Courtyards

FG House | Bernardes Arquitetura

Anouk Vogel's installation

@aubry.guillaume

The kitchen in the main building with historic facades connects to the extension and patio with a regular door. the sides of the hallway slide open to have an extended patio.

Inner garden

Landscape designer Ignacio Montes de Ocafilled the house with native South American plants. A rising star in Buenos Aires design circles, Montes de Oca drew inspiration from his northern home province of Misiones and its tropical vegetation, adapting a lush jungle look to the temperate local climate. He chose plants that would eventually grow to engulf the house.

Tasked with renovating a 1950s ranch in Northern California, Ogawa Fisher Architects revived an existing Japanese garden at the center of the home as a central organizing element. Low-slung, wide decks (inspired by the Japanese “engawa,” or elevated walkway) and deep roof soffits expand the living spaces, frame views, and blur the boundaries between inside and outside. The garden is the second of three courtyards that orients the various wings of the home from front to back, creating a vast sense of openness while also maintaining privacy from other areas of the house and the street.

A private, shaded outdoor shower is an added bonus.

A path created with Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers meanders through the garden past the master bedroom.

An abundance of doors and windows creates passive cooling throughout the home.

The U-shaped floorplan wraps around a sunny central courtyard.

Punctuated by a central courtyard, the single-story residence was designed as a grid of 25-foot squares. Fisher selected corrugated Cor-ten steel for the facade and roof, all of which has since 'aged' to create a rich, earthy color that blends into the 19-plus acre property.