I find great value in studying precedents, good examples of design. Here are some studies of some of my favourite buildings designed by the people that inspire me the most. It is endlessly interesting to study them carefully, examine their motifs and big ideas and explore how their qualities give rise to the final expressions. One day I hope to create a place as wonderful as these.

Alvar Aalto 

A man that needs no introduction. Aalto was a master at composing a facade, as well as integrating interior and exterior spaces in a holistic experience. Every aspect of the spaces in these houses has been carefully thought through. One of the qualities that has always impressed me about Aalto’s works is that they are uncompromisingly «modern» in their expression, but at the same time they do not fall into the pitfall of a generic expression like so much of the undesirable, boring construction of recent years that is attributed to modernism (where «modernist» is used as a derogatory adjective). While studying in Iceland from 2014-2016, I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time in the Nordic house that he designed there in Vatnsmýri in Reykjavík (completed 1968). This is a building of stunning quality, and I wrote much of my Master's thesis while sitting in the sunken library with delightful overhead lighting. I made this drawing of the exterior looking towards the northeast in 2016.

I have a book «Alvar Aalto Houses» (compiled by Jari Jetsonen & Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen), which contains fantastic photos of nearly all of the residential buildings that Alvar Aalto designed throughout his life. The projects are also presented with many of his drawings, which is something that I always like. This is one of my favourites to browse through now and again when I need some inspiration, or just want to get lost in some pictures.

Robin Boyd

The Featherston house (completed 1967, top left and bottom left) is perhaps my favourite house ever designed. Here a roof is established directly above a vegetated slope in the living room, and various living spaces are created on interior terraces amongst the plants that cascade down the slope. Many of Robin Boyd’s houses consist of spaces carefully organized around gardens with various degrees of enclosure. This integration between house and landscape is an important theme in all his works. 

Boyd wrote a fantastic commentary on his time’s popular architecture in a book called «The Australian Ugliness» (1960), in which he humorously critiques the proliferation of surface-level embellishment (so-called «featurism») and argues instead for the prevalence of powerful, inspiring spatial concepts as the basis for design. From him I learned to focus on creating spaces that are first and foremost interesting in and of themselves, before any kind of surface-level ornamentation is considered in addition. Boyd was also convinced that architecture (especially the design of homes) was an indelible part of the cultural life and expression of a nation. I can only agree with him. As someone that grew up in the faceless suburbs of western Canada where similar cheap, boring construction is juxtaposed everywhere with a vast unbuilt landscape, his ideas about the ideal relation between house and landscape have always deeply resonated with me. Boyd believed that such weak design was deliberate: «Perhaps the explanation is that man, sensing that the vastness of the landscape will mock any object that his handful of fellows can make here, avoids anything that might be considered a challenge to nature. The greater and fiercer the natural background, the prettier and pettier the artificial foreground: this way there are no unflattering comparisons, no loss of face.»

I recommend the book «Robin Boyd - Spatial Continuity» (Mauro Baracco & Louise Wright, Routledge, 2017), which offers a collection of many of his houses together with some interesting essays about his work.

Keisuke Maeda

I have yet to see someone integrate plant systems with interior spaces quite as masterfully as Maeda, both in residential and public buildings. He also manages to create a spirit of place which is undoubtedly Japanese in its obvious respect for introversion and careful appreciation of the small, everyday details. These are spaces with simply stunning natural qualities. His company’s website can be found here: https://maeda-inc.jp/

Sigvaldi Thorðarson

While in Iceland, I was able to visit many of the works of Icelandic architect Sigvaldi Thorðarson (1911-1964) in the greater Reykjavík area. These are brilliant houses with a solid quality, designed by someone that clearly held a mastery of the fundamentals of spatial design. There is nothing extravagant about many of them, but that is partially where their quality can be found: simple, adaptable, well-formed everyday spaces which fit well into an established Nordic design tradition. I have a rare book «Ástarbréf til Sigvalda» by Loji Höskuldsson, which is a personal documentation of all the houses that Sigvaldi designed in Iceland in his time. An endless source of inspiration. 

Taketo Nishikubo (Niko Design Studio)

My recent interest in Japan and Japanese design traditions led me to discover the works of Nishikubo. For me these houses represent everything that residential design should be: playful, creative, colourful and inspiring, especially for children that will inhabit them with their families. Every time I look at his work, I always think, «This man must have an incredible amount of fun while working!» For me, his houses represent a wonderful expression of a lust for life. I think that this playful spirit is very apparent in the spaces that he creates. His website can be found here: https://www.niko-arch.com/

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