Remodeling Guides
Architecture
Modern Architecture
12 Singular Architectural Interiors
Modern materials and masterful architecture make these interiors visually arresting
As I rummage through Houzz to develop design articles, I add photos to an ever-expanding and ever-contracting ideabook that serves as a way station before I find a theme that binds them together. Many of these photos linger in my master ideabook, waiting for companions that never come.
To give some of these photos and projects their due, I've compiled an ideabook about them that highlights what I find interesting. There is no one thread that ties them together, other than their focus on the interior realm, my taste for modern and contemporary architecture, and their singular features.
To give some of these photos and projects their due, I've compiled an ideabook about them that highlights what I find interesting. There is no one thread that ties them together, other than their focus on the interior realm, my taste for modern and contemporary architecture, and their singular features.
The bathroom in the previous example is like a room within a larger room, as is this "modern barn." The architects opened up the volume of an old barn that was partially destroyed in a fire, but walls like the ones in the center provide more intimate spaces for the residents. The trellis overhead brings the scale of the large space down while keeping it open to the peak.
This staircase in a Chicago high-rise duplex is 99 percent glass: glass walls, glass treads, glass guardrails. Only the hand rail and steel connections are a different material. The choice of a glass staircase means light can filter from one floor to the other.
There is something special about the color red in architecture. The color is so strong that even a small application can saturate a space and easily draw attention. A reading nook glows within the V-shape cut next to the horizontal opening. The red is warm next to the deep wood panels that cover the walls, ceilings and floors.
A lot is happening in the top level of this house: stair and bridge with steel guardrails, translucent glass wall, skylight, partial-height walls, steel beams. Yet it all combines into a pleasing whole, thanks to the translucent glass and the abundant light from the skylight.
This photo shows a how a palette of various materials can combine to create a simple space that is not overly cold. The wood floors, ceiling and stair treads are the most effective. Yet the steel that's painted brown and the stainless steel guard rails also help counter the prevalent white drywall.
Here is another modern interior done in rich materials. Both the wood stairs and walnut-tile wall have a noticeable patina that gives them some depth to counter the other, crisper materials.
As the last few examples show, stairs are an effective place to make transitions between spaces or between material palettes. This stair appears to curl around the wall that supports it on the right, but it's the window straight ahead that makes it so appealing. Forced movement through a house — stairs, corridors and so on — offers opportunities for leading the eye and framing views.
This house has a high level of custom finishes, making for a standout kitchen. But I'm drawn to the cut in the drywall ceiling that exposes the wood rafters above.
In this house, I'm a fan of the contrast between the crispness of the pieces on the left — orange stair, wood wall, dark casework — and the light and delicate curtains on the right. Reaching from floor to ceiling, these curtains filter light but also soften the dining room.
The curving roof of this house is echoed in a curving wall that cuts through the living space. Even when the wall stops, the flooring continues this curved line, reinforcing its role as a datum from which the house is organized.
More:
Ideas for Defining Spaces With Level Changes
Framing Design: Structural Expression in Steel
Design Details: How to Show Off Your Curves
More:
Ideas for Defining Spaces With Level Changes
Framing Design: Structural Expression in Steel
Design Details: How to Show Off Your Curves
See more translucent walls