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shimmering chain-link facade at ASWA’s bangkok hotel draws from traditional thai houses

steel facade envelops hotel in bangkok by ASWA

In Bangkok’s Siam Square, ASWA (Architectural Studio of Work – Aholic) inserts the Vela be Siam hotel that reflects and refracts the layered character of the neighborhood. The structure takes cues from traditional Thai domestic architecture and reinvents them through a vibrant material and vocabulary. On its stainless steel facade, shimmering chain links reinterpret the Pun-Lom, a carved wooden gable board found on Thai homes, and nod to mosquito netting once common over beds.

all images by Soopakorn Srisakul

bold colors saturate the spaces inside Vela be Siam

The double-height lobby of Vela be Siam is anchored by an orange, pebble-like reception desk set against a vivid green backdrop, setting an animated tone from the outset. Here, the Bangkok-based team of ASWA constructs not a stage for social interaction. The chromatic intensity continues throughout the communal zones, most notably in the yellow-and-black second-floor common area, visible from the lobby above, a flexible space intended for working, dining, or lounging. A pool bar at the rear of the building, nestled in lush greenery and soft water features, offers a rare moment of retreat within the city.

Each lift hall adopts a different bold color, helping guests navigate the vertical stack of floors while enhancing the playful experience of moving through the building. This vibrant approach is echoed on the railings that line the circulation spaces, extending the color coding across levels. As guests move toward their rooms, however, the tones begin to soften, with muted palettes promoting a sense of calm without entirely shedding their lighthearted character — colorful bathroom tiles, for example, maintain a touch of surprise.

a facade that reinterprets traditional Thai architectural elements

stainless steel chain links cover the exterior of the hotel

guests are welcomed by a vibrant interior lobby

a relaxing pool bar offers a serene setting for every guest to rest

the playful lift hall on the second floor displays a playful design

a yellow and black common area on the second floor includes spaces for working, dining, and playing

the colors also continue on the railing all along every floor

different colors give each level its unique character

the guest room provides a harmonious blend of energy and tranquility

the chain links reinterpret the mosquito nets that Thai people used to cover their beds while sleeping

project info:

name: Vela be Siam hotel
architect: ASWA (Architectural Studio of Work – Aholic)

location: Bangkok, Thailand

area: 2,500 square meters

interior design: ASWA (Architectural Studio of Work – Aholic) 

photographer: Soopakorn Srisakul | @soopakornsrisakul

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: thomai tsimpou | designboom

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chaude couture weaves rice straw into wearable water-repellent raincoat and micro-shelter

Rice straw-made chaude couture as rainwear

Fabulism creates Chaude Couture by weaving rice straw into a wearable, water-repellent raincoat and micro-shelter. The Berlin-based design practice, founded by Giulia Pozzi and Mirko Andolina, presented the rainwear project at the Biennale d’Architecture et de Paysage d’Île-de-France (BAP!) in 2025, which ran between May 7th and July 13th. The designers move away from using plastic to produce the rainwear and instead use natural materials. Their goal is to create clothing that is both protective and made of organic materials.

To do that, they’ve worked with skilled artisans to weave Chaude Couture entirely from rice straw. They’ve also shaped the garment to give protection, so it resembles a dome and covers the upper body of the wearer. The top part is shaped long and round to fit the wearer’s head without letting them feel the weight of the clothing. Because of its natural material, the raincoat is lightweight, can be worn as a fashion statement, and can act as a wearable umbrella that shelters the wearer from the rain (hence, the term micro-shelter). 

all images courtesy of Fabulism | photos by David Carson

inspired by shape and function of old-style raincoats

For the Fabulism designers, their fashion piece focuses on how climate affects everyday life. They believe that adapting to new weather conditions requires changes in buildings and cities as well as in fashion and clothing. Clothing, they add, is part of the cultural landscape, as it shows how people live with their environment. The project is inspired by the shape and function of old-style raincoats but turns them into wearable structures. The designers say it is like wearing part of the landscape since the garment creates a connection between people, nature, and design. Another source of inspiration for the design practice is the Olympic Games in Paris. During the time, many people were seen wearing plastic ponchos due to the heavy rain. 

Given the reputation of plastic for the environment’s health, the designers look for alternative solutions to produce rainwear without using this material. They then studied cultures in tropical regions where people are used to rainy seasons and discovered that in these places, clothing is designed to work with water, not against it. They noted East Asia, where people have made raincoats from natural plant fibers for hundreds of years. These materials include rice straw and other water-repellent fibers, and when it rains, the water flows down the outer surface of the coat and not inside. The result of their efforts, then, reflects their research, as Chaude Couture uses rice straw to protect the wearer from the rain while making it fashion-forward.

Fabulism creates Chaude Couture by weaving rice straw into a water-repellent raincoat and micro-shelter

rear view of the rainwear

the garment resembles a dome and covers the upper body of the wearer

there’s also an evident fan shape to repel the water

side view of the garment

the top part is shaped long and round to fit the wearer’s head

the designers worked with skilled artisans for the project

project info:

name: Chaude Couture

practice: Fabulism | @fabulismoffice

founders: Giulia Pozzi and Mirko Andolina

presented at: Biennale d’Architecture et de Paysage d’Île-de-France (BAP!) 2025

dates: May 7th and July 13th, 2025

photography: David Carson

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botanical sculptures by mona sugata grow from untreated cotton fabric and slow gestures

mona sugata’s botanical sculptures dwell in quiet flows of life

Mona Sugata’s intricate sculptures are made from cotton fabric, thread, glue, and pigment, materials that hold traces of fragility, heat, and breath. Shaped into botanical forms and infused with an otherworldly quality, her works feel alive in a surreal way. In her latest exhibition, What Resonates Through Us — Echoes in Overtones, on view at Galerie Ovo in Taipei from August 22nd to September 6th, 2025, Sugata presents a series of installations that extend her ongoing exploration of living systems, unseen presences, and the subtle conditions that allow life to take shape. ‘I imagine them as relics quietly resting in an ancient monastery, holding a sacred presence,’ she reveals about her pieces.

‘My installations do not try to speak too much,’ she remarks during our discussion. ‘They are quietly placed with space, light, air, and subtle presence so that the viewer may encounter their own sense of life and the quiet sensations within.’ The works do not represent plants in a literal way, but they reflect Sugata’s close attention to the movements and structures of plants growing in her own garden, particularly the forms of stems and the gestures of growth that seem to carry vitality. Her observations are translated into symbolic organisms, gradually taking on a bodily quality and sometimes resembling intelligent life.

all images courtesy of Mona Sugata | Tree of Life — A Planet of Playing Beings

delicate forms rooted in sacred cycles

Japanese artist Mona Sugata works with untreated cotton, glue, and diluted pigments, allowing the fabric to absorb and bleed color. Once dry, the pieces are shaped and detailed using a heated iron tool to burn fine vein-like lines into the surface. ‘This is the moment when life begins to inhabit the work,’ she tells designboom. Sugata avoids coating or overworking the surface in order to preserve the softness of the materials and the natural shifts in tone, resulting in a surface that feels more like something in a slow state of becoming instead of a finished object.

Pillar of Prayer Kumade and Pillar of Prayer Purple Star, some of her latest works, are rooted in the Japanese jichinsai, a ceremony performed before construction, where offerings are made to the local land deity. The artist imagines these sculptures as vertical structures that remain after such a ceremony, linking the land and its inhabitants. The ceramic base represents the land god, while the plant forms growing from it reflect a relationship of coexistence, between what is built and what is already there. ‘It expresses the idea of sacred plants living on the god of the land and living in beautiful coexistence,’ Sugata notes.

Tree of Life — A Planet of Playing Beings, installed at the atrium of the Spiral art center in Tokyo, reflects Sugata’s idea of the Earth as an active field shaped by invisible beings, bacteria, insects, and other non-human lives. ‘Even after death, life becomes part of other beings, undergoing a perpetual cycle of rebirth and rebirth,’ she says. The work evokes these cycles through layered organic forms that spiral outward in motion, resembling a kind of visual system for life as play, disappearance, and return.

reflecting Sugata’s idea of the Earth

A Practice Shaped by Sensitivity and Direct Contact

Sugata’s approach is shaped by physical sensitivity rather than strict planning. She adjusts the process depending on the direction of each piece, working by feel rather than concept. ‘If I feel tension or resistance in my body, I take it as a sign that something is off,’ she explains. The final step, using the iron to create form, is done by hand and involves direct contact with heat, often leading to burns. Still, she treats these traces as part of the work itself, as reminders of material resistance, timing, and repetition.

Mona Sugata was born in Tokyo in 1983 and studied printmaking at Tama Art University. That background still informs her handling of surface and tone, but her installations move away from printed images into something more spatial and responsive. ‘My works are not for interpretation,’ she highlights. ‘They are for quiet encounters.’

Sugata hopes viewers will encounter something of their own in her work. ‘In such stillness,’ she reflects, ‘one might sense a deeper connection, with the world, with others. And in that resonance, I too receive something essential.’

an active field shaped by invisible beings, bacteria, insects, and other non-human lives

Mona Sugata works with untreated cotton, glue, and diluted pigments

a kind of visual system for life as play, disappearance, and return

Midday Moon (left) sits closer to abstraction

inspired by the pale yellow moon sometimes visible during daylight

Pillar of Prayer Kumade and Pillar of Prayer Purple Star are rooted in the Japanese jichinsai

the artist imagines these sculptures as vertical structures that remain after a ceremony

the plant forms reflect a relationship of coexistence

the artist burns fine, vein-like lines into the surface

Sugata avoids coating or overworking the surface in order to preserve the softness of the materials

a surface that feels like something in a state of becoming

project info:

artist: Mona Sugata | @monasugata

exhibition: What Resonates Through Us — Echoes in Overtones

location: Galerie Ovo, Taipei, Taiwan | @galerieovo
dates: August 22nd to September 6th, 2025

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edra’s furniture refreshes historic interiors at venice’s fondazione querini stampalia museum

EDRA JOINS THE VISIONARY RENEWAL OF FONDAZIONE QUERINI STAMPALIA

Coinciding with Venice‘s 19th International Architecture Biennale, Edra furnishes the Fondazione Querini Stampalia with its contemporary collection, marking a significant new chapter that elevates the museum‘s historic and evolving cultural landscape. This renewal, inaugurated on May 5th, 2025, under director Cristiana Collu and commencing on the symbolic birth date of its philanthropic founder Count Giovanni Querini Stampalia (1868), aims to elevate the Foundation as a key reference point for the Italian and international art scene. Within this historically rich context, elements from the Edra Collection establish a harmony with the Foundation’s architecture and cultural orientations.

Absolu sofa by Francesco Binfaré inside the Riva Botta area | all images by ​​Pietro Savorelli, courtesy of Edra

FURNITURE WITH TUSCAN ROOTS

Since 1987, Edra has maintained a precise philosophy centered on producing comfort, elegance, and performance with superlative quality. Rooted in Tuscany, the company deeply integrates the region’s timeless aesthetic and traditions into its very essence. Its design language stems from profound and long-term experimentations led by its diverse authors, leading to products conceived for lasting relevance. 

This core principle finds a natural resonance with the Fondazione Querini Stampalia‘s own historical and forward-looking ethos, an alignment that allows Edra’s furnishings, positioned in reception areas and exhibition rooms, to reinforce the sense of hospitality and enrich the visitor’s experience.

Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré and Cicladi table by Jacopo Foggini, inside the Corte Mazzariol

HARMONIZING HERITAGE WITH CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE

Edra’s furniture selection thoughtfully interacts with the palazzo’s unique interplay of light, materials, water, and the garden, demonstrating how contemporary design can be integrated respectfully within historic contexts. At the entrance, the Corte Mazzariol welcomes visitors with three compositions of the Standard sofa in light grey, dark brown, and an outdoor version in Every Place brown. This space serves as the fulcrum of the entire complex, featuring a suspended curtain that intercepts the light and makes it vibrate as if on the surface of the water of a canal.

Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré and Cicladi table by Jacopo Foggini, inside the Corte Mazzariol

Further inside, the Scarpa Area, a meticulously designed space on the Querini’s ground floor, features the Absolu sofa in blue velvet. This area is a testament to Carlo Scarpa’s architectural genius. Between 1959 and 1963, he redesigned this section to create an exhibition and meeting space along with a courtyard garden. This space also offers a preview of ‘No Stone Unturned. Conceptual Photography,’ an exhibition dedicated to Californian artist John Baldessari.

The Baldessari exhibition continues on the Palazzo’s third floor, in the Portego, which is furnished with the On the Rocks sofa and Sherazade in light shades, complemented by the Grinza armchair in smoky grey. Through these considered placements, Edra’s pieces not only offer comfort and style but also deepen the dialogue between the Foundation’s rich historical layers and its contemporary vision.

Grinza armchair by Estudio Campana and Cicladi table by Jacopo Foggini inside the Scarpa Area

project info:

company: Edra | @edra.official

location: Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice | @fondazionequerinistampalia

products: Absolu sofa, Sherazade sofa, Cicladi table, Standard sofa, Grinza armchair

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studio nirbaadh’s H-house is a composition of layered walls and brick screens in india

lofty h-house rises in a narrow plot

The H-House by Studio Nirbaadh is a 2,850-square-foot residence located in Koregaon, a narrow urban pocket in Satara, India. Designed in response to the site’s elongated proportions, the brick and lime plaster home is organized along three parallel axes that structure the spatial layout and give the project its name.

This linear planning approach supports an intuitive and climate-conscious arrangement. The central axis anchors circulation, while the adjacent lines shape the structural and programmatic zones. The plan emphasizes flow — of people, light, and air — throughout the narrow plot.

images © Pranit Bora

studio birbaadh plans a central courtyard

One of the H-House’s defining spatial elements is a slender, semi-open courtyard that Studio Nirbaadh designs to run along the northern edge. This linear void operates as a transitional spine, at once encouraging cross ventilation, drawing daylight deep into the interior, and creating a tactile connection to the outdoors.

By aligning living spaces around this planted court, the architects create a continuous visual and environmental exchange. The courtyard serves daily functions as a space for informal gatherings and passive cooling, centering the house around a living landscape.

the H-House is located on a narrow site in Koregaon, Satara

a facade of brick screens

The west-facing facade directly addresses the challenges of heat and glare through a double-layered brick screen. Custom-designed for the project, the screen filters sunlight while maintaining privacy and reducing thermal load. It also casts changing patterns across the interiors, reinforcing the dialogue between structure and environment.

Additional facade elements, such as deep-set windows, blank masonry surfaces, and projecting planters, are employed to fine-tune the building’s thermal and visual performance. These architectural devices support a balance between openness and insulation, resulting in a structure that responds to its climate with deliberate restraint.

Studio Nirbaadh organizes the home around three parallel longitudinal axes

The house’s elevation reflects the tripartite planning strategy. Three dominant vertical walls rise in parallel, articulated with rhythmic windows, projecting planters, and brick detailing. These features reference the H-form in silhouette, giving the house a distinctive identity within its urban context. The form negotiates with its surroundings through materiality and proportion. The architecture relies on elemental expressions like brick, wood, and shaded voids to ground the building in its climate and community.

Inside, the H-House continues its minimal and tactile approach. A palette of exposed brick and wood joinery defines the interiors, where natural light is filtered and reflected to generate a soft, shifting ambiance. Furniture and built-in elements are pared back to reinforce a sense of visual clarity and openness.

a narrow courtyard along the northern edge brings light and ventilation into the interiors

the courtyard also functions as a social space and cooling spine within the linear plan

the facade includes deep-set windows and projecting planters for climatic control

project info:

name: H-House

architect: Studio Nirbaadh

location: Koregaon, Satara, India

area: 2,850 square feet (265 square meters)

completion: 2025

photography: © Pranit Bora | Pranit Bora

lead architects: Dhanesh Gandhi, Tanushree Oswal

technical team: Nirag Parmar, Shekhar Kadam
lighting engineering, consulting: Anavi
electrical engineering, consulting: Legrand

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wooden beams sit atop concrete spiral staircase in lote studio’s elevated casa CG in chile

Lote Studio’s casa CG has central concrete staircase

Lote Studio elevates Casa CG located in the Coquimbo region of Chile, using wooden beams sitting atop a concrete spiral staircase. Built on the coastal edge of Punta Hueso by architects Juan Pablo Gutiérrez García and José Ignacio Ferreira, the house follows the design based on a structure of nine parts arranged in a grid. Eight of these parts are made from wood and form the outer sections, while the ninth part is in the center, the concrete spiral staircase that serves as the entrance of the home. made from concrete.

The full structure hovers from the ground, protecting the plants and soil below and affording the residence scenic views in all directions. Lote Studio built the main framework of Casa CG using laminated wooden beams, connecting them to the central circular concrete core. Smaller beams are placed on top of the main ones, while horizontal wooden supports called purlins are arranged on top of the smaller beams. The layered system forms the structure of the main floor, concealing the spiral staircase from the visible glimpse.

all images courtesy of Lote Studio | photos by Antonia Mardones Nally

Raised home built on the coastal edge of Punta Hueso 

At the top of the staircase, there is a small hallway. From here, the layout separates into public and private areas. The public space includes the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and these rooms are located in three of the wooden sections. The private area includes a bedroom and a bathroom, located in two other wooden sections. There’s an evident focus on simplicity around Casa CG, a prominent design by Lote Studio, right from the get-go.

This philosophy continues from the inside to the outside, ending in a balcony. When visitors step here, they see that it is built into the remaining three wooden sections, offering them the views of the Pacific Ocean. The direction of the balcony also allows them to see the sunset as it happens gradually over the water. From here, they see the surroundings, all natural and alive. By elevating the residence, the plants and lands below remain undisturbed, and the wind and sunlight move freely around and under the home. 

Lote Studio elevates Casa CG using wooden beams sitting atop a concrete spiral staircase

system of beams and purlins support the raised floor

For Casa CG, Lote Studio mainly used wood and concrete as their primary materials. The concrete section in the center holds most of the weight, while the wooden elements shape the rest of the building. The design uses a system of beams and purlins to support the raised floor and reduce the impact on the land.

The building also follows a clear pattern, with the layout of nine sections giving the house its boxy shape and helping organize its interiors. The circular center stands out and marks the entrance, while the outer sections hold the rooms. In a way, the spiral staircase acts as a connection between the ground and the house, alluding to the views nature has to offer the visitors as soon as they reach inside.

detailed view of the residence’s wooden beams

view of the concrete spiral staircase

the staircase leads to the entrance of the home

simplicity is the core interior design

the use of wood continues throughout the house

the concrete also serves as the flooring

view of the beginning of the staircase

natural environment surrounds the residence

the house is built on the coastal edge of Punta Hueso

project info:

name: Casa CG

firm: Lote Studio | @lotestudio
architects: Juan Pablo Gutiérrez García, José Ignacio Ferreira

year: 2024

location: Punta Huesos, Coquimbo Region, Chile

area: 114 m²

structural engineer: Ernesto Hernández

construction company: Constructora G1

photography: Antonia Mardones Nally | @mardones.nally

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: Matthew Burgos | designboom

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