Casa TO features nine spacious suites acting as private sanctuaries in contrast to the open public areas. A covered infinity pool and terraced solarium form the heart of the hotel, offering stepped seating areas for guests to lounge in the sun and then wander down into the water to cool off. Enormous round portals in the massive concrete walls create interesting geometries and frame various views of the interiors and exteriors: the pool sparkling in the sunlight, vines crawling up the textural wall, inviting seating areas, and the lush vegetation outside.

“The project was outlined under the imprint of simplicity and conceptual elegance, where tradition and avant garde are amalgamated in an unprecedented structure embraced by the tranquility of nature,” the architects explain. “Its name, Casa TO, arises from the idea of serene contemplation in a defined space, as the reinterpretation of an Oaxacan temple, which generates a radical sensory experience just by entering it. The structure evokes the lattice pattern of two historic waterworks of timeless beauty, the Basilica Cistern — Yerebatan Sarayi — in Istanbul, dating from the 6th century, and the Hornsey Wood Reservoir in London’s Finsbury Park, built in the 19th century.”

The team adds that “Casa TO’s natural environment defined its interior design, which was inspired by the natural hue of a blue Madagascar palm tree — Bismarckia nobilis — located on the original grounds. The color palette is made up of the typical tones of concrete and stainless steel, which are complemented by shades of turquoise, present in the ironworks, the lamps by Natural Urbano Studio, and some decorative details; in addition to yellow, blue, and green accents, which contrast in the glassware and textile elements made by Vivenda, Alfredo Orozco’s Experimental Textile Workshop, and the Taller Ocho rugs.”

The influence of Oaxacan temples is evident in the hotel’s vaulted ceilings and steps, as is that of traditional Mexican courtyard houses, which are evoked in the solarium and the tropical greenery sprinkled throughout the hotel. Furniture built by expert carpenters from Puebla, Guadalajara, and Oaxaca stands alongside bamboo pieces by Tiago Solís Van Beuren. Guest rooms are open to the fresh air, with the beds tucked into little sheltered nooks and small private terraces acting as giant skylights.

Casa TO is perhaps the most dramatic and innovative project yet from Ludwig Godefroy Architecture, an elevation of the firm’s signature aesthetic of clean concrete forms accented by warm natural materials. Check out their previous project, Casa Zicatela, a home that looks like a bunker from outside but hides luxurious private spaces and reflecting pools behind its sturdy walls.

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The design draws inspiration from black holes, equating them with the mysteries of the deep. What looks like an eyeball is really a spherical glass dome providing guests with multi-level viewing platforms and uninterrupted 180-degree vistas of the ocean. The Zion is capable of hosting 20 guests in 10 luxury rooms, including a master suite on the main deck, along with 20+ crew members. A glass elevator travels from deck to deck, and a flybridge allows passengers to enjoy views “in all weather conditions.”

“The owners suites located at the main deck have electrically operated sky lounge balconies on either side,” the designers explain. “The main deck has open dining space connected to the glass bottom infinity swimming pool via hanging bridge. The lower deck has a large tender garage that allows for easy and safe deployment of tenders, jet skis, and other water toys. At the aft of the lower deck is a beach club with a dedicated gym and an open garden space. The beach club converts into an expandable sun bathing space through foldout bulwark terraces. The upper deck has a 12-meter helipad accessible by glass column elevator to all the decks.”

The glass bottom infinity pool is definitely a notable feature here, as is the nearly 40-foot helipad on the upper deck. Then again, are you even superyachting if you don’t have these? The main deck also has an open plan alfresco dining area adjacent to the pool, accessible via a sizable hanging bridge stretching beneath the helipad. The side terraces offer direct access to the water via ladders.

The Zion is currently just a concept, and Bhushan Powar Design says they created it just for fun. But we all know that billionaires love to collect outrageously expensive toys, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all if one of these were commissioned to hit the seas in real life. It would undoubtedly come with a very high price tag, but that’s nothing new.

The top 10 most expensive yachts in the world range from the $300 million Pelorus, owned by Hong Kong property tycoon Samuel Tak Lee, to the $4.8 billion History Supreme. The most expensive yacht of all time was designed by Stuart Hughes for an anonymous Malaysian businessman rumored to be Robert Kuok, founder of the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts chain.

Wondering what in the world would make the History Supreme so expensive? Well, let’s start with the 100,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum used in its construction, including the base, deck, railings, and anchor. Then there’s the real T-Rex bone mounted on a wall made of meteoric stone in the main bedroom.

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Located in Channiir in the Mount Lebanon district, CH730 Villa is set on a mountainside, with its stepped plan facing north and access located to the south, at the top of the slope. The site is challenging, to say the least, with a sharp incline that makes it difficult to build anything in a conventional way. But the views make it all worthwhile, taking in the valley of Channiir below. The steepness of the incline inspired the architects to come up with a design that puts the focus on those views — and they had to do it all on a budget.

The firm explains: “The basic conceptual idea behind this project was to build a home with three main objectives: achieving a good adaptation in the overall streetscape, inserting the building into the topography of the original terrain, and implanting the client program: the result, conserving the environment with a potential of altering different views. DAZ regards each project as a unique opportunity to create tailor-made solutions and designs.”

“The team’s thorough attention to detail, finishes, and materials allows us to create harmonious projects. Thus, the idea of the house is based on placing a monolithic concrete structure on a black glass platform following the cliff overlooking the spectacular view of the 500-meter hillsides between it and an old river. This parallelepiped module follows the direction and the angle of the cliff so that the house appears to be naturally encrusted into the hillside.”

The DAZ team adds: “The architectural design is kept basic in form, allowing the architecture to shine through its shape and facade details. Geometric forms and contemporary details translate the simplistic and monolithic overall of the design. The volume’s composition results from the rotation of the upper part of the volume on an axis following the natural slope or topography, while the lower part maintains its horizontality, especially towards the side of the slope. DAZ transformed a simple rectangular volume into a better and improved shape that answers all the site’s requirements and obstacles.”

The architects see the monolithic qualities of the volumes and their gray cladding as visual references to massive, solid boulders and mountains, as softened by the use of wood cladding. Inside, the effect is a little cozier. Two of the home’s four levels project out from the slope, while the other two are built into the hill, “forming a support to the parallelepiped module.” Measuring about 6,100 square feet, it’s organized to offer seamless circulation in both horizontal and vertical directions.

In this case, you could interpret “ground floor” in a number of different ways, but the architects define it as the point from which you enter, at the top of the slope. These spaces hold the living and dining areas, kitchen, and other communal areas, while the next level houses the master bedrooms, children’s bedrooms, and a second family living room. Below that is a level housing a TV room, entertainment room, guest bedroom, and additional living room, while the lowest level is a basement from which the infinity pool and outdoor terrace can be accessed.

The design is quirky, to say the least. All of the different window shapes give it a bit of an eclectic look, and the portion of the house that appears to be leaning from the outside is purely decorative, ultimately blocking some of those desirable views — but it’s definitely an eye-catcher!

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Some of these concepts are presented as serious options, while others — including a transformation into a multi-story parking garage — are more tongue-in-cheek. “The Pool” by Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) probably falls somewhere in the middle of those extremes.

That’s not to say that installing a rooftop pool across the entirety of the cathedral’s roof isn’t absolutely absurd. Architectural purists in particular will undoubtedly loathe the idea, as will those who attend religious services at the cathedral (though it appears that UMA would keep the interiors exactly as they were before the fire). But as far as swimming pools go, this one would be undeniably epic. Can you imagine splashing around up there, gazing at centuries-old Gothic architecture and views of the entire city?

The Stockholm-based firm explains that their concept pays homage to the cathedral’s status as a landmark for the city and the sense that it belongs to the people and should serve their needs.

“Most proposals that we have seen put way too much focus and effort on the spire; a rather recent addition built in the 19th-century renovation,” they explain. “We think that the cathedral looks much better without both the spire and the led-clad roof. Instead we let the bell towers, the flying buttresses, and the rose windows do the talking. Given that we’re in the epicenter of Paris, the world’s cultural capital and a city filled with joie de vivre, [we’re] not planning on rebuilding the roof as it was.”

“Instead we are proposing a meditative public space; a complementary spatial experience to the building with unmatched views over Paris…the spire is gone, but the twelve statues of the apostles that were put away during the restoration and managed to escape the fire are once again back at the roof, now as guardians around a large public pool that occupies the whole roof. Maybe the pool will be replaced in a hundred years or so, becoming another layer of great stories for the future.”

Are Ulf Mejergren Architects really serious about their proposal? Probably not, but it was a clever bit of marketing for their own firm, and a successful one at that. Founded in 2014 by Ulf Mejergren, UMA is known for creative, visually striking projects that bring a sense of playfulness to urban spaces, like a study retreat made entirely from trained trees and another oversized infinity pool, this one envisioned for the Stockholm waterfront.

While President Macron announced a five-year timeline for the rebuilding of Notre Dame, heritage experts say that plan is not realistic due to the special care that will be needed to preserve and restore many of the cathedral’s original elements. There’s also likely to be a spirited public debate over whether France should go with a traditional restoration that stays true to the original or consider an adaptation that reflects all the structure has been through.

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While much of the architecture does draw, at least marginally, upon the local vernacular, as well as the historic character of humbler eastern Long Island structures, it often does so in the form of sprawling floor plans, multiple tennis courts, and wide swathes of manicured, topiary-spotted lawns.

But look beyond the flashy mansions, and you’ll find a breezy, laid-back beach town culture full of permanent middle-class residents — and at least one high-end weekend getaway that aims to set a good example for seasonal guests. To achieve such an effect, the couple behind that getaway approached New York City-based interior design and architecture firm Mapos in hopes of finding the antidote to stereotypical wealth-flaunting Hamptons homes.

Owners of a global French beauty brand, the clients wanted a timeless, multi-generational family retreat that paid tribute to its sensitive shoreline building site, incorporated the latest sustainable technology and design strategies, and exuded a streamlined classic beauty. The family wanted to keep as much of the existing greenery intact as possible, including a 70-foot-tall old-growth sycamore tree in the meadow. They even requested a natural palette of raw, unfinished materials to complement the spirit of the location.

The result is Peconic House: a sustainable home for the 21st century, and one free of flashy pretensions. Lying low to the ground, the custom 4,000-square-foot holiday home is tucked into a hill just north of the great sycamore and topped with a green roof that’s covered in native meadow grasses. When approaching from the road, you can barely see the house, gazing out over it to the water beyond. Not only does the roof help the structure blend into the surrounding landscape, but it also minimizes the project’s impact on the watershed.

A 200-foot terrace steppes down to the beach in a series of recreational outdoor spaces, including a glittering 75-foot infinity-edge swimming pool. Corten steel, cedar, concrete, and reclaimed ipe wood mimic the natural tones of the environment, and as they age, they’ll develop a rich patina that will further blend them into their surroundings. The living room offsets east-west views of the Peconic Bay with a 100-foot-long glass wall, which itself is framed by unfinished cedar and reclaimed white oak.

The architects say of the project: “Every design decision supports this blurring of built environment and nature: the green roof promotes biodiversity while its cantilevers provide daylight harvesting in the morning and shade in the afternoon, and articulation of the east elevation creates a prow-like bay window for the master bedroom. The interiors’ abstraction and literalness play off one another, and intimate an overall sustainability strategy that makes this project as sympathetic to the environment, performance-wise, as it is visually.”

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Residents of a new apartment complex in South London will be able to swim from one building to the next, ten stories in the air, with uninterrupted views of the surrounding city. The glass-bottomed swimming pool suspended between two towers is billed as a ‘world’s first,’ spanning 90 feet without any visible structural supports.

Looking up from ground level, the pool resembles something of a human-sized aquarium, with swimmers visible to passersby from virtually all angles. It’s not clear how thick the glass will have to be in order to support the weight of that much water, or how the pool will hold up in inclement weather.

“My vision for the sky pool stemmed from a desire to push the boundaries in the capability of construction and engineering,” says Sean Mulryan, CEO of construction firm Ballymore Group. “I wanted to do something that thad never been done before. The Sky Pool’s transparent structure is th result of significant advancements in technologies over the last decade. The experience of the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in central London.”

The pool is part of a rooftop relaxation area at the Embassy Gardens Legacy Buildings, a 2,000-unit complex that will also feature a gym and a ‘work from home’ office area. Located in London’s new Nine Elms quarter, the buildings are under construction now and expected to be complete by 2017.

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On a property planted with over 100 oak trees, an ultramodern getaway by Walker Workshop gleams in glass and steel, a 75-foot-long rooftop infinity pool surrounding it on three sides. But while the house looks modest in size from ground level, it’s hiding a secret: most of its 8,000 square feet are nestled into the earth, disguised by concrete walls and planted terraces.

Oak Pass House in Beverly Hills takes advantage of the undulating landscape to create a floor plan that shelters part of the home within the earth. The bedrooms are nestled into the ground on the first level for privacy and passive cooling, while the common areas overlook the valley from the upper floor.

Glazed walls on this top level provide almost completely uninterrupted views, and glass balconies allow residents and guests to walk right up to the edge of the elevated terraces to take it all in. The unusually large infinity pool mirrors the sky, passing beneath one of the oak trees.

Take a set of concrete steps to the roof of the home and you’ll find a garden planted with edible herbs, while a sunken courtyard hides a cozy space to sit around a fire.

More from the architects

“he Oak Pass main house sits on the top of a 3.5 acre ridge site with panoramic canyon views. There are over 130 protected Oak trees on the property. The house was sited to take advantage of the views without the house becoming a central visual focus. The massing was reduced by utilizing an upside down program with the public spaces located above the bedrooms, which are buried into the hill and protected beneath a vegetated roof. A lower level courtyard allows light and air to flow to the buried hallway of the bedroom level.”

“A seventy five foot long lap pool with infinity edges on three of four sides, bisects the house and slips beneath one of the largest oaks on the property. The house is primarily constructed of structural concrete allowing for long, column free spans. The floors on the bedroom level are walnut. The floors on the upper level are limestone.”

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Is there water on that rooftop, or is it just a mirage? It’s hard to tell until you approach this hidden home, nestled into the hills of Tinos Island in Greece’s Cyclades archipelago. Athens-based Kois Associated Architects created an infinity pool on the flat, cantilevered rooftop of the appropriately named ‘Mirage House’ that seems to blend into the adjacent Aegean Sea.

From ground level, that sparkling water is the only part of the house that’s visible to onlookers, and it’s difficult to tell where it ends and the sea begins. Kois Associated Architects envisioned the home as “an invisible oasis” with all of the interior spaces tucked into the rocks to create a cavernous feel.

To grant their clients’ wish for a home that was virtually undetectable and as private as possible, the firm decided to mimic elements of the landscape. The visible parts of the home fronting the sea are made of dry stone, echoing both the natural rocks of the cliffs and the vernacular architecture and infrastructure of the island.

The single-level structure features rammed earth walls in the rear of the home. This ancient building technique produces walls that are strong, durable and noncombustible, naturally balancing the temperature and humidity levels with their thermal mass and breathability.

“Our goal was to integrate the building into the landscape like it was part of it. The living space is covered by a rimless pool that produces a visual effect of water extending to the horizon, vanishing and merging with the seascape. From a distance especially if viewed from the path of approach, on a higher ground, the only visible feature of the house is the water of the pool. The water during the day reflects the surrounding rock formations and during the night the star filled night sky. Most of the visible construction materials were found in the vicinity and were used to make the house ‘disappear’ into the scenery.”

“Local techniques were also borrowed like the characteristic dry wall construction found in abundance in the island. This technique was implemented with minor modifications; on the side embankment walls in each side of the pool volume. The local materials have a low impact on the environment while also being very efficient as insulating materials. The rear walls are made of retained earth that regulates the temperature. The pool which acts as a roof provides insulation and protection from solar radiation and heat transmittance.”

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