Modern sustainable home, Dallas, Texas

Architecture: Tom Reisenbichler
Photography: Bret Janek

The architect designed this modern sustainable home so that it fits into the landscape, integrated into the iconic large trees on the site, this home uses traditional house proportions to blend with the near neighborhood. The balcony and roof reach into the trees making them integral tightly to the house, while The horizontal lines tie the house to the land.

Beautiful Weekend House in Colorado Mountains

The client desired a beautiful weekend house in Colorado mountains, both elegant and functional, with minimally furnished interior, for his family’s weekend retreat. Detailing is distinctive and sophisticated. The exterior blends wood, stone, stucco, glass and steel, enhancing the contemporary design while still appearing at mountain home. Neutral, warm colors echo the environment and lend softness to balance the modern, clean lines. The lighting design is contemporary and bold, featuring fixtures by designers Jeremy Cole and Ingo Maurer, and others created by New Mood Design especially for the weekend house, such as the two-tiered foyer chandelier.





Architecture: New Mood Design
Photography: Darren Edwards

Ski resort in the Swiss Alps

The WhitePod Ski Resort is located in the Swiss Alps, 1700 meters above sea level in the small village of Les Cerniers and includes 15 original units in the shape of small geodesic domes or igloos. The unusual ski resort overlooks a beautiful Swiss valley and combines highly modern way of living with a traditional ideas. The cabins may look like typical ice homes, but in fact the units all feature a king-sized bed, a fireplace, a wide window for unobstructed views and plenty of comfort.

Eight-Bedroom Beautiful House in New Hampshire

About TMS Architects

Design TMS Architects
Area 17,000 square foot
Location Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire
Year 2006




This eight-bedroom beautiful house in New Hampshire is a good example of how surrounding nature can influence architecture and interior and moreover, can add value to design. The front facade is adorned with natural handcrafted stone, borrowing some of landscape’s natural hues. The small tower and the irregular roof embedded in the house remind us of the days when we imagined that the bedtime stories main characters lived in gorgeous, spacious castles with curvacious shapes and lovely towers.

The house, being sold by Prudential for $13.6 million, includes 11 bathrooms, a three-slip boat house, a 15-seat home theatre and a billiards room.

Luxury house with stunning view in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles

In this luxury house with stunning view in Hollywood Hills there are three contamporary bedrooms and four lavish bathrooms all following the elegant theme of using the highest quality stone, glass and steel, but the real charmer is the relaxing and amazing living room looking across Los Angeles. Also, the house has a spa and spectacular infinity pool offering mind-blowing views of the LA, floating stairs, disappearing walls of glass, state of the art lighting and cantilevered terraces.

Industrial architecture. Google data centers buildings.

Google data centers buildings are the excellent examples of contemporary industrial architecture, combining functionality, ergonomics and aesthetics. These buildings designed to minimize the environmental impact and have 50% less energy consumption than typical data centers. The main purpose of these modern data centers is to ensure secure functioning of such popular services like web search, Gmail, Youtube, Blogger, Google Drive and other Google products.

Photography: Connie Zhou

Contemporary house near vineyard, Stuttgart, Germany

This 6,650 square foot contemporary house near vineyard offers beautiful views over the stepped terraces of a hillside vineyard in Stuttgart, Germany. Inside and out, this contemporary house is characterized by interesting turns and curves, and so is the functional structure, organization of the views and indoor circulation of the house. Set of diagonal movements determines the direction of each curve.

A glazed double-height corner is the dining area, which opens up to picturesque views and frames the stepped vineyard hill which composes the backdrop to the home.

Architecture: UNStudio

Fujian Tulou Ancient Houses in China

Video

Location

In 2008 UNESCO recognized the old houses ethnic Hakka in China as an official World Heritage, noting the historical, cultural and architectural value of these amazing structures. Built in the period from the 12th to the 20th century, each of these buildings can accommodate up to 800 people, forming a city within a city. In Fujian, a large part of the coast of China, is located about 20,000 of these buildings.

Also called Fujian Tulou, old houses are an important part of the history of this land, these structures protected local people against attacks of robbers. Typical Fujian Tulou ancient house has three to five storeys, surrounded by thick earthen wall - thickness of up to 1.8 meters in most buildings. The only entrance was protected by a wooden door and 10 cm thick iron gates. At the roof level were arranged loopholes to repel enemy attacks. Aesthetically these old houses capture the spirit and beauty of the rural areas of China.

Beautiful luxury home, Malibu

Beautiful and Luxury Malibu Home

This beautiful luxury home in Malibu spells out pleasant atmosphere and comfort. Integrated in a picturesque landscape, several steps away from Malibu beach, the home has 4 bedrooms and 6.000 square feet living area. The exterior of this beautiful home is particularly interesting with its natural stone finish, balconies and terraces. Most of the windows face a large pool with comfortable patio furniture. Owners and guests can enjoy magnificence views of the ocean while taking a swim or resting by the pool.

Beautiful modern home in San Francisco Bay Area, California

In this beautiful modern home in San Francisco Bay Area, California there are 4 bedrooms and 5 and a half bathrooms. Inside, the luxury home shelters a collection of rooms: kitchen, dining and living, fitness room, steam room, sun room, guest suite and library. Decks and terraces, as well as perfectly designed interior spaces capture beautiful bay views at day and lights of Sausalito at night time, impressing guests and owners with a breathtaking scene composed of city’s skyline, stretches of water and green hills.

2-story 10,000 sqft Black Home Design, Ontario, Canada

About Guido Costantino

Design	Guido Costantino
Project	44 Belvedere
Area	10,000 square foot
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	9
Location	South West Oakville, Halton Region, Lake Ontario, Southern Ontario, Canada
Photography	Peter Sellar

A 2-storey modern home in Ontario, Canada, is composed of a monochromatic palate of concrete, stucco, anodized siding, brick and a mix of transparent and opaque glass. The street face limits views into the home, providing privacy through the use of an interior large concrete wall and a frosted glass. In contrast, the rear exterior allows light to flood the inner space and provides expansive views.

This 2-storey modern home in Ontario, Canada, shows masterful consideration of fenestration design in a modern context. The layout of the windows and their internal divisions are well-ordered and clearly play a central role in the design composition, the large window expanses balancing nicely against the smaller windows of the more private areas of the home.

Beautiful Tropical House Design, Rio de Janiero, Brazil

Floorplans
About Mareines Arquitetura

Architecture: Mareines + Patalano
Area: 800m²
Year: 2006/2008
Location: Angra Dos Reis, Brazil

Description from architects

This project was inspired by Brazil’s indian architecture, perfectly suited for the hot and humid climate where it stands, Angra dos Reis, one hour drive south of Rio de Janeiro.

The roof acts as a big leaf that protects from the hot sun all the enclosed spaces of the house as the in-between open spaces, truly the most important ones. These in-between open spaces represent the essence of the design. They are the social areas, where the owner of the house and his guests spend most of their time.

The very generous heights of these spaces, which vary from 3 to 9 meters, allow the SE trade winds from the sea to pass perfectly longitudinally trough the building, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling both to the enclosed and open spaces. We see it as low-tech eco efficiency, where it has the greatest impact, the concept of the architectural design.

There are no corridors and inside and outsed are almost fused. Many sliding doors, most glazed, open up the enclosed spaces and let the sea breeze in.

Our practice, luckily in agreement whit our client, understand the idea of a tropical beach house as a mean to enhance the interaction between man and nature, trying whenever possible not to separate them completely.

Exterior

The landscape is everywhere on the ground floor, and the curvy swimming pool snakes into the house. When it passes below the formal dining room, it turns into a pond with aquatic plants and fishes, reaching the rear “veranda”. This veranda is a resting space with five Brazil’s indians’ style hammocks. We call this space “Brazilian lounge”. The roof structure is made of laminated reflorestation wood (eucalyptus), capable of crossing big spans (20 meters is tle biggest here) with delicacy and warm aesthetics.





The roof is covered in small reflorestation wood tiles (pinus taeda), that easily adapt to the complexes surfaces of it. It also collects rain water via the central steel column to be reused in gardening and flushing toilets. All surfaces finishes, except for glass and pre-oxidized copper are natural: Grey tiles of stone from the site, bamboo meshes, local wood from remanagement forests, earthy flooring and wood reused from old electricity posts.

Interior

The use of all these natural materials, the transparency of the glass, the neutrality of the oxidized copper relating to the prevailing green of the designed and natural landscape along with the organic composition of the house and rich diversity of textures and rhythms created a very desirable reality: The sensation of belonging to the site, in harmony with the exuberant Brazilian nature.

Private study library in the woods

An elegant and pure Platonic cube here matches the harmony of the structure's purpose and form, in both metaphorical and programmatic terms. The second floor is entirely open and is a working private study library. The sliding windows open on all four sides to create an atmosphere of an aerie in the woods. The first floor, which is completely closed, is contains book stacks for library.

Architecture: Peter Gluck and Partners
Photography: Paul Warchol

Villa in Stockholm archipelago, Sweden

Situated atop a rocky headland on a natural plateau, the villa enjoys beautiful panoramic views across the Baltic Sea bay and the setting sun.
The creative idea behind the project was to create a concentrated and clear form in marked contrast to the Stockholm archipelago natural landscape. The presence of a limestone and concrete building, abstract for this location, also increases the experience of the local rich shades of nature.

Behind the villa's clean lines hides an advanced technological systems. Air-conditioning or district cooling is pumped into the in-house units through the rock shaft, so air-conditioning is generally free of charge. Heating for the hot water, outdoor pool and floors is produced by a heat pump. Tap water is taked from the bay and treated in a desalination system. All engineering units are operated by a smart monitoring and control solution, controlled by owners via a mobile handset or the internet.

Architecture: John Robert Nilsson Arkitektkontor

Beautiful Home in Singapore

Amazing views towards the Singapore city from Siglap Hill inspired this beautiful home design. Family and master spaces are placed on the third level which has the most magnificent views. Dining and living rooms are situated on the second level, connected with terraces and verandahs that flow upwards and fold into the home's roof form with deep roof overhangs for efficient sun shade and channeling the fresh breeze through the whole space in the house.

Architecture: Aamer Architects
Photography: Patrick Bingham-Hall

Coastal home design, Playa Misterio, Peru

Two volumes of the coastal home design crown the top of a hill at beach community Playa Misterio in Peru. The “concrete block” accommodates the master bedroom at the top and the social space in its lower levels. The “glass block” includes the children’s space in two levels. The volume between the spaces is occupied by a staircase block that connect the hard appear of exposed concrete to the soft look glass surface provoking light and shadow effects.

Architecture: Longhi Architects

Modern home interior, Brazil

“Being inside feeling like one is outside. I believe that to be a key issue in understanding the interior design being produced today. In times when environmental awareness is growing, and, of course, also the desire to be close to nature”, explains the designer, who places her modern home interior (Brazil) somewhere in between a modernist home and a country villa.

Architecture: Fernanda Marques Arquitetos Associados

Ellipse Home/Office, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Floor plans

About VS Arquitectos

Architecture: VS Arquitectos
Project: Alvear 671
Area: 650m²
Location: Martinez, Buenos Aires Province
Completed: 2010

Situated in residential area of Buenos Aires, this building is not an office, and it is not exactly a house either, nor a study. But the Ellipse home/office has something of all that. A wooden and net concrete wall separates the private residence world from the city on the sidewalk. But above the wall, the second floor in the house from the side of the ellipse's more acute edge may be seen, showing an interesting counterpoint between the brilliant and transparent curve of the ellipse and the opaque and smooth plate of the wall.

VS Architects' architects have shaped a stripped-down, multifunctional space for those who dream of working at home. The Ellipse residence, in Buenos Aires (Argentina), is actually a large residential office with a small area dedicated to family living environments.

Quite interesting and unusual, the home office reveals an original design in the form of an ellipse with curved glass walls.

The space is surrounded by vegetation and a small lake that creates the impression that the whole building is floating on it.

With approximately 650m² of area, Ellipse stands out for its rounded volume and transparency. Customers were looking for a functional and aesthetically pleasing space, as a solution the professionals undertook an elaborate “home office”, mixing commercial, residential and multipurpose environments.

On the first floor, there is the company's lobby, a kitchen, bathrooms and two bedrooms. The second has a meeting room, office, bathroom and two other rooms.

Local Rock House - Beautiful Summer Home on Waiheke Island, New Zealand

About Pattersons

Architecture: Pattersons
Project: Local Rock House
Location: Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Year: 2010

The Waiheke island is the location for some of New Zealand's finest holiday houses and this summer residence is located on a steep coastal escarpment above white sand beach on the island's northern coast. The architects used local pyrite stone as building material to create design that belongs to sense of this place. The stone mass of the house was been arranged as a viaduct, open both sides to exploit both the afternoon sun and the beach frontage.





Description from architects

This design creates the New Zealand residence for an expatriate family. It is sited on a steep east facing coastal escarpment just above a pohutukawa fringed white sand beach. Its materiality and composition seeks to create a ‘sense of place in New Zealand’ for this family.

A rock mass forms a bridge to exploit both the sea frontage and limited westerly light. Under this, the living area nestles into the escarpment contrasting an intimate living terrace to the north-east with a grotto-like western courtyard. Bedroom areas are grouped above as finely scaled louvred lookouts at the canopy level of the pohutukawas. The building uses local materiality to become intimately scaled to ‘belong’ in its setting.

Holiday home in India

Located at the edge of a cliff, 60 meters (200 ft.) above the Arabian Sea coast, the holiday home's features are a sloping asymmetrical roof, meditation areas, several decks, large outdoor pool and the beautiful sea views. Accessories and furniture are kept to a minimal, so the focus doesn't stray from the beautiful natural environment.

Architecture: Khosla Associates

Vacation villa, Lombok, Indonesia

Modern and fresh in its design, this five bedrooms vacation villa (Lombok, Indonesia) features crisp clean lines with grey and white exteriors to create an airy and light ambiance, while colourful fabrics and vibrant artwork contrast elegantly against the soft colors furnishings evoking a beautiful sense of style.

Beautiful Modern Treehouse Design, Los Angeles, California

Part recreational getaway, part studio/office, this beautiful modern treehouse is situated at the base of a pine tree in a canyon residence backyard. The client is a lover of nature and an artist so the treehouse serves as a creative retreat from the everyday lifestyle. Though not large in size, the design is efficient and allows for a living space and a toilet room.

Architecture	Rockefeller Partners Architects
Project	Banyan Drive Treehouse
Year	2009
Area	170 s.f.
Location	Los Angeles, California
Photography	Eric Staudenmaier

Nice House Design, Toronto, Canada

Beautiful and Nice Home in Toronto

Split in section and plan, the design of this nice house allows for a flood of sunlight to the centre space. The house is designed as area for spectacle – the client is a host of a large number of friends, and wanted a home that could feel grand. This made the task to design a home that could also feel enough intimate for everyday living. This house design received a 2012 Design Excellence award by the Ontario Association of Architects.

Architecture: Superkül Inc Architect
Photography: Shai Gil

Traditional Greek Houses, Mykonos Island, Greece

Tsirigakis Residence

Deligiannis House

Kokkalis House

Pamekas House

About BC Estudio Architects

These traditional Greek houses of Mykonos island have close ties with the ancient architecture of the Mykonos, curving domes, whitewashed chimney and rounded surfaces stacks together with massive stone walls to create shelter against the heat and the north winds, ‘meltemi’, common to Mykonos in summer.

Luxury custom villa in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California

This luxury custom villa (Brentwood, Los Angeles, California) is inspired as much by the client’s lifestyle as by its unique setting. Due to the complicated irregular topography, which includes a small grove of pine trees and eucalyptus, only one of the 3.5 acres is suitable for building on. To maximize the surrounding views, the house was designed into two wings – south and north – which face the surrounding canyon views and an expansive lawn and turn away from the motor court.

Architecture: Rockefeller Partners Architects
Photography: Eric Staudenmaier

Beautiful Modern Villa, Greece

This modern villa (Greece) has views to the sea as well as the mountains and is situated not far from Athens. The features are 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a garden 500 sqm, a waterfall in the dining room, heated pool, under floor heating, central vacuum system, central air conditioning, self-cleared glass panels, elevator and home cinema.

Oikia Panorama Voulas Villa by Dimitris Interiors Economou:

“Minimal design luxurious single family home located at the top of Panorama, Voula in the southern suburbs of Athens, Greece with exceptional sea and mountain view is for sale. This house was custom designed, constructed using only top of the line materials and decorated with branded Italian furniture.

Finished in 2006, this house has all the “State of the art” features a luxury house should have: High tech phone center, alarm system and computer network, in-floor heating controlled on each floor, central A/C temperature control in every room, Dolby surround home cinema in living room, playroom and master bedroom, hi quality built in ceiling speakers in living room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, central satellite system, central vacuum system, self cleaning Pilkington windows, heated swimming pool with natural pebble finish, outdoor Jacuzzi, extras featured in the kitchen such as garbage disposal and instant near-boiling water faucet, pantry etc.

The house also features an in house waterfall, custom lighting as well as indirect lighting scheme in all the main areas including the bedrooms and the 2 master bathrooms which feature an under the furniture lighting effect.”

Design Dimitris Economou Interiors
Project Oikia Panorama Voulas
Location Athens, Greece
Year 2006

Ocean view home, California, Palos Verdes

The ocean view home (California) occupies a 20-acre lot in the coast of the Palos Verdes. The design is a 15,500 square foot several structures complex with a main house, guesthouse, study and garage. The project was inspired by the owner’s interest in geology and the topography of the area.

Architecture: Marmol Radziner
Photography: Benny Chan, Steve Guntner, Joe Fletcher

Black House, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The black house was designed for an active young couple without children. The social areas in the house is divided in two. In one side is the living room with beautiful view to nearby lake. On the other side located the common areas, such as the dinning and the kitchen room. The shallow pool that makes division the Black house in two allows the indirect sunlight to bathe the interior spaces, as the sun reflects it's light on the pool water surface, and so, sunlight is present in every part of the house, but never in a direct way.

Architecture: Andres Remy Arquitecto

Completely white home design, Queensland, Australia

This 2 storey completely white home design strikes the perfect balance between classic design elements and contemporary style, offering modern home design that is sure to meet the highest of standards. High ceilings and sparkling white interiors are a breath of fresh air in the interior space while abundant use of glass creates an airy and light floor plan. The house features four bedrooms, a swimming pool, an outdoor entertainment area and a three-car garage.

Modern Luxury Tropical House

This modern luxury tropical house encapsulates the essence of living in the humid and hot climate of Singapore by creating open spaces which offer views to the sea and encourage natural ventilation. The main concept is to create a tropical house which has close connection with surrounding nature and this is achieved by having a visual connections with the ocean and swimming pool water linking with the landscape. The luxury tropical house is a modern bungalow design which gives opportunities to live comfortably and in harmony with nature.

Architecture: Guz Architects
Photography: Patrick Bingham Hall

Weekend houses with outdoor stone and water features, Long Island, New York

These two weekend houses with outdoor stone and water features (Long Island, New York) have stone exterior walls, linked by water pond features. Stone walls distinguish the northern-facing curtain walls from the southern-oriented arrival side and provide unifying texture.

Architecture: Leroy Street Studio
Photography: Paul Warchol, Charles Mayer

Glass pavilion house, Lake Lugano, Switzerland

Lying on the shores of mountain lake, on the slope of a hill, the glass pavilion house (Lake Lugano, Switzerland) consists of upper and lower volumes organized due to topography of the site. The dining and living room, the storage spaces and kitchen are located in the glass pavilion, while garage, bathrooms and bedrooms are in the lower level.

Architects: JM Architecture
Photography: Jacopo Mascheroni

Amazing modern home, Netherlands

That amazing modern home (Netherlands) provides affordability, high-design, energy efficiency and customization. The architects have achieved clarity, ergonomics and simplicity in their work.

Architecture: Silberstein
Photography: Robin Hill

Modern minimalist Swiss chalet

This modern minimalist Swiss chalet built in an area with zoning ordinances, diverts the vernacular design of the typical chalet into contemporary and playful architecture. The topographical insertion inverts the superposition of the functions and the interior walk in a «plug-in» way. The living spaces, reachable from the upper side of the plot, evolves underneath the roof, facing the beautiful landscape of the Lake Geneva and Alps.

Architecture: LRS Architects

Three storey transparent house, Brazil

The idea was to make this three storey house as transparent as possible, in a way that would establish a visual relationship between external and internal areas. To make this viable, the openings were designed at the rear and front of the structure to be three metres wide and to be on the same axis. When open, large glazing elements slide along the walls uniting the external and internal spaces.

Architecture: Apiacas Arquitetos
Photography: Pregnolato and Kusuki

Timber house with courtyard in the middle, Austria

Main idea of the timber house is the “indoor environment quality” reached by the inner courtyard in the middle which is hidden from outside on this small site. The house with courtyard is organized on two floors. On the ground floor there are living and dining room, kitchen, garage and secondary rooms. Indoor and outdoor space are merging when the large floor-to-ceilling glazing in the courtyard is opened in summer.

Architecture and photography: DI Bernardo Bader

Nice house design, Philippines

This nice house design (Philippines) is Archipelago’s first built home. The brief was to create a serene, luxury and modern oasis to escape from the city. Streetfront does not stand out among the others, expands and unfolds into contemporary cavernous interior. Living spaces are designed as one big room, leads out to a pool, deck and veranda, all with beautiful views of the South China Sea and Nasugbu Bay.

Architecture: Archipelago
Photography: Tom Epperson

Custom home design, Canada

This innovative and creative custom home design stands the highest level of design quality and reflects integrity and taste of its owners. This custom home exemplifies contemporary design; the composition, style and flow of outdoor and indoor spaces make this the ideal home for entertaining and living.

Architecture: KB Design

Luxury golf course home

The overall design of this luxury golf course home consists of several separate structures, all flawlessly connected by ‘streets’, breezeways and bridges. Complete with an outdoor kitchen, pool, seating areas and fireplaces, the outdoor living space creates a warm and modern appearance blending naturally with the environment.

Architecture: James D. LaRue

Mountain view home

A refined exterior palette of the mountain view home of cement stucco, smooth concrete, red cedar and aluminum windows is paired with an interior of white slate flooring and gypsum-board with maple; the theme of a two-tone facade is repeated inside by interlocking maple and cherry millwork.

Architecture: D’Arcy Jones

Seaside Home in Gig Harbor, Washington

Tucked right on the water’s edge and against the cliff in Gig Harbor (Washington, USA) this seaside home answered the unique natural challenges of its site. The roof of the seaside home is an extension of the upland lawn and access to the two levels is provided through glass-enclosed elevator.

Architecture: Scott Allen
Photography: Tim Bies

Ocean front home

The ocean front home situated in California on the Pacific coast. At the upper level are four en-suite bedrooms, open plan kitchen, living and dining rooms, powder room and three-car garage. Lower Level has en-suite bedroom, offices, gym, screening room, bar & lounge and game room.

Architecture: Sagan Piechota
Photography: Joe Fletcher

Small Japanese house design

Like a bird’s nest, the small Japanese house design is open to the view of the Hiroshima and Inland Sea and is relief from disturbance. The house is protected from the environment and creates a feeling of safety.

Architecture: Kimihiko Okada
Photography: Toshiyuki Yano

Contemporary home design, USA

The contemporary home design evolved from the client’s desire for a house that is a tranquil place for retreat, art and living. This house is seamlessly open to the ridge-top coastal site via operable glazed walls. The client asked for a master suite, a study for two, one guest room and an informal open living space.

Architecture: Neumann Mendro Andrulaitis
Photography: Ciro Coelho

Timber ventilated facade house

Timber ventilated facade house (Casablanca, Chile) is a project of renovation of a wooden house organized according to a new helical staircase which, through the overhang of the new room and the extension of an existing deck, allows a visitor to go up to new panoramic terraces on the roof. The function of timber ventilated facade is to avoid accumulations of moisture and water in the structure walls.

Architecture: Renewal (2008) Delphine Ding, Jose Ulloa Davet
Photography: Jose Ulloa Davet