CATEGORY

Whether you are planning to build a contemporary-style home or are simply intrigued by the extraordinary innovation of domestic architecture today, Modern House Three, by Raul A. Barrenche, offers a brilliant survey of the best of the best. Third in a series initiated in 1993, the current volume offers stunning photographs and elegant descriptions of 33 houses in 15 countries. Some of these projects are by big-name architects (Tadao Ando, Richard Meier, Glenn Murcutt, John Hejduk); most are by designers you may never have heard of. The book is organized in three sections that focus on three distinct issues— the integration of architecture with landscape, re-imagining the way people live in their homes, and new materials and energy-saving technologies. Among the book's discoveries is the Carter Tucker House by Sean Godsell Architects, a weekend retreat in Australia, discretely clad with cedar wood battens that rise up like awnings to reveal a transparent facade of sliding glass doors. And the Koehler House by Julie Snow Architects, two bold horizontal planes with huge expanses of glass that are dramatically anchored to a rocky outcropping in eastern Canada. While most of the domiciles are expansive, Small House was designed by Kazuyo Sejima for a tiny plot in Tokyo. Perched on a 646-square-foot plot, this glass-and-metal capsule accommodates a family of three by limiting each of the four floors to a single function. The variety and inventiveness exhibited in this book is extraordinary. There are houses that reveal the extraordinary effects of natural light, employ unusual materials and pioneer new ways of organizing domestic space. A straw bale house in London by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects uses recycled concrete wall fragments and metal coils to absorb the vibrations from passing trains. A house by Kengo Kuma & Associates for a site near the Great Wall of China has been crafted inside and out with delicate stalks of bamboo. For browsing, dreaming or active research, Modern House Three is tangible proof that contemporary architects are infusing new technologies and innovative uses of space with an equal emphasis on sheer beauty. --Cathy Curtis