In preparing this edition of Azure, the first of the year and the latest of our popular annual houses issues, we sought out to present a diversity of typologies. The architect-designed single-family home has long been a realm of experimentation – a way for designers to imagine new ways of living and to test out ideas, even technologies. We still marvel at novel interpretations of the standalone house, especially when the team that created it has come up with ingenious solutions to complex problems.

But we also wanted to platform inspiring residential architecture that tackles inclusive and more sustainable modes of housing. In this edition, you’ll read about a co-housing project in Leuven, Belgium, whose inhabitants had a hand in designing their own apartments; a multi-generational home in Quebec that melds site and building; a laneway house in Toronto that shows it’s possible for a family to comfortably inhabit a compact site; a daring design in Winnipeg by 5468796, built for aging in place; and a multi-faceted multi-unit development in London, UK.

As the need for housing grows, so, too, do the borders of the city. While progressive urbanism rallies around densifying existing neighbourhoods, we continue to sprawl out in pursuit of vaster expanses of land. In “Postcards from Suburbia,” Stefan Novakovic counters the perceived narratives of peripheral communities, showing they are rich in diversity and possibility. It’s time to re-evaluate the suburbs, to think about how they should be celebrated and how they can be improved.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Fantastic facades

Envelope-pushing projects and systems, including 3XN’s office and hotel complex in the La Défense district of Paris.

Top tile trends at Cersaie

What we saw and loved at the Bologna extravaganza, where nature, youthful motifs and cross-cultural collaborations abounded.

A warm welcome

We get some R&R at the Royal Picton, the embracing hotel in a restored building by Giannone Petricone Associates.