ARCHITECTURE / AFRICAKIPOPO HOUSE
études is an architecture and design practice, a place where poetry intertwine with rationality, celebrating an architecture of feelings. Following each other’s steps as childhood friends from afar, Karine and Nicolas met again in Tokyo in 2013, a partnership that evolved through numerous walks and talks challenging their respective practice. Their different personalities and common passion for sensible and natural architecture made their complementarity clear. Although études started on different continents, it crystalised in Brussels in late 2020.
Words by:
études
Project Address: Lubumbashi, RDC
Photography by:
Photographs courtesy of études
Photography by Klaudia Adamiak
Interior Photography by
Mikkel Mortensen
Social:
http://etudesarchitecture.com/
https://www.instagram.com/etudes.architecture/
"Located in Lubumbashi, Congo, the Kipopo House blends seamlessly into its surroundings. The entry opens onto an enclosed garden which has direct views over the beautiful lake."
Located in Lubumbashi, Congo, the Kipopo House blends seamlessly into its surroundings. The entry opens onto an enclosed garden which has direct views over the beautiful lake.
The living and dining rooms are embracing this garden with a set of handmade pivot woven windows that directly surround the garden. This fragment of nature connects the rooms and blurs the boundaries of inside, out.
On both sides, the private wings sit quietly looking out, and framing the exterior space to create a visual connection with the lake, protected from the neighboring views. The reflecting surface of the pool at the end of the terrace dances with the surface of the lake. A harmonious outcome, creating a warm and spacious environment respectful of the local materials and building techniques.
"We believe the architect to be an enabler,
Each project we study is charged with responsibility,
To create places that belong to their context,
Silent spaces for human interaction,
Room for abstraction."
études is an architecture and design practice, a place where poetry intertwine with rationality, celebrating an architecture of feelings. Following each other’s steps as childhood friends from afar, Karine and Nicolas met again in Tokyo in 2013, a partnership that evolved through numerous walks and talks challenging their respective practice. Their different personalities and common passion for sensible and natural architecture made their complementarity clear. Although études started on different continents, it crystalised in Brussels in late 2020.
