made men. An early schoolboy encounter was important; a sail together across the Atlantic, decisive. An agency was born first from camaraderie, then friendship: Nomade… all clear on the horizon and open-mindedness at a maximum. Which means, no borders. Between Paris and Vannes (its two locations) the agency specializes in all projects. And it works everywhere. Nomade moves and grows.

Ideas swarm in the inventive minds of some thirty faithful co-workers who have taken to organizing themselves around centers of interest, from design to the worksite via research, communication and even computer science.

Some of Nomade Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Nomade Architectes achieve 10th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 7
Total Projects 15

9. Atelier Roberta

© Atelier Roberta

© Atelier Roberta

Roberta is a creature with three heads. Three backgrounds, three skills, three landscape practices united in a single vision of the project. Roberta pays very specific attention to sites and territories. She relies on her intuition and extensive field experience to open up new avenues for further study. She likes to travel, by train or by road. Every project is new. Roberta has no preconceptions, and hates recipes. She always asks herself the question of practicality, how to bring a designed project to life, and how to make it her own. She is also sensitive to new materials and technologies, and to innovations taking place on the other side of the border.

Some of Atelier Roberta’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Atelier Roberta achieve 9th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 2
Featured Projects 7
Total Projects 12

8. Moussafir Architectes

Born on October 15, 1957 in Katanga (ex-Belgian Congo) to an architect father. Family origins in Rhodes and Salonika. First architectural memories of the family home in Elisabethville, designed by Julian Elliott in 1957 and published in Udo Kultermann’s “New Architecture in Africa”. Studied architecture and art history under Roland Schweitzer, Yves Lion and Alain Pélissier at the Ecole d’Architecture de Paris-Tolbiac and Daniel Arasse at the Université Paris I Sorbonne. DPLG in 1993, founded Moussafir Architectes the same year, after 10 years of training and practice with Christian Hauvette, Henri Gaudin, Dominique Perrault and Francis Soler. First interior design projects (Apostrophe and IGAS headquarters, administrative departments of the Conseil d’Etat), then participation in numerous cultural competitions, alone or in association.

Some of Moussafir Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Moussafir Architectes achieve 8th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 2
A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 7
Total Projects 6

7. Franklin Azzi Architecture

© Franklin Azzi Architecture

© Franklin Azzi Architecture

Franklin Azzi and his practice, founded in 2006, develop a transversal approach stimulated by the intertwining of different views and disciplines. In constantly working on architecture, interior architecture, design and contemporary art, he develops a way of designing and building that is applicable to all scales and typologies of space.

From urban micro-architecture such as embodied by the Eiffel Kiosque and its prefabricated structure, to towers in Dubai and Paris, via conversions of existing buildings such as the Alstom market buildings in Nantes, his interventions are based on a quest for sustainability to meet the needs of all users.

Some of Franklin Azzi Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Franklin Azzi Architecture achieve 7th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 9
Total Projects 27

6. LAN Architecture

(c) Jean-Marie Monthiers - © LAN Architecture

(c) Jean-Marie Monthiers - © LAN Architecture

LAN Architecture was founded by Benoit Jallon and Umberto Napolitano in 2002. The agency’s name echoes the partners’ intentions directly.  LAN is precisely the acronym of Local Architecture Network and it refers to the local design network applied and developed through specific field skills, experts and authors attending on the projects.The double nationality of LAN enables to bridge different European countries. In 2004 LAN architecture work was selected by the French Culture Minister for the “Nouveaux Albums des Jeunes Architectes” for its potential and talent. In six years time, the agency has earned a reputation and won competitions both in France and abroad.

Some of LAN Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped LAN Architecture achieve 6th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 9
Total Projects 25

5. Hamonic+Masson & Associés

© Sergio Grazia

© Sergio Grazia

Hamonic+Masson & Associés is Gaëlle Hamonic, Jean-Christophe Masson and, since 2014, Marie-Agnès de Bailliencourt, partner. The firm was founded in 1997, and was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe award in 2001 and awarded the Nouveaux Albums de la Jeune Architecture (Naja) in 2002.

The agency came to the attention of the general public in 2003 with the design of the Maison Métal, exhibited in the Parc de la Villette. This event placed it at the confluence of art and architecture, a flexible space that allowed for some exciting adventures and inaugurated a series of exhibitions and scenographies: co-curator of the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2008 as part of the French Touch collective, Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, etc.

Some of Hamonic+Masson & Associés’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Hamonic+Masson & Associés achieve 5th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 10
Total Projects 16

4. h2o architectes

© Julien Attard

© Julien Attard

h2o architectes is an office of creative architectural design also specializing in the restoration of ancient monuments. It is lead by three architects: Charlotte Hubert architect dipl. DPLG and historical preservation architect, Jean-Jacques Hubert architect dipl. DPLG founder of the office and Antoine Santiard architect dipl. EPFL who joined in 2008.

Established as a firm in 2005, the leading architects have had multiple collaborations since 2000. They have executed projects and won international competitions both as independent architects as well as for other major architects (Bruno Decaris, Jakob+MacFarlane, Bernard Tschumi). h2o works on a wide scope of projects and scales including historical monuments and sites, urban planning, architecture and design.

Some of h2o architectes’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped h2o architectes achieve 4th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

Featured Projects 10
Total Projects 17

3. FREAKS freearchitects

© FREAKS freearchitects

© FREAKS freearchitects

freearchitects is a Paris-based architecture firm lead by three architects favouring prospection, research and experimentation through projects and building process practices from small scale art installations to large scale architecture competitions. Although nowadays their built projects are mostly located in France, FREAKS’s partners have lived and experienced a wide range of abroad working contexts such as San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing, Berlin, Mumbai, Singapore & Istanbul.

Some of FREAKS freearchitects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped FREAKS freearchitects achieve 3rd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 13
Total Projects 19

2. Atelier Zündel Cristea

© Atelier Zündel Cristea

© Atelier Zündel Cristea

Officially established in January of 2001, today AZC includes around thirty people organized into four areas: design, research, construction, and administration of projects. Our teams are made up of young architects from all over the world, as the diversity of our own respective Swiss-American and Romanian origins has brought us to an understanding of the interest in crossing cultures and transgressing boundaries. Consequently, the efficiency and creativity of our firm are bolstered by a constant effort in observing what’s going on elsewhere, in striving to work outside our country, in taking an interest in differences.

Each of our projects are embodied by a strategy of qualitatively occupying sites, without preconceptions regarding their geographic location, their programmatic requirements, or their scale.

Some of Atelier Zündel Cristea’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Atelier Zündel Cristea achieve 2nd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
Featured Projects 13
Total Projects 50

1. Atelier du Pont

© Atelier du Pont

© Atelier du Pont

Atelier du Pont is a multipolar agency that combines public and private projects, architecture and town planning, interiors and exteriors, and reinvents itself with each new commission and encounter, developing an individual response to each specific context. This is a creative, serious, subtle interplay using a wide variety of colours, materials and styles to create spaces that are appropriate and imaginative, both outside time and of their time, life-enhancing for their users and inspiring for their designers. Since the agency was established, it has completed a range of public facilities all over France and built a large number of housing projects for social funding agencies and private property developers.

Some of Atelier du Pont’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Atelier du Pont achieve 1st place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Paris:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 3
Featured Projects 16
Total Projects 30

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

  • Project completed within the last 3 years
  • A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
  • Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
  • High quality, in focus photographs
  • At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
  • Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
  • Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

 


 

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

The post 25 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Paris appeared first on Journal.

Multi-Generational Living: 7 Floor Plans Building Family Bonds

Ema is a trained architect, writer and photographer who works as a Junior Architect at REX in NYC. Inspired by her global experiences, she shares captivating insights into the world’s most extraordinary cities and buildings and provides travel tips on her blog, The Travel Album.

In today’s fast-paced world, the traditional family home is evolving. More families are choosing multi-generational living arrangements, where grandparents, parents, children and siblings share a single residence. Multi-generational living has evolved from traditional, hierarchical structures with shared responsibilities and simple communal spaces to modern arrangements that prioritize flexibility, privacy and technological integration. Today, these homes feature separate living quarters, private entrances and adaptable spaces driven by economic factors, social needs and cultural values. This shift reflects changes in societal norms and architectural innovations, making contemporary multi-generational homes more comfortable and supportive of individual and collective family needs.

This trend, often driven by economic factors, caregiving needs and cultural values, offers numerous benefits, such as shared responsibilities, emotional support and closer family bonds. However, it also presents unique challenges, requiring thoughtful architectural design to balance privacy with togetherness. This article explores seven outstanding examples of multi-generational homes, showcasing innovative floor plans that accommodate different age groups while promoting family interaction.


Waverley Residence

By Shaun Lockyer Architects and Anderson Architecture, Sydney, Australia

Waverley Residence by Anderson Architecture

Waverley Residence by Anderson Architecture

Waverley Residence by Anderson Architecture

Waverley Residence, designed by Shaun Lockyer Architects and Anderson Architecture, exemplifies the integration of separate living spaces within a cohesive design. The floor plan features distinct areas, including an open living room and a private lounge, providing both privacy and unity for different family members. All bedrooms are located on the top floor, including two double bedrooms — one being a master suite with a large closet and the other opening to a large balcony that overlooks the backyard. This layout makes the home comfortable for multiple couples by providing personal space while ensuring that family members can come together and overlook shared areas, balancing privacy with communal living.

A vertical central skylight bathes the heart of the home in natural light, illuminating the communal spaces on the ground floor where family members can gather for meals, conversations and leisure activities. The design fills every space with natural light, from the large sliding back doors that open to the backyard to the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor, naturally encouraging movement throughout the home, encouraging interaction and fostering a sense of community. The open-plan living areas, including the kitchen, dining, and lounge spaces, promote easy movement and interaction among family members, and provides ample space for children to run around and play.


MeMo House

By BAM! arquitectura, San Isidro, Argentina

MeMo House, San Isidro, Argentina by BAM! arquitectura

MeMo House, San Isidro, Argentina by BAM! arquitectura

The MeMo House in Buenos Aires, designed by BAM! arquitectura, is a stellar example of a home that combines both architecture and landscaping into one. A garden interconnects all the floors of this house, conveying a powerful message to its inhabitants. With a focus on sustainability, the design not only caters to the needs of the current generation but also thoughtfully considers future generations, emphasizing a commitment to providing a better world for them.

This house is designed to offer separate living areas for different family units while fostering communal activities in shared spaces like the rooftop garden, central garden, backyard and pool area. Children can explore unique spaces and run up to the roof while their grandparents garden in the backyard.

The flexible floor plan features large glass walls and sliding doors that open the living room to the covered outdoor terrace, allowing the family to reconfigure the space as needed. This adaptability ensures that the home can evolve with the changing needs of its occupants. Open and flexible spaces like these, combined with a variety of unique areas to choose from based on mood and activity, are invaluable for facilitating interaction regardless of outdoor conditions. This design encourages family members of all ages to spend more time together and engage more frequently, fostering a strong sense of community within the home.


Larch House

By Architecturall, Surrey, United Kingdom

Larch House, Surrey England by Architecturall

Larch House by Architecturall is a remarkable transformation of a dilapidated bungalow, which had stood for about 80 years, into a modern home nestled in the English woodlands. The project features several spacious, separate bedroom areas that can accommodate multiple adults, couples or generations, alongside expansive communal spaces designed to bring the family together. A large terrace wraps around the home, connecting the master bedroom to the living and kitchen areas, offering various routes for stepping out in the morning. This thoughtful design enhances flexibility and connectivity within the home, enabling residents to navigate different spaces according to their convenience at any given time.

The expansive communal kitchen and dining areas, occupying nearly half of the home’s footprint, offer a generous space for large families to cook and dine together. These areas are designed to accommodate large gatherings, making them perfect for family celebrations and daily meals. Floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, a common feature in many of these home designs, connect the indoor living spaces to an outdoor patio and garden. This design element creates a smooth transition to the outdoors, enhances the sense of space, and offers additional areas for relaxation and interaction. Nestled in a private, wooded area of England, the home is perfect for families, offering a peaceful environment for the elderly and a spacious backyard for children to safely run and play.


Findlay Residence

By Splyce Design, North Vancouver, Canada

Findlay Residence North Vancouver, Canada by Splyce Design

Findlay Residence, North Vancouver, Canada by Splyce DesignOn the ground floor, the kitchen/dining area and living spaces are intentionally designed as separate entities to accommodate different schedules and movement patterns, ensuring flexibility and privacy for all occupants. Large sliding glass doors connect the kitchen and living spaces to the outdoors, creating a fluid indoor-outdoor transition. This design allows for distinct spaces while enabling easy movement between them, enhancing the overall flow and connectivity throughout the home. These outdoor areas, where family members can relax and enjoy each other’s company amidst nature, serve as extensions of the indoor living spaces, fostering a seamless indoor-outdoor lifestyle.


The House in Mishref

By STUDIO TOGGLE, Mishref, Kuwait

The House in Mishref Mishref, Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait by STUDIO TOGGLE

The House in Mishref Mishref, Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait by STUDIO TOGGLE

The House in MishrefMishref, Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait by STUDIO TOGGLE

STUDIO TOGGLE‘s House in The House in Mishref exemplifies a multi-generational home designed to balance privacy and connectivity for an extended family. This residence, home to two brothers and their families, features multiple levels and distinct zones to cater to their varying lifestyles, outdoor space preferences and privacy needs. The design promotes both separation and togetherness (elements that are essential when living with or close to family members) centered around a courtyard that buffers rooms facing each other. Staircases connect balconies, creating an intentional circulation loop seen as “social spaces” where family members and neighbors can visually interact, fostering a sense of community, place and belonging within the home.

This layout ensures that each family or future generations have their own private space while maintaining a connection to the rest of the family. The central courtyard serves as an intentional meeting spot ideal for family activities and socializing. Each family unit has its own private bedrooms and bathrooms, offering the experience of having your own home while still being under the same roof as other family members.


Courtyard House

By Formwerkz Architects, Singapore

Courtyard House, Singapore by Formwerkz Architects

Courtyard House, Singapore by Formwerkz Architects

Courtyard House, Singapore by Formwerkz Architects

Courtyard House, Singapore by Formwerkz Architects

The Courtyard House in Singapore, designed by Formwerkz Architects, is a multi-generational home tailored for those who value communal spaces but also seek privacy. The home is divided into a front, central and back garden, with all bedrooms overlooking the central garden. Private spaces, such as bedrooms, are situated away from the street, creating a gradient of privacy that increases as you move deeper into the building. The main living spaces are organized around a central courtyard — the heart of the home — encouraging gatherings in the central atrium and pool area. The ground floor features a seamless open space with minimal obstructions, allowing for free-flowing movement and accommodating large gatherings with various pathways and patterns.

Surrounded by dense tropical foliage, the home features a serene courtyard perfect for various leisure activities. This design ensures that each generation has its own space while maintaining family connections. It skillfully combines large windows and open areas with perforated walls and screens to balance openness and privacy.


The House of Remembrance

By Neri & Hu, Singapore

The House of Remembrance, Singapore by Neri & Hu

The House of Remembrance, Singapore by Neri & Hu

The House of Remembrance, Singapore by Neri & HuThe House of Remembrance by Neri & Hu is an ideal multi-generational home, perfectly blending privacy, communal living and collective memory. Designed to accommodate three adult siblings and their families, the home features private bedrooms within the pitched roof’s steep gables, offering secluded spaces while maintaining the house’s single-story bungalow appearance.

The central courtyard, serving as a memorial garden, connects all communal spaces such as the living room, kitchen, dining room and study, fostering family interaction. Expansive glass walls and large sliding doors ensure visual transparency and connection to the lush surrounding gardens, while the circular ground floor circulation reinforces a sense of unity and sacredness. This thoughtful design balances the need for privacy with the desire for communal spaces, making it perfect for multi-generational living.

The jury and the public have had their say — feast your eyes on the winners of Architizer's 12th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.

The post Multi-Generational Living: 7 Floor Plans Building Family Bonds appeared first on Journal.

Architectural Pilgrimmage: 15 Reasons Why Chengdu is a Top Design-Lovers Destination

The latest edition of “Architizer: The World’s Best Architecture” — a stunning, hardbound book celebrating the most inspiring contemporary architecture from around the globe — is now available. Order your copy today.  

Planning a trip to China? Make sure Chengdu is on your itinerary! As the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu is one of those cities that offers something for everyone. Known for its spicy cuisine and adorable Giant Pandas, Chengdu is also emerging as one of China’s top architecture and design hubs.

Situated in the fertile Sichuan Basin and surrounded by mountains and rivers, Chengdu has long been an agricultural heartland. With a population of over 16 million, it’s a lively metropolis where cultural heritage and modern design intertwine. The city features stunning projects, from museums and expo centers to creatively designed restaurants and community spaces. It’s no wonder it has been a common location for A+Award-winning projects in recent years.

From modern cultural landmarks to scenic parks, Chengdu has a lot to offer for design lovers and enthusiasts. With that in mind, we’re sharing 15 projects in (and around) the city that will convince you to include it on your travel list.


Longmenshan Town · Woyun Platform

By Archermit, Chengdu, China

Jury Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Cultural & Expo Centers


This building serves as the gateway to the National Giant Panda Forest Park and incorporates elements like bamboo forests, clouds and local geological features. The elevated “white bamboo forest” functions as an open meeting space for the surrounding villages, with a dome that transforms into a starry universe at night.


The Panda Pavilions

By Atelier Ping Jiang | EID Arch, Chengdu, China

Jury Winner, 12th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Cultural Building

Chengdu is the home of the beloved Giant Panda and the National Giant Panda Research and Breeding Center. Showcasing their commitment to preservation, the latest expansion of the center includes four new panda pavilions designed to feel like they are part of the natural landscape. These pavilions feature open-air circular courtyards that serve as outdoor playgrounds for the pandas, while visitors can observe and learn about their behavior without disturbing the animals.


Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art, Tianfu Library of Humanity and Art

By CSWADI, Chengdu, China

Jury Winner, 12th Annual A+Awards, Libraries

Tianfu Art Park in Chengdu features the Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art and the Tianfu Library of Humanity and Art. The park’s stunning curved roofs mimic the nearby mountains, creating a breathtaking skyline.

The Chengdu Museum, with its expansive glass walls and skylights, aims to blend art with nature, offering engaging contemporary exhibitions.

Meanwhile, the terraced Tianfu Library, known as “Book Mountain,” uses reading platforms and book walls to create a dynamic space for exploration.


Minjiang Village Courier Station

By MUDA-Architects, Chengdu, China

Drawing inspiration from traditional Sichuan verandas, the design of this courier station (that serves both tourists and locals) reinterprets it with contemporary aesthetics. The building features a double-height semi-enclosed area, providing ample natural light and a multifunctional space for social interaction. This project is a key part of the rural revitalization effort, creating a flexible and inviting communal area.


Danjing Pavilion of Longquan Mountain Urban Forest Park

By Chengdu Architectural Design and Research Institute, Chengdu, China

This pavilion spans a historical site of over 2300 years and offers a prime vantage point overlooking the Eastern New Urban District and Three Forks Lake. Inspired by bamboo culture, the design incorporates elements of bamboo shoot towers, reinterpreting traditional Chinese pavilions with inclined supports that resemble bamboo shoots. The structure uses locally sourced materials, including high-performance bamboo-based fiber composite, promoting local employment and sustainable building practices.


Chengdu Museum of Natural History

By Pelli Clarke & Partners, Chengdu, China

This 538,195-square-foot (50,000-square-meter) museum celebrates Chengdu’s modern ethos and historical legacy with expansive exhibits, public spaces and educational facilities. The design reflects the region’s geological history with dramatic forms that mimic volcanic activity and tectonic shifts. The exterior granite surface features organic perforations, creating a striking visual effect that resembles daylight on mountain snow. Inside, sculpted wooden bridges evoke Chengdu’s ancient water passages, while outside, indigenous plants and waterways create an immersive natural experience.


Garden Hotpot Restaurant

By MUDA-Architects, Chengdu, China

Jury Winner, 8th Annual A+Awards, Restaurants

Tucked away in Chengdu’s “green lung,” this unique restaurant offers visitors the perfect spot to enjoy good food and great design. Inspired by the organic shapes of the eucalyptus forest and nearby lotus pond, the restaurant eliminates traditional walls, using pillars and open platforms to immerse diners in nature. The free-flowing roof curves and tree-integrated structure evoke the steam and smoke from boiling hotpots, strengthening the connection between the dining experience and the natural environment.


Qionglai Bamboo Pavilion

By UNO Architects, Qionglai City, Chengdu, China

This project is all about bamboo! Located near a vast bamboo forest, this pavilion highlights the beauty of the material in its design. It serves multiple purposes: a visitor center, a workshop for local crafts and a village gathering place. The pavilion features two interlocking roofs that form a public courtyard, often used by locals for dancing and events. The overall design gives visitors the sensation of walking through a bamboo forest.


Chengdu Science Fiction Museum

By Zaha Hadid Architects, Chengdu, China

Another fun fact about Chengdu is that it’s actually China’s leading incubator of science fiction. Showcasing the city’s contribution to the genre’s evolution and popularity, the new Chengdu Science Fiction Museum opened by hosting the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and Hugo Awards for the first time in China.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the building features fluid, futuristic forms that perfectly reflect the spirit of science fiction. Integrating with the natural lakeshore, the museum features interconnected pedestrian routes that weave through indoor and outdoor spaces, linking exhibition galleries, educational facilities, cafes and other amenities.


HDC Design- CHUAN HSI PA TZU

By Design Aesthetics, Chengdu, China

If you want to try Chengdu’s signature traditional food in a uniquely designed space, this is the place to be. The teahouse retains the original slanted roof and incorporates bamboo-woven elements like awnings and screens. The layout creates an uninterrupted connection between the indoor and outdoor spaces, offering an engaging and traditional dining experience.


Luxelakes Expo Center

By Antoine Predock with Chengdu Wide Horizon Investment Group, Chengdu, China

Serving as the entry to the Luxe Lake development, this center combines art, theater and dining into one cohesive space. Inspired by Chinese culture and the Sichuan landscape, the design mimics the movement of a dragon, with the structure descending from the hills to meet the lake.

The building spans from one to nine floors, incorporating galleries, restaurants, meeting rooms and a performance hall with a stunning red sandstone café wall. The exterior materials include low-maintenance bush-hammered concrete, structural glass glazing and locally sourced granite and bronze cladding.

With public pathways, plazas and green roofs extending from the surrounding park, the Luxe Lake Gateway provides an immersive, nature-filled experience that artfully combines modern design with traditional influences.


Sliced Porosity Block

By Steven Holl Architects, Chengdu, China

Jury Winner, 2nd Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Photography & Video

This complex stands out with its sun-sliced geometry, maximizing natural light throughout its structure. The design includes urban terraces, cascading pools and green roofs, creating vibrant public spaces inspired by Du Fu’s poetry. Sustainable elements like geothermal heating and rainwater harvesting make it a forward-thinking landmark in Chengdu.


Xinshan Community Center and Library

By VARI Design, Chengdu, China

The Xinshan Bookstore is a key part of the historical district’s urban renovation. Featuring a creative design inspired by traditional curvilinear roofs, it does a great job of combining modern and historic aesthetics.

The building’s double-curvature roof is divided into three sections, each housing unique communal spaces. Highlights include an interior amphitheater for gatherings, quiet reading balconies and a flexible coffee and atrium area.


Design-Oriented Day Trips From Chengdu


Shanshui Firewood Garden

By Mix Architecture, Yibin, China

Popular Choice Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Hospitality Building

This multifunctional cultural space is located in Anshi Village near Yibin, not too far from Chengdu, making it a perfect day trip destination.

Designed with pierced wood structures and low eaves for ventilation, the project uses durable materials like bamboo weaving, mud walls and red sandstone. The building adopts a cross-style layout, featuring large eaves and an arc-shaped inner courtyard that create a fluid and dynamic space. Prominently featured in the design is firewood, a vital element of rural life, alongside red sandstone and small blue tiles, resulting in a rich, textured aesthetic.


Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts Extension

By Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, Xi’An, China

Popular Choice Winner, 12th Annual A+Awards, Museum

If you find yourself on a day trip from Chengdu to Xi’an, don’t miss the Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts. Neri&Hu’s latest design is envisioned as a new landmark for the city, standing out with its monolithic urban monument concept and subterranean layout.

The building uses cast-in-place concrete for the base and metal cladding with louvres for the facade, bringing light into the interior spaces. The design includes a series of escalators leading to the underground museum, creating a dramatic entry experience.

The latest edition of “Architizer: The World’s Best Architecture” — a stunning, hardbound book celebrating the most inspiring contemporary architecture from around the globe — is now available. Order your copy today.  

The post Architectural Pilgrimmage: 15 Reasons Why Chengdu is a Top Design-Lovers Destination appeared first on Journal.

30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Tokyo

Tokyo’s architectural landscape is a dynamic fusion of history and innovation. Prior to the WWII bombings, the city was comprised of low-rise, traditional Edo-period buildings that were eventually destroyed. Today, the vibrant metropolis acts as a gate to the future, where landmarks such as the Tokyo Skytree, the world’s tallest tower, have pushed the boundaries of architecture and construction technology. Architects such as Kenzo Tange, known for his work on the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, and Kengo Kuma, designer of the Japan National Stadium, have left indelible marks on the city’s skyline. In parallel, Tokyo’s dense urban fabric has driven contemporary architects to develop an impressive and pioneering language of tall, compact buildings with an array of uses: residences, office spaces and commercial centers that incorporate cutting-edge sustainable and earthquake-resistant technologies have managed to transform the city into an urban landscape filled with architectural character and innovation.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in Tokyo based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

  • The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2024)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of Tokyo architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in Tokyo:


30. atelier HAKO architects

© atelier HAKO architects

© atelier HAKO architects

Poetically simple, yet humorous architecture. A simple house that colors your life with a casual way of living, rather than cutting off the elements.
We freely and flexibly conceive a one-of-a-kind “life container” where you can get a glimpse of the personality of the resident in the shape and appearance of the space.

Some of atelier HAKO architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped atelier HAKO architects achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 10

29. OSO

© OSO

© OSO

OSO is a Tokyo-based, architecture and design office with an international perspective. The office was established in 2017 by two partners – Esteban Ochogavia and Michael Sypkens – who formerly worked together at Kengo Kuma and Associates.

The current work involves both domestic and international projects ranging from shop interiors to large-scale offices and residential developments.

As an evolving office, we are exploring ways of finding new meaning in local forms and practices. We are not only interested in the built environment and its architectural heritage, but also the wider context of art, culture, and tradition that shape the present.

Some of OSO’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped OSO achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

28. IKAWAYA Architects

© IKAWAYA Architects

© IKAWAYA Architects

IKAWAYA Architects is an office based in Tokyo. Its work revolves mainly around residential projects.

Some of IKAWAYA Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped IKAWAYA Architects achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 1
Total Projects 2

27. SEISHO TAKASHI ARCHITECT’S STUDIO

©  Satoshi Asakawa

© Satoshi Asakawa

For “Architecture that is only there, attached to it”!

[NO STYLE]
We don’t have a fixed style.
We will always derive the appropriate answer for the place and request from the clean state.

[MAKE the FUTURE]
I’ll think about architecture in a long span.
With the “experience and accumulation” and “flexible ideas” so far, we aim for architecture that leads to the future.

[with YOU]
While sharing the excitement of creation, we will proceed with the design in the process of accumulating empathy.

Some of SEISHO TAKASHI ARCHITECT’S STUDIO’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped SEISHO TAKASHI ARCHITECT'S STUDIO achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 7

26. GARDE

© GARDE Co., Ltd.

© GARDE Co., Ltd.

GARDE is a leading design company founded in 1985. We began providing retail design, branding and consulting services in Japan. We now have offices in Italy, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, Los Angeles, New York and we provide services on a global scale.
GARDE designs the interiors of luxury fashion stores, boutiques, hotels, department stores, shopping centers, corporate offices and high-end residences. It offers customized services to satisfy clients’ needs through its global network of talented designers and a cutting-edge knowledge of the latest trends. GARDE provides services from original concept design to implementation and construction.

Some of GARDE’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped GARDE Co., Ltd. achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 1
Total Projects 11

25. Camp Design inc.

© Camp Design inc.

© Camp Design inc.

Camp Design inc. is based on architecture, from a small scale like a joinery to a design that affects a large scale like a city. Focusing on the design of living spaces, we also work on apartment complexes, stores, churches, and meeting places. In addition, we operate “Todo”, a specialized manufacturer of joinery, and design changes in distance, relationship, and feel through joinery.

Some of Camp Design inc.’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Camp Design inc. achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

24. hiroyuki moriyama architect and associates

© Archi Photo Co.Ltd.

© Archi Photo Co.Ltd.

hiroyuki moriyama architect and associates is a first-class architect office based in Tokyo. Its work revolves mainly around residential and commercial architecture.

Some of hiroyuki moriyama architect and associates Inc,’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped hiroyuki moriyama architect and associates achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

23. KIAS

© Keikichi Yamauchi Architect and Associates

© Keikichi Yamauchi Architect and Associates

KIAS is an architectural design studio based in Tokyo.

Some of KIAS’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped KIAS achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 3

22. frontofficetokyo

© Takumi Ota Photography

© Takumi Ota Photography

frontofficetokyo is a multi-disciplinary architecture and planning office in Tokyo. Our work is strongly influenced by research on the urban context and ways of living in a highly urbanized world. Our starting point is that the city is the new nature, and in that case new kinds of architecture and urban form are needed. At larger scales we are focused on regional and master planning that incorporates social issues and science, from energy to economics, and population change, in order to develop a more resilient and sustainable future. At the smaller scale we are working on ways to create flexibility in the workspace and in retail design, allowing users to take part in the process of building an office or shop through the lessons of daily experience and need.

Some of frontofficetokyo’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped frontofficetokyo achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 4

21. TAPO Tomioka Architectural Planning Office

© TAPO Tomioka Architectural Planning Office

© TAPO Tomioka Architectural Planning Office

TAPO Tomioka Architectural Planning Office is based in Tokyo, Japan. Its work is centred around residential architecture.

Some of TAPO Tomioka Architectural Planning Office’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped TAPO Tomioka Architectural Planning Office achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 3
Total Projects 6

20. Asai Architects

© Asai Architects

© Asai Architects

We are always thinking of “How Design contributes to our lives.” Good design gives you a lot of joy. And when the design comes up to “Art”, your life will be something full of exploration. Design exists in everything, from the small things such as pen, up big things like the cities. And it also exists in various media. What we are good at is the design of architecture and something near the scale of architecture. We will collaborate with the client and sometimes a variety of specialists, as to play a help to enrich your life.

Some of Asai Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Asai Architects achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 4

19. TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA DESIGN

© TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA DESIGN

© TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA DESIGN

Born in 1967. He worked under Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake, and established his own studio, TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC. in 2000. Active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, he is highly acclaimed globally. The “Sakura Torch” for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the glass bench exhibited at Musée d’Orsay called “Water Block,” the crystal prism architecture “Rainbow Church,” the natural crystal chair “VENUS,” and the glass teahouse “KOU-AN” are some of the many masterpieces announced. Many of his works are chosen as part of permanent collections in world renowned museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Musée National d’Art Moderne and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A).

Some of TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA DESIGN’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA DESIGN achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 5

18. Koichiro Oniki / ODS

© Takumi Ota Photography

© Takumi Ota Photography

Born in Tokyo in 1977. Graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Architecture and entered Nikken Sekkei in the same year. Later moved to design studio nendo, and worked on projects around the world as spatial design chief director for 10 years.
Established “ODS / Oniki Design Studio” in 2015.

Some of Koichiro Oniki / ODS’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Koichiro Oniki / ODS achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 11

17. Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc.

© Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc.

© Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc.

Our mission is to contribute to society through exciting urban planning and architecture. We are committed to creating varied experiences for the users of our developments while employing environmentally conscious and sustainable design to help establish a safe and comfortable world for future generations.

We have completed numerous international projects with designs based on our combined experiences of both Japanese and American culture. Drawing upon the creative talents and international savvy of our team, we seek to contribute to the enhancement of the built environment and to the creation of cities and architecture worldwide.

Some of Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc.’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc. achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 4

16. Endo Architect and Associates

© Endo Architect and Associates

© Endo Architect and Associates

Architecture is “current circumstance”. The built form is thus an integrated part of its environment. I do not just make architecture as an object, but I wish to involve the surrounding context, influence others, and design something like a mass of air which wraps around architecture, people, and activities all together. It is more than an action to express architecture, but also an action to mark the “current” time using architecture as a resource.

The importance in designing this “current circumstance” in each region is to know what the “social capital” is in that area. A lot of the community has not realised their value and therefore they have not known the existence of their “social capital”. They are too close to understand themselves what their capital is. Architects today, when designing as professionals, are required to find the regions’ social capital and report back to the community. I believe that those important social capital needs to be utilised and well expressed through its architecture.

Some of Endo Architect and Associates’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Endo Architect and Associates achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 6

15. aoydesign

© aoydesign

© aoydesign

By increasing dialogue, we aim to be a building that is suitable for that place and that person, and that you can feel attached not only to the client but also to the city. We value the texture and texture that increases our presence over time. We are designing as a couple, so we will propose from various perspectives. We also help you find properties such as land and condominiums from the perspective of architects. I try to design carefully, believing in work that can reach my hands and heart. We can’t accept a lot of work at the same time, so it may take a little time, but please feel free to contact us.

Some of aoydesign’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped aoydesign achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 7

14. Fumihiko Sano Studio

© Fumihiko Sano Studio

© Fumihiko Sano Studio

Born on 1981 in Nara Prefecture. Sano began his career as an apprentice as a Sukiya carpenter at Nakamura Souji Komuten in Kyoto. After working at a design office, he created an independent studio in 2011. Utilizing the construction methods, materials, and sense of space gained from the onsite experience, Sano utilizes the Japanese culture of today as a basis for concepts and designs.

In 2016, he visited 16 countries around the world and carried out a project to create a tea room as a place of hospitality in each location. Aiming to create new value for the culture of various regions, he continues to carry out cross-disciplinary works in architecture, interior design, product design, and artwork.

Some of Fumihiko Sano Studio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Fumihiko Sano Studio achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 9

13. Nikkei Housing System

© NIKKEN HOUSING SYSTEM LTD

© NIKKEN HOUSING SYSTEM LTD

Since Nikkei Housing System was founded in 1970, we have built about 100,000 housing as a professional architecture firm. We are holding an exhibit to think over the past, present, and future of dwelling units with a spotlight on our representative projects since our foundation and how they have changed over the past 50 years as they respond to what’s expected of housing by the new generations, society as a whole, and people at the time.

Some of Nikkei Housing System’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Nikkei Housing System achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 11

12. Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates

© Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates

© Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates

Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates was established by architect and architectural theorist Takashi Yamaguchi. The firm has designed a breadth of structures, from residential homes to spaces of devotion.

Some of Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 9

11. YUUA

© YUUA

© YUUA

YUUA is a first-class licensed architectural firm located in a 100-year-old traditional Japanese townhouse in the quaint neighborhood of Koenji, Tokyo. We place great importance on the dialogue with our clients to create the narrative of every design together, adjusted to the user and location. We offer multilingual design, consulting and supervision services for a wide range buildings and spaces. Through our design, we hope to create value for both the city and society. From a single apartment renovation to large real estate development, please feel free to contact us with your inquiries.

Some of YUUA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped YUUA achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 3
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 5

10. Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

© Photo.Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Inc

© Photo.Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Inc

Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP was established in 2002 by Hiroshi Nakamura. He believes in constructing an organic relationship between “architecture, nature, and the body” through “microscopic design” that is close to natural phenomena, people’s behavior, and emotional movements. And we aim to harmonize them with “architecture that can only be found there” based on the history, culture, industry, materials, etc. of the region. In recent years, he has found the essence of this in traditional Japanese architecture and garden culture, and is working to reconstruct them.

Some of Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 2
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 4

9. TDSTUDIO

© TDSTUDIO

© TDSTUDIO

tdstudio is a small, collaborative, and diverse international architectural office based in Tokyo. At tdstudio (Tsushima Design Studio), we strive to create more memorable and enchanting spaces through the utilization of trans-formative architecture. Through thoughtful transformations of the projects site, existing structures, architectural landscapes, and the surrounding environment we are able to create an overall clarity within our architectural projects which helps us to define more “TANGIBLE SPACES.”

In all of our projects we are committed to the creation of Architecture which sensitive to its surroundings not only now, but also throughout the lifetime of the building and beyond. Programmatic functioning, site conditions, regional context, the surrounding environment, as well as local culture’s and technologies are all carefully studied and implemented into each individual project.

Some of TDSTUDIO’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped TDSTUDIO achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 6

8. Yohei Kawashima architects inc.

© Daici Ano

© Daici Ano

Yohei Kawashima architects was founded in 2014 by Youhei Kawashima and is based in Tokyo, Japan. The firm is well versed in the design of large-scale apartment buildings as well as retail architecture.

Some of Yohei Kawashima architects inc.’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Yohei Kawashima architects inc. achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 10

7. kasa architects

© kasa architects

© kasa architects

We want to create places, not buildings. We share our clients’ ideas and wishes, discovering the joys and comforts of a new way of life. We value the qualities of a place, and we want to create rich spaces by pursuing the possibilities of architecture.

Some of kasa architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped kasa architects achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 18

6. Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

© Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

© Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Our aim is to find the simplest and the most innovative space composition, construction method or other architectural technique that does tackle the different problems and give a coherent, clever, logical solution. In order to do so, we will investigate and analyze the customer’s requirements, observe the urban context, understand the social interactions, acknowledge local history, culture, regulations and natural environment, study building materials and techniques.

Some of Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 2
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 7
Total Projects 24

5. Florian Busch Architects

© Florian Busch Architects

© Florian Busch Architects

Florian Busch Architects is an office practicing architecture, urbanism, and socio-cultural analysis. Based in Tokyo, FBA draws on a worldwide network of expert consultants, architects and engineers, accumulating several decades of experience in the ?eld of building. Understanding architecture as the result of interactions between multiple ?elds, FBA, from the outset of any project, devises speci?c strategies working in feedback processes with a diversity of consultants to drive the project towards solutions beyond the imagined.

Florian Busch Architectural Design Office is an office that engages in research on architecture, urban planning, society and culture. Based in Tokyo, we have a network of numerous engineers who have decades of experience and trust in the architectural world.

Some of Florian Busch Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Florian Busch Architects achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 11
Total Projects 15

4. emmanuelle moureaux INC.

© Daisuke Shima

© Daisuke Shima

Born in 1971, France. Emmanuelle Moureaux is a French architect living in Tokyo since 1996, where she established “emmanuelle moureaux architecture + design” in 2003. Inspired by the layers and colors of Tokyo that built a complex depth and density on the street, and the Japanese traditional spatial elements like sliding screens, she has created the concept of “shikiri”, which literally means “dividing (creating) space with colors”. She uses colours as three-dimensional elements, like layers, in order to create spaces, not as a finishing touch applied on surfaces.

Some of emmanuelle moureaux INC.’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped emmanuelle moureaux INC. achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 2
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 14
Total Projects 24

3. Nendo

© Nendo

© Nendo

Giving people a small “!” moment. There are so many small “!” moments hidden in our everyday, but we don’t recognize them, and even when we do, we tend to unconsciously reset our minds and forget what we’ve seen. But we believe these small “!” moments are what make our days so interesting—so rich. That’s why we want to reconstitute the everyday by collecting and reshaping them into something that’s easy to understand. We’d like the people who’ve encountered nendo’s designs to feel these small “!” moments intuitively. That’s nendo’s job.

Some of Nendo’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Nendo achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

Featured Projects 21
Total Projects 17

2. NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD

© Eiichi Kano

© Eiichi Kano

At Nikken Sekkei, we take an integrated approach to our projects as a professional service firm. Across all in-house disciplines of architectural design: urban design, research, planning and consulting — our teams work collaboratively to deliver better solutions for clients.

Some of NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 3
A+Awards Finalist 9
Featured Projects 26
Total Projects 40

1. Kengo Kuma and Associates

© Kengo Kuma and Associates

© Kengo Kuma and Associates

Kengo Kuma was born in 1954. He established Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990. He is currently a University Professor and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo after teaching at Keio University and the University of Tokyo. KKAA projects are currently underway in more than 50 countries. Kengo Kuma proposes architecture that opens up new relationships between nature, technology, and human beings. His major publications include Zen Shigoto(Kengo Kuma – the complete works, Daiwa Shobo), Ten Sen Men (“point, line, plane”, Iwanami Shoten), Makeru Kenchiku (Architecture of Defeat, Iwanami Shoten), Shizen na Kenchiku (Natural Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho), Chii-sana Kenchiku (Small Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho) and many others.

Some of Kengo Kuma and Associates’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Kengo Kuma and Associates achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Tokyo:

A+Awards Winner 5
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 46
Total Projects 47

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

  • Project completed within the last 3 years
  • A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
  • Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
  • High quality, in focus photographs
  • At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
  • Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
  • Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

 


 

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

The post 30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Tokyo appeared first on Journal.

Archi-Quiz: How Well Do You Know Famous Olympic Buildings of Yesteryear?

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

Olympic architecture has always pushed the boundaries of design and innovation, creating landmarks that become synonymous with the cities they inhabit. From awe-inspiring stadiums to temporary structures designed for quick assembly and disassembly, all these buildings truly aimed to capture the spirit and history of the Olympics.

And with the 2024 Summer Olympics fast approaching, we feel like it’s the perfect time to reflect on the iconic structures that have defined past Games.

Designed by renowned architects and featuring unique design elements, these structures witnessed some of the most memorable moments in sports history. While as an architect you may not be expected to remember who won which medal, brushing up on your knowledge on famous buildings is never a bad idea.

So, do you think you can name these notable Olympic buildings, the architects behind them and the Games they were part of? Don’t worry, we’ll give you a small hint for each.

Now ready, set, go!


1.

Hint: Designed by a famous Swiss duo, this stadium’s steel structure resembles a certain natural habitat.


2.

Hint: Famous for its bubble-like exterior, this building hosted swimming events in a city known for its significant Olympic legacy and cultural landmarks.


3.

Hint: Don’t let this detail shot discourage you! This is the tallest inclined tower in the world, originally intended to support a retractable roof, now repurposed as office space with stunning city views.


4.

Hint: Famous for its suspension roof design, this mid-20th-century architectural marvel hosted the swimming and diving events during the Summer Olympic Games in an Asian capital.


5.

Hint: Designed to be a sustainable and flexible venue, this stadium was later adapted for multiple uses, including athletics and football.


6.

Hint: Designed by a famous Japanese firm, this temporary facility was made using timber from various regions and served as a communal space during the games.


7.

Hint: This ancient stadium originally built entirely of marble was used for the first modern Olympic Games in the late 19th century.


8.

Hint: Resembling the flowing movements of the sport it hosts, this venue’s exterior features LED-lit bands that create a dynamic visual effect.


9.

Hint: This building features a wave-like roof and was designed by a world-famous firm known for their fluid futuristic designs.


10.

Hint: Known for its eco-friendly and cost-effective design, this building was a temporary venue dedicated to opening and closing ceremonies.


11.

Hint: Featuring a wooden lattice design, this stadium replaced a controversial design by Zaha Hadid Architects.


Share this with your fellow colleagues and students to see how your architectural knowledge compares! Then, when you’re ready, you can check out the answers here. (No cheating!)

Check Your Answers

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

The post Archi-Quiz: How Well Do You Know Famous Olympic Buildings of Yesteryear? appeared first on Journal.

30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in South Korea

These annual rankings were last updated on July 18th, 2024. Want to see your firm on next year’s list? Continue reading for more on how you can improve your studio’s ranking.

South Korea’s architectural language has developed over centuries, undergoing many evolutions and stylistic variations — many influenced by wavering politics. From the Japanese occupation to the devastating Korean War, South Korea’s urban fabric has endured many moments of unrest. The remains from times of political strife now stand alongside the nation’s contemporary architecture.

The nation’s pre-modern architecture is heavily influenced by Buddhism and Chinese design. South Korea’s mountainous landscape is home to traditional sloped-roof dwellings, temples and palaces attributed to past dynasties. Take the Changdeokgung Palace and the Haeinsa Temple, for example. These two relics are among South Korea’s 15 World Heritage Sites.

Alongside the tradition found in South Korean architecture is an astute interest in modern architecture and technology. Following the Korean War, the divide between North and South brought forth independent architectural styles. Once the dust from the wars settled and capital increased, Korean architecture flourished. A new sensibility was found — one that rejects pragmatism and encourages experimentation and sophistication. South Korean architects began studying abroad and fusing their international perspectives with cultural tradition to breed a distinct Korean spirit. Seoul, South Korea’s capital, has become an international stage for large-scale and impressive architectural feats.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in South Korea based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

  • The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2024)
  • The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2024)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of South Korea architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in South Korea:

31. Joongwon Architects

© Bojune Kwon

© Bojune Kwon

Joongwon Architects was founded in 1985 and is a second-generation architectural collective. Although we create results in the present, we respect the accumulated experience of the field that has gone through countless trials and errors and repetitions from the past, and we strive to ensure that the inspirations on our shiny desks are translated into lasting meaning. Unlike inventors, for architects, a creative moment is a small moment in which we discover values in life that we hadn’t realized through continuous observation. Joongwon Architects is steadily creating healthy places in our cities based on a delicate understanding of life, and we are creating spaces that can last for a long time based on our sincere interest in architecture.

Some of Joongwon Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Joongwon Architects achieve 31st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 2
Total Projects 2

30. 2m2 architects

© 2m2 architects

© 2m2 architects

2m2 architects was founded in Seoul by architect Junghee Lee. It tries to suggest new cultural and social possibility in old-fashioned, conventional existing Korean architect and aims to produce high quality final architecture so that architect, client and constructor can be satisfied.

Based on differentiated design, the company reflects details on construction accumulated in the field for several years on design and provide client.
In addition, while having interest in various fields such as design, music, image and street culture other than architecture, the company plans, designs and constructs the project through collaboration with expertise in different

Some of 2m2 architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped 2m2 architects achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 5

29. UTAA

© UTAA

© UTAA

UTAA is a South Korean architecture and design firm. Its work is mainly focused around residential projects.

Some of UTAA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped UTAA achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 5

28. Z_Lab

© KIM Jae Kyeong

© KIM Jae Kyeong

Z_Lab is a design group to create a place and space based communication with region and reflects the individual’s desire and will. We must achieve a balance of individual aspirations and regional universality in terms of the design and regional identity. In this instance we create a new experience for staying out through space and personalized lifestyle brand.

We would like to contribute to give a new experience for many people beyond the geographic boundaries based on the place and space. So that our results can be created with a private transfer to local and sustainable value for the future to create a positive business model based on the person and region.

Some of Z_Lab’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Z_Lab achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 5

27. ANM

© ANM

© ANM

ANM is an architecture and design studio. ANM is technical and methodological, emphasizing only diversity and differentiation. In the midst of biased architectural trends, realistic and honest architectural relationships ANM works in a balanced way between the architect’s intentions and the architectural needs.

Some of ANM’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped ANM achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 6

26. Oh jongsang

© Oh jongsang

© Oh jongsang

Oh jongsang is a South Korean architecture and design firm. Its work is mainly focused around religious projects.

Some of Oh jongsang’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Oh jongsang achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 4
Total Projects 10

25. HyunjoonYoo Architects

© HyunjoonYoo Architects

© HyunjoonYoo Architects

Architecture is to design relationships. We seek to create harmony among people and with nature through new architectural visions.

Some of HyunjoonYoo Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped HyunjoonYoo Architects achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 6

24. DIOINNO ARCHITECTURE

© DIOINNO ARCHITECTURE PLLC

© DIOINNO ARCHITECTURE PLLC

Cities need more accessible and reconfigurable construction strategies to foster the culture of dynamic placemaking in the context of ephemeral and transitory programs in our contemporary city. Stick Snap Stack is an alternative construction system to offer such a resilient construction framework. The system utilizes the simplicity of ‘stacking’ inspired by the traditional wood joinery method. Without bonding agents, the system uses a ‘snapping’ induced interlocking system for the unique stacking mechanism.

The geometry of the centerpiece can be fabricated to shift the stacking angle, while modularized three legs of the assembled unit block interlock with other blocks to complete a rhombohedral unit cell acting as a self-supporting structural ‘module.’

Some of DIOINNO ARCHITECTURE’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped DIOINNO ARCHITECTURE PLLC achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Winner 1
A+Awards Finalist 2
Featured Projects 1
Total Projects 25

23. D.LIM Architects

© D.LIM Architects

© D.LIM Architects

D·LIM is an architectural group ledby its two principals, Yeonghwan Lim and Sunhyun Kim. Lim, a professor at Hongik University and a registered architect in Pennsylvania, is responsible for creative design. Kim holds a master’s degree in project management from Harvard University and is responsible for the execution of projects. She is a registered architect in Korea.

Some of D.LIM Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped D.LIM Architects achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 5

22. YounghanChung Architects

© YounghanChung Architects

© YounghanChung Architects

Younghan Chung architects, the architectural studio based on Seoul, seeks for new typology of living in the dense and uniform picture of the city and studies experimental and creative design processes through the relationship of various phenomena of the city.

Some of YounghanChung Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped YounghanChung Architects achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 5

21. Lee Eunseok+KOMA

© Yoon Joon-hwan

© Yoon Joon-hwan

In 1995, representative architect Lee won the first prize in the international competition KOMA (Korea American Museum of Art and Cutural Center) in Los Angeles, USA, with R.Meier, M.Graves, and J.S.Kim, renowned architects, as judges, from 475 participating teams from 68 countries around the world, and presented the concept of an open platform, a common value of mankind, and a space based on the motif of a lifted traditional horizontal roof to the world. Thus, the values of ‘lifted architecture’ and ‘open space’ were incorporated into the name and are the main concepts of KOMA’s current architecture.

Some of Lee Eunseok+KOMA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Lee Eunseok+KOMA achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Winner 1
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 4

20. WISE Architecture

© WISE Architecture

© WISE Architecture

Young Jang, AIA, received his Master of Architecture from University of California, Berkeley after received Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Hongik University in Korea. He worked at Iroje Architects and Planners, Seoul, Korea, and Rafael Vinoly Architects, and Steven Holl Architects, New York.

Sook Hee Chun, AIA, received her Master of Architecture from Princeton University after received BS in Architecture from Ewha Womans University in Korea. She worked at Iroje Architects and Planners, Seoul, Korea, and Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York. After Jointly establishing WISE Architecture in 2008, the two completed several small but meaningful projects focusing on materiality of everydayness in Seoul.

Some of WISE Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped WISE Architecture achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 6

19. JMY architects

© JMY architects

© JMY architects

‘Architecturing’ has two main meanings. First, it refers to the basic posture and method of constructing in a present progressive sense rather than the resultant object of an architecture. Second, it also describes the object of design as ‘a work of organizing a space’ rather than the external form. There is no end if architecture is confronted with difficulty.

Occasionally, the numerous theories and results of architectures and cities deceive our mind and disturb the liberal thoughts of our brain. Since our knowledge and experiences are limited, an attitude of learning something new and emptying our mind everyday is required.
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Pure intellectual curiosity, positive thinking, and attitude that can stand up to the challenges we face will broaden our knowledge and deepen our thought. It is architecturing of JMY architects to enjoy learning and doing so.

Some of JMY architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped JMY architects achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 5
Total Projects 7

18. ON Architecture INC.

© ON Architecture INC.

© ON Architecture INC.

We will suggest various models through investigations on the values and possibilities of local architecture. We will go beyond the junction between physical, environmental, and realistic factors towards suggesting an alternative that builds up the communicative relationships between people and between local areas. We will seek after the creation of new values by exploring social and cultural phenomena with insightful thinking. We will become a sustainable group that makes ceaseless experiments on various alternatives to create limitless values and business models based on architecture. We are mainly interested in the small relationships of architecture created by many people after gathering, and will put values on social change stemming from small things.

Some of ON Architecture INC.’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped ON Architecture INC. achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 5

17. Archium

© Archium

© Archium

Archium is a South Korean architecture and design firm. Its work is mainly focused around commercial and residential projects.

Some of Archium’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Archium achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 7

16. EHLA

© Hyosook Chin

© Hyosook Chin

Architecture is nothing. However, architecture is more significant than any others like air in our life. Architecture is not a hero. Architecture is just a stage of our living. We do not want architecture to say a lot of showing language to come forward from the surroundings. As people live healthier within clean air, we want architecture to be a clean, pure and honest artifact that holds human life silently. We do not believe architecture will change the world and we do not work in order to change the world through architecture. For now, we, aoa architects, are about to construct the architecture with architecture itself without a metadiscourse beyond architecture.

Some of EHLA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped EHLA achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 7

15. ArchiWorkshop

© ArchiWorkshop

© ArchiWorkshop

We are architects, who think, create, enjoy and share everyday architecture.

Some of ArchiWorkshop’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped ArchiWorkshop achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 15

14. Architecture Studio YEIN

© Architecture Studio YEIN

© Architecture Studio YEIN

Architecture Studio YEIN is an architectural practice based on South Korea. Its work is mainly focused around residential projects.

Some of Architecture Studio YEIN’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Architecture Studio YEIN achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 7
Total Projects 18

13. SsD

© SsD

© SsD

SsD is an architecture firm that approaches design as a convergent, interdisciplinary venture. Minimum form takes maximum effect with the goal to bridge the utopian and the pragmatic. Instead of separating aspects of architecture, landscape, history, social systems, and codes into their constituent disciplines, these agendas are simultaneously explored so that each discipline symbiotically gains from the other.  In this way sustainability emerges as an integrated rather than additive result.

Some of SsD’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped SsD achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Finalist 3
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 12

12. HAEAHN Architecture

© Namsun Lee

© Namsun Lee

HAEAHN Architecture, marking its 34th anniversary this year, has been continuously striving to design valuable urban environmental projects based on creativity and innovation since its establishment in 1990. HAEAHN has been in alliance with H Architecture, New York, USA since 2011 and established several overseas offices which have greatly contributed to its extensive growth in becoming a world standard architectural design firm. Overseas offices such as, Baghdad Branch Office, Republic of Iraq in 2014, Ho Chi Minh City Branch Office, Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 2018.

Some of HAEAHN Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped HAEAHN Architecture achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Winner 1
Featured Projects 8
Total Projects 23

11. OBBA

© OBBA

© OBBA

The Office for Beyond Boundaries Architecture (OBBA) was founded in 2012 by So-jung Lee and Sang-Jun Kwak, to pursue a combination of multiple choices and solutions by looking at the rapidly changing current current society and the various problems that arise in the niche of its changing from a unified perspective rather than individual perception.

Some of OBBA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped OBBA achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 8
Total Projects 7

10. Yong Ju Lee Architecture

© Yong Ju Lee Architecture

© Yong Ju Lee Architecture

Yong Ju Lee, AIA is principal of Seoul-based Yong Ju Lee Architecture. He has been working for stimulating design for everyday life in multiple scales and media. His works are presented worldwide such as National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul), Museum of Modern Art (New York) and Venice Biennale. He also received world-renowned awards including Korean Public Architecture Award, iF Design Award and Design Vanguard.

He earned academic degrees from Yonsei University and Columbia University. He is registered architect in Massachusetts and had been a founding partner of New York based E/B Office. He is currently assistant professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology.

Some of Yong Ju Lee Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Yong Ju Lee Architecture achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 9
Total Projects 10

9. L’EAU design

© L'EAU design Co.,Ltd.

© L'EAU design Co.,Ltd.

L’EAU Design is a group seeking after such environment as falling under comprehensive sense and attempt the relationship with architectural design. ‘Environment’ includes meanings of social and cultural conditions that influence in human lifestyle as well as ecological and build environment. L’EAU Design, since its establishment in 2000, has been pursuing a total design focused on ‘Architecture and Urbanism’ ‘Renovation and Interior Design’ ‘Environment Design’ in order to architecturally design diverse concerns amid the better ‘human environment’, which is based on their research about social and cultural background of human.

Some of L’EAU design’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped L'EAU design Co.,Ltd. achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 9
Total Projects 22

8. stpmj

© stpmj

© stpmj

stpmj is an award winning design practice based in New York and Seoul. The office was founded by Seung Teak Lee and Mi Jung Lim with the agenda of “provocative realism.” It is a series of synergetic explorations that occur on the boundary between the ideal and the real. It is based on simplicity of form and detail, clarity of structure, excellence in environmental function, use of new materials, and rational management of budget. To these, the team adds ideas generated from curiosity in everyday life as they pursue a methodology for dramatically exploiting the limitations of reality. Resulting from these new perspectives, their work is nuanced yet bold and represents a reaction against architectural clichés.

Some of stpmj’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped stpmj achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 10
Total Projects 10

7. JOHO Architecture

© JOHO Architecture

© JOHO Architecture

Interpreting architecture as a part of the humanities, JOHO Architectrue bases their philosophy on creating new identity and discourse in contemporary cities. In addition, architectural materials are set as a unit of ‘geo-metry’ and designs are developed through the grouping, addition and subtraction of these units. This ‘material_metry’ refers to the reinterpretation of a material’s meaning within the context of a site.

Some of JOHO Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped JOHO Architecture achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 9
Total Projects 12

6. BCHO Architects Associates

© BCHO Architects Associates

© BCHO Architects Associates

Founded in Seoul, Korea in 1994, BCHO Architects started as a design build office with a focus on simple structures and strong regard for nature. Since 1998 the practice focus is  architecture and furniture, however we work very closely with contractors and multiple fabrication specialists in various disciplines; including stone masons, product designers, wood workers, potters, lighting engineers, furniture and graphic designers and artists. We also have multiple professional collaborators in Montana, Massachussetts, California, Hawaii and Peru. BCHO Architects believe that buildings, furniture and art are made, not created. Each architectural project, encompassing various scales and programs, explores the phenomenon of light and space, fabrication and construction methods , recycling and reusing, and a broad sense of sustainability (social/cultural/physical) which uses our collective creative energy to reduce our buildings demand for grid energy.

Some of BCHO Architects Associates’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped BCHO Architects Associates achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Finalist 1
Featured Projects 10
Total Projects 11

5. Suh Architects

© Suh Architects

© Suh Architects

With every project, Suh Architects is defined by the marriage of function and verve. It does not adhere to a predetermined style, and expects its architecture to outlast current trends. Buildings must not only make sense spatially and in an intangible way, but also keep the rain out, heat in, and stay within budget. The firm is well-aware that this sort of harmony is only made possible by maintaining consistent standards and fully understanding its clients’ needs.

Its founder, Eulho Suh, is directly involved in the design and execution of each project from its initial conception, through planning, construction, and completion. With every project, spatial clarity and human scale are foremost; subsequent details are held to the highest standard of execution.

Some of Suh Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Suh Architects achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Winner 4
A+Awards Finalist 3
Featured Projects 6
Total Projects 8

4. Mass Studies

© Mass Studies

© Mass Studies

Mass Studies was founded in 2003 by Minsuk Cho in Seoul, Korea, as a critical investigation of architecture in the context of mass production, intensely over-populated urban conditions, and other emergent cultural niches that define contemporary society. Amid the many frictions defining spatial conditions in the twenty-first century, namely past vs. future, local vs. global, utopia vs. reality, and individual vs. collective, Mass Studies focuses on the operative complexity of these multiple conditions instead of striving for a singular, unified perspective. For each architectural project, which exist across a wide range of scales, Mass Studies explores issues such as spatial systems/matrixes, building materials/techniques, and typological divergences to foster a vision that allows the discovery of new socio/cultural potential.

Some of Mass Studies’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Mass Studies achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

A+Awards Winner 1
Featured Projects 9
Total Projects 9

3. Moon Hoon

© Namgoong Sun

© Namgoong Sun

Moon Hoon is an architectural practice based on South Korea. Its work is mainly focused around residential projects.

Some of Moon Hoon’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Moon Hoon achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 16
Total Projects 12

2. IROJE KHM Architects

© IROJE KHM Architects

© IROJE KHM Architects

IROJE KHM Architects is many kinds of award-winning architect’s office in Seoul, Korea. Kim Hyo Man, the principal of IROJE KHM Architects, is architect, concurrent professor of graduate school of architecture and editorial adviser of architectural magazine.

Some of IROJE KHM Architects’ most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped IROJE KHM Architects achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 17
Total Projects 21

1. Studio Gaon

© Studio Gaon

© Studio Gaon

Studio Gaon was founded in 1998 and is represented by Lim Hyoung-nam and Roh Eun-joo. Gaon means ‘center’ in Korean. The firm carries out various urban and architectural projects. The architecture they pursue harmonizes with nature and contemplates the locality of Korea and the present nature of architecture.

The studio is particularly interested in traditional architecture featuring the locality of Korea and Seoul, where we are mainly active. From their point of view, the biggest feature of Korean architecture is the movement of space, compared to other oriental architectures such as that of Japan and China.

Some of Studio Gaon’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Studio Gaon achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in South Korea:

Featured Projects 33
Total Projects 46

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

  • Project completed within the last 3 years
  • A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
  • Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
  • High quality, in focus photographs
  • At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
  • Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
  • Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

 


 

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

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