Images courtesy of tense architecture network; photos by Filippo Poli

This rural house rises gently out of the countryside near Athens. Designed by tense architecture network, a collaborative practice headed by Tilemachos Andrianopoulos and Kostas Mavros, the house works with its surrounding landscape to produce architecture that is linked to the ground but also maintains its independent identity.

As the architects state, “The land is dominant. How could a residence rise out of the ground, how could it be confined to a roof?” They set out to answer this question by creating a sculptural form that efficiently occupies its elongated site. Composed mostly of inverse beams, this roof is occupiable, affording views out to the mountains of Euboea just across the water. More after the jump.

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All images by FIXd Architecture

The problem with sustainable design? Sometimes the architects can forget the “design” part, letting the means for achieving sustainability define a project’s aesthetics. Since the late 1960s, this kind of structural and technical exhibitionism has become a widely practiced metaphor for the building-as-metabolic-system. The not-so-hidden agenda, of course, is to display the technical proficiency of a given architect and to make obvious the immense array of complex systems any designer must manage.

The latest example of this is the Mo Ventus house, by FIXd Architecture. This conceptual zero-net-energy, luxury residence—thus far realized only in digital renderings—can be built almost anywhere, unbound by climate or existing infrastructure.

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Project: Bridge House

Architect: Max Pritchard Architects

Location: Ashbourne, Australia

An idyllic site near a creek and billabong—that’s Aussie for a pond left over after a river changes course—called for a home that would “touch the earth lightly.” To minimize the impact on this picturesque setting, Max Pritchard took a few clues from bridges and designed a home that spans the small creek’s path, barely occupying any land and providing the experience of living in the treetops. Keeping the intentions green, the home’s narrow plan allows for significant cross-ventilation in the summer, while a wood combustion heater supplements the natural passive heating. Solar hot-water heating and photovoltaic cells positioned on the garage roof further reduce the home’s carbon footprint. Now that’s what we call sustainable!

Read more about this project in the Architizer database.

Photos: Sam Noonan

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This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award in the residential single family home. See the full list of winners here.

Sustainability in architecture reveals itself in many forms, some more subtle or hidden than others. It’s much more complicated an issue than just green lawning your building, but sometimes that’s just what you need to get your message across.

The House in Travessa do Patrocínio by RA\\ ( Luís Rebelo de Andrade, Tiago Rebelo de Andrade, Manuel Cachão Tojal) does just that. The narrow townhouse is situated smack dab in Lisbon, in a neighborhood with little access to green spaces. To compensate for this lack, the architects draped the house with lush green facades that cover 100 square-meters of wall space. But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill green building accessory. The facades are integral components to the architecture, not just tacked on for a higher LEED score. They’re planted with approximately 4,500 plants sourced from 25 different local varieties, which  all require little maintenance. The result is a vertical garden that the architects say functions as an urban “lung” within the pavement-heavy area, helping to rid the residential street of excess noise, carbon, and other pollutants floating about.

Given the compact size of the lot, the interior of the house is organized around a linear stair (or “ladder” as the architect describe it) that connects all of the home’s four floors. A central courtyard lets in light at all levels, while creating a social space for the inhabitants to gather. The staircase extends the courtyard to the rooftop, which sports a long deck ideal for tanning, grilling, and all-around summer fun, plus an inconspicuous swimming pool perfect for doing morning laps. And just for kicks, the architects threw in another surprise. The house’s largest rooms are perfumed with different fragrances: the master bedrooms is scented with lavender, the living room is imparted with the smell of rosemary, and the pool will have you sniffing saffron.

Though small and humble in proportion,  the architects hope that the house is an “example of sustainability for the city of Lisbon,” a new urban model applicable at all scales of building. Click through for more!

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Project:  Concrete Slit House

Architect:  Atelier Zhanglei

Location:  Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Western architects are routinely invited to build in China, bringing international flair to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Alelier Zhaglei’s Concrete Slit House is a refreshing work of contemporary architecture that bucks the Chinese appetite for flashy buildings with Western pedigrees. Instead, the Nanjing-based firm painstakingly introduces a board-formed concrete house into the traditional building fabric of the city. By paying careful attention to scale, form, and color, the simple volume fits right in with its more traditional neighbors. Who said modern architecture couldn’t be contextual?

Read more about this project in the Architizer database!

Photos: Iwan Baan

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This morning we launched Public Voting for the Architizer A+ Awards Public Choice Winners, giving you—architects, designers, and fans—the chance to select your favorite buildings and spaces of the past three years! Now, we’re kicking off our “Finalists Spotlights,” which will feature the top five shortlisted projects from each of the 50+ categories eligible for voting.

We’re starting things off with one of the strongest A+ categories: Residential–Single Family Home. Each of these five houses make fantastic use of the typology’s hallmarks—namely, sculptural form, surprising spatial sequences, bold colors, and stunning locales (plus a pool or two). Every one of these houses combine all these ingredients to create small but potent architectural statements. Click through for a look at each! And remember to vote!

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Building: H-House

Architect: Bang by Min

Location: Seoul, South Korea

Designing a house for a single family is difficult enough. What about a house for three-generations of family? That was the challenge behind H-House and which the architects solved by creating private and public zones within the house itself. These spaces are simultaneously connected and buffered by several sectional changes—sometimes a full staircase, at others, just a few steps—that delineate rooms for the use of each family member. The bedrooms are clustered on the second and third floors, while the top floor, with its large periscope window, serves as a communal area where the family can convene for meals, conversation, and celebration. The house sits on a small plinth that contains a ground-floor store that operates independently of the home. See more of this project in the Architizer database here.

Think you’ve got a better project? Submit it for an Architizer A+ Award!

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Building: Costa Esmeralda House
Architect: BAK Arquitectos
Location: Pinimar, Argentina
Why We Liked This:

We won’t ever hide our obsession for concrete. We love it, and so should you. People say that concrete can’t make a good house (one imagines the refrain: “Brutalism doesn’t fare well at any scale, let alone at the scale of the house”), but this project (and others) is evidence to the contrary. BAK Arquitectos have an affinity for concrete, and, as their portfolio can attest, nearly all of the projects— mostly residential structures —apply the stuff to great effect. The frame of the Costa Esmeralda House is entirely cast in beton brut, which is left untreated, or at least, uncovered on all the exterior and interior surfaces. The L-shaped plan comprises two wings, one for living and communal spaces, the other for private rooms. They are connected by enjoined patios and sculptural concrete stairs and footbridges. Wood louvers on the southern ribbon window and the colorful fixtures inside play nicely off the ubiquitous grey, while the sandy site impart the house with a strange surreality that’s rather fitting.  See more of this project in the Architizer database here.

You think you’ve got a better project? Submit it for an Architizer A+ Award!

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Building: House M Meran
Architect: monovolume architecture + design
Location: Meran, Italy
Why We Liked This:

At first glance, this looks like just another pool house, and to a certain extent, that’s what it is. But the architects went to great lengths to make their design rise above that. The container of the house consists of large glass expanses that frame the hillside all around. Floating opaque floor planes, though quite thick, are gently balanced along the top of the curtain walls, making for slight unease due to the house’s top-heaviness. The reflectivity of the whole plays well off the poolscape, which seems to emerge seamless from the interior of the house. See more of this project in the Architizer database here.

You think you’ve got a better project? Submit it for an Architizer A+ Award!

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Building: Flip House
Architect: Fougeron Architecture
Location: San Francisco, United States
Why We Liked This:

The architects behind the Flip House must have had their hands full when they first  set their eyes on the run-of-the-mill San Francisco home they were charged with, well, flipping. Though they had they work cut out for them, they succeeded in every way, gutting the old house and reconnecting the residence to the city beyond. They did this by reorienting the focus of the house to the rear of the site, installing a new facade consisting of angled glass volumes that play off Frisco’s famous bay windows and which drink in light and views. The interiors were “rationalized” by the integration of an open floor layout and a single staircase core that linked all of the house’s three floors. See more of this project in the Architizer database here.

You think you’ve got a better project? Submit it for an Architizer A+ Award!

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