A small single pitched live-work home echoes the vernacular architecture of cabins in the area. The design celebrates the front porch and terrace as extension of the living space. A modest structure maximizes a 710sqft footprint consisting of mostly shared spaces and 3 sleeping rooms and a bonus 270 sqft loft for a painting studio and space for the occasional guest that is accessed with a 1m2 compact stair. The double-height open plan living, dining & kitchen space centers around a wood burning stove that keeps the interior warm during the colder months.  On the rear side facing the creek, windows are stacked over the sliding doors to create the feeling of full height glazing to allow for views above the trees to watch clouds in the day and the moon at night. Orienting the house facing South East allows for views of the forest and creek, while facing the corner where the bedroom is towards the East allows one to be woken up by the morning light, perfectly framing the view of a beloved birch tree.

We met Aya from ALAO when we started thinking about the possibility of renovating a townhouse in Bed Stuy. Our first conversation was a simple, short exchange about music, art and architecture that prompted an in-person meeting, which immediately led to a discussion about our needs. Our tastes aligned as did our personalities. Aya and her firm delivered in every way we had hoped in terms of function, aesthetics and budget. Aya and her team were hands-on during the construction process and made us feel protected and taken care of. They gave us a degree of attention that surpassed our expectations, and when the project was finished, we ended up with a home that we immediately fell in love with. Moreover, we were so happy with ALAO that we hired them for our next project, a much more extensive gut renovation of a historic brownstone. We know we’re going to end up with a spectacular home.

The project is a park system network for leisure, recreation, and play for the city of Pasig.

Pasig City Parks is a place-making project, where research and design are used to unravel the multi-layered history of the city, Pasig River and its tributaries. This project visualizes a plan to reconnect the people back to their waterways and their history through a network of designed parkland types (blue and green spaces) that mark and connect historic sites of the city. This project proposes a revitalization of waterways as a place for publicly accessible amenities for culture, recreation and play. We believe that creating opportunities for story-telling through a choreographed “pasyal”, will spark a rekindling of pride & affection, stewardship and public investment to its waterways and historic sites. The idea is to establish a way to experience the historic district of Pasig that includes its precolonial past.