Houses Disappear into their Landscape
While the world’s focus remains on global pandemics and politics, our gaze is firmly on sustainability – and the most coveted eco houses (1).
This selection has been chosen for its eco features and its innovative contemporary design.
It’s truly relaxing to live in a home that disappears into its magnificent surrounding landscape.
In addition, all of these five houses are making significant energy saving by featuring a blanket-like green roof.
Our first choice is the Peconic House near New York, a heart-stealing house blending beautifully into a lush landscape. Studio Mapos was challenged by their clients to create a timeless design for a multi-generational family that would celebrate the site, incorporate the latest in sustainable design strategies and technology, and exudes beauty (6). Respect for the old-growth tree site was paramount and special care given to minimize site disturbances of any kind. No painted sheetrock surfaces were used anywhere in the home, only unfinished materials which would be allowed to patina naturally in the salted air of the Hamptons.
The second choice is an earth-sheltered house in Moscow, designed by Kapiturov Nikita (Snegiri Architects) in 2019 (1). This house is fully integrating within the forest environment. Such a house covered by the earth is very warm and quiet, as the density of soil provides a thick outer layer. There is no need to worry about the ground freezing in winters or drying and cracking in summer. Natural materials in combination with the green roof and the energy-saving windows make it a distinguished eco-home.
The third chosen house is Gata Hrunamannahreppur, in Iceland, designed by ASK Arkitektar in 2003. It is a home embraced by nature! It draws beauty by working with nature rather than standing out against it. Thanks, to the green roof that shelters this house, which made the entire amazing view appears to remain untouched by any man-made structure (2). In addition, the home makes itself even less disturbing by reducing the need for air conditioning, and air purification.
The fourth choice is the Plannar House, designed by Studio MK27- Marko Kogan in 2018, outside Sao Paulo. It features a beautiful spacious roof covered in green grass. This contemporary Solar powered house is maximizing energy savings while offering unity with its landscape. The winding wall, which is usually a symbol of division and isolation, is embracing the entrance garden and creates transparencies between the indoor and the outdoor. The wall is offering protection from the street as well. Its brick texture contributes to a cozy atmosphere and creates light filters with kinetic effects as the day passes (3).
Durable and long-lasting, designed by Bercy Chen Studio in Texas, is our fifth eco house. This Edgeland House is located on a rehabilitated brownfield site and is a modern re‐interpretation of one of the oldest housing typologies in North America, the Native American Pit House. The Pit House, typically sunken, takes advantage of the earth’s mass to maintain thermal comfort throughout the year. Like this timeless dwelling, the Edgeland House’s insulative green roof and 7‐foot excavation into the ground, keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The mechanical system combines hydronic heating and a green roof for maximum energy efficiency. Edgeland House is about healing the land and ameliorating the scars of the site’s industrial past. The project raises awareness about a diminishing natural landscape and its finite resources, by creating a balance between the surrounding industrial zone and the natural river residing on the opposite side of the site (4).
In addition to being a nature reserve, and energy saver, these houses are deliberately camouflaged among the greenery. This green blanket, as it grows, will be an incredible feature that boosts humans and nature.
Credit goes to:
(1) https://www.homesandgardens.com/amp/news/eco-houses
(2) https://architecture.ideas2live4.com/2016/03/18/summerhouse-in-gata-hrunamannahreppur/
(4) https://www.bcarc.com/residential/edgeland-house
(5) http://snegiri.me/projects/gorkadom
(6) https://studiomapos.com/projects/peconic-house/
