Fab 40: XTEN, Los Angeles
Drawing references from the geometries of the surrounding canyon and hillside slopes, rather than the architecture of the adjacent structure, XTEN’s Diamond House is a bold addition to an existing family house. Laser-cut aluminium panels create the façade’s unusual patterns, glowing from inside at night and looking light, porous and pleasantly reflective during the day.
The dynamic new diamond-form of the extension is also reflected on the site’s retaining walls and concrete rooftop shape, underling the special character of this Santa Monica house. The Los Angeles-based practice has been working at full-speed for the past few months, with a number of commissions reaching completion, including their Hermosa Beach SurfHouse and the Encino-located Sapphire Gallery.
Amangiri resort, Utah
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Best Made Axes
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Blackman Cruz store, LA
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Commonwealth Utilities S/S 09 collection
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BlackWhite House in Bethesda, Maryland by David Jameson Architects
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Methow Cabin, by Eggleston Farkas Architects, Seattle
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Hotel Erwin, Venice Beach, California
Illustration from the Monkey Bar by Barry Blitt, New York
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Interior of the Monkey Bar
Illustration for the Monkey Bar by Paul Cox
My Best Fred, NYC
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Neal Creek, Hood River by Paul Mckean, Oregon
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Beaker & Flask, Portland
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Beast, Portland
Naomi from Beast, Portland
Laurelhurst Market, Portland
Laurelhurst Market, Portland
Bunks famous sandwiches, Portland
Le Pigeon, Portland
Viridian Farms, Portland
Installation by Johanna Grawunder in Robert at MAD, NYC
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Speakeasy - Rye NYC
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Speakeasy - Clover Club, NYC
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Speakeasy - The Violet Hour, Chicago
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Speakeasy - The Varnish, LA
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Speakeasy - Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco
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Diamond House, XTEN Architecture, LA
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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
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Chantal Joffe paints the truth of memory and motherhood in a new London show
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This 100-year-old private members’ club in London feels young at heart
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RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 winner is ‘a radical reimagining of later living’
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Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into boulders
The American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
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Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New York
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The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the US
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Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’
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An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the market
Norton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
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Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in Philadelphia
The new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
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Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'
Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
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The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellings
While architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs