Art Architecture Dezign

Pennsylvania architecture studio ISA has designed a slender five-storey house in a developing Philadelphia neighbourhood, as a housing prototype for tiny vacant lots.

ISA's narrow Tiny Tower is built like a mini-skyscraper, using a steel-reinforced wood frame that is clad in painted metal across its exterior. Windows take up large portions of the street facade.

Each of the levels is designed to suit different functions, with the floor space totalling 1,250 square feet (116 square metres).

Utilising compact vertical circulation, Tiny Tower maximises the entire property's footprint in both length and height. The house is 12 feet (3.6 metres) wide, 29 feet (8.8 metres) deep, and 38 feet (11.5 metres) tall.

The project is located in Philadelphia's Brewerytown, which is currently undergoing revitalisation as new buildings infill vacant lots.

"Tiny Tower serves as a prototype for flexible-use buildings on small urban plots," said ISA. "Early waves of redevelopment tend to take advantage of sites with standard dimensions, but the area's urban grid includes many under-utilised extra small parcels facing alley streets."

The tiered structured stands out from its neighbours, which include parking lots and the gardens of adjacent houses. Rather than a yard, Tiny Tower features a lower level window garden, a second level walk out terrace and a roof deck.

"The design promotes vertical living for both indoor and outdoor space," the studio said.

The ground floor sits slightly below grade, so the building's height is not too obtrusive on the surroundings. A further basement level allows for enough living space within the volume squeezed onto the tight plot.

"Unlocking the development potential of these tiny sites is critical as the city looks to increase its supply of low-cost housing for a diverse range of lifestyles," ISA said.

A folded-plate steel staircase at the front of the house connects all five levels, while a separate exterior stair provides access to the roof.

"The biggest challenge in a vertical house with a tiny footprint is stair configuration," said the studio. "The experience of going up and down the stair is integral to the daily life of the building."

The lowest level accommodates a kitchen and bathroom. Above, the main entrance opens to the living room a few steps down. The third floor is used as an office, with two desks across from one another and a small balcony.

The top two storeys each house a bedroom and bathroom, and the roof terrace provides extra living space when the weather is nice.

White walls, light wood floors and ample natural light create an airy backdrop inside. All-white furnishings are used sparingly, for a spacious rather than cramped feel.

ISA has also created two other residential projects in Philadelphia: a white townhouse with a plywood core and a housing complex clad in brick, wood and metal.

As land in cities becomes increasingly scarce, architects are coming up with clever solutions to fill in any urban gaps. Other houses that make the most of their tiny plots include a "starter" home with a jagged roofline in New Orleans by OJT, a white house in Brasília by Bloco Arquitetos, and a gabled black residence in Vancouver by D'Arcy Jones Architecture.

Photography is by Sam Oberter.

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Mexican design studio Peca have created a collection of furniture with structures based on the patterns found in poetry.

The Rima cabinet, Verso table and Pausa paperweights all take design cues from the devices employed by poets and are constructed using natural materials.

The Rima credenza cabinet has a repeating pattern of wooden slats that is intended to imitate the cadence of a poem. The piece is handmade from beech wood in collaboration with local artisans.

"This poetically handmade piece gives visual and tactile harmony to the spaces," said Peca. "Wooden slats are repeated one after the other to form a texture that embraces the cover and the oval base."

The Verso table is also made of pale beech wood and features two interlocking legs that cross underneath a circular top. The symmetrical form of the leg structure heightens the round shape of the table top.

"The rhythm of its composition proposes a dialogue that captures the symmetry and seduces the soft texture in the veins of the wood," explained the brand.

Pausa is a collection of paperweights and dividers made of beech wood, brass and onyx. They form families of three identical pieces, each in the different materials.

"The best way to enter the universe of writing is through books and its reading in stimulating pauses. The collection of dividers and paperweights owe their names to these moments," said the designers.

The heavy materials – stone, metal and wood – are intended to contrast in an interesting way with the lightness of the paper they hold down.

The Guadalajara-based studio was founded in 2007 by Caterina Moretti, who focus is on working with natural, raw materials and exploring texture and form.

The studio works towards bringing together tradition and innovation by working with local artisans and collaborating with different designers. It has become known for its expertise in traditional Mexican techniques and materials.

In a previous collection, Peca carved bookshelves and cubbyholes from grey volcanic rock. The Lava Shelves are modular and stackable, offering flexibility to a space.

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Argentinian architect Luciano Kruk has created a family home that follows Mies van Der Rohe's "conception of architecture as the expression of structure".

Casa BLQ is located in Nuevo Quilmes, a gated community in Buenos Aires with relatively small plots of land. Designed by local architect Luciano Kruk, the home sits on a flat, irregularly shaped property that faces a neighbourhood street.

"Originally free of vegetation, the lot is an irregular quadrangular polygon, with a diagonal line parallel to the street cutting its front," said Kruk's studio in a project description.

The clients – a couple with two children – requested a master suite with a dressing room, two secondary bedrooms and a work studio for the father. They also wanted a large outdoor terrace equipped with a barbecue grill. The clients asked that the front of the home offer a heightened level of privacy.

"Special emphasis was put on the fact that the house should be sheltered from the street and look out for intimacy in the private areas," the team said.

The architects conceived a single, concrete mass that stretches the width of the site. The front elevation is largely opaque, while the backside of the 200-square-metre house is more transparent. The team incorporated glass walls that overlook a verdant yard.

In the rear, the upper level cantilevers over the lower portion, partially shading a terrace. This "eave" helps with the transition from inside to outside.

"It graduates the passage from one sector to the other – at once protecting the inside from the outside weather and allowing social activities in a sheltered outdoor space," the studio said.

Up above, large concrete fins help block sunlight from the west. This back of the home also has a concrete grill, with a black chimney that rises high above the roof.

Concrete not only defines the exterior, but is also prevalent inside. On both the ground and upper level, two continuous, parallel concrete beams stretch the length of the building and support floor slabs. In addition to providing structural support, the home's concrete skeleton acts as a "space organiser" – influenced by the work of modernist German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

"The use of concrete made it possible to organise, expand, fluidify, free and open the space, as well as link it with its surroundings," said the studio. "Following Mies's conception of architecture as the expression of structure, the house's supporting skeleton and its spatiality were integrated into formal unity."

On the ground level, a kitchen occupies one end and the studio occupies the other. The central area encompasses an open-plan living room and dining area. The second floor houses the master suite and bedrooms – all of which are "endowed with openings toward the sky and the garden".

Luciano Kruk founded his eponymous studio in 2012 after a long period serving as partner at BAKarquitectos. He has designed a number of concrete homes in Argentina, including the Equestrian House along the coast and the Rodriguez House on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Photography is by Daniela Mac Adden.

Project credits:

Architect: Luciano Kruk
Project manager: Ekaterina Künzel
Construction manager: Pablo Magdalena
Collaborators: Andrés Conde Blanco, Belén Ferrand, Denise Andreoli, Dan Saragusti

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