Architects about facades

Houses in this style are great examples of how loosely Gothic and modern architecture can come together — even though our own «modern classics» grow out of classicism. We should be building more houses like this.

The «Gothic» element here comes from the Tudor style. In Canada, Western Europe, and many American states, plenty of new private takes on this medieval style (Tudor Revival) were built in the 19th and 20th centuries, expressing wealth and solidity in country houses and townhouses. That kind of architecture has shaped the taste for high-end housing there for the past 100 years.

And now that heritage is being developed and reimagined — including through redevelopment projects.

In Russia, mass-market classical suburban housing leans on Greco-Roman aesthetics. Italian and Palladian palaces, Romanesque villas, and Baroque mansions — once built with ambition and real understanding — get quoted in this popular «low» style, with plenty of simplification, of course. As it turns out, the orderly «cubic» massing becomes very dull without skillful, generous decoration.

And then there are qualities that neoclassical houses simply lack: a free plan with no need for symmetry or for cramming everything into a rectangle (hello, modernity!), free volumes, large multi-part windows, and an interesting broken roofline.

The already proven, popular barnhouse is essentially the simplest form of Tudor architecture. But it lacks the richness and comfort of a permanent home.

Of course, there is no existing stock of these houses in Russia, so we'll have to design them from scratch. This year we're taking orders for modern architecture with Gothic roots. Long live the gables and the slenderness!

Every phase of a project matters. But the sketching stage is the most important one, in our view. It's through trying out different ideas as sketches that we build a good rapport with the client, land on a unique concept, and work out the details.

The Manhwaricano house in South Korea by Rieuldorang Atelier.

A house-manifesto that proclaims a new normality. The classic roofline is hidden inside a cubic volume. The through-passage — the central element of the design — is the result of evolving the idea of the «patio». Almost all of the windows face inward rather than outward, conveying a message of turning inward and reflecting.

This red-brick house in Bentveld, Holland, was built in 1932. Eighty years later, the Baksvanwengerden architecture studio reworked the concept. The dark, blank facade was transformed into an open, sunlit space.

The house reads like a cabin, as the first-floor extension carries on the line of the gabled roof. As many walls and partitions as possible were removed to open up the space, and the panoramic glazing makes it feel even larger.

Modern houses with gables in our facade database.

Trying out ideas for a new project.

Travertine wall cladding, scalloped sandstone corners, and openwork wrought-iron balcony railings.

How do you build a new commercial building while keeping the character of the old city?

This project highlights the preserved historic facade, in keeping with the style and scale of the surrounding buildings. The new structure tries to stay out of the spotlight: the architecture is functional, and the fiber-cement cladding is Swisspearl Largo in soft colors. It's deliberately understated so that the facade preserved in front of it stands out and keeps the traditional character of the street.

The Blumenthal Building office complex in São Paulo, Brazil. Architects: Kruchin Arquitetura.

A nominee in the «Office Buildings» and «Renovation» categories at ArchDaily’s 2021 Building of the Year Awards.

A decorative majolica frieze in several shades, with corbels that turn into pilasters at the corners of the house.

For this project we used tinted trim a couple of shades lighter than the walls, rather than white. The shutters and wrought-iron grilles fill in the bare stretches of wall. And the highlight — the concave, folded copper canopy over the main entrance.

The reconstruction of an old brick townhouse in Vietnam. By Landmak Architecture.

The new facade is made of white concrete blocks in an openwork, lattice-like pattern. They strike a delicate balance between the total privacy of solid walls and the transparency of the panoramic glazing.

Continuing the theme of brick patterns on the facade. Here are a few examples of ornamental brickwork from our projects.

For a full deep dive into the topic, read our article on ornamental masonry.