Architects who follow their creative impulses, pushing limits and concepts outside of traditional standards, spark my internal flame and keep it lit.

I recently wrote a post called, the rise of the renaissance generation, where I talked about a new book, RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What It Means to Your Business, which explores the concept of creatives (like you and I) giving birth to a new type of renaissance - one that just might lead us into the next generation.

In keeping to the theme of celebrating new ideas, here are some design concepts on the future of architecture by the Next 20 Gene Project - An international group of architects out of Taiwan - for the Venice Architectural Biennale.

You might not resonate with all of these but that’s really okay. They are interesting enough to get us to start thinking differently.

Villa Paladio by Ian+ is named after a famous 16th century Italian villa. The idea according to the architects is to allow ‘villa to become the interface of nature and scenery.” My first reaction was unfamiliarity and thefore a bit uncomfortable, yet as I continued to look more closely, I became more attracted to the idea.  The movement and texture of the roof feels harmonizing to me. An abundance of natural light brought in by all the open windows is carefully considered and very attractive. There is movement and flow, a soft vertical water feature on the right side with the exterior linear features balancing out and giving focus to the structure.

The concept behind Chromosome-H by Hsueh-Yi Chien is fasinating. There is the correlation to the human genetic code and the movement of messages from one part of the body to the other.  That idea is transformed into Chromosome-H - a facilitator of dna replication. My translation: Each area of the space speaks to the other in a linear, more scientific context. I’d be doing some major softening in the interior design.

Calligraphic House by Yu-Tung Liu is my favorite of the three here. The architect talks about, “drawing a wild cursive on Mother Earth” which actually put the biggest smile on my face. The intrinsic nature between a calligraphy line and the lines in the Earth is evident. There is something very light about not having a linear roof above when inside a space. And imagine all the natural light coming in from those grand windows. That would be a dream space to decorate.

For more fascinating examples of Gen20, visit their website: www.nextgene20.com. Make sure to click on English.