old jaffa house.

In the ancient port city of Old Jaffa in Israel, a building hundreds of years old has been stripped of all extraneous elements to reveal the original structure of broken clay and shells, vaulted ceilings and huge archways. These textures and materials have been left expressed, and contemporary elements added to allow the home to respond to modern life.

Highly tensioned stainless steel cables form a vertical balustrade, drawing the eye on up. Cor-ten steel treads cantilever out of a béton brut wall; the concrete left unfinished with the imprint of the plywood formwork used for pouring still visible on the surface. Openings are framed out in darkest metal. Niches are carved into the stone to create storage and space for a desk. Furnishings are kept simple – exposed concrete floors are scattered with patterned rugs; the floating, dancing Vertigo pendant lamp one of only a few decorative elements (I wrote about Vertigo a little while back, here)