Takeshi hosaka builds two-story concrete residence in tokyo In Bunkyo, Tokyo, architect Takeshi Hosaka designs Yayoi House for a family of four, rooting domestic life in an ecosystem of plants, water, and light. The reinforced concrete residence spans two stories and prioritizes cyclical living. From rooftop rainwater runoff to edible wall-climbing vines, the home integrates…

IRIS CERAMICA INTRODUCES MODULAR CERAMIC SURFACE SYSTEM Iris Ceramica, part of the Iris Ceramica Group, introduces ‘Armonie,’ a modular project of porcelain stoneware surfaces that blends three archetypal materials — oak wood, stone, and cotto — into a single, flexible design language. Developed to create continuity across indoor and outdoor environments, the ceramic surfaces promote…

Marking a new chapter in the evolving cultural landscape of Japan’s Setouchi Islands, Tadao Ando’s Naoshima New Museum of Art officially opens its doors. Directed by Miki Akiko, the museum becomes the tenth architectural work by Ando within the Benesse Art Site Naoshima initiative and the first to carry the island’s name (see designboom’s previous…

Set alongside the Harlem River in the Bronx, CetraRuddy’s 27-story apartment building Maven stands out for its boldly canted facades, their dynamic stance a reference to the neighborhood, Mott Haven, as the birthplace of hip-hop. Interiors are just as alluring—and just as firmly rooted in place. The open lobby has a building-length gallery wall with…

From the curvy entry to the calm, sunlit backyard area, a refined but relaxed tactile experience carries through this all-day restaurant/café that was designed to take guest on a journey through the proprietor, Project Hum’s farm-to-table ethos. “The ‘farm-to-table’ concept is central to their philosophy, and we wanted the new space to reflect this in every…

For new digs at 45 Rockefeller Plaza, Confidential investment firm sought a workplace that would balance gravitas with employee comfort. In response, Gensler strategically excised portions of a floor slab to create grand double-height spaces. The intervention also accommodates a glass-box mezzanine library carpeted in plush rust-colored silk-wool broadloom. On the floor below is the reception…

2024 Best of Year Winner for Large Financial Office A massive, twist of spray-painted, 3-D printed acrylic weaves through the seven-story, 102,300-square-foot workplace for ChangJiang Securities Company in Shanghai, which was designed by M Moser Associates. It begins on the lowest level, where an atrium contains reception, and rises, entwined with a staircase that connects the upper…

The art gallery ideal has long been a white box, but, for the Edes Building in Morgan Hill, California, KTGY was after something different. The two-story, 6,800-square-foot structure, which houses both Cura Contemporary, a gallery, and Véra, a wine bar and restaurant, leverages the visual and tactile warmth of wood to enhance the experience of viewing…

The scales of a living fish are not a typical starting point for a design concept. Yet this is an idea that underpins Wakuni Shoten, a café in suburban Tokyo by Japanese architect and Interior Design Hall of Fame member Kengu Kuma hat boasts a rhythmic three-dimensional facade of more than 700 verdigris copper plates…