The penthouse residence by Metaphors is defined by a balance of extremes, where bold neo-classical elements are combined with the raw mass of brutalism. The architectural program rejects a singular aesthetic, instead opting for a material collision that pairs deep-veined, sculpted marbles with intricately detailed ceilings and embossed wall panels. This allows the residence to function as a versatile home, shifting between an expansive stage for high-society hosting and a series of intimate, quiet sanctuaries for family life.

Penthouse residence by Metaphors | all images courtesy of Metaphors

AESTHETICS, UTILITY, AND MINDFULNESS DRIVE METAPHORS’ Practice

Based in India, Metaphors was co-founded by Anand Bhagat and the late Amala Sheth, gaining early recognition for designing large-scale IT campuses and commercial spaces during the country’s technological boom. The firm’s expertise spans hospitality, residential, and institutional sectors, always prioritizing functional and contextually sensitive design. Bhagat, a certified naturalist and martial artist, steers the studio’s vision through his personal mantra, ‘AUM’ – Aesthetics, Utility, and Mindfulness. This philosophy ensures that every project reflects technical precision alongside a deep respect for the user’s experience and the environment.

bold neo-classical elements are combined with the raw mass of brutalism

PENTHOUSE RESIDENCE WITH CONTRASTING INFLUENCES

To animate the interiors, Metaphors utilizes a sequence of strategic ceiling cut-outs that allow natural light to penetrate the deep plan. These openings transform the atmosphere of the home throughout the day, casting shifting shadows across the heavy stone surfaces and textured wall treatments. The spatial organization follows this logic of contrast; while the brutalist influence introduces a sense of permanence and austerity, the neo-classical detailing provides a rhythmic ornamentation that softens the structural rigor.

By navigating this balance of extremes, the design ensures that movement through the home becomes a processional experience. The heavy, veined marbles ground the living volumes, while the light-filled voids overhead introduce a sense of verticality and openness. This layering of history and modernism results in a residence that serves as an experiential study in harmony and contrast.

light-filled voids introduce a sense of verticality and openness

light-filled voids introduce a sense of verticality and openness

each room is crafted for both shared family moments and cherished solitude

sculpted marbles in deep veined tones ground the space with opulence

the neo-classical detailing provides a rhythmic ornamentation that softens the structural rigor

the residence shifts between an expansive stage for high-society hosting and intimate sanctuaries for family life

the brutalist influence introduces a sense of permanence and austerity

project info: 

name: Penthouse Residence
design studio: Metaphors | @metaphorsdesignpune
lead architect: Anand Bhagat | @anandbhagat84
interior architect: Pauravi Mahajan- Pawar | @ar.pauravi
location: India

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London’s unmistakable Brutalist colossus, the Barbican Centre, is set to pause its regular operations and close its doors for a full year beginning in June 2028 as part of an ambitious renovation program. The project will be led by Allies and Morrison, Asif Khan Studio, and Buro Happold.

The Barbican, a Grade II-listed cultural powerhouse designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon and built between 1965 and 1982, has since stood as an iconic mixed-use development with residential, recreational, and cultural facilities. It houses one of Europe’s most celebrated multi-arts portfolios, including the Barbican Art Gallery, Curve, Level 2 Gallery, a world-class concert hall, theatre spaces, cinemas, and the much-loved Conservatory. The building was captured in recent photographs by David Altrath.

images © David Altrath

the year-long ‘barbican renewal programme’

Nearly forty-five years after the centre’s opening, wear and aging infrastructure have begun to show, prompting a renovation dubbed the Barbican Renewal Programme. Led by Asif Khan Studio, Allies and Morrison, and Buro Happold, the extensive overhaul aims at securing the center’s future for decades to come. The project will see key public spaces — from the dramatic foyers and lakeside terrace to the landmark Conservatory — restored and reimagined, while vital infrastructure is modernized to meet contemporary standards of accessibility, sustainability, and creative flexibility. 

the centre was designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon and built between 1965 and 1982

the renovation: What Will Close and What Will Remain Open

The closure will run from the end of June 2028 until summer 2029. During this time, most of Barbican programs and spaces will be under construction. However, the Barbican cinemas on Beech Street will remain open, and the surrounding residential estate will stay accessible. In addition, creative partnerships and off-site programming are expected to help maintain the Barbican’s cultural presence across London while the walls are quiet.

The City of London Corporation has already committed a £191 million funding package toward the first phase of renewal, representing roughly eighty per cent of the required investment, with the remainder to be raised through a fundraising campaign. This ambitious pause comes at a defining moment with the Barbican’s fiftieth anniversary on the horizon in 2032.

the closure will run from the end of June 2028 until summer 2029

project info:

name: Barbican Renewal Programme | @barbicancentre

architects: Allies and Morrison, Asif Khan Studio, Buro Happold

closure dates: June 2028 — Summer 2029

photography: © David Altrath | @davidaltrath

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Plastic Box, designed by Minimal Studio, reinterprets the supermarket as a site for architectural exploration, combining brutalist minimalism with circular design principles. The building in Mallorca, Spain, is enclosed within a monolithic concrete shell, establishing a clear and austere framework for the retail space. The ceiling is composed of over a thousand recycled plastic crates, arranged modularly to diffuse natural and artificial light while accommodating technical infrastructure, integrating utility and structure into a cohesive architectural element. Reused materials, sculptural counters, and indirect lighting contribute to a spatial system that emphasizes material clarity, structural logic, and functional economy.

all images by Leonardo Cóndor

Minimal Studio Translates Brutalist Principles Into a Retail Space

The project developed by Spanish practice Minimal Studio draws on minimalist brutalist precedents to redefine the urban commercial typology. The concrete envelope, articulated through geometric volumes and clean lines, conveys structural solidity and permanence. Facade openings are treated as dark portals, marking the transition from exterior to interior and emphasizing the contrast with the illuminated retail space.

The modular crate ceiling is both functional and architectural. Each crate filters light and produces geometric shadow patterns that evolve with the sun’s movement. The crates also house integrated LED lighting, ventilation systems, and rainwater collection, demonstrating the combination of aesthetic intent and practical application.

Plastic Box by Minimal Studio redefines the supermarket as a space for architectural experimentation

Steel, Concrete, and Light Shapes Minimal Studio’s Plastic Box

Within the interior, steel shelving, polished concrete floors, and monolithic sculptural checkout counters continue the brutalist design language. Indirect lighting accentuates product displays through shadow and contrast, while reclaimed and repurposed elements throughout the space challenge conventional retail norms. Minimal Studio’s Plastic Box repurposes industrial components, structurally and visually, creating a supermarket that merges sustainability, material exploration, and spatial experimentation.

the project integrates brutalist minimalism with principles of circular design

over a thousand recycled plastic crates form the modular ceiling system

each crate doubles as a housing for lighting, ventilation, and rainwater systems

the project draws from minimalist brutalist precedents to reinterpret commercial architecture

the ceiling diffuses both natural and artificial light across the retail space

concrete geometry defines the building’s volumetric composition and sense of permanence

the modular ceiling turns an industrial element into a cohesive architectural feature

project info:

name: Plastic Box | Akelarre Supermarket
architect: Minimal Studio | @minimalstudiodesigns

lead designer: Juan David Martínez Jofre

location: Port of Pollensa, Mallorca, Spain

usable floor area: 193 sqm

client: Voramar Store

photographer: Leonardo Cóndor

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Brutalist Berlin, published by Blue Crow Media, is an architectural guidebook devoted to the raw materiality and social ambition of Berlin’s postwar concrete structures. Written and photographed by architectural historian Dr. Felix Torkar, the volume documents more than fifty sites across the city — from housing estates and cultural institutions to infrastructural landmarks — and situates them within the political and cultural framework of Germany‘s Cold War reconstruction.

Torkar’s images present the city’s Brutalist landmarks as both familiar and estranged, structures that belong as much to the fabric of Berlin as they do to an era of ideological tension and material experimentation. His writing emphasizes how the optimism of the postwar decades translated into a new design language that’s at once pragmatic and expressive.

Brutalist Berlin explores the city’s postwar concrete architecture | images © Blue Crow Media

berlin’s architecture of resilience

Each building in Blue Crow Media’s Brutalist Berlin is examined through both a visual and spatial lens. The monumental Mäusebunker, with its cantilevered concrete fins and gridded facade, appears almost defensive in its precision. By contrast, the Pallasseum housing complex, an elevated slab of dwellings straddling remnants of the Berlin Wall, reads as a social experiment in vertical living. Together they embody the tension between endurance and adaptation that defines the city’s urban identity.

Torkar’s photographs approach concrete as a living surface that’s pitted, stained, and marked by time. The play of light on coarse formwork reveals an unexpected warmth, while his compositions often position the viewer at eye level with the architecture’s scale and texture. The rigorous visual study is attuned to both proportion and atmosphere.

the book features more than fifty buildings documented by Dr. Felix Torkar

blue crow media’s guide for exploration

Printed by Blue Crow Media on premium uncoated paper, Brutalist Berlin invites direct engagement. It functions as a guidebook for those tracing the city’s architectural evolution, but it also stands as a scholarly reference, connecting the work of figures like Werner Düttmann and Ulrich Müther to a broader conversation about European modernism and material honesty. The tactile quality of the publication mirrors its subject matter, translating concrete’s roughness into the grain of the page.

This new title marks the beginning of a series that will expand in 2026 with Brutalist London and Concrete New York. Together, the books will form an atlas of the twentieth century’s most uncompromising architecture, charting how civic ambition and material innovation shaped distinct urban identities.

Torkar situates Berlin’s Brutalism within the cultural and political landscape of the Cold War

Based in Berlin, Dr. Felix Torkar bridges photography and historical research. His academic work, including a 2023 dissertation at Freie Universität Berlin, examines what he calls ‘Neobrutalism,’ a contemporary resurgence of raw architecture that revisits the ethics and aesthetics of mid-century design. In Brutalist Berlin, that perspective manifests as both empathy and critique: a recognition of how concrete once embodied progress, and how its endurance continues to frame urban memory.

photographs reveal the material richness and texture of the city’s concrete structures

the Mäusebunker and Pallasseum illustrate the monumental and social ambitions of the era

project info:

name: Brutalist Berlin

publisher: Blue Crow Media

author: Dr. Felix Torkar

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Tucked into the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, FORMANT Studio’s Marne Café brings together architecture, gastronomy, and tactile design. The café and bakery take a timeless approach to contemporary space-making — grounded in high-quality, locally sourced products and a strong material sensibility. Inside, a raw yet composed brutalist palette defines the atmosphere.

Exposed concrete and metal structures, dark wood, and pared-back industrial lighting form the backbone of the interior, while accents of color in the upholstery and wall-mounted artworks offset the otherwise neutral environment. Photographs framed in metal add to the layered visual language, and suspended ceiling speakers infuse the space with a carefully curated soundscape, reinforcing the immersive atmosphere.

all images by Fabián Martínez

formant studio unites different uses with a consistent language

Spanning 130 square meters, Marne Café is loosely divided into two zones, with the first a restaurant and counter space that opens onto the street, and tucked further inside, a wine bar tucked. Despite their different uses, both areas are stitched together by a consistent material and spatial language. All furnishings — tables, stools, chairs, lighting, and even the service counter — were custom-designed by Mexico City-based FORMANT Studio to reflect the project’s functional needs and aesthetic restraint. The layout follows a subtle logic that allows guests to flow easily through the space, sit briefly, or stay longer depending on the rhythm of their visit.

Marne Café brings together architecture, gastronomy, and tactile design

a raw yet composed brutalist palette defines the atmosphere

tucked into the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City

characterized by locally sourced products and a strong material sensibility

exposed concrete meets metal structures

engulfing dark wood and pared-back industrial lighting enhance the ambiance

the café is loosely divided into two zones

all furnishings were custom-designed by FORMANT Studio

transitioning between open and more intimate spaces

photographs framed in metal add to the layered visual language

industrial lighting finishes

project info:

name: Marne Café
architect: FORMANT Studio | @formant.studio

location: Mexico City

photographer: Fabián Martínez | @fabianml

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom

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Herzog & de Meuron restores one of New York’s iconic examples of urban Brutalism, the Breuer Building, set to open to the public in late 2025 as the new global headquarters of Sotheby’s, marking the latest chapter in the life of a structure that has continually adapted to house some of the city’s most significant art collections.

The restoration, in collaboration with local firm Platt Byard Dovell White Architects (PBDW), embraces a ‘light-touch’ approach, retaining Breuer’s original materials and spatial intentions while updating infrastructure to improve accessibility, curatorial flexibility, and the visitor experience. The character-defining features of the building remain intact, including bush-hammered concrete walls, coffered ceilings, mahogany finishes, and bluestone floors. Yet new interventions, such as a discreetly inserted elevator and revamped lighting systems, prepare the building for diverse programming. 

UPDATE August 12th, 2025: Sotheby’s announces the opening date for this worldwide headquarters as Saturday, November 8th, 2025. The opening will be free and open to the public and will coincide with an exhibition of Modern and Contemporary art.

‘On November 8, we will be honored to welcome the global art community back into this remarkable museum quality space,’ comments Charles F. Stewart, Sotheby’s Chief Executive Officer. ‘On behalf of all of us at Sotheby’s, I extend our gratitude to our partners Herzog & de Meuron for their brilliant work in amplifying the Breuer’s historical and material legacy for the Sotheby’s era. They have devoted the same level of care and respect to the building as you would a great work of art. I’d also like to thank the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee for their support and praise for our ‘spectacular’ use of the space. We think visitors will agree.’

945 Madison Ave, New York, Ny, Usa, Marcel Breuer, 1966 (As The Whitney Museum) | images courtesy of Sotheby’s

A New Chapter for new york’s Brutalist Icon

Originally completed in 1966 by Bauhaus-trained architect Marcel Breuer for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the inverted ziggurat form, with its recessed windows and robust concrete facade, was designed to provoke. Since its opening, the building has served as a home for art, temporarily housing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection after the Whitney’s departure in 2014. Now, nearly 60 years later, Sotheby’s takes over as steward of the building’s next phase, preserving its cultural role while offering free public access for the first time in its history. 

The project embraces the contradictions of the building, retaining the severe materiality of the lobby, including bronze, concrete, and wood finishes, but now integrates vitrines and display counters in dialogue with Breuer’s original benches. On the gallery floors, the design team at Herzog & de Meuron reinterprets the irregular window openings as curatorial assets, using them to organize the space and reintroduce a connection with the street. Formerly dim interiors are brightened through layered lighting strategies that allow the building to support new media and a wider range of exhibitions.

© Frank Stella / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, © 2025 The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

a shift from museum to auction house

According to Jacques Herzog, the firm sees this project as part of a long-standing practice of working with existing buildings. ‘We have always admired the Breuer Building,’ he notes, describing it as ‘an architectural icon of postwar modernism.’ Like their earlier work on the Park Avenue Armory, the design team approaches this intervention with a sense of excitement and responsibility, aiming to restore lost spatial clarity and make the building relevant for a new audience and function.

As the city continues to grow and build in all directions, the transformation of the Breuer Building offers an approach that values the past while shaping the future. Once a museum and soon to be an auction house, the building is shifting from one part of the art world to another, remaining a striking presence.

Willem de Kooning: © 2025 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Ellsworth Kelly: © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Joan Mitchell: © Estate of Joan Mitchell

© 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., Courtesy David Zwirner, This rendering includes a reproduction of Georgia O’Keeffe’s, Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, 1932, that will not be on view on Sotheby’s © 2025 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Jackson Pollock: © 2025 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Lucio Fontana: © 2025 Estate of Lucio Fontana / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY

recessed windows punctuate the robust concrete facade

Herzog & de Meuron restores the Breuer Building

project info:

name: Sotheby’s Global Headquarters

building: The Breuer Building (originally Whitney Museum of American Art)

original architect: Marcel Breuer (1966)

renovation architect: Herzon & de Meuron | @HerzogdeMeuron

executive architect & preservation: Platt Byard Dovell White Architects (PBDW) | @pbdwarchitects

location: 945 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, USA

site area: 1,200 square meters (12,916 sqft)

gross floor area (GFA): 7,268 square meters (78,232 sqft)

client: Sotheby’s | @sothebys

design team: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Wim Walschap (Partner in Charge), Philip Schmerbeck (Associate, Project Director), Jackie Bae (Associate, Project Manager), Bethany Herrmann (Project Designer), Farhad Ahmad, Marija Brdarski, Javier de Cárdenas Canomanuel, Sebastian Frowein, Nathan Mehl, Melodie Sanchez

structural engineering: Silman Structural Solution / TYLin

MEPFP engineering: AMA Group USA

lighting design: Tillotson Design Associates

AV & low voltage consulting: TMT Technology

acoustic consulting: Eligator Acoustics Associates

geotechnical consulting: Langan Engineering and Environmental Services

vertical transportation: DTM Inc.

life safety: Homes Keogh Associates

code consulting: Gillman Consulting Inc.

waterproofing & special inspections: Socotec Engineering, Inc.

contractor: J.T. Magen

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An aged landmark of British Brutalism is set to be revitalized as a cultural venue and design archive. Acland Burghley School in Tufnell Park, north London, will soon host the UK’s first museum dedicated to Brutalist architecture. Backed by a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the renovation will be led by Reed Watts Architects who will restore the school’s Grade II-listed Assembly Hall, transforming it into a multifunctional public venue that combines performance space, exhibition facilities, and a permanent museum collection.

Designed in 1968 by Howell, Killick, Partridge & Amis — the only school project by the renowned post-war architects — Acland Burghley’s hall was originally conceived as a community anchor. With its distinctive hexagonal form and double-ended auditorium, the space was built to house everything from lectures and school assemblies to opera and boxing matches. Despite decades of wear and some unfortunate interventions, the raw concrete structure has remained a cherished example of socially driven modernist design.

Acland Burghley school, Tufnell Park | image by Jim Osley via Wikimedia Commons

reed watts architects’ to restore original brutalist structure

The upcoming project led by Reed Watts Architects will repair damaged fabric, restore original architectural features, and improve access within the listed structure. The London-based practice first announced their involvement and titled their proposal Hall for All, approaching the project with a focus on the Assembly Hall at the heart of the school. They noted its distinct geometry, as well as its symbolic presence reflecting the ideals of the school’s broader 1960s Brutalist architecture conceived in an era of social progress.

Quoting the original headmaster’s sentiment, they noted that the hall’s completion was the pivotal anchor to the school’s community. Once completed, it will thus feature several initiatives all aimed at reinstating the hall’s civic function by forming a local cultural engine. Alongside this restoration move that will preserve a part of London’s Brutalist heritage, it will give a physical home to the UK’s first Museum of Brutalist Architecture which is currently operating only online. It will feature permanent and rotating exhibitions, digital archives, and community programming. Plans also include cross-generational events, screenings, and collaborations with residents, students, and arts groups, all aimed at reinstating the Assembly Hall’s civic function. Consultation with the school, families, and local stakeholders has underpinned the project from the outset, ensuring that the building’s next chapter remains tied to its founding ethos centered on architecture as a tool for collective learning and expression.

stairwell tower in Acland Burghley School | image by Robert Lamb via Wikimedia Commons

roof in the quad area of Acland Burghley School | image by Robert Lamb via Wikimedia Commons

image courtesy of Reed Watts Architects

image courtesy of Reed Watts Architects

restoration of the school’s Grade II-listed Assembly Hall | image courtesy of Reed Watts Architects

UK’s first museum dedicated to Brutalist architecture | image courtesy of Reed Watts Architects

the school will be transformed into a multifunctional public venue | image courtesy of Reed Watts Architects

plans to repair damaged fabric, restore original features, and improve access | image courtesy of Reed Watts Architects

project info:

name: Museum of Brutalist Architecture

architect: Reed Watts Architects | @reedwattsarch

location: Acland Burghley School, London, UK

architect: Howell, Killick, Partridge & Amis 

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From concrete megastructures to surreal modernist homes, music videos and pop culture have long leaned on architecture to set a tone. The trend is back in the spotlight with Bad Bunny’s newly released single, NUEVAYoL, which stages a festive quinceañera at one of New York’s lesser-known Brutalist icons: Marcel Breuer’s Meister Hall. The video turns the building’s stark geometry into a vivid, cinematic setting — its ribbed walls, cantilevered overhangs, and heavy concrete surfaces all pulled into focus through stylized camerawork and framing as a backdrop to the music’s narratives.

NUEVAYoL is just one example of how musicians have utilized architectural landmarks to play a central role in their visual storytelling, drawing from their drama, scale, or symbolism to enhance the mood, meaning, and cultural layer of their work. From Harry Styles running through the Barbican Estate’s labyrinthine walkways to Solange perched atop Robert Bruno’s almost alien Steel House, we’ve rounded up some standout music videos where iconic structures have played a starring role.

NUEVAYoL, Bad Bunny | image via YouTube

nuevayol by bad bunny at Marcel Breuer’s Meister Hall, new york

Bronx Community College — Marcel Breuer building | image by Enki323 via Wikimedia Commons

NUEVAYoL plays out at Marcel Breuer’s Meister Hall, designed in the late 1950s as an extension to the Bronx Community College campus, and recognizable for its rugged concrete surfaces, angular geometries, and stripped-back material palette. It was originally built as part of a Cold War-era campus plan, demonstrating a structural clarity and massing that typifies Breuer’s architectural language, with intricately textured details echoed in the other three Breuer-designed campus buildings.

The video transforms various planes of the architecture’s austerity into a richly stylized backdrop celebrating Latin culture. It opens with tiered cakes being wheeled across the terraced plaza and pans through dark interiors, their ribbed concrete detailing and ambient lighting adding theatrical texture to the track. At one point, Bad Bunny appears dwarfed against the vastness of the facade as he stands atop a cantilevered overhang, his teal suit and casual posture cut against the harsh modernism in a scene that feels both ironic and nostalgic.

Jalousie by Angèle at Oscar Niemeyer’s french communist party headquarters in paris

Jalousie, Angèle | image via YouTube

In Jalousie, Belgian pop singer Angèle dances through the futuristic, wave-like halls, circular corridors, and plush, confined interiors of Oscar Niemeyer’s French Communist Party Headquarters in Paris. Completed in 1971, the building bears Niemeyer’s unmistakable touch with sweeping curves, stark concrete forms, and sensual, organic geometries that here break from the rigidity of traditional institutional architecture. Most iconic is the domed subterranean meeting hall, an otherworldly, white sculptural void, which appears in the video as a stage of mirrored movement.

Niemeyer, a lifelong communist and master of Brasília’s monumental language, envisioned the building as a democratic space with undulating surfaces that seem to reject hierarchy altogether. His belief in democratic openness is given a surreal, almost pop twist, reinforcing the song and video’s themes of emotional duplicity and reflection.

the dome of Espace Niemeyer | image via Espace Niemeyer

As It Was by harry styles at london’s Barbican center

As It Was, Harry Styles | image via YouTube

Harry Styles’ As It Was is choreographed across several memorable London locations, including the Royal Horticultural Halls and the London Zoo’s former penguin pool. A somewhat melancholic reflection on change, loss, and love, earlier scenes depict the singer walking across an endlessly looping platform before he runs out through the concrete expanse of the Barbican Centre. It is one of London’s most iconic examples of Brutalist architecture, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon and completed in the early 1980s atop a post-war bomb site to form a self-contained neighborhood with cultural and residential facilities.

Barbican Sculpture Court | image by Max Colson, via Barbican

Intriguing in both scale and form, the Barbican appears almost fortress-like — its exposed concrete surfaces, elevated walkways, and maze-like structure forming a complex and imposing environment in central London. The design draws on Le Corbusier’s modernist ideals, layered with Roman, Mediterranean, and Scandinavian references, and was envisioned as a hopeful post-war symbol of renewal. Its visual austerity seems to mirror the sentimental undercurrents of As It Was, a song that sounds upbeat but carries a sense of longing.

I Dare you by the xx at lloyd wright’s Sowden House and john lautner’s rainbow house

I Dare You, The XX | image via YouTube

The XX’s I Dare You is as much a love letter to Los Angeles as it is a moody portrait of youth, filmed across two iconic houses tied to Southern California’s modernist history. The first is the Sowden House, designed in 1926 by Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright. Known for its Mayan Revival style, the house is characterized by a dramatic geometry, with its facade of textile blocks with jagged edges, a central courtyard framed by theatrical colonnades, and interiors saturated with shadow and mystique.

the Sowden House by Frank Lloyd Wright | image via The Sowden House

Equally striking is the Rainbow House (also known as Garcia House) by John Lautner, a longtime apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright and a major figure of expressive mid-century design. The house’s name comes from its sweeping rainbow-shaped roofline and the vivid, multicolored glass panels that throw colored light across the interiors. Both locations serve as cinematic vessels in a nostalgic haze, the cinematography’s emotional undertones bridging minimalism and theatrical modernism through architectural design.

I Dare You, The XX | image via YouTube

image © Aaron Kirman

Outside by Injury Reserve at Paolo Soleri’s Acrosanti in arizona

Outside, Injury Reserve | image via YouTube

Shot almost entirely at Arcosanti, Outside by Injury Reserve captures a posthuman eeriness that echoes the equally evocative and warped musicality of the track. Designed by Paolo Soleri in the 1970s as a desert utopia, Arcosanti is a hand-built experimental micro-city that fuses architecture with ecology, its domes, vaults, and amphitheaters forming a strange harmony with the Arizona desert.

In the music video, wide tracking shots and static frames highlight the vastness and emptiness of the complex, inside and out, built largely from poured concrete. The camera lingers on these monumental yet half-finished forms, such as vaulted corridors, sunlit terraces, and exposed rebar, revealing a place caught between utopian ambition and gradual decay.

the amphitheater at Arcosanti by Paolo Soleri | image by Jessica Jameson Photo, via The Cosanti Foundation

Cranes in the sky by solange at robert bruno’s Steel House, texas

Cranes in the Sky, Solange | image via YouTube

Solange’s Cranes in the Sky is filmed across many scenic landscapes in the American Southwest, but one of its most unforgettable settings is Robert Bruno’s Steel House in Ransom Canyon, Texas. The artist appears atop its almost alien form as a small silhouette towards the end of the video, coinciding with the song’s emotional release. Perched on a cliff like a rusted spaceship, the house is made entirely of welded steel (around 110 tons of it), bent, sculpted, and slowly assembled by Bruno over more than three decades until his death in 2008. Part sculpture, part home, the structure features bulbous forms, curving tunnels, and oddly intimate window openings that frame panoramic views of the canyon below. 

Steel House by Robert Bruno

n95 by Kendrick Lamar at Fort Worth Water Gardens and Renzo Piano Pavilion at Kimbell Art Museum

N95, Kendrick Lamar | image via YouTube

Kendrick Lamar’s music video for N95, released during the pandemic, confronts societal structures of power, isolation, and virtue signaling. We see several modernist architectural locations from Texas activated as visual metaphors and cinematic stages to these conversations, moving between surreal montages and austere compositions, and monochrome vignettes and saturated overlays. The brutalist Fort Worth Water Gardens designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee in 1974, become a notable dramatic backdrop as we see Lamar descend through a landscape of cascading concrete and water.

aereated pool of the Fort Worth Water Gardens, by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, Fort Worth, Texas | image by Carol M. Highsmith, via Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons

The scenes depict a rugged contrast between the raw built environment and the fluidity of the natural world, paralleling the ideas of exposure, vulnerability, and cleansing that N95 grapples with. In a more calculated counterpoint, Lamar takes to the stage in the quiet Renzo Piano Pavilion, illuminated as a silhouette as he plays a grand piano. A symphony of glass, concrete, wood, and steel, the space was designed as an extension to Louis Kahn’s original Kimbell Art Museum built in the 1970s.

N95, Kendrick Lamar | image via YouTube

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After a three-year restoration, Torre Velasca, Milan’s iconic skyscraper, reopens to the public with a fresh identity that amplifies its brutalist-modernist legacy. First completed in 1958 by the avant-garde collective BBPR (Banfi, Belgiojoso, Peressutti, and Rogers), the concrete tower has long stood as a symbol of postwar Italian resilience and experimentation. Now, under the direction of Hines, with Asti Architetti leading the architectural refurbishment, Torre Velasca enters a new phase as a hybrid vertical complex that combines residential, corporate, cultural, and communal uses, anchored by a newly created urban piazza.

all images ©Albo

Hines and Asti Architetti restore Torre Velasca

The defining form of the tower, composed of a rational base rising into a dramatic overhanging crown supported by angled buttresses, is preserved in its entirety. Often likened to a medieval fortress or Lombard tower, its bold silhouette remains unchanged, but its skin and systems are carefully upgraded. The original clinker brick facade, one of the most distinctive features of the building, was subjected to extensive restoration, led by Milan-based Asti Architetti for global real estate firm Hines, using laser cleaning and manual repair techniques to preserve its original grain and irregularities. Windows, some of which had been replaced with incompatible frames in the decades since its construction, were returned to BBPR’s specifications, reintroducing uniformity and rhythm to the grid.

The restoration also involves an overhaul of the building’s technological core—HVAC, energy efficiency systems, acoustic insulation, and digital infrastructure—earning the project LEED Gold and WiredScore Gold certifications. ‘The restoration had to be invisible,’ explains Paolo Asti. ‘Every intervention had to match the design logic and constructive intelligence of BBPR, or it didn’t belong.’

after a three-year restoration, Torre Velasca reopens to the public

reimagining BBPR’s skyscraper as a civic platform

Spanning 34,000 square meters of mixed-use program across 29 floors, what was once a gated skyscraper now opens fully to the public. The base now includes flexible event spaces, an exhibition gallery, retail units, and informal lounges. The 75-meter-high tower, once seen as a fortress, now functions as a civic platform. ‘This isn’t just a real estate project. It’s a return of public dignity to a building that was always meant to be part of the city, not apart from it,’ notes Senior Managing Director of Hines Mario Abbadessa.

Internally, public and private programs are layered vertically in a manner that respects the original tripartite structure: a commercial and communal ground plane, a modernist office block midsection, and a residential crown above—now reimagined as the METT Hotel & Lifestyle residences. The 18th floor houses MIA, a new panoramic restaurant designed with restrained luxury, while the mezzanine floors accommodate SUSHISAMBA and other food and wellness amenities. The interiors feature bespoke terrazzo, restored wood paneling, original signage typography, and hand-finished ceramics in an effort to echo the material intelligence of BBPR’s original scheme.

Perhaps the most radical gesture is at street level, where the formerly vehicle-dominated area around the tower has been entirely re-landscaped as Piazza Velasca, a pedestrian piazza paved in natural stone and planted with magnolias, olive trees, and native grasses. Asti Architetti’s custom benches and Esa Engineering’s lighting reinterpret BBPR’s design language in a contemporary idiom. The original street lamps designed by BBPR have also been restored, bridging past and present.

Milan’s iconic skyscraper adopts a fresh identity

first completed in 1958 by the avant-garde collective BBPR

the concrete tower has long stood as a symbol of postwar Italian resilience

under the direction of Hines, Asti Architetti leads the architectural refurbishment

Torre Velasca enters a new phase

a newly created urban piazza anchors the project

a hybrid vertical complex that combines residential, corporate, cultural, and communal uses

its bold silhouette remains unchanged

its skin and systems are carefully upgraded

laser cleaning and manual repair techniques preserve the original grain and irregularities of the facade

a rational base rises into a dramatic overhanging crown supported by angled buttresses

project info:

name: Torre Velasca Restoration

location: Milan, Italy

original architects: BBPR (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, Ernesto Nathan Rogers)

restoration lead architect: Asti Architetti | @asti_architetti

developer: Hines Italy | @hines

floor area: 34,000 sqm

height: 75 meters

engineering: CEAS (structures), ESA Engineering (MEP)

general contractor: ARS Aedificandi

heritage supervision: Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la città metropolitana di Milano

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Studio Saransh’s MS House in Ahmedabad, India, is a brutalist home that revolves around the nine mature neem trees of the site, preserving them as central elements that shape the spatial layout, architectural form, and material palette. The influence of nature is evident from the moment one approaches the site. The boundary wall winds around a tree trunk to preserve its growth, and a downward-curving branch near the entrance lobby makes this connection stronger. The brutalist aesthetic manifests strongly in the exterior, where bold geometries of the concrete facade disappear quietly within the green foliage. Square punctures within the shell of the residence and deep chamfered window sills further maximize this effect, allowing diffused light to cast playful shadows. The wooden-strip textured concrete mirrors the textures of the trees, softening the visual presence of the structure.

all images by @ishifishy

Nature softens the Brutalist Form of the ms house in india

At the heart of the house is a double-height central bay that embraces a neem tree. This space, oriented East-West, is where the family gathers for morning tea and meals under the canopy. ‘The central bay is more than just a design element—it is the soul of the house,’ explains Malay Doshi, principal architect at Studio Saransh. It anchors two wings: the front housing the living room, verandah, and garden, and the other accommodating the guest room, kitchen, and ancillary spaces. ‘Every element of this house is shaped by the site’s natural context and the family’s needs, embodying our belief that a good design must seamlessly integrate function, individuality, and environment,’ adds Kaveesha Shah, the principal interior designer of the Ahmedabad-based studio. 

On the upper floor, the central bay transitions into a study area overlooking the dining space below. Each space establishes its own relationship with the trees outside. The architects position the master bedroom directly above the living room, opening to a shaded balcony that overlooks the trees. Occupying the quieter rear wing, the daughters’ bedrooms offer views of the backyard. The second floor serves as a social terrace with a family lounge, bar, and powder room, creating an inviting space for gatherings above the neem canopies.

wooden-strip textured concrete mirrors the textures of the trees

Materials that Connect Inside and Out

Concrete and lime-plastered walls combined with grey Kota flooring create a cohesive design that ties the interior and exterior of the MS House together. The living room incorporates smooth-polished plywood cast concrete surfaces and ethically sourced Valsadi teak paneling, with ribbon windows framing the views of the foliage outside.

The dining area houses a custom wooden table by TDW with rosewood detailing that mirrors the linearity of the concrete and Kota pattern, while teak and wicker chairs from Mistry at Finest pair with a parametric suspension lamp designed in collaboration with Andlabs. The living room is designed to function as two seating clusters: one featuring a custom sectional sofa set and an iconic Eames chair with the Arco lamp from Flos, and the other with a more formal setup featuring custom-designed fabric lamps and an abstract art rug from Jaipur Rugs.

square windows puncture within the shell of the residence

Personal Spaces with Distinctive Characters

The bedrooms reflect the personalities of their occupants, with the master bedroom, finished in ply cast concrete and Kota flooring with terrazzo detailing, featuring a custom four-poster bed with stone pedestals and wooden posts. Contrasting tones saturate the daughters’ rooms—one with graphite shades, the other with sage green walls and green marble-infused terrazzo flooring. 

The bathrooms introduce their own design narratives. The master ensuite is bathed in natural light from two skylights: a circular one above the sink and a square one hidden in the shower. The black powder room on the terrace, featuring full-height glazing, overlooks an array of Champa trees, creating an illusion of a private courtyard. 

Beyond merely preserving the neem trees, MS House takes advantage of its orientation to maximize natural light and ventilation. Heat gain is reduced through laminated double glazing, deep shaded openings, and cavity walls. The solar-powered roof of the gazebo enables the house to run on solar energy, meeting 70-80% of its needs, while lime-plastered walls eliminate the need for plastic-based paints, ensuring an eco-friendly approach. Additionally, with materials used resourcefully—leftover timber is repurposed into custom tables, while marble remnants form a console in the drawing room, ensuring minimal construction waste.

the boundary wall winds around a tree trunk to preserve its growth

at the heart of the house is a double-height central bay that embraces a neem tree

here is where the family gathers for morning tea and meals

concrete and lime-plastered walls are combined with grey Kota flooring

the living room hosts an iconic Eames chair with the Arco lamp from Flos

the living room incorporates smooth-polished plywood cast concrete surfaces

MS House takes advantage of its orientation to maximize natural light and ventilation

project info:

name: MS House
architect: Ahmedabad-based studio | @studio_saransh
location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
built-up area: 605 square meters
site area: 543 square meters

client: Manish Shah
design lead: Malay Doshi, Kaveesha Shah
design team: Vishal Gohel, Anamica Gupta

structure: Sakshham Consultants
MEP: Ravi Engineering
parametric consultant: andLabs
horticulturist: Shwetal Bhavsar

doors/windows: The Window Factory

photography: Ishita Sitwala | The Fishy Project | @ishifishy

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