Perched in the foothills of California’s Santa Cruz mountains, WOJR’s House of Horns transforms architectural ruins into something altogether more compelling. This 800-square-metre residence in Los Altos Hills breathes new life into abandoned foundations, creating a home that functions as both shelter and sculptural instrument. The project’s distinctive name stems from its conceptual foundation—the architects envisioned the house as an assemblage of instruments, each element tuned to capture the rhythms of daily and seasonal change. These metaphorical “horns” manifest as carefully oriented skylights and clerestories that orchestrate the play of light throughout the interior spaces.

WOJR’s approach begins with a bold gesture of restoration, re-burying the lower level into the hillside to restore the original topography. This intervention creates two distinct architectural experiences: above ground, a singular open space for gathering emerges, crowned by inverted elliptical vaults that reach toward the space’s perimeter. Below, a series of intimate chambers connect selectively to the landscape through sunken courtyards. The sculptural elements truly elevate this project beyond conventional residential architecture. At the heart of the upper level sits a fireplace carved from blocks of Vermont Danby marble—described by the architects as “one of the projects within a project.” This monolithic centrepiece anchors the open plan while serving as a functional focal point for family life. Equally striking is the cave-like bathing space below, supported by an ovoid column carved from stone. These marble elements blur the boundaries between architecture and sculpture, creating moments of quiet drama throughout the home.

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The winery is situated on an exceptional location in Napa Valley. Our client, the renowned Bordeaux wine producer, Christian Moeuix, recognized the potential of this terroir for producing quality grapes in comparison to numerous other vineyards. Early obsidian finds reveal that the vineyard was once an Indian settlement. Moreover, from the vineyard known as Napanook, wines of exceptional quality had already been produced in the mid 20th century. After ten years of replanting, Dominus reached a level of quality which reflected the full potential of the land. Thus, in 1995 Moueix and his wife, Cherise, commissioned Herzog & de Meuron to build a winery.

The building is divided into three functional units: the tank room with huge chrome tanks for the first stage of fermentation, the Barrique cellar where the wine matures in oak vats for two years, and the storeroom where the wine is bottled, packed in wooden cases, and stored until it is sold. We designed to house these three functional units in a linear building some 100m / 333ft long, 25m / 82ft wide, and 9m / 30ft high. The building bridges the main axis, the main path of the winery, and is thus in the midst of the vineyards. Vines in California can grow to a height well over 2m / 6ft, such that the building is completely integrated into the linear, geometric texture of the vineyard.

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This three-bedroom house is an informal aggregation of five house-shaped extrusions with a courtyard volume subtracted at its center. Each element contains one aspect of the program: kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms. Unprogrammed activity is placed around the courtyard. The three protruding bedrooms are laid out to provide visual privacy from other parts of the house, and connection to the landscape beyond. There are a multitude of doors; inhabitants can easily move between inside and out. The central courtyard is understood both as an object and space. Lined with polished metal, it makes the house’s center radiate.

Text provided by the architect.

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When Frank Gehry and his wife bought an existing house in Santa Monica, California, the neighbors did not have the slightest idea that the corner residence would soon be transformed into a symbol of deconstructivism. Gehry, however, knew something had to be done to the house before he moved in. His solution was a bold one in the 1970’s that involved the “balance of fragment and whole, raw and refined, new and old” and would strike up controversy.

Gehry actually did keep the existing house almost completely in tact, but not in a conventional manner. The Dutch colonnial home was left in tact and the new house was built around it. Holes were made, walls were stripped, torn down and put up, and the old quiet house became a loud shriek of contemporary style among the neighboring mansions–literally. Neighbors hated it, but that did not change the fact that the house was a statement of art entwined with architecture.

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Clear Rock Lookout is a viewing platform that celebrates the breathtaking views of the landscape and wildlife. The structure is located under a limestone cliff, and has to be “discovered” when approached from the top of the mass. The structure provides a gradual reveal of the architecture and strengthens the panorama of the developing landscape.

The owner chose this land primarily for its surroundings and views, after years of slowly traversing and mapping the forested cliff. The modern form contrasts with the Hill Country vernacular, the naturally weathered steel was chosen to age with the environment.

Large sheets of glass, a variety of woods, and highly detailed assembly complete the expression of this architecture.

Text provided by the architect.

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Albert Frey is often described as one of the founding architects of Palm Springs, California, and indeed it would be hard to imagine the desert city without the numerous masterpieces he designed there over his long, productive career. His more dramatic structures, including the angular Tramway Gas Station, have become modernist icons, but I have long been enchanted by the more modest 800-square-foot residence he built for himself atop Mount San Jacinto.

Constructed of cinder blocks, steel, aluminum, and glass, Frey House II is a deceptively simple building positioned so naturally in its surroundings that it can be hard to spot from a distance. Before he began construction, Frey studied the angle of sun throughout the seasons in order to site the home. The results are unparalleled views and a unique connection to the environment.

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American architecture firm Studio Rick Joy has designed a waterfront New England residence with an expansive roof and dramatic wood ceilings inside. Bayhouse is a three-bedroom home by Studio Rick Joy on the northeast seaboard of the US.

Based in Tucson, Arizona, the firm designed the house on a beachfront property with a massive roof,  featuring an irregular pitch and soaring ceilings inside. It is covered with slate roof tiles to reference the vernacular architecture of New England, and topped by two square lightwells.

“Atop the house’s stone volume, a slate shingle roof – mathematically designed so as to be utterly without pattern – appears deceptively light as it leans toward the water, almost as if the form were created by a strong gust of wind, its steep profile easily shedding snow and rain,” said the studio.

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