Collection by Diana Budds
Back in Black
Black is the color (or absence of color, rather) of choice for these twelve homes from San Francisco to Berlin to Tokyo and beyond.
The striking black facade of Pieter Weijnen's new home is the result of the Japanese practice of charring wood. Weijnen, an architect at the Amsterdam firm Faro, first discovered charred wood through the work of Terunobu Fujimori and later traveled to the Japanese island of Naoshima to observe the traditional technique.
David Baker's Edwardian is painted the same slightly sparkly micaceous iron-oxide paint as the Sydney Harbor Bridge; the color is Quarry. Glass vitrines fronting his art studio are curated at whim to the enjoyment of passersby. The ipe gate to the right opens to a passageway that once led to the stables.
“The clients asked for a ‘different-looking’ home,” says the architect. “They also asked for a loft-style interior.” To fulfill the first requirement, the architects opted for a perforated and expanded aluminum facade. Enticingly tactile, it attracts attention, while screening much of the interior from view.