Pure Luxury: World's Best Houses

p ure ur e

uxury

Edited by Driss Fatih

Luxury is the apotheosis of civilized living: it brings to mind a state of refinement, of comfort, and of sensuous pleasure. It evokes abundance, and can be interpreted in any number of ways, but it is always desirable. And desirable, irrespective of location – be it the glamorous Hollywood Hills, the rugged terrain of the South Island of New Zealand, the lush green forests of the Baltics, or the tropical setting of Singapore or Jakarta.

The projects in this book are the embodiment of luxury – they offer their owners a home, a place of private refuge from a world which never stops turning; an uncertain world where few things can be taken for granted as they were in the past. But these houses are more than just homes and offer more than just a place to eat, unwind and sleep.

Introduction

Some of these houses are at the cutting edge of the modern – minimalist geometric designs of glass, steel and clean lines offer transparency and simplicity in an ever-busier and complicated world: the luxury of rising above the throng and leaving the rat-race behind. Others offer the inhabitants a rural idyll – a place for affluent city dwellers to luxuriate in the grandeur and calm of nature.

luxury | ʹlək sh (ə)rē| noun ( pl. -ries) the state of great comfort and extravagant living: he lived a life of luxury. adjective luxurious or of the nature of a luxury: a luxury house | luxury goods.

While others allow the owners to employ the very latest in computer technology to regulate how they live – whether communications, entertainment, heating or cooling the space they inhabit or even incorporating fully-operating studios or offices at home.

This is the luxury of choice, above all – the highest aspiration in today’s consumer society.

Luxury is in the eye of the beholder, as these houses testify. Some might appear monolithic at first – brutally minimalistic, even; but through clever use of sliding doors, split levels, breezeways and often simply the changing light of day, they allow private spaces to become public, or vice versa, allowing different generations of the same family to live in harmony – true luxury indeed.

Other houses are more subtle, and work in harmony with their natural environment. Some of them become a part of the environment quite literally, built into the lie of the land – be it a cliff face, a hill, or a beachside – and harness local, renewable materials. The luxury of being at one with nature and saving the planet at the same time.

Living in the heart of a metropolis in an unrelenting climate of heat, humidity, pollution and hustle and bustle hardly conjures up luxury, to most people; yet several houses within these pages pull off luxury living, combining authentic Asian interiors – hosting family members from across the generations – with all mod-cons. Some feature interior gardens integrated into the house itself, a green sanctuary allowing the inhabitants to breathe pure, clean air – a precious luxury in the Big Smoke.

I hope you will enjoy leafing through the pages of this lovingly compiled book, and indulge yourself for a few minutes in the sheer quality and range of modern residential architecture on show.

Driss Fatih Editor

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Index of Architects 100% Przemek Kaczkowski & Ola Targonska

Harrison Design Associates

Morrison Dilworth + Walls

acaa

Helliwell + Smith • Blue Sky Architecture

Norm Applebaum Architect

Architectenbureau Paul de Ruiter

House+House Architects

Obie G Bowman Architect

Architecture Saville Isaacs

Ignatov Architects

Olson Kundig Architects

Architektu˛ biuras, G. Natkeviˇcius ir partneriai

Infinski

Original Vision

Architrend Architecture

Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects

Paramita Abirama Istasadhya

Austin Patterson Disston Architects

IROJE KHM Architects

Parque Humano

B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio

Irving Smith Jack Architects

Paul Uhlmann Architects

Bark Design Associates

James & Mau Architects

Phorm Architecture + Design

Base Architecture

Jarmund/Vigsnæs AS Architects

Richard Kirk Architect

BKK Architects

Joe Valerio, FAIA

Richard Swansson Architect

Boora Architects

Johnsen Schmaling Architects

Robert Oshatz Architects

Bowen Architecture

Jolson

Robert Simeoni Architects

Brooks + Scarpa

Jon Anderson Architecture

Robles Arquitectos

Caprioglio Associati Studio di Architettura

Jorge Graça Costa Architect

Safdie Rabines Architects

Caramel Architekten

JSa

SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects

Carlos Bratke Architect

Kanner Architects

Saraiva + Associados

Carol Kurth Architecture, PC

Keith Pike Associates

Satoshi Okada architects

Charles R. Stinson Architects

Kerstin Thompson Architects

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes

Chris Elliott Architects

k_m architektur

Searl Lamaster Howe Architects

CHRIST. CHRIST associated architects

Koutsoftides Architects

Sharif Abraham Architects

Concrete Architectural Associates

KWK PROMES – Robert Koniezny

Shaun Lockyer Architects

Damien Murtagh Architects

Lake | Flato Architects

Steendyk

Diamond Schmitt Architects

Luis Mira Architects

Steve Domoney Architecture

Drozdov & Partners

Mark English Architects

studio 101 architects

FINNE Architects

Marmol Radziner

Studio B Architects

Gabbiani&Associati

Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

Swatt | Miers Architects

GLR Arquitectos

Max Pritchard Architect

Vilius ir partneriai

Graham Jones Design

McClean Design

Wilson & Hill

Griffin Enright Architects

McInturff Architects

group8

Mitchell Freedland Design

Haller Jürgen & Peter Plattner

Morphogenesis

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Australia • Austria • Brazil • Bulgaria • Canada Chile • Costa Rica • Cyprus • Germany • India Indonesia • Ireland • Italy • Japan • Lithuania Mexico • Netherlands • New Zealand • Peru Poland • Portugal • St Vincent and the Grenadines Senegal • South Africa • South Korea Switzerland • Thailand • UK • Ukraine • USA

Pure Luxury World's Best Houses Edited by Driss Fatih Pure Luxury: World’s Best Houses is a celebration of residential living at its finest, and best. Satisfying our natural and abiding curiosity about how other people live, and our endless quest to add a special something to our own homes, this latest volume in IMAGES’ 100 Houses series showcases contemporary architectural trends in their most opulent manifestations. The beauty of residential architecture lies in its infinite scope for innovation and the comfort of it inhabitants, be they at rest, at play, or hosting guests.

an opulent villa set in the Hollywood Hills with an infinity pool projecting over LA, an idyllic rural retreat set in the valleys of the South Island of New Zealand, and stunning beach houses in Senegal and Cape Town.

The book showcases projects by leading architects including Lake | Flato, Griffin Enright Architects, SAOTA, Brooks+Scarpa, Iredale Pedersen Hook, Mojo Stumer Architects, Caramel Architekten, Helliwell + Smith • Blue Sky Architecture, k_m architektur, Wilson & Hill and many more.

This lovingly compiled work features houses on every continent, from Costa Rica to South Africa, Korea to Cyprus, as well as extensive coverage of the USA and Australia and New Zealand. Among the awe-inspiring projects in this book are ISBN 978 1 86470 469 9 Format 254 x 254 mm Binding Casebound with jacket Pages 348 Illustrations Full colour In bookstores Late 2012 For publicity information contact Merry Lovell: merry@imagespublishing.com +61 3 9561 5544 Distributed in North America by ACC Distribution www.accdistribution.com To place an order contact ACC Distribution at +1 413 529 0861 or orders@antique-acc.com Distributed rest of world (excluding Australasia and Asia) by ACC Distribution www.accdistribution.com To place an order contact ACC Distribution at +44 (0) 1394 389 950 or sales@antique-acc.com Distributed in Australia by Alpa Books To place an order contact +61 8 8389 2104 or andrew.easton@alpabooks.com.au Distributed in New Zealand by Bookreps NZ www.bookreps.co.nz To place an order contact Bookreps NZ at +64 9 419 2635 or sales@bookreps.co.nz Distributed in Asia by Azur Corporation www.azurbook.co.jp To place an order contact Azur Corporation at +81 3 3291 0725 or azur@galaxy.ocn.ne.jp Distributed in China by Beijing Designer Books www.designerbooks.com.cn To place an order contact Beijing Designer Books at +86 010 59626195 or import03@designerbooks.com.cn Distributed in Hong Kong by APD Hong Kong asiapubs.com.hk To place an order contact APD Hong Kong at edward_summerson@asiapubs.com.hk Distributed in South East Asia by APD Singapore www.apdsing.com To place an order contact APD Singapore at +65 6749 3551 or ian@apdsing.com