Lofted Forest Home: Organic Curves & Natural Materials. Good things come to those who wait – particularly in a work of uniquely detailed and highly curved architecture. Nearly a decade in the making, this structure by Robert Harvey Oshatz is much like a tree house – lofted toward the top of the canopy around it – only bigger, grander, more complex and curved than most any tree house in the world. The perimeter of the structure is pushed out into the forest around it, curving in and out to create views as well as a sense of intimacy with the coniferous and deciduous tree cover. The wood and metal detailing is incredible in its variety and customization – each piece designed to fit a particular form and function. Wood and stone carry naturalistic themes from the outside in and even the metal looks naturally rusted.
The curved, organic mix of materials continues to the interior of this elevated forest home – a conceptual play on the fluidity and complexity of music (the source of inspiration for the architect and client in the design). Future in Ruins: Small Open-Plan, Concrete & Wood Cabin. Death, decay, destruction? Wait, what? No, there are no plans to demolish this place now or in the near future – but years, decades or centuries from now if the retreat becomes abandoned it will decay in a visually-dynamic way, wood pealing away from a poured-concrete platform and central cast-in-place chimney. While it is not the first worry of any architect (let alone a client), considering the way a building will weather and age both while it is used and if (when) it is eventually deserted shows forethought and imagination above and beyond the basic call of designer duty.
Fortunately, Olson-Kundig Architects have a knack for thinking beyond the narrow logistical confines of a given house-as-project. First, the footing and certain core structural walls – most notably those wrapping the hearth in the middle – were poured on site and show the steel rebar holes that mark the means of their construction. Holy Batman! A Subterranean Mansion! With A Water Slide! A Subterranean Mansion. Let that sink in your mind. Subterranean. Mansion. With a water slide that goes from the master bedroom to a swimming pool with waterfalls.
The best three million dollars you could ever spend. And that’s not all: Probably the most daring & innovative house ever built – ‘The Subterranean Mansion’. I’m sold. The 360 House in Madrid by Subarquitectura. Loopy Home This stunning architectural piece called the 360 House in Madrid, Spain eschews standard conformity by looping in on itself. The roof is at once protective and accessible as a walkway. Of course this means that almost no wall inside is flat but I suspect interior designers are up for a new challenge nowadays. Congrats to Andrés Silanes, Fernando Valderrama and Carlos Bañón. Designer: Subarquitectura. Conrad Maldives Rangali Island's unique underwater suite (NOT photoshop)