Written by Agata Toromanoff
Agata Toromanoff is an art and design historian and the author of several books on interior design and architecture. The following is an edited excerpt of her new book “Edgy Architecture: Living in the Most Impossible Places,” published by Lannoo.
Architecture can flirt with nature in expressive yet subtle ways. The idea in architecture is often to harmonize, not dominate, the landscapes. This can prove a challenge, however, when faced with steep slopes, cliff faces and mountainsides.
Some of today’s most interesting architects are out to prove the discipline can be edgy — quite literally.
Here are eight examples of houses that overcome difficult environments to offer extraordinary an experience for owners and onlookers alike:
Cliff House
Nova Scotia, Canada
Greg Richardson / MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects
Cliff House, on the Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia, is an inventive and playful intervention in the landscape.
From hill height, the house looks absolutely normal. But from the coast, you can see it’s actually perched on a cliff, which the architects say is intended “to heighten one’s experience of the landscape through a sense of vertigo and a sense of floating on the sea.”
The galvanized steel superstructure provides solid support and is fixed to the cliff, while wooden elements introduce cosiness inside and out.
The cube is not divided into levels, so the large living space fills the entire area. Only a small part of it is transformed into sleeping quarters.
Hirafu
Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan
Florian Busch Architects
The architects behind this remarkable holiday house in Japan’s second largest island, Hokkaido, created an L-shaped structure to connect the house with the hill.
Two cubes stand on top of each other, giving the dynamic impression that the whole structure might slip down the slope. The entrance to the house and the private spaces are located in the lower cube while, inside, a staircase leads to the living areas and kitchen on the upper levels
The solid structure is made from reinforced concrete, which is left raw inside the house to create a visually stark juxtaposition with the large windows and glazed openings.
House on the Cliff
Calpe, Alicante, Spain
Diego Opazo / Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
Geometric, linear purity is characteristic of this project, House on the Cliff, in the Alicante region of Spain.
The house is embedded in a very steep slope. This unusual and highly difficult plot of land inspired an imaginative, three-dimensional shape, which invites a startling visual dialogue with its surroundings.
Nestled in the rocks, the house is literally suspended over the contour of the hill. Made of concrete, it is insulated from the outside but also covered by white lime stucco, selected by the architects for its flexibility and smoothness.
The fully glazed front provides a fantastic view of the water, and the infinity swimming pool and expansive terrace on the ground level seem to extend the house into the sea.
Qiyunshan Tree House
Xiuning, China
Chen Hao / Bengo Studio
Qiyunshan Tree House it is not a house built on a tree, but one standing 11 meters tall in a red cedar forest in China’s eastern Anhui province.
A narrow, curving entrance hall echoes the curves of the road nearby. Inside, the individual elements of this complex shape are located on different levels and face various directions.
A central spiral staircase leads to minimalistic rooms with wall-to-wall windows, which serve as frames for the striking views. The living area and bedrooms are intentionally small, because the architects wanted to create observation spots, rather than an expansive family home.
Natural materials are used to finish the building, including red cedar wood, for aesthetic as well as practical reasons.
Villa Escarpa
Luz, Algarve, Portugal
Fernando Guerra / Mario Martins
The dreamy landscape of Portugal’s Algarve region lends itself to eccentric architecture.
Villa Escarpa is a white geometric giant balancing over a steep escarpment overlooking the village of Praia da Luz.