Located in the southern area of Vy Da Ward, Hue City, X House sits within a dense urban fabric surrounded by hotels, restaurants, event venues, and sports facilities. In contrast to its vibrant surroundings, the project was conceived as a calm and balanced living environment for a young family of four—prioritizing spatial stillness, minimalism, cost efficiency, and long-term sustainability. X House is envisioned as an architectural retreat, offering a moment of pause from the urban rhythm through light, space, and material restraint.

India’s built environment has, in recent years, gained visibility through a growing number of transformative architectural and infrastructure projects. Cities and towns scale faster each year, despite looming concerns around climate and economic volatility. The nation has shown resilience in balancing rapid urbanization with resource constraints; this is no small feat. India’s architectural practices rarely rely on novelty alone; they are built on systems that have existed for centuries. Through ArchDaily’s Building for Billions, recurring stories have highlighted the social intelligence and adaptive capacity embedded in these practices, revealing an architecture that operates less as isolated form and more as infrastructure.

Kirkkonummi is a municipality of 40,000 inhabitants near Helsinki built around its Medieval stone church. Facing the church, JKMM has transformed the old city library. Together with the nearby open market, the church and library create the civic centre of Kirkkonummi. JKMM have therefore emphasised the relationship of the library with the neighbouring church by designing a 50-metre long sheltered terrace overlooking the church yard. The copper shingle cladding of the new library, called Fyyri, also relates back to its maritime heritage setting.

From the Place – Chacol Haus (charcoal) is located midway up an unremarkable Korean hillside, densely covered with pine trees. Below the site, an industrial complex is planned. This creates an unexpectedly open view. Because the land is within a greenbelt zone, there are few buildings nearby. What makes the site unusual is the presence of a half-finished garden and fish pond. These remnants of a former business give the place an awkward atmosphere, rather than a natural one.

Located in Nature – The site is located in a small residential district developed in the early 2000s to collectively relocate residents who had been scattered in the Jeungsimsa Temple district of Mudeungsan Mountain, outside the park areas. The refreshing sound of rushing water in the valley and its proximity to the summit of Mudeungsan Mountain create a beautiful and serene village atmosphere. Visitors who travel from afar for meals or tea, hikers, and local residents strolling through the village add a subtle liveliness to the community.   

A light-filled, central staircase forms the heart of this renovated home, opening up layered views across its split levels, physically and metaphorically connecting spaces whilst simultaneously generating private nooks. The renovation of Waverley House for a young family in Sydney’s eastern suburbs by Sam Crawford Architects (SCA) fosters deeper connections—to nature, home, and each other. Clever details create spaces to play, for quiet contemplation, whilst maintaining a dialogue with the surrounding greenery.

The project is located in the Quartier de la Piscine in Petit-Quevilly, south of the Rouen metropolitan area. Situated on a former industrial site, the plot lies at the heart of a fragmented territory, divided by the Sud III expressway, which has long disrupted the urban continuity between the historic center and the eastern neighborhoods. Until recently, the site read as a disparate assemblage: parking areas to the north, an urban boiler house at the center, dispersed public facilities to the south, all enclosed by a series of physical barriers – fences and ball-stops – which accentuated the fragmentation of the space.

Light and architecture in this house engage in a daily dialogue. A place where noble materials and generous spatial arrangements play tribute to the beauty of simplicity. 

In a narrow townhouse with daylight limited to the front and rear, light becomes the primary element shaping the interior experience. Located in a dense urban setting, the long and narrow townhouse is constrained by party walls on both sides, allowing natural light to enter only from the front and rear façades. This condition often results in dark and compressed interior spaces, particularly toward the center of the plan. The client sought a home that felt calm, personal, and grounded—a place where daily life could naturally settle after stepping inside.

Designing Fonte das Perdizes house was quite a different challenge, as the program demanded a contemporary modern shaped house, fully integrated into Alentejo’s rough natural landscape.