Shibuya Station, by Tadao Ando, photo credit: Satoshi Minakawa

Kay from Wallpaper always sends me the most interesting bits from her publication. Today, for instance, she sent me a link to their brand new Architects Directory 2008. The by-line of Wallpaper directory is The World’s 50 hottest young architecture practices. Not to toot my own horn, but I remember back when I was in architecture school I could name (correctly) the most obscure architects’ works even if I had not seen the particular project I’d been tested with. It was a true skill. Today, after 12 years of practicing architecture, I know all the same architects I referenced in school and have not kept up my Rain Man skills as I should.

But there is a quick way to regain my chops: spend a few hours with Wallpaper’s Architects Directory 2008. Here’s one of the practices that piqued my interest:

Above is the House Schneiderman from Peerutin Architects, South Africa. Their work is punctuated by a number of houses by the sea that seem to hover high above the South African Coast. I like d the above house for its sheer audacity of restricting it’s view of the sea to this little sliver as you enter the house. It’s a dramatic yet reserved teatment of such a lovely bit of coast.