Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: Singapore

Photographer: Derek Swalwell / @derek_swalwell

From the Architect: “QR3D is a four-story house recently completed by Park + Associates (P+A) in collaboration with construction innovators CES_InnovFab as a home for Lim Koon Park, founder and principal of P+A. Described as a ‘springboard for implementation,’ the house is not merely a speculative experiment—it’s a living, breathing proof of concept for how 3D printing might reshape our cities.

“While 3D printing for construction in Singapore is certainly not new, it is mainly used for small scale and utilitarian uses, such as feature walls, planter troughs, and prefabricated bathroom units for multiresidential projects—now P+A has demonstrated how it can be used to ‘print’ a building. QR3D is Singapore’s first full-fledged, multistory 3D-printed house, representing a leap for the technology’s use. P+A approached QR3D with characteristic rigor, balancing bold innovation with deep respect for form, function, and memory. The result is a home that wears its construction method proudly—its layered concrete striations left raw and tactile, embracing the very texture of the process. The house comprises more than 90-percent 3D-printed material, created both on-site and off-site using a custom concrete mix. The ambition was twofold: to demonstrate 3D printing’s practical viability in a notoriously high-stakes  industry, and to challenge the perception that digitally-driven architecture must sacrifice emotion at the altar of efficiency.

“At QR3D’s heart is an oculus—a dramatic sculptural void hovering above the dining space. More than an architectural flourish, it is a quiet tribute to Park’s former home, a 1990s-era neoclassical residence that once stood on the same plot. The oculus captures that sense of formality and grandeur, while introducing a passive cooling system that channels hot air up and out through a hidden extractor fan. Light filters through the oculus, casting shifting shadows across circulation spaces and private rooms—Park says his favorite place in the house is the dining area under the oculus the most, for its quality of light that changes throughout different times of the day.

“But beyond aesthetic and emotional resonance, QR3D also redefines constructional logic. 3D printing reduces labor, waste, and the need for multiple trades, simplifying even the most complex architectural gestures into a seamless process. It also minimizes environmental disturbances common to conventional construction—less dust, less noise, less disruption. In pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with digital fabrication, P+A has proven that technology need not come at the cost of soul. QR3D feels neither robotic nor alien. Instead, it feels inevitable—a glimpse of a future where architecture is both technically progressive and deeply human. And in a region as dynamically urban as Southeast Asia, that future can’t come soon enough.”

Article created by: Mantas Kačerauskas

If you ever feel like some architects live in their own fantasy land, you’re not the only one. The buildings that they create can range from majestic all the way to magical, and they’re sure to catch your eye with their flying buttresses, stoic columns, angelic balconies, and fearsome facades. However, you can sometimes get the idea that some of these artistic innovators haven’t fully thought some things through—like the fact that people actually have to live and work in the buildings they design.

We’ve got some dreamy and confusing buildings to show you today, dear Pandas, so take out your opera glasses, grab yourself some popcorn, and let’s go take a tour through the crème de la crème of the ‘Bizarre Buildings’ subreddit. Check out some of the coolest-looking buildings that people might have a hard time living in, upvote the ones that you enjoyed the most, and let us know which one you’d pick as your home in the comment section.

I had a lovely chat about architecture with Dr. June Komisar from Ryerson University. Dr. Komisar, who is a specialist in architectural design, the history and theory of architecture, and designing for urban agriculture, told Bored Panda that professionals should look to the “wise” ancient Roman writer Vitruvius for inspiration. “What he said about balancing commodity (the suitability of the building to needs), firmness (structural integrity), and delight (the aesthetics of the building and its relationship to site and context) still holds.”

An inscription on the rock outcrop it rests on indicates that Gadaladeniya Viharaya (aka Gadaladeniya Rajamaha Viharaya) was built in 1344. As for many temples of this era, it is possible that an even older temple used to be in place, but this is all but impossible to ascertain.

What is certain is that at that time Sri Lanka was not a unified entity yet. In fact, the island was fragmented into several kingdoms, and this temple was part of the Kingdom of Gampola, which was based in the homonymous city located about 10 km (about 6 miles) from the temple. The ruler, King Buvanekabahu IV, commissioned the construction of this temple, calling on a South Indian architect by the name of Ganesvarachari.  This explains the blend of Sinhalese and Dravidian architectural features.

The main temple is made of carved granite, with the exception of chamber where the main statue of the Buddha is located, which made of bricks.  The large statue of the Buddha is also made of bricks and mortar, but covered with lime and sand, and eventually painted gold. Across a natural pond formed in a dip of the rock is the secondary shrine. Built a few years after the main temple, it consists of a central stupa with four smaller stupas attached to it. Each one of these smaller stupas is home to a statue of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Charming as the complex may be, the distinction between Sinhalese and Dravidian elements is not obvious to the untrained eye. A signature trait of South Indian architecture is the stepped pyramidal roof, which is often adorned with a myriad of religious figures. This would be a conspicuous omission at Gadaladeniya Viharaya, but in reality, it still exists, albeit hidden under the Sinhalese-style roof that nowadays covers the temple.

Visible evidence of Dravidian design can be found in the alternating octagonal and square cross-sections design of the pillars in the vestibule; furthermore, these pillars are adorned with carvings of deities like Nataraja and Krishna, which clearly suggest South Indian influences. As for Singhalese architectural influences, beside the already mentioned roof of the temple, there is a stupa, a moonstone at the entrance, and the three-sided twin pillars in the hall, all of which point at local sensibilities.     

On the northeastern side of the temple are some stone-cut steps leading down to one of the gates onto a side road.  On the left of these steps, a section of the rock is fenced off. Ancient inscriptions are carved into the surface of this protected area. They are in Singhalese, except the first line, which is in Sanskrit.  It is here that the date of construction of the temple is recorded.