Spinning Solar-Powered Round House Rotates with the Sun. Imagine living in a cylindrical space that traced the path of the sun, giving you maximum access to daylight and using the extra energy from targeted solar panels to power the movements of your home as well as your lights, appliances and everything else.
A record-breaking and award-winning design on multiple fronts, this structure remains one of the first residential buildings to generate more energy than it uses – up to six times as much per year! Spinning slowly on a central axis, the Heliotrop House by German architect Rolf Disch rotates to catch maximum sunlight for the solar collectors and variably exposes different sides depending upon the season. It opens up for maximum passive heating potential during the winter, and exposes a more insulated side for less heat gain during the summer.
Since the original was constructed, two more models have followed – and Disch has a design in mind for yet another (much larger) version that would work as a multi-unit hotel. Modern + Green = Unique Underground Home Design Plan. Underground homes tend to conjure mental images of hobbit holes and otherwise rounded, earthen residences.
This extremely modern house by KWK Promes defies popular conventions and, despite its organic green roof, is constructed of clean lines and clear shapes. Viewed from above or around, the house blends wonderfully into the landscape – even the gentle curves and straight lines seem to work with the horizon and trees in the distance. The grass also absorbs moisture and helps regulate temperatures inside of the home. The barrier between inside and outside is highly permeable, providing continuous connections for residents with the natural world around them through giant sheets of floor-to-ceiling glass. Best of all (for the owners anyway): the lush green roof is only accessible from inside of the house through a set of secure stairs, reserving it as a private getaway for the home.
Sky Garden House - Architecture Linked - Architect &Architectural Social... - StumbleUpon. I think one of the reasons that many are skeptical about environmental design is because they think its terribly complex and costly.
It does take a bit more effort on the front end, but it's definitely not rocket science. This architecture by Guz Architects is a wonderfully developed minimalistic design with a curvilinear flare that really brings out the organic coverings. I'm most impressed with how design facilitates the needs of the plants and shrubs located throughout the house. See more at Guz Architects. Outdoor Deck & Inside Room Linked via Climbing Walls. Young at heart won’t quite cut it in this case – you have to be physically fit to scale the steep options available for getting to the top floor of this gymnastic house.
In an overhung semi-exterior niche, the climbable wall starts as a sheltered bouldering zone but wraps up to let you reach as high as the rooftop deck area if adventurous enough. The inside equivalent is a ladder that leads to the highest level of the home, rejoining the outside climbing wall via a window where they intersect at the upper landing. Designed in Tokyo by Naf Architect & Design, it is hard to imagine any aspect of this passing building inspection in the United States, but at least there is a parapet at the roof level to keep the over-exuberant climber from reaching up, over and tumbling back down the even great drop on the flip side of their climb.