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A Sweet Paradise in Vietnam’s Minimalist Oceanique Villas

A dreamy escape is on offer at Phan Thiết, Binh Thuan, in Vietnam from MM++ Architects.

From the pool, one seems to looking at a living room.

But actually, its clever design make one space function superbly as either living room or bedroom or office.

All the interior layouts are designed so as to offer a generous sea view for each space, indoors or out.

Upon arrival, guests are welcomed by a cool and shallow sunlit water feature set into the foyer.

Directly across from the foyer, an outdoor kitchen is available to refresh the returning traveler.

The resort comprises three buildings, each with their own swimming pool.

Two of the villas have three bedrooms, and one has four.

The grassy area in front of each villa is raised up from the beach about five feet in order to separate it from the beach front.

Cool stone floors delight sandy feet on return from the beach to a sublimely restful bedroom.

Fresh and clean, sunlight follows the open air indoors.

Pools are literally just a step down from the villas.

Trellises provide delightful dappled shade for interior courtyards.

Guests are greeted with lovely tropical plantings.

A perfectly controlled tangle of tropical greenery precisely offsets the palette of white stucco and red cedarwood.

Another boxed-in glass landscaped cube ensures guests are never too far from nature.

Even outside, the trees seem to follow an organized modular rhythm.

Materials used the Oceanique Villas are simple and fresh and the design is minimalist but considerate, creating an altogether charming retreat.

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Strange Palatial Minimalism for a Cold Industrialist

A commanding residence by Longhi Architects is built entirely of stone right on the sand at a popular coastal resort in Peru.

The unsettling space has a cold and intimidating beauty.

The flowing palatial elegance of the chairs gathered at this table contrasts with the unrelenting stone setting.

Chilly stone surrounds an uncomfortable seating arrangement, that seems designed more for business associates to receive difficult and painful news than for any friendly exchange.

Designed to intimidate, this is no place for conviviality.

The residence actually seems more like a corporate office for a billionaire industrialist than a home.

There is lavish use of heavy cold stone throughout, culminating in this semi sculptural arrangement by the stairs.

The whole second floor frame of the house is even made of stone.

This same stone is even used in bathrooms.

Deep stairs are also hewn from stone by the glass-encased pool.

Although the exterior is reminiscent of many beach houses, inside a cold and mysterious aesthetic takes over.

Even the kitchen seems more like a sculpture of the idea of a kitchen than place to actually cook something good to eat.

Altogether a fascinating and strange residence that seems more built to impress others than to live life.

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Cool Concrete Art Studio in São Paulo

An art studio designed by AR Arquitetos in Brazil is cool and chic, with an elegance that belies its concrete construction.

The entrance recreates the feeling of a street with random buildings.

An internal concrete stairway ascending a cube has a satisfyingly sculptural heft.

Under the cube, stairs lead down to a sleeping space.

The painting studio has a double height ceiling allowing the high window to diffuse the northern light from above.

After ascending the sculptural staircase, the top of the cube pushes out into the world.

Another philosophical contemplation area that extends indoors and out offers a low concrete bench suspended just above ground.

In this courtyard, a sudden flourishing of nature is startling in the context of unrelieved concrete.

Even more metaphysical is another stair that seems more like a sculpture of a stair than a simply functional design.

Altogether an interesting art studio that is more art than architecture.