THE PARALLELOGRAM DESIGN
We just love this house design. The cascading rooms, all share the same covered deck with gazebo style roof and all have a view of the Baltic Sea. This modern Swedish summer cottage may appear triangular in shape at first but it's actually has a geometry of a parallelogram - see the architectural plan below. The geometry of the plan was mandated by the specifics of the site - the house had to be fitted into the flat surface between two mountain rocks and have enough sunlight and, of course, the beautiful views of the sea. The zig-zagged layout of the staggered rooms also creates a series of outside places (voids in the overall parallelogram) sheltered from the strong winds.
THE GEOMETRY OF THE WEDGE
This next house (below) is easily one of the most beautiful wooden designs we've seen, and it's named after its geometric form - the Wedge. This Finnish lake house, compact and wooden, is set on the water edge. But it's best feature has to be the way the house extends out into the rock hill. It's modern and daring and aesthetically pleasing. As the untreated wood turns grey, it echoes the color of the rocks. This modern house on the rocks totally rocks, as a matter of fact
THE RING VS. THE CIRCLE
This next home (the Villa Nyberg below) is a wood-clad cottage shaped like a doughnut, with a hole in the middle. Yes, there is an actual opening in the center, from the ground floor up. It's an amazing sustainable design of a lake house located in Sweden. It's not a circle, it's a ring, with all interior rooms positioned within the width of the ring, and radially to the circular interior courtyard in the center that contains a ladder going to the observation terrace on the roof. Wow. At least three design goals were achieved with this unusual architecture: reducing wall area, avoiding cold or warm spots (basically an even air temperature distribution) and creating a connected, communal environment
THE FUTURISTIC 3D GEOMETRY
Despite it's earthy wood-clad appearance (see below), this is totally futuristic, hi-tech house design inside and outside. Not only the intention here was to mimic surrounding dunes and enable the best sea views but also to make the house energy sustainable. And the turtle roof with glazings is an amazing architectural detail by itself. The roof geometry is so 3D it's hard to grasp right away how it's designed. And notice how on one side the roof actually becomes a wall, connecting to the deck. Is this a roof or a wall?
The interiors are even more fascinating - they are futuristic and cozy at the same time. There are many interior architectural elements that seem to intertwine but that is only an illusion. I can only imagine what it's like to live in this amazing house.
It's a small wood home but it boasts many cool features, like the futuristic central fireplace, the partially suspended staircase, the modern hanging chairs, the two lofts (not one but two lofts on different levels), and of course, the living room nook overlooking the sea through a huge window wall. BTW, the geometry of this wall alone is worth the excitement.
THE OCTAGON DESIGN
There is always that dilemma: how do you build a home that offers the best views of the ocean and is compact and comfortable to live in it. This next home design (below) has found the solution - a ranch style architecture built around octagonal deck. This natural wood home is set on the Pacific ocean near San Francisco
