Townhouses are some of the most interesting features of modern urban architecture. Below we present a selection of newly designed townhouses, unconventional architectural concepts in terraced housing for cosmopolitan families. The main feature of these houses is the imaginative use of space and the creative way in which natural light is allowed to enter.
A townhouse is a residence that many find combines the best amenities of a single–family home and a condominium. By definition, a townhouse is a home that is attached to adjacent houses, which sits upon land that you own. THE MODERN TOWNHOUSE will look at three types of town house projects that are increasingly popular in urban areas and close–in suburbia: 1) Renovation of existing town houses. This is a particularly popular activity in older, urban neighborhoods undergoing re–gentrification. Eighteenth and nineteenth century "shells" long in disrepair, are being gutted and totally modernized 2) Vacant lots, primarily in the inner cities, but also in close–in suburban neighborhoods where zoning restricts high rise housing, are being filled with four or five town houses that are built perpendicular to the street, usually in neighborhoods where the lot size would normally accommodate only one, detached house. This activity is in response to the increasing demand for urban housing where high land prices mandate multifamily housing solutions. 3) New, one–off townhouses, that are found primarily in wealthier neighborhoods where the high land cost can be recovered with a single, luxury town home. The book will be divided into these three categories and feature project from around the country including Baltimore, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, and in smaller metropolitan areas.
The townhouse has been playing an essential role again in the debate on architecture and urban design for about ten years now. That is particularly true in Berlin. Since the state has withdrawn from programs to build subsidized housing, new attention has focused on a renaissance of the inner city through individual, privately financed residential projects. In this volume of the Construction and Design Manual series, Hans Stimmann, who was Senate Building Director for Urban Development in Berlin for more than ten years and a pioneer of the current townhouse boom, summarises the townhouse's political strategies, roots in architectural history and theoretical concepts. The author also analyses around fifty examples and situates them in their urban context. > large-format photographs (exteriors/interiors) > true to scale drawings and plans > aerial photographs of the urban context > comparison of construction costs.
75 unique designs for attractive, efficient, environmentally friendly homes. Now available in paperback, this collection of 75 plans for small homes offers more than 500 usable blueprints and other illustrations for a variety of living spaces suitable for every environment and style, from a New England farmhouse to a sophisticated townhouse in the city to a Santa Fe ranch. The designs include site drawings, floor plans, elevation drawings, section drawings, perspective drawings, and exploded views. A brief introduction to each home describes its setting, the philosophy behind the design and its intended use, materials used, recommended landscaping, and more. Many of the homes come with money-saving and environmentally sound features such as solar panels and water heaters, wood stoves, ceiling fans, airlock entries, wind power alternatives, and natural gas heaters.
Continuing her exploration of English interiors, Ros Byam Shaw visits 14 distinctive townhouses full of charm, character and style. In Perfect English Townhouse, Ros Byam Shaw examines the timeless English style of decoration in a variety of Georgian, Victorian, and contemporary townhouses. Architecturally, these tall, narrow properties present challenges. How do you make the best of a basement kitchen with a low ceiling and little light? Or allocate space effectively when you live across five floors? And how do you maximize any outdoor space? Perfect English Townhouse features case studies of such homes, not only in London but also in the provincial towns and cities of England. Some feel like little corners of countryside surrounded by sidewalks, others have a more sophisticated urban allure; some are endearingly quirky, others more classical. All the interiors featured are interesting, inspiring, and reflect the personalities of the people who live in them. These are the kinds of spaces that most of us are familiar with, and that many of us occupy. What is unusual is how cleverly and creatively these examples have been decorated and designed, in the Perfect English style.
In this abundantly illustrated volume, Bernard Herman provides a history of urban dwellings and the people who built and lived in them in early America. In the eighteenth century, cities were constant objects of idealization, often viewed as the outward manifestations of an organized, civil society. As the physical objects that composed the largest portion of urban settings, town houses contained and signified different aspects of city life, argues Herman. Taking a material culture approach, Herman examines urban domestic buildings from Charleston, South Carolina, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as well as those in English cities and towns, to better understand why people built the houses they did and how their homes informed everyday city life. Working with buildings and documentary sources as diverse as court cases and recipes, Herman interprets town houses as lived experience. Chapters consider an array of domestic spaces, including the merchant family's house, the servant's quarter, and the widow's dower. Herman demonstrates that city houses served as sites of power as well as complex and often conflicted artifacts mapping the everyday negotiations of social identity and the display of sociability.
How to turn an old home into a jewel on the block. What do a fashion mogul, a Williams-Sonoma executive, a museum curator, and a design-savvy actress have in common? Good taste, of course, but more than that: a shared passion to "bring back," to carefully restore and artfully embellish, their houses. They are among the twenty-one real-life renovations featured in this essential resource—from stately town houses to brownstone fixer-uppers—to give the true experience of creating an urban oasis on any street. Whether hunting for rare chandeliers, salvaging floorboards for new tabletops, or removing walls to let more light in, all the nuts and bolts of restoration are here. In Boston, a young family's renovation takes three years and includes every modern amenity (a media room, home gym, elevator), but saves most of the original interiors (window shutters and seats, marble fireplaces). A Baltimore couple—both stars of the graphic design world—must reconcile their cutting-edge tastes with their traditional surrounds. From furniture and color to rooftops and terraces, Restoring a House in the City offers a treasury of inspiration and ideas, as well as a lavish illustrated tour of some of the best done renovations in the business.
Combining an inventive spirit with an erudite grasp of architectural history, Peter Pennoyer Architects has been designing elegant, classically based homes in both urban and country settings for two decades. Twenty of the firm's residential projects are featured in this sumptuously illustrated volume, ranging from a triplex in New York to a Spanish Colonial Revival house in San Francisco, from a farmhouse in Virginia to a ranch house in New Mexico. Guided by Peter Pennoyer and Anne Walkers illuminating text, the reader will derive great appreciation for the firm's implementation of classical traditions and skilful adaptation of timeless design to modern life.
