The trends are clear, nothing to continue with the past, let’s apply our knowledge to make better homes, especially outside the cities.
The traditional houses, with a gabled roof and an open front, with a wooden fence composed of stakes driven into the ground every 40 centimeters and horizontal and vertical crossbars up and down; with red tile roofs, or slate; with thick walls and small windows are increasingly becoming a cult object. Today there are other criteria that reign in the construction of country houses, and for sample, several buttons.
Country houses, but with sea views
The first button is found in Greece, where the Mold architecture studio finished building in 2020 a «small» 320-square-meter house embedded in a hillside. This wonder with sea views has become a true modern home thanks to the good work of the designers, and good construction tools.
From the air you will be able to see five holes with rectangular shapes, because the house needs ventilation and lighting. Thick stone walls define the exterior walls, while powerful concrete walls and ceilings outline the interior rooms. With a wonderful pool on the “ground floor”, this amazing home has an internal staircase with cantilevered steps and wood throughout.
Two floors, with two geometric shapes
In Chile they are not very fond of beating around the bush. In this South American country we can find the P406 house, a modern building that instead of two floors has two geometric shapes in height. Two conceptualizations of space that break with tradition and elevate the house into a work of art. If you don’t agree, look closely, a skeletal ground floor supports a huge rhombohedral gazebo.
And it is that this fantastic house designed by the Orfali & Ehrenfeld studio was executed with four “containers”, three of them on the ground floor, and one on the upper floor. Containers were cut to fit in place, and then the large glass windows were installed to enjoy the spectacular space. The way of building facilitated the execution, given that the house is located in an area of difficult access.
Two country houses of 90 square meters in the middle of the mountains
The third button is found in Australia, where the architects of Gillian van der Schans, aware of the economic problem that a large home entails, opted for their clients for two simple 90-square-meter buildings. They are located on a steep mountain opposite the city of Launceston, in Tasmania. Some square houses, made of wood, and supported on simple pillars.
The two buildings, called Birdhouse Studios, have 42 and 50 square meters each, and are built with a corten steel structure, with cork linings, which serve to insulate acoustically and thermally, and large windows. The architects highlight the ease of construction of these buildings and the great adaptation to the flora and fauna of the place.
X house, because it has an X shape
Of course, the US could not be without its own home in the mountains. This time, with a daring X shape, the house is called “X house”. We visited a residence that overlooks Lake Superior, the border with Canada, in Michigan, and never better said «look», since thanks to its huge windows the border with the wonderful vegetation that surrounds the building is null.
The building is executed with reinforced concrete and metal structure. In this way, it ensures robustness in the construction, and its cantilever effect, with an exterior made of blackened red cedar wood and large windows. The X shape allows the home to be divided without the need to embed uncomfortable patios, in addition to giving singular and unique views to each room. Of course, this cabin has nothing to do with its ancestors. Snow Kreilich Architects studio is already on our favorites list.
A country house with a waterfall
And we finish this mini tour in Paraguay, where the architect Aldo Cristaldo Kegler, from Bauen, has executed a beautiful house on a hillside. Known as the hillside house, this unorthodox building breaks amicably with the traditional Paraguayan houses of San Bernardino, 45 minutes from Asunción. Surrounded by nature, on an inclined plane it provides wonderful views.
The house is organized on three floors, following the topography of the place. The extreme floors for private life and the social intermediate, where, in addition to the common rooms, you can enjoy a waterfall. The concrete structure, which is built from beams spaced 3 meters apart, directs its ends out of the envelope, generating an exquisite directionality towards the horizon.
And it is that when it comes to giving up, the new buildings do not give up anything. Neither to the views, nor to the application of envelopes of various shapes, nor to the use of various materials in continuous processes of performance improvement nor, of course, to the search for maximum comfort for its users. Homes are and will always be man’s refuge, especially when they are surrounded by nature.