Architecture & Houses
A collection of links to inspire and open your mind if you are thinking about building a new home Sep 2
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Roll-Up Rooftop: Daring Rounded-Wood Deck Design in NYC | Designs & Ideas on Dornob
A classic 1800′s Greenwich Village brownstone forms the basis for this beautifully curved roof patio and green garden space in the heart of Manhattan. Sinuous forms wrap to establish built-in seating, tactile decking and an arcing wind-and-sun shade structure. And for those craving some cool water in the warm air, this design by Graftworks includes an outdoor shower – after all, the project was inspired by the slatted wood forms of water towers found on roofs around the region.Everyone knows that deck and patio space comes at a premium in the city – particularly lush rooftop garden areas, such as the uncanny overgrown green roof in New York City shown in the image above. Though some of the best such green urban spaces are cut off to most of us, other great designs are only semi-private or entirely public. The above photographic examples (part of a collection from Oobject) are all more-or-less accessible to the public, from the extensive wrap-around roof garden paths of the Waldspirale (literally: ‘Forest Spiral’) apartment complex in Germany to the green roof of the convention center visible from anywhere in Vancouver, Canada and waterfront sculpture park in Seattle open during museum hours. Other green roofs are like urban backyards in the only available space – on top of an existing building.
Rooftop Deck Designs: 8 Great Urban Green Roof Gardens | Designs & Ideas on Dornob
Weathered wood and concrete, rusted metal and rustling wild grass – nothing about this winding rooftop deck viewed from within suggests it could not be the back porch of a European country home. Nothing, that is, until you catch glimpses of the marvelous Manhattan skyline in the background. Likewise, nothing about its immediate surroundings suggests it to be anything but an overgrown roof-gone-wild, possibly the top of some aged warehouse building in an abandoned industrial town. Trellises, ponds, paths and fountains make this remarkable deck space as hard to pin down in time as it is in style – modern in its simplicity but timeless in terms of the materials used – a comfortably rusticated and well-planted retreat right in the heart of the city. Teak, bronze, zinc and rust-ready steel were added by Pull Tab designs to make this new addition to an antique walk-up apartment building blend as naturally as possible into its aged surroundings.
Urban Oasis: Rustic Modern Rooftop Garden & Deck Design | Designs & Ideas on Dornob
Eco-Sustainable House by Djuric Tardio Architectes
The new project has been realised in a neighbourhood, Antony, that is an example of the belief that architecture, whether heterogeneous and homogeneous, is shaped by outdated zoning regulations. The delays in securing permits, along with conditions of the urban situation and our desire to continue and refine our own research on wood constructions, led us to propose a type of construction system. This type is still not released in urban areas and rather reserved for detached houses in less dense sites. The urban rules and the site context, which is very typical, have suggested the template, which has proved a real asset to the project. Up there, the shape of the roof/pergola, which looks like an unfinished roof, has a specific function. On the one hand, it takes the archetype of the context, inserting the project in its environment without disrupting the urban rhythm, on the other hand, it won’t accommodate a closed roof that would become a catch-all attic or a wasted space.
Cavernous but wide open, dark and heavy but bright and spacious, this incredible underound house is the ultimate expression of architectural opposites fused into a single spectacular earthen living structure buried in the mountainous ground of the Swiss Alps. Rather than wrapping outward around the home, the exterior facade circles inward and faces an oval forecourt – a curved impression in the ground like the absent space left behind by a mysterious giant egg. From within, this odd opening frames amazing views of the surrounding green hills and distant white mountains as well as providing a sense of enclosure and security for residents within the home and front courtyard area – a one-sided yet stunning view as opposed to the normal full-surround sights normally expected of a mountain home. Constructed of stone and concrete, the house feels solid and safe inside and out – yet manages to have copious openings to allow natural light to flow effortlessly into every interior space.
Ultimate Underground Swiss Mountain Home
Designed in a rigorous structural grid, this rural modern home by FGMF contends with a variety of demanding contextual conditions and resolves them in a way that is internally elegant and connects the house (green-roofed and partly underground) with the surrounding natural environment. The extension of green grass onto the roof ties the home into the adjacent hillside from which it seems to emerge. From the lookout at the top of the hill the house is almost completely camouflaged against the backdrop of trees, mountains and sky above.
Modular Underground Forest Home Design
They may look a bit dated at first, or at least more whimsical than required for functional living. Still, these earth houses have more to offer than custom curves and a unique aesthetic – including a set of design philosophies, strategies and tactics that are far from just superficial nods to sustainable trends. The designs take everything into account from fire and earthquake protection to integral insulation-efficient arches and buffer rooms for energy-free temperature control. While not every Erdhaus is actually built under the existing ground on a site, they are all tied to their earthen surroundings by sloping sheaths of greenery. Grass-covered walls curve up and continue as green roofs along the tops of each structure. The resulting contiguous thermal mass of this all-in-one exterior wall-and-roof system helps to conserve heating and cooling power.
Going Green Underground: Eco-Retro Earth House Designs
Like a washed-up shipwreck or ancient waterside war fortress, this simple beach-front home by Izquierdo Lehmann in Chile seems very much a part of its environment – from the earth it is carved out of to the stacked stones that buttress the sides and keep the retaining walls from caving in. Viewed from the sea, it looks like a modest-but-modern beach house. Viewed from inland and all one can see is five rectangular chimneys lined up on the site like geographical markers or gravestones. Behind the house sits a monumental sunken forecourt – a wind-blocked patio and garden space that again conjures up images of ancient ruins, like the leftover basement and footings of some castle by the sea. The interior concrete walls are board-formed, leaving the impression of the wood slats that were erected for the pouring process and lending a further naturalistic feel to the inside rooms and spaces.
Subtle Sunken Beach House, Shipwreck or Ruin by the Sea? | Designs & Ideas on Dornob
Stealth Stone Summer Home Rises Right Up from the Rocks
Set along the rocky coast of Norway, you might not even notice this home in the distance sitting there on the shore – it blurs boundaries between architecture and landscape in a sublime (and stealthy) way. In fact, the house (designed by Jarmund/Vigsn?s )?
The Graham Residence by E. Cobb Architects seems to have been built as a contemporary statement – an oasis of modern lifestyle featuring a grandiose architecture. Found on Plastolux , the Graham Residence displays a series of cantilevering volumes that merge in a unified design. The intricate architecture needs plenty of time to be understood: from the extensive use of glass in all major parts of the house to the interesting display of interiors. Take your time while admiring this house, because it is one of a kind and induces a feeling of fascinating respect for its beautiful design lines. Large open spaces and double-height rooms transform this exceptional residence into an artistic expression of light captured between walls.
Graham Residence by E. Cobb Architects
The house is located in a "typical" peripheric urbanization of Pousos, a parish of the municipality of Leiria. Situated east of the city and at high ground, it works as a sort of panoramic belvedere over Leiria. So as to assure for more space and complete access to the faraway view, the owners bought the three lots ahead, over the "cliff". Although each lot allowed for the construction of a basement and two more storeys, usually compacted and isolated in the centre of the lot, this assemblage allowed the possibility of having a lower house, which "embraced" portions of garden space.
ARX - House in Leiria
ARX - House in Possanco
The cultural meeting point joining the house owners and the architects was based on their common interest: an undoubtedly contemporary architecture, but one whose nature and final expression would also be the outcome of a research of the paradigms of the traditional architecture of the region, the Alentejo. The implantation terrain of this small house, located in the village of Possanco, sets the transition area between the new urban strip and the protected agriculture zone. An extensive northbound plain ends far away at the Arrabida mountain ridge.Located in Rosedale — a traditional Toronto neighbourhood — this house reinterprets the materiality and massing of the older houses around it. Having raised a family in their first house, the clients now wanted a home in which to scale down, one tailored to their needs and those of an elderly parent. The house opens front and back to the landscape, extending the space of the house outward and bringing the street and landscape in.
superkül | Crescent Road House
superkül | SPLIT House
Split in plan and section, the parti of the house allows for a flood of light to the centre. The house is designed as space for spectacle – the owner is a regular host of a large network of friends and family, and wanted a place that could feel grand. The trick with this was to make a house that could also feel intimate for day to day living. A rich brown wood floor that connects with the ipe deck outside serves as a counterpoint to the high ceilings of the main space, and connects the inside to the outside. This, in combination with the design of smaller more intimate spaces and moments throughout the ground floor make for a house that is equally good for two as it is for 30. From the interior the house has views of the sky and the neighbourhood, and a strong connection to the landscape and pool out back.This extraordinary project of Sustainable Winter Loft was created by Brazilian Fernanda Marques Arquitetos Associados . The total area is 207 square meters and the house outside and inside was made from recycled wood. This residence is not meant for permanent living it is only a place for rest, the winter loft, where you can have a great time. The open plan includes a lounge, a kitchen, a bar and a video room, combined into a single space.
Winter Loft by Fernanda Marques Arquitetos Associados
Casa en Quequen