Susanna Sirefman Books

The recent trend of building a guesthouse or guest cottage on one's property offers the perfect solution to the houseguest dichotomy. After all, everyone enjoys entertaining visitors yet sharing one's own space with houseguests can be rather trying. The erection of a new self-contained building - designed just for company - accommodates everyone while maintaining privacy. Many of these innovative contemporary guesthouses are architectural gems. The small scale, limited program, and intimate nature of the guesthouse offers a rich testing ground for the architect and client. In particular, issues of domestic privacy and proximity offer a design challenge.This book illustrates and critically describes contemporary private guesthouses from around the globe. Included projects - chosen from an international roster of contemporary architects - are presented within the context of the architect/client design process, so that the role the existing house, the guesthouse program, and the site play in the creation of the work are clear.

This guide covers a range of enormous-to diminutive scale projects in New York. Manhattan is so vertically jam packed that any single structure sends reverberations throughout its vicinity. It focuses on significant projects built since 1990 as well as providing practical information for vistors.

Focusing on residential design, this book highlights how intimate scales and specific needs foster innovative architectural solutions. It demonstrates that limited budgets can encourage the use of unconventional materials and creative approaches. By showcasing affordable contemporary homes, it reveals how constraints can lead to unique and imaginative designs, proving that financial limitations can inspire rather than hinder architectural creativity.