Stones, Leaves, and Shells Whorl in Hypnotic Land Art by Jon Foreman

“Whirling Colour” (2019), Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire. All images © Jon Foreman

Jon Foreman arranges his seashell coils and stone gradients knowing that they’ll be washed away by the tide or kicked over by passersby. The artist’s ephemeral land art is hypnotic and entrancing in its precision, arranged in perfectly concentric circles and exacting compositions depressed in the sand. His large-scale pieces transform blank beaches and forest expanses into artworks that evidence both environmental diversity and continuity.

Based in Wales, the artist began creating his nature-based work while in college. Since then, his land art has ranged from minimal stone sculptures to sweeping sand mandalas, and each project has its own entrancing motif. “Repeat processes are always very therapeutic and this is a good example of that, getting lost in the process is an important part of land art,” Foreman recently wrote on Instagram.

If you don’t have the opportunity to see one of the artist’s highly composed pieces in person, pick up a print from his shop. (via Juxtapoz)

“II Ad Unum” (2019), Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire

“Confluere” (2018), Art of Balance Exhibition, Summerhall, Edinburgh

Left: Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire. Right: “Nether” (2019), Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire

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Luca Fortin constructs concrete passageway for Quebec City park

Two monolithic concrete walls by designer Luca Fortin are arranged "like an opened book" to form a passageway inside a Quebec City park.

Entre les lignes, which translates as between the lines, separates an urban area of the Canadian city from Chauveau Park located alongside the St Charles River.

It is intended to beckon park visitors to pass through the rounded archway into the wooded space.

"Like an opened book, this work is an invitation to walk through a new landscape, whether real or imaginary," Fortin said.

"Offering visitors access to a transitionary space between the urban and the natural areas of the linear park of the Rivière-Saint-Charles, framed poetically by the wide arch-shaped portal," he added.

"Acting both as an entranceway and finish line for its pedestrian public, the piece is an open invitation for contemplation, a catalyst to reawaken a desire to dream and reconnect to the natural landscape shared by all."

Photograph is by Luca Fortin

The sculpture comprises two walls formed by stacked concrete slabs that measure eight metres long and four metres high. Fortin used a wooden mould for the concrete to give it a marked texture.

A rounded archway, cut out from one of the walls, straddles the path to form an access point through which park visitors can traverse. The pair are arranged at a slight angle from one another leaving a wide opening on one end that follows the pathway.

Rigid lines and small holes stretch across the grey walls in a manner similar to text-markings.

"Diffused colours, streaks and textures leave abstract palimpsestic traces on the walls, their almost script-like appearance invites viewers to decrypt them as they wish," Fortin added.

Photograph is by Luca Fortin

Changing seasons and weather, such as rain and snow, will transform the structure's composition throughout the year.

"The cycling of the four seasons, with the succession of rain, falling leaves and snow, will change the intrinsic appearance of the concrete, constantly offering passers-by a new version of its story," the designer added.

Photograph is by Luca Fortin

Luca Fortin worked with design collective Fontaine/Fortin/Labelle to design a colourful, abstract doorway.

The project formed part of Passages Insolites, an annual public art festival presented by arts organisation EXMURO that asks architects to install unusual passages around the city.

Photography is by Felix Michaud, unless noted otherwise.

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10 homes designed for practising yoga and meditation

We've rounded up 10 houses from across the globe with rooms dedicated to yoga and meditation – including a beachfront spot in Mexico and a plywood-covered nook in Canada.

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Hatley House by Pelletier de Fontenay and François Abbott, Canada

This gabled house in the Canadian town of Hatley, Quebec features a minimally furnished room clad in plywood. Built above the master bedroom, the nook was designed to offer the owners a space for meditation.

Find out more about Hatley House ›

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Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura, Mexico

Mexico City studio Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura built a beach house on the Pacific Ocean for clients who envisioned a meditative getaway. One room overlooks the waterfront with sliding glass walls and has a large, round lightwell above.

Find out more about Lyons Garden ›

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Lai Yard by Ming Gu Design, China

A glazed extension was added to a Chinese dwelling in Nanjing by Ming Gu Design. The studio created the volume as a place for cultivating mindfulness with an area nearby for preparing and drinking tea.

Find out more about Lai Yard ›

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Crestview Lane House by Deborah Berke Partners, USA

Deborah Berke Partners has outfitted this residence with separate gyms for a husband and wife in New York's Hamptons area. Sliding glass doors usher in sunlight and provide access to a grassy lawn and outdoor swimming pool.

Find out more about Crestview Lane House ›

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Springhill House by Lovell Burton, Australia

This house was erected an agricultural plot outside of Melbourne for a writer seeking a change from city life. Inside, the room can be divided using a curtain to create a yoga studio or guest bedroom.

Find out more about Springhill House ›

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Hill Country House by Miró Rivera Architects, USA

Floor-to-ceiling windows outfit this yoga room to provide views of a rolling meadow in Texas. Designed by Miró Rivera Architects, the residence also provides its own heating and cooling via a geothermal system.

Find out more about Hill Country House ›

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AYC by DX Arquitectos, Chile

DX Arquitectos added a timber-framed extension onto the home of a yoga teacher in Santiago so she can teach classes. The project is for the director of Ashtanga Yoga Chile – the oldest school in the country specialising in this style of yoga.

Find out more about AYC ›

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Mermaid Beach Residence by B.E. Architecture, Australia

A couple with two young children desired a home where they can surf and do yoga, and tasked B.E. Architecture to create it. Located in Queensland, Australia, the abode features several outdoor areas for enjoying the outdoors.

Find out more about Mermaid Beach Residence ›

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Creek House by Faulkner Architects, USA

Faulker Architects built a residence near Lake Tahoe as a California retreat for a research scientist who lives in New York City. Inside, a barely-furnished room has floors covered in Japanese tatami mats.

Find out more about Creek House ›

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Ceiba House by Jorge Ramírez, Mexico

Architect Jorge Ramírez preserved an old fruit tree when renovating his home in Aguascalientes, Mexico. He then added a studio on top as a place for his wife and himself to practice yoga.

Find out more about Ceiba House ›

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Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven builds bright red fire station in Antwerp

Dutch studio Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven has used red glazed bricks to make a new Antwerp fire station stand out.

Fire Station Wilrijk is located on a main road, in a neighbourhood to the south of the Belgian city.

Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven wanted to make a statement, to help the building quickly develop its own identity, so chose to clad the entire exterior in bright red bricks.

The colour of these bricks is emphasised by the use of vertical piers and bright white grout.

According to Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven, the aim was to make an "architecture parlante" – a type of building where the architectural form explains the structure's function.

"The monochrome character provides a recognisable identity in the neighbourhood, an architecture parlante in which form and appearance irrevocably remind us of the function of the building and the urgency of its users," said the Rotterdam-based studio.

The fire station is a three-storey building, with a double-height station garage on one side and additional rooms wrapping up and over.

Its volume is made asymmetric by a tower in one corner, with bold white signage spelling out the word Brandweer – meaning fire brigade.

Graphic designer Reynoud Homan designed this signage by adapting the font Univers, designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1957. This sans-serif font helps to reinforce the functional aesthetic to the elevation.

Below this sign, the brick facade is designed in two layers. The outer layer takes the form of a grid, creating a series of thick vertical piers at ground-floor level, and thinner ones on the level above.

Bricks on the outer layer twice as tall as those behind, creating a visual hierarchy.

"Particular attention has been paid to the tectonics of the facades, which express the typological stacking of the garage, residence and tower" said Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven.

"This stacking decreases proportionally in height and is emphasized by a mutual setback of 10 centimetres."

The building is more modest and utilitarian inside, with no traces of red to be found. A hybrid structure of concrete and cross-laminated timber (CLT) is matched by wall partitions on all three floors.

Workshop spaces and office are located on the two lower levels, while the upper floor is designed to feel more domestic. It includes sleeping quarters, dressing rooms and living spaces, so that firefighters can be on call 24/7.

The building generates its own energy, thanks to a solar boiler, a heat pump and rooftop solar panels.

Other examples of architect-designed fire stations include a copper-clad building in Chamonix and a rose-hued building in South Tyrol.

Photography is by Karin Borghouts.

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Project credits:

Client: AG Vespa
Architect: Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven
Contractor: dhulst'
Constructional engineer: Vervest Constructief Advies & Ontwerp
Technical engineer: SB Heedfeld NV
EPB Reporting: GHW bvba

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Raúl Sánchez uses clever cutaways in house at Mas Blanch i Jové winery

Corten steel walls, a circular window and a big cross all feature in this house renovated by Raúl Sánchez Architects for a winery in Catalonia.

Called Gallery House, the two-storey property functions as both a guesthouse and gallery for the Mas Blanch i Jové winery in La Pobla de Cérvoles.

Barcelona-based Sánchez planned his renovation around a series of cutaways, all designed to make the interior of the house more sculptural.

A large cross-shaped opening was created through the centre of the house, connecting the two floors and offering a sense of drama.

New windows were also added, to allow views right through the building. Most are rectangular, but there's also a large round window in one of the ground-floor walls.

The new additions are reinforced by the use of Corten, a weathering steel with a distinctive rusty colour and texture. It clads internal and external walls, and also frames the new windows.

"The project proposes a clear and accurate division of the house by means of a cross established in plan and section," explained Sánchez.

"[It] opens four huge windows in each one of the facades of the house, putting it in close contact with the picturesque landscape of the place."

Every year, Mas Blanch I Jové invites a different artist to contribute a new sculpture to the estate and vineyards. Joan Brossa, Frederic Amat and Eva Lootz are among contributors so far.

Gallery House allows the winery to expand this tradition. Going forward, new artists will be asked to also create a small intervention inside this building.

The idea is for the house to be used in various ways. It can accommodate the winery owners and other guests throughout the year, but also double as a public gallery or events space.

The weathering steel surfaces helps to clearly demarcate the areas designed for displaying artworks, while the domestic spaces feature a more humble material palette of pale concrete and natural wood.

"The material collision is direct on the upper floor," said Sánchez, "from the metallic, cold space of the exhibition areas, one accesses the warm and comfortable wooden environments of the bedrooms."

The scale of the spaces also differs between floors. The ground floor has a looping plan, with a large living space on one side and a generous dining space on the other.

Upstairs is more clearly divided, with five bedrooms that each have their own bathroom. Different colours give every en-suite its own character.

"The crucial point of the house is the centre of the cross, solved by a small bridge that flies over the ground floor," added Sánchez.

Gallery House is not the only project that Sánchez has completed for Mas Blanch I Jové. He also recently added a new tasting room in the wine production hall.

Other projects by the architect include a dental clinic with smile-shaped partitions and a vaulted basement home.

Photography is by José Hevia.

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Project credits:

Architecture: Raúl Sánchez Architects
Project team: Raúl Sánchez, Sainza Hervella, Miriam Corcuera, Valentina Barberio, Albert Montilla
Client: Mas Blanch I Jove
Structure: Diagonal Arquitectura
Engineering: Marés ingenieros
Metal works: Metal Ware
Faucets and taps: Icónico
Wood carpentry: Mobles Ferné

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