Winner: Residential rebirth project of the year 2019. This three-story brutalist house by German architecture studio J Mayer H consists of a stack of concrete blocks with mirrored walls.

Situated in a garden designed by artist and landscape architect Tita Giese, Casa Morgana involves several different-sized cubes placed at staggered levels on top of one another, connected by a central stairway. J Mayer H stripped the existing brutalist buildings back to their concrete shells and arranged them in ziggurat-style, meaning that the levels narrow towards the top of the structure. These irregularly stacked boxes connect together to create an exposed concrete interior of staggered floors and different height rooms, divided by thick terrazzo walls.

Judges comments: “This project goes beyond the typical way of renovating old to new. Fusion of old and new is seamless.” said the judges. “Coming up with a new, conceptually strong idea of rebirth is very strong here”.

Architect: J Mayer H
Project: Casa Morgana
Winner of: Residential rebirth project of the year
Read more: J Mayer H