Photo is by Luca Compri
Chad
N Djamena Grand Hotel, N Djamena, by TAU ⁄ Roberto Sechi, Luca Compri
The N Djamena Grand Hotel is part of an architectural complex designed to host big political events. It is situated in N Djamena city centre, overlooking the Chari River. The building is characterised by its palace-like structure and its rectangular shape.
The facade of this hotel building clearly shows the Arabic influence on Chadian architecture. The repetitive patterns of the facade give the building a grandeur that many modern mosques can hardly match.
In total, it has eight levels. On the ground floor is the lobby (a double-height space), the restaurant, the cafeteria, the meeting room, and all of the administrative offices. The 187 bedrooms cover the remaining floors and have varying sizes: the higher the floor number, the bigger and more luxurious the rooms become, ending with the deluxe executive suites on the top floor.
This house in the Italian village of Valtournenche was designed by LCA Architetti using mostly natural materials and features a double-pitched roof that evokes the surrounding mountain peaks.
Varese-based architect Luca Compri s studio designed the Climber s Refuge for a young couple who wanted to build a sustainable chalet in the Cervinia ski resort.
The property, also known as Chalet Blanc, was constructed using a prefabricated timber frame and designed as a contemporary interpretation of the region s typical mountain homes.
Above: Climber s Refuge is a contemporary chalet in Italy. Top image: it has a double-pitched roof to mimic the surrounding mountains
LCA Architetti has used cork, straw and timber to build a simple and sustainable house overlooking woodland in the small town of Magnago, Italy.
Aptly named The House of Wood, Straw and Cork, the dwelling near Milan was commissioned by a young couple who wanted to live more sustainably and in closer contact with nature.
LCA Architetti designed the Italian house to evoke a barn
LCA Architetti s design is deliberately pared-back, in a bid to retain focus on the home s rural surroundings while minimising its environmental impact.
This is helped with the use of natural and recyclable construction materials, including a prefabricated timber structure, straw insulation and cladding made from cork – a renewable, resistant and insulating material that is harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree.