Archi-Tectonics

Chelsea Townhouse | Chelsea, New York

3,400 SF (315 m²) landmark townhouse renovation

The existing brownstone townhouse is a landmark that was extended with a 550 SF [52 m2] glass duplex with a roof terrace. the residence was further enlarged by lowering the basement floor and raising the roof. The new rear extension is conceived as a light airy space which creates a filter to the garden space beyond, adding more light and better views.

The new garden façade is a 3D folded steel and glass structure with reclaimed hardwood infill. It extends the library on the garden level, the dining room on the parlor floor and creates a terrace for the master bedroom area above.

The interior of the townhouse is gut-renovated; all four floors connected by a new hardwood stair flanked by a glass wall and lit by a skylight above. Large sets of custom hardwood sliding doors with a CNC-ed pattern divide the living room from the entry and the bedroom/bathroom area from the main bedroom, thus creating flexible use of space.

HYBRID - Our latest Monograph "Monsters & Mutants" by Park Books discusses this 377,000 sf HYBRID: a centerpiece for the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 designed to seamlessly convert to a culture and events space once the games end.

Conceived through a series of integrated design strategies, the project addresses the widespread challenge of underutilized mega-venues by enabling a complete transformation into a year-round concert and cultural destination. A “body-within-body” spatial system allows flexible programmatic layering, while the masterplan fuses architecture and landscape into a continuous three-dimensional landform—where two pebble-shaped stadiums emerge as sculpted topographies, interconnected by the Valley Village commercial spine below infrastructure.

LEED Platinum - Environmental and material strategies reinforce this vision: an iterative asymmetric form optimizes sightlines and multi-event functionality; a hybrid façade of overlapping brass shingles and steel-glass diagrid balances heritage with performance; and sensor-driven natural ventilation, combined with targeted cooling beneath seating, significantly reduces energy demand. The project exemplifies a holistic approach where cultural continuity, environmental intelligence, and operational resilience are seamlessly integrated.

“An Urban Reset is urgently needed.”

Discussing Monsters and Mutants with The Plan, Winka Dubbeldam describes how the winning proposal for the 2023 Asian Games extended beyond the original Sponge City brief through a zero-earth strategy, restoration of the local biome, and a vision for “biotic architecture as synthetic nature.”

Pictured: aerial view of the Field Hockey Stadium at the Hangzhou Asian Games Eco Park.

Source: The Plan, “For a New Evolutionary Relationship Between Humans and Non-Humans”

What if buildings could free themselves – or be freed by their architects – of the stricture of type, of discrete identity, of typology? What might happen if, for example, a school and a house - schoolness and houseness – were hybridized? What if building and non-building, even, were wedded? Might this, perhaps, offer a way to negotiate, heal even, the nature-architecture divide? Such questions are not wild speculation, but the proposal of Winka Dubbeldam (@winkadub), founder-director of @architectonics2129 and director and CEO of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (@sciarc), in her recent edited book, Monsters and Mutants: Explorations in the Architecture-Nature Continuum, published by @park_books in 2025, and featuring essays by Winka, @jkorhammer, Thom Mayne, Carlo Ratti (@carlorattiassociati) and @metteramsgaardthomsen. It is also the modus operandi of her and Justin Korhammer’s New York, Los Angles and Hangzhou practice, Archi-Tectonics. Winka and I talk all this, and intriguing and inspiring it is. For new conditions, we probably need new typologies and a taxonomy agile enough to meet a swiftly tilting planet. Link in bio and elsewhere audio any good. + Music credits: Bruno Gillick Image credit: Hybrid Stadium & Concert Hall, by SFAP. #WinkaDubbeldam, #ArchiTectonics, #SCIArc, #MonstersAndMutants #newtypologies

Very fun gathering with NY architects & friends

# pinupmagazine

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗺𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗶… @nycmayor
 Earlier this year, during PIN–UP’s 40th-anniversary cover shoot, The World Around invited New York architects to share one request for the city’s new mayor @zohranmamdani
 Some proposals are practical, some ambitious, some radical. Taken together, they offer a collective brief for New York’s future.

#staytuned #theworldaround #dearmayormamdani #PINUP40

Leben im Wandel – Architektur zwischen Verantwortung, Natur und neuen Wohnrealitäten.

Wir freuen uns sehr, dass unser aktuelles Buch Monsters & Mutants: Explorations in the Architecture-Nature Continuum in der neuesten Ausgabe von Architektur & Wohnen vorgestellt wird. Der Beitrag von Markus Hieke beleuchtet zukunftsweisende Ansätze – von naturinspiriertem Entwerfen bis hin zu neuen Perspektiven auf nachhaltige und resiliente Städte.

Monsters & Mutants zeigt, wie hybride Architekturformen – zwischen Natur und gebauter Umwelt – neue Wege eröffnen können, um auf die Herausforderungen unserer Zeit zu reagieren.

Ein herzliches Dankeschön an AW Architektur & Wohnen sowie an Markus Hieke für die einfühlsame und differenzierte Auseinandersetzung mit unserem Buch und den darin behandelten Themen. Es ist uns eine große Ehre, Teil dieser inspirierenden Ausgabe zu sein.

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Living in Transition – architecture between responsibility, nature, and evolving ways of living.

We are delighted that our latest book Monsters & Mutants: Explorations in the Architecture-Nature Continuum is featured in the newest issue of Architektur & Wohnen. The article highlights forward-thinking approaches—from nature-inspired design to new perspectives on sustainable and resilient cities.

Monsters & Mutants explores how hybrid forms of architecture—positioned between nature and the built environment—can open new pathways to address the challenges of our time.

Our sincere thanks to AW Architektur & Wohnen and Markus Hieke for the thoughtful and nuanced engagement with our book and its themes. It is truly an honor to be part of such an inspiring issue.

Leben im Wandel – Architektur zwischen Verantwortung, Natur und neuen Wohnrealitäten.

Wir freuen uns sehr, dass unser aktuelles Buch Monsters & Mutants: Explorations in the Architecture-Nature Continuum in der neuesten Ausgabe von Architektur & Wohnen vorgestellt wird. Der Beitrag von Markus Hieke beleuchtet zukunftsweisende Ansätze – von naturinspiriertem Entwerfen bis hin zu neuen Perspektiven auf nachhaltige und resiliente Städte.

Monsters & Mutants zeigt, wie hybride Architekturformen – zwischen Natur und gebauter Umwelt – neue Wege eröffnen können, um auf die Herausforderungen unserer Zeit zu reagieren.

Ein herzliches Dankeschön an sowie an Markus Hieke für die einfühlsame und differenzierte Auseinandersetzung mit unserem Buch und den darin behandelten Themen. Es ist uns eine große Ehre, Teil dieser inspirierenden Ausgabe zu sein.

--

Living in Transition – architecture between responsibility, nature, and evolving ways of living.

We are delighted that our latest book Monsters & Mutants: Explorations in the Architecture-Nature Continuum is featured in the newest issue of Architektur & Wohnen. The article highlights forward-thinking approaches—from nature-inspired design to new perspectives on sustainable and resilient cities.

Monsters & Mutants explores how hybrid forms of architecture—positioned between nature and the built environment—can open new pathways to address the challenges of our time.

Our sincere thanks to and Markus Hieke for the thoughtful and nuanced engagement with our book and its themes. It is truly an honor to be part of such an inspiring issue.

We are thrilled to announce that Archi-Tectonics has been shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival 2026 with our project, Ali Visha Tower // The Crest in Tirana, Albania. Our entry competes in the Future Projects: Residential Category. ⁠
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Located within Tirana’s evolving urban environment, the tower transforms rezoning constraints into a driver for innovation, integrating cascading green terraces, a high-performance envelope, and a responsive climate system to enhance environmental performance, occupant comfort, and urban connectivity. Its layered façade system improves solar control and ventilation while creating elevated social spaces that reconnect residents with nature in a dense city context. ⁠
⁠
See you in Fort Lauderdale from 18 to 20 of November!

We are thrilled to announce that Archi-Tectonics has been shortlisted for the 2026 with our project, Ali Visha Tower // The Crest in Tirana, Albania. Our entry competes in the Future Projects: Residential Category. ⁠
⁠
Located within Tirana’s evolving urban environment, the tower transforms rezoning constraints into a driver for innovation, integrating cascading green terraces, a high-performance envelope, and a responsive climate system to enhance environmental performance, occupant comfort, and urban connectivity. Its layered façade system improves solar control and ventilation while creating elevated social spaces that reconnect residents with nature in a dense city context. ⁠
⁠
See you in Fort Lauderdale from 18 to 20 of November!