Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 13, 2025

An Architect’s Bright and Airy Family Home Thrives Within a Brutalist Concrete Structure

An Architect’s Bright and Airy Family Home Thrives Within a Brutalist Concrete Structure

At the family home of an Israeli architect, modern and light-filled interiors enliven a brutalist, raw concrete structure.

Located in the city of Ramat HaSharon near Tel Aviv, the home that Pitsou Kedem designed for himself and his family boasts a powerful and striking horizontal form with a low silhouette.



Kedem took inspiration from the brutalist buildings commonly found in the neighborhood, which was established by army veterans in the 1950s. The house comprises two concrete squares-one stacked on top of the other-on a sloping 7,750-square-foot plot.



The first floor is on the lower square, while the second floor takes up the upper square, which sits at a higher section of the slope. Exposed concrete, iron, natural wood, silicate brick, a concrete ceiling, and continuous windows work together to create a space that's earthy, yet elegant and modern.



Contrary to what the imposing fortress-like concrete facade might suggest, the interiors of the house are open and bright. Skylights, plenty of glazing, and substantial sliding doors give the interiors a high level of transparency while bringing in plenty of sunlight.



Combining a concrete ceiling and continuous windows with materials such as exposed concrete, iron, uncolored wood, and silicate brick, Kedem created an intriguing and elegant sanctuary. While it may appear enclosed and fortress-like when seen from the outside, it's actually surprisingly open within.



On the upper level, an entrance door is positioned in the cross-section of the stairwell, which leads to the kitchen, living, and dining area. There, massive, frameless floor-to-ceiling windows connect the space to the large enclosed garden.



Running along the entire length of the stairwell is a skylight that floods the home with sunshine in the day. Sections of the silicate-brick walls have circular holes cut out from them in order to connect the various rooms visually.



Soft furnishings and lighting from designers such as Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola, and Dan Yafe add warmth, texture, and character to the home.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
×