fascinating structures from around the world by designboom guest readers

ready to share your vision with designboom?

designboom is powered by the creativity of its global community, which our guest readers continue to enrich. The section gives architects, designers, and makers, both emerging or established, a platform to share their projects with an international audience. Launched in 2025, this initiative promotes open, inclusive dialogue across cultures, encouraging design conversations that aren’t bound by hierarchy or status.

Every submission receives its own article on our readers page, and standout projects are selected by our editorial team for broader promotion. With over 3.5 million monthly readers, including professionals, students, and design enthusiasts, it’s a unique opportunity to gain global visibility whether 

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to share your work, this is it! Submit now and join a growing creative network or simply scroll through our curated selection of guest reader projects, featuring furniture, homes, studios, bars, and villas from every corner of the world, from Athens to Texas. 

GET INSPIRED and join our guest readers

Take a look at these fascinating structures, from sculptures to architectural projects submitted by our guest readers around the world, picked to spark inspiration!

Villa TAI by ARK Architects 

name: Villa TAI
architects: ARK Architects | @ark.architects

lead architect: Manuel Ruiz

furnishings: Molteni&C | @molteniandc

location: La Reserva, Sotogrande, Spain

Villa TAI by ARK Architects, led by Manuel Ruiz Moriche, is a contemporary residence in La Reserva, Sotogrande, Spain, that fuses Mediterranean and Oriental design philosophies. Rooted in sustainability and well-being, the villa emphasizes harmony with its environment. Set atop a podium of stone and wood, the home opens toward sweeping views of the Mediterranean Sea, creating seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces. Natural light is carefully choreographed throughout the day, reinforcing this spatial fluidity and enhancing the tactile quality of materials. Villa TAI reflects a refined balance between openness, serenity, and environmental sensitivity.

Mobius Pier by X Atelier

name: Mobius Pier
architect: X Atelier | @x_atelier_

location: Portugal

X Atelier’s Mobius Pier traces a sculptural loop along Portugal’s Inha River, forming a fluid connection between forest and water. Designed as a modular wooden structure, it offers varied ways to engage with the landscape, serving as a walkway, kayak dock, swimming access, and diving platform. Anchored to the riverbank, the pier extends an existing recreational path, enhancing public access while minimizing ecological impact. Developed parametrically, the design uses repeating wooden modules for efficient, low-cost construction. Elevated on pillars, the continuous ribbon gently floats above the terrain, reinforcing the bond between natural environment, human movement, and public use.

Shanghai Kitcho by Uchida Shanghai

name: Shanghai Kitcho
architect: Uchida Shanghai | @uchida_shanghai

lead architect: Mitsuhiro Shoji

location: Shanghai, China

Set within the historic Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai Kitcho by Uchida Shanghai reinterprets Edo-mae sushi dining through a culturally rich and immersive design. At its center, a sculptural, fan-shaped ceiling floats above a curved hinoki counter, drawing from Japanese motifs and Chinese spatial drama. Designer Mitsuhiro Shoji layers the interior with tactile materials—Jingdezhen porcelain, earthen plaster, and handcrafted ceramics—that echo regional craft traditions. Two private rooms extend this dialogue: one wrapped in warm washi-textured light, the other in silver leaf for a calm, reflective tone. The result is a refined blend of heritage and modernity, where architecture and atmosphere meet in a quiet yet expressive harmony of form, texture, and light.

Falling Water by Mark Reigelman

name: Falling Water
designer: Mark Reigelman | @reigelman

Falling Water by Mark Reigelman is a functional public sculpture installed beneath an overpass along San Pedro Creek in San Antonio, Texas. Confronting an infrastructural issue, contaminated runoff falling directly onto a pedestrian path, the piece intercepts, filters, and safely redirects the water into the creek. Made of weathering steel, the sculpture elegantly merges utility with art, creating a bold visual anchor where infrastructure meets nature. Rather than relocating the drain or walkway, Reigelman introduces a sculptural solution that bridges both, turning an overlooked problem into a celebrated urban intervention.

Office building in Athens by Georges Batzios Architects

Georges Batzios Architects envisions a new office building in Athens as a dynamic, reconfigurable workspace inspired by Cedric Price’s Fun Palace. Rather than a static structure, the project functions as a modular framework designed for long-term adaptability. Exposed scaffolding serves as both structure and infrastructure, enabling flexible spatial arrangements that evolve with operational needs. Vertical circulation, featuring rotating escalators and moving walkways—supports this open-ended use, allowing constant spatial reprogramming. Interior verandas, shared balconies, and atriums blur boundaries between inside and out, fostering interaction and community. The result is an office conceived not as a finished object, but as a living system – responsive, collaborative, and embedded within its urban context.

name: Office building in Athens
architects: Georges Batzios Architects | @georgesbatziosarchitects
location: Athens, Greece

Casa Enoki by QBO3 Arquitectos

Casa Enoki by QBO3 Arquitectos is nestled into the steep terrain of Costa Rica’s Papagayo Peninsula, responding directly to its dry tropical forest setting. Designed with minimal ecological disruption, the home uses staggered platforms that follow the natural slope, preserving vegetation and blending architecture with landscape. A key organizing element is the horizon line: social areas are oriented toward expansive ocean views, while private spaces remain more introspective yet still connected to nature. The entry experience unfolds gradually, beginning with a compressed threshold and opening into lofty volumes with double-height ceilings and cantilevered forms that frame the Pacific. Each space is carefully positioned to maintain a constant dialogue with the environment, resulting in a residence that feels rooted, responsive, and visually attuned to its context.

name: Casa Enoki
architects: QBO3 Arquitectos | @qbo3arquitectos

location: Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Altar: A Singular Focus by James Earls and Ben Levinas

name: Altar: A Singular Focus
designer: ProtoÉditions — Ben Levinas, James Earls

Conceived by James Earls and Ben Levinas, Altar is a 70 cm bronze object that exists between timepiece and ritual tool. Born from reflections on how we arrange and engage with objects, it invites a pause in daily routines. Activated by touch, it begins a precise 10.5-minute sequence, long enough to shift awareness, short enough to remain accessible. Its weight and material presence ground the user, offering permanence beyond trends or technology. With a form that resists categorization, Altar feels both ancient and contemporary, serving as a quiet participant in modern rituals of focus, presence, and reflection.