20 Houses: A New Residential Landscape – The 2011 Wallpaper* Architects Directory at the AF

The annual Wallpaper* Architects Directory, now in its twelfth year, provides the ultimate little black book to the world's most promising young practices.

For this year's Directory, Wallpaper* selected twenty studios from around the world. Each was given an open brief to design the ultimate rural retreat. These twenty houses were designed to be flexible and functional, but also formally and technically innovative, sitting on an isolated countryside site. The only sanction was the need for the homes to touch the ground lightly, with minimum disruption to the landscape.

This exhibition unites the featured architects, showcasing all twenty bespoke homes. The models are presented on a minimal sculptural structure developed by Wallpaper*, based on an initial abstract landscape idea by emerging UK-practice Naja de Ostos, and enhanced by a specially designed imaginary lighting environment created by specialists Speirs + Major.

Selected highlights of the Wallpaper* Architects Directory and the full list of 20 practices will be published and revealed in the magazine's July 2011 issue, and featured in full on wallpaper.com from the exhibition's opening day.

Featured Architects:

Anttinen Oiva Architects - Finland
Architecture Republic - Ireland
Bourgeois/Lechasseur - Canada
Fourfoursixsix - United Kingdom
GH3 - Canada
Hurst Song Architekten - Switzerland
Karawitz Architecture - France
KITE Architecture - Japan
LHVH Architkten - Germany
Martin Gomez Arquitectos - Argentina/Uruguay
Moorhead & Moorhead - United States
Olaf Gipser Architects - The Netherlands
Pasel.Künzel Architects - The Netherlands
Sami Arquitectos - Portugal
Studio Octopi - United Kingdom
Svendborg Architects - Denmark
TAKA - Ireland
VOIS Architects – Greece
Warren Techentin Architects – United States
Zon-e Arquitectos – Argentina/ Spain

Talks:

As part of the exhibition programme, Wallpaper* and the AF have invited a selection of the practices from the 2011 Directory to take part in a series of talks, using the theme of built/unbuilt to explore the relationship between real world commissions and the ideas and approaches that arose out of the open brief for the Directory commission.

Each event will involve three of the 2011 Architects Directory participants, one UK-based and two non-UK based. The talks will explore the ongoing role and relevance of conceptual design and fantasy architecture. Prompted by a presentation of their design for an ‘ideal retreat' produced for this year's directory, the architects will be invited to a further discussion about conceptual and ‘imaginary' architecture and its advantages - how conceptual design may or may not feed ‘real' architecture in terms of form, technique, strategy and material.

Participants now revealed:

Tuesday 14 June, 7pm
FourFourSixSix (UK), Hurst Song Architekten (CH), pasel.künzel architects (NL)

Tuesday 5 July, 7pm
TAKA (IE), Studio Octopi (UK), Warren Techentin (USA)

Image: courtesy Anna Stathaki / annastathaki.com