In this captivating collection of five houses built in five different Asian-Pacific countries, Argentinian-born designer Ernesto Bedmar explores his fascination with traditional architectural styles and reinvents them for the contemporary world. Using his deep understanding of the histories and building cultures of these regions, Bedmar seamlessly knits his designs into the collective memory of each site. The five houses, located in India, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and New Zealand, demonstrate the flexibility of the designer’s trademark tropical architecture and showcase a diverse set of modern forms that resonate deeply with the local landscape and make use of water as a unifying and harmonizing element. The book contains a wealth of drawings and plans that detail the innovative construction techniques, and the resulting houses are captured in a breathtaking series of photographs showing the use of spaces and materials as well as the spectacular sites on which they sit.

• Text by Darlene Smyth
• Photography by Albert Lim Koon Seng
• Preface by Ernesto Bedmar
• Edited by Oscar Riera Ojeda

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Contributors Biographies

Bedmar & Shi is a Singapore-based design practice established in 1986, incorporating a wide range of architectural, conservation, landscape, and interior designs. Since its inception, it has always maintained a staff of twelve, a multicultural mix of personalities from various parts of the world, designers with a singular desire to explore the relationships between buildings and nature with particular emphasis on quality design and execution of its diversified portfolio. The company founders, Ernesto Bedmar and Patti Shi, personally liaise with and direct each of the company’s projects. The list of projects stretches from New York, London, New Zealand, India, and Malaysia to Indonesia, Thailand, Tibet, Bhutan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Darlene Smyth is a Canadian-born writer and designer, she has a BA in Communications and Music, a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies, and Master of Architecture from the University of Ottawa. She is a professor at the National University of Singapore and director of the Singapore-based design practice, A. D_Lab pte ltd.

Albert Lim Koon Seng is an architectural photographer based in Singapore whose images have been published extensively in architectural journals such as A + U, MIMAR, Singapore Architect, World Architecture, SPACE, and Monument. His photographs have also illustrated numerous books, including The New Malaysian House and Singapore: Architecture: of a Global City. His work has been displayed at several exhibitions including the Venice Biennale and the Aedes East Gallery in Berlin.