Rockhouse
British Columbia, Canada – Sandrin Leung Design Build Built area: 111.5 m2 (1,194 sq. ft.) Year built: 2009 – 2010 Photography: Ana Cristina Sandrin “The Rockhouse is a courtyard home organized around a large rock bluff in a gesture of embrace. From the first visit to the site we felt the very strong spiritual/natural presence of this rock. We […]
Stacking Green
Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam –Â Vo Trong Nghia Built: Â 2011 Area: Â 250m2 (2,700 sq ft) Vo Trong Nghia is unquestionably one of the world’s great architects. Â After studying architecture in Vietnam, he was chosen for a prime scholarship in Japan where he worked for some years with that country’s leading architects on major commercial, industrial […]
Aloni – Underground in Greece
Antiparos Island  Greece  –  DECA Architecture Built:  2005 – 2008 Area:  237 m2  (2,560 sq. ft.) We find it hard not to get excited by innovative design.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.  Both types provide opportunities to learn, adapt or adopt!  We especially like this home because of the way it fits with it’s […]
Edgeland House – healing the land
Austin TX  USA  –  Bercy Chen Studio LP Built area: 130 m2  (1,400 sq. ft.) Year built: 2012 Photography: Paul Bardagjy In many areas of the western world, industry has come and gone, more often than not leaving a badly scarred landscape in it’s wake. This was such a site. We’ll leave the telling of the tale to the architects: “Edgeland House […]
Pavilion Perfection
Daisen, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture – Keisuke Kawaguchi + K2-Design Date of Completion: October 2011 Photography: Koji Fujii (Nacasa＆Partners Inc) Designed as a forest retreat, the paramount concern was to retain the sites’ cherry and pine trees and to minimise the impact on the environment. The result is a home of many pavilions weaving its way […]
A box in a box!
Tasmania, Australia – Misho + Associates Year built:   2011-2013 Photography:    Peter Whyte Photography The site is a low rise on a treed site on the Tasman Peninsula to the south-east of Hobart. The aspect is north with views out to Norfolk Bay. Tasmania sits in the Southern Ocean that often delivers cold, salty winds to the […]
Tucson Textures
Sonoran Desert, Tucson, Arizona – DUST Architects Built Area: 3,640 sq ft (337m2) Year: 2012 Photography: Jeff Goldberg/Esto, Bill Timmerman Nature still provides the best building materials as this rammed earth home demonstrates. Extensive use of texturing throughout the home adds to the drama of the desert location while careful positioning has protected the environment in which […]
Sonnenschiff… a solar village to work, rest and play!
Australia gets more sunshine than any other country on Earth. It is, and always has been a pioneer in solar energy developments. Yet it is Germany, not Australia, that leads the world in solar energy production. Sun Ship (Sonnenschiff) and the integated Solar Village (Solarsiedlung) in the city of Frieburg is a leading example […]
The Great Wall of WA
North Western Australia – Luigi Rosselli Architects Design Architect:Â Luigi Rosselli Builder: Jaxon Construction Photography: Edward Birch Click on any image to start lightbox display. Use your Esc key to close the lightbox. Another interesting rammed earth home is Lake Chapala Rammed Earth Home…
Dux Nutz
Mid-North Coast  NSW Australia  –  Earthbound Design + Construct Year Built:   2013 Joinery:   Gavin Scott Rammed earth, whole tree architecture and multiple textures combine to make this a unique home. Custom furniture adds to both functionality and visual appeal at every turn. Heavily focussed on ecologically sound design principles, whilst employing […]