To Switzerland, today, to look at a wonderful (enormous) house on the northern shores of Lake Zürich by Gus Wüstemann Architects. The building comprises two houses – one of concrete, one of wood – at opposite ends of a large suburban plot. The design intent was to occupy the entire site and draw people through the garden by giving them a destination. I like this very much. The garden becomes somewhere to be, rather than something to look at. The residence (concrete) is up high. The pool house (timber) sits below. The former is a sort of glamorous bunker one can live in. The latter an airy rectilinear folly for outdoor braais on those long summer evenings of the northern hemisphere…

Inspired by the ghosts of the former inner city nightclub’s first patrons, Captain Melville in Melbourne was recently refurbished and re-invented as a restaurant and bar by the local studio Breathe Architecture. Previously known as Mac’s Hotel, the building dates back to 1853 – the time when the first settlers descended on Australian shores. In the spirit of this historic narrative, the fit-out is conceptually based on the scene of mass occupation of Australia in the 1850′s by immigrants chasing gold in the Australian Gold Rush…

Is it just me or does this look like the kind of place where unicorns and Snow White would hang out? This outdoor dining pavilion is full of romance and fairytale whimsy. It suggests a history of slowly creeping vines which, over many years and many passing seasons, have eventually swallowed the building whole…

The Optical Glass House was designed by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP and it was completed in March 2012. Located on a busy residential street in downtown Hiroshima in Japan, the house features a glittering facade of suspended glass blocks that creates privacy and tranquility on the bustling urban street filled with cars and trams…

Villa La Banane is seriously BANANAS! First there’s the ridiculously amazing location on the island of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean. Then there’s a lot of yellow everywhere which is (almost) always a fabulous idea as far as I’m concerned. I should also mention it’s über-cool owners – vintage furniture collector Jean Marc Israël and Benjamin Fabbri, a former marketing director at Dior. With a combined passion for 1950s design and an eye for impeccable style, La Banane interiors are bathed in good taste at every possible opportunity…