DV House is a stone and timber-clad residence designed by MMXX architects in Bulgaria. The home’s living room features windows on two sides, opening up to nature with expansive southern views and framed backyard vistas. Ceiling heights reach up to the roof, encompassing three bedrooms, bathrooms, and a covered porch with an outdoor dining area. A lower floor houses utility spaces, a gym, and a garage, with the gym offering a sauna and bathtub overlooking a spacious courtyard.
Peter Kjær Arkitekter designed House Between the Trees in Denmark, featuring a T-shaped layout with an archetypal roof. Completed in 2022, the structure prioritizes minimal concrete usage, utilizing a wooden construction with a terrain deck and screwed pile foundation. The house includes a bedroom wing, family room, kitchen, and two terraces, surrounded by trees. Interior wooden surfaces are treated with soap, and the breathable exterior features linseed-oiled spruce facades and a spruce board roof.
TAEP/AAP has updated the traditional architecture of the Northern Gulf with a cylindrical house surrounded by towering walls in Al Khiran, Kuwait. Designed in 2023, White Fortress contrasts its arid surroundings with an interior filled with spacious rooms, views of the Gulf Sea, and various oval-shaped patios and gardens. A rooftop tower acts as a “seacoast lighthouse”, framing sandy vistas.
Lehit House, designed by MAKHNO Studio in Odesa, Ukraine, embodies lightness and natural beauty with large windows and a seamless indoor-outdoor connection. Completed in 2022, the home features minimalist interiors with natural stone, clay textures, and bespoke lighting that reflect Ukrainian culture and MAKHNO’s distinctive style, offering a tranquil yet vibrant living environment.
Catalejo is a retreat in Valparaíso, Chile, designed by Tololo Ugarte in 2024. The house is positioned to overlook ancient trees, creating a strong connection to its natural surroundings. Constructed using materials chosen for visual mimesis, the structure blends seamlessly with its environment, integrating the architecture with the surrounding landscape.
The Three-Courtyard House by Habanero Architecture in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, showcases a Vastu Shastra-inspired design, blending contemporary aesthetics with traditional harmony. The house’s leveled plane creates three courtyards, enclosed by a U-shaped retaining concrete wall. This structure not only aligns with nature but ensures energy efficiency with concrete masonry units and stucco, adding insulation internally.
Architectural studio Ayami Takada Architects overhauled a relatively new house in Shizuoka, Japan, by incorporating three translucent spaces and a sunroom equipped with solar panels. The team aimed to create a completely different environment through expansion and renovation, rather than rebuilding, by “taking advantage of the topography of the river breakwater bank and the privilege of having a panoramic view of the landscape beyond.”
Designed in 2023, the 143-square-metre home is characterized by a transparent box forming a junction between interior and exterior spaces.
Casa PR, designed by [i]da Arquitectos in 2024, is a house in Lourinhã, Portugal. Its design leverages the sloping site to offer sweeping views of the Atlantic coastline and surrounding landscape. The house has a distinctive “L” shape, with the lower floor embracing a south-facing garden and pool.
