optical glass house

The words dream house immediately came to mind when I first laid eyes on this project in Hiroshima, designed by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP. On a site surrounded by high-rise buildings and bordered by busy streets, the architects maximized both natural light, nature, and privacy through the construction of an impressive two-story optical glass wall, made from 6,000 cast borosilicate glass blocks. The courtyard provides a barrier to the sights and sounds of the city, thanks to the density of the glass.

The living room, dining room, and bedrooms open onto the courtyard, giving the experience of a private forest. Another smaller courtyard lines the rear of the house. The main courtyard's shallow pool also serves as a skylight, opening up the home's entrance on the first floor to the courtyard above and reflecting watery patterns into the foyer. Magnificent.

PS. Seriously, the bathroom sink and counter are milled from the same wood, creating a seamless, richly textured vanity.

via Contemporist

hydroelectric power station

Designed by Monovolume, the Punibach hydroelectric power station seamlessly blends into its surrounding hilly landscape. A sweeping concrete slab outlines the opening to the station, which is disguised by warm wood tones that complement the natural environment. A case of beautiful architecture that almost isn't there!

via designboom

earthworks by patricia leighton

Patricia Leighton is an environmental artist who develops sculptural, site-specific landforms that embody the history of place and local ecological conditions. Although certainly not her only material of choice, I am most drawn to her soil and earth works and how skillfully she creates both highly geometric and organic volumes.

fort werk aan 't spoel

Located in the Netherlands, Fort “Werk aan ‘t Spoel” is a national monument dating from 1794. Part of the New Dutch Waterline - a military defense line making use of intentional flooding - it served to protect one of the inundation locks. Rietveld Landscape converted the historic space into a public attraction able to accommodate a wide variety of events and activities while preserving its relationship to the past.

The landscape reads simultaneously as sculpture, park and monument. Although a historic site, this design brings an interactivity and enjoyment to it that I feel many monuments often lack.

via designboom

staedel museum extension

A bold new addition to the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt, designed by Schneider + Schumacher. Below ground, the new museum extension is a bright exhibit space with a soft, gently domed ceiling, while on the surface a landscape of skylights bulges into a striking topography. In a way, the courtyard becomes its own interactive piece of land art, since visitors are free to roam the grounds among the almost 200 skylights.

via Dezeen