This book illustrates trends in contemporary living on the basis of around twenty projects carried out by leading architects and interior designers.

The reports demonstrate that contemporary living nowadays calls for more than the harmonious integration of the latest designer furniture in a modern context.

Whether it is a new building or a renovation project, all of these clients, architects and interior specialists have worked to create a fascinating mix of volumes and perspective, of light and atmosphere, of materials, texture, shapes and colours.

These are not purely cerebral architectural bravura pieces, but homes whose owners take great pleasure every day in the space that has been created.

There are many different examples of this kind of contemporary living: the modern atmosphere of a country estate with roots in the Seventeenth Century; the extraordinary metamorphosis of a distinctive long-fronted farmhouse; the serene, pure shapes of a modern home; the minimalist power of a glass-and-brick residential block; the perfect dimensions and colour harmony of some recently completed fiats and apartments.

Foreword

PART I:  CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC

The metamorphosis of's Gravenhof

A modern renovation with a loft atmosphere

Coordination from A to Z

Professional design and colour advice

Contemporary designs for heat sources

Radical renovation of a contemporary city home

Neat, discreet, timeless

PART II:  CONTEMPORARY LIVING IN THE CITY

Light, space, vision

Aiming for the essence

A perfect mix of contemporary and classic design

Coming home to modern art

Sober refinement in a contemporary penthouse

PART III: CONTEMPORARY LIVING OUTSIDE THE CITY

A symbiosis of contrasts

Openness and transparency

The contemporary transformation of an old farmhouse

A new transparency

The contemporary appearance of an old parsonage

Contemporary living in contact with nature

Picture credits