Articles by Karen Valenzuela

The Brick House, situated amidst rural settlements in Wada, near Mumbai,India, is a 2500 sq.ft. farmhouse set within hills and farms. The impact of the architecture of the structure is strong, leading the viewer to a new observation, not allowing him to be complacent about the space which he occupies. The organic form emerges from the ground and flows into the skyline, following curved dips and peaks.

The blue waters of Lake Huron—located north of Toronto— complement its majestic surroundings and offer a dream-like location for a retreat. A sensual environment, its serene landscape reminds the temporary dwellers of the harmony that exist beyond human possibilities. When PARTISANS team met on site, with a new client for designing and constructing a potential Sauna, they knew that their most prominent challenge was to make a free-standing structure that not only respected, but also matured from the context.

Cultural Center La Gota is a hybrid building for exhibition spaces that aims to create a new focus of urban centrality in Navalmoral (Cáceres), showcasing the identity of the town. The etymology is rooted in an old building built in the same site, in the thirties, to solve the problems of child malnutrition through the “Drop of Milk”.

The project – a 200 square meter small chapel, is located in Wanjing Garden along Nanjing’s Riverfront. Hosted by priests from Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, it supports religious activities like worship and wedding services. This wood and steel structured chapel has gentle exterior shape as well as strong interior space infused with mysterious religious power. Its plain material doesn’t fail in expressing the delicate construction logic.

Our client contacted us with an idea to create a hideaway in the countryside where he could “hole up” and gather strength for his demanding work in Prague. We set off into an area between Central and South Bohemia where he comes from and where he has loved going to since his childhood. He took us to a spot in the midst of fields, woods and meadows, full of strange boulders, to a remote and somewhat forgotten place.

Our client contacted us with an idea to create a hideaway in the countryside where he could “hole up” and gather strength for his demanding work in Prague. We set off into an area between Central and South Bohemia where he comes from and where he has loved going to since his childhood. He took us to a spot in the midst of fields, woods and meadows, full of strange boulders, to a remote and somewhat forgotten place.

This timber house is about different ways of perceiving the landscape surrounding it.

Commissioned as a mountain hideout, the Charred Cabin settles on a rather unusual location for Santiago inhabitants. Before the automobile era, a winding road linked the capital and the port across the Coastal Range. The area is full of historic places that recall the early years. Derelict Monuments, battle sites, gold mines remain nowadays abandoned.

Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far from their origins as sprawling tropical forests. In Ho Chi Minh City, for example, only 0.25% area of the entire city is covered with greenery. An over-abundance of motorbikes causes daily traffic congestion as well as serious air pollution. As a result, new generations in urban areas are losing their connection with nature.