From Bauhaus to Wowhouse: 5 modernism-embracing builds

When something as radically discontinuous with the past, as disruptive as modernist design (expressed, you could argue, with the greatest clarity by the Bauhaus as both school and philosophy) is still as relevant and contemporary now as it was a century ago, then you know it's got real legs. Or foundations.

The geometry-loving formal reduction of modernist architecture, with its separately articulated volumes, lack of superfluous detailing, and celebration of light and shadow lives on around the globe in the latest projects. Here are five examples of 21st-century houses that can trace their lineage directly to Dessau...

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01

Pitsou Kedem Architects

A House for an Architect

Ramat HaSharon, Israel

Author of a number of archly modernist homes in his native Israel, architect Pitsou Kedem practices what he preaches, as it were, with his own private residence in Ramat HaSharon. With its floating concrete ceiling and rational, tight grid, as well as porthole-like apertures, it pays homage to the architecture of Tel Aviv’s White City and beyond.

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02

Pitsou Kedem Architects

Contemporary Bauhaus on the Carmel

Haifa, Israel

Meanwhile, in Israel’s port city of Haifa, Pitsou Kedem’s house in the French Carmel neighbourhood performs a fluent architectural dialogue with its neighbours – a number of residences designed in the Bauhaus style. Taking the form almost of a rectilinear sculpture, the build features a full-height void with floor-to-roof glazing on one side.

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03

Junsekino Architecture + Design

Baan Chan

Chanthaburi, Thailand

When a German photographer approached Bangkok-based architectural office Junsekino Architecture + Design with a commission for a new coastal villa in Chanthaburi, Thailand, he was explicit about his desire for a build that captured the geist of the Bauhaus – strong, orthogonal geometry, with a high degree of transparency and a copious use of béton brut.

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04

Studio MK27

Studio R

São Paulo, Brazil

Not quite a private residence, but definitely on the same page is Brazilian practice Studio MK27’s photographic studio in São Paulo. A series of three, stacked rectangular volumes, the top one dramatically cantilevered, the project offers its owner – thanks to its perforated exterior and interior panels in metal and wood, as well as its full-height aperture at ground level on one side – a variety of light conditions.

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05

Kedem Shinar Design & Architecture

CY House

Gezer, Israel

Back in Israel, Kedem Shinar Design & Architecture’s CY House in Gezer is a symphony of intersecting planes and right angles, featuring white, rendered walls and ceilings, and extensive and expansive fenestration. The resulting transparency is accented with a judicious use wood and aluminium, notably on the roof.

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