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Mount Tirana takes inspiration from Albania’s distinctive mountains, celebrating the national identity and cultural heritage of the country on Southwestern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula. Its 70,000-square-foot interior will include housing, a boutique hotel, offices, a business area, commercial facilities, restaurants, cafés, and parking facilities. The ground floor, connected to adjacent parklands, will act as one big “urban living room” for the city. Mount Tirana is set within the city’s core downtown area close to the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Albania and the National Historical Museum.

“Mountains are one of nature’s most impressive features,” said Mikkel Frost, Founding Partner and Architect at CEBRA. “Everlasting, awe-inspiring, and beautiful, they are the original landmarks. By using the mountains of Albania as our main source of inspiration, we tap into the local history, the cultural heritage, and the identity of Albania. This symbolic landmark will create an elegant connection between the ever-transforming urban fabric of Tirana and the natural surroundings — an architectural hybrid between a tower and a mountain and an international typology, which is locally anchored.”

Coming to a sharp point at its pinnacle, the new biophilic skyscraper will certainly stand out in the Tirana skyline, even with so many new and interesting architectural projects taking shape around it. The city is in the midst of a major construction boom, with other big developments in the works including MVRDV’s Downtown One Tirana, a mixed-use building with a pixelated facade; BIG’s new National Theater of Albania, which resembles a giant bow tie; and a new iteration of Stefano Boeri’s Vertical Forest, which will be covered in over 3,200 shrubs and bushes (the first two are located in Milan).

Mount Tirana was chosen by an international jury, including Albanaian Prime Minister Edi Rama, the Mayor of Tirana, four internationally acclaimed architects, and the client, Nova Construction 2012. Construction will begin immediately.

Founded in 2001 by architects Mikkel Frost, Carsten Primdahl, and Kolja Nielsen, CEBRA is an architecture and design practice based in Aarhus, Denmark. The firm employs a multidisciplinary international staff of more than 65 architects, urban planners, landscape architects, academics, and administrative personnel. They’re known for their sensitivity to the landscape, ecology, and cultural history of each site, developing projects that are visually striking yet harmonious with their surroundings.

“Empathy is at the core of how we create architecture, and we listen to the world around us to gain a deep understanding of local cultures, conditions, climate, and building traditions,” the firm states. “At the same time, we focus on creating architecture for the senses. In interdisciplinary teams we practice artistic leadership and speak up for emotional impact to create architecture that is both bold, beautiful, and useful.”

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“I was very impressed by the village. It was quite beautiful,” explains founder and architect Sou Fujimoto. “The weather was mostly cloudy when I visited there, with a bit of misty and foggy air surrounding the entire village.”

The resulting ringed structure “was inspired by the site itself, especially the fog and clouds that diffused over the village,” adds Fujimoto. “They were like buildings floating in the air, or rather, like roofs connecting nature, buildings, and various sceneries around. The continuing terraced fields created an architectural image and made the whole area very dynamic and vivid. Therefore, we proposed a floating canopy just like a cloud, hugging the landscape and being part of it.”

The plan for the officially titled “Fangyukong Cultural & Creative Resort Complex” began with the main building, an open space to be used for exhibitions, conferences, and art galleries. Enclosed with floor-to-ceiling window walls, this structure allows for maximum connection with the surrounding nature but still provides protection from snow and wind. The ceiling is lined with dry, woven grasses, continuing the feeling of symbiosis with the outdoor world.

From the main building, a steel-framed canopy covered in more natural fibers weaves its way in a circle down the multi-terraced complex, with its lowest point shading a glass-enclosed swimming pool and nearly connecting to the adjacent river, adding to the flow of the landscape instead of interrupting it.

“While distinguishing buildings and natural fields, the canopy creates a view just like a huge courtyard facing the sky,” the firm explains. “…We named the project ‘Flowing Cloud’ from the impression of the environment when we first visited the site, but also for the soft shape of the entire canopy.”

In the middle of the pavilion’s loop is an outdoor amphitheater of flower-filled steppes, accessible by stone staircases on either side.

The firm adds: “We look forward to having people come to visit, lingering around the poetic village, walking under the floating canopy, and enjoying the picturesque views of the beautiful nature.”

Hokkaido-native Sou Fujimoto grew up exploring the many mountains and forest of his island, spawning his life-long love of the natural world. He is particularly inspired by cave dwellings, which he says represent “a raw space where function was determined based on human behavior.” A few years after graduating in Architecture from the University of Tokyo, he founded his eponymous architecture firm in 2000, becoming known for his houses with light structures and permeable enclosures that allowed residents to stay in touch with their surroundings.

The firm’s work became well known around Japan, landing them major contracts in Europe including the design of London’s temporary Serpentine Gallery and the redesign of a plot in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. In 2021, Fujimoto earned his master’s degree from l’École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. In addition to his design work, he lectures regularly at the Universities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Minato.

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“Since Aspen Snowmass first opened in 1946-47, Aspen, Colorado’s average temperature has warmed by three degrees Fahrenheit,” explains Aspen Skiing Company, who commissioned the project. “In total, Aspen Snowmass has lost 30 days of winter since 1980 alone. This season, as part of our 75th anniversary, we’ve installed The Melted Gondola art installation at the top of Aspen Mountain to get people thinking about the next 75 years – and to draw attention to the urgent need to aggressively address climate change.”

Launched in partnership with the nonprofit Protect Our Winters (POW), the campaign takes inspiration from a piece by James Dive and The Glue Society called “Hot with the Chance of a Late Storm”, a similarly melting ice cream truck installed on the beach in Sydney, Australia. Protect Our Winters is a community of athletes, scientists, creatives, and business leaders working to advance non-partisan climate policies. “We need a movement to create large-scale policy change on climate,” says Auden Schendler, Aspen Skiing Company’s SVP of Sustainability. “POW is that movement, mobilizing the outdoor industry as a political force.”

POW and Aspen Skiing Company hope the sculpture will provoke an emotional reaction in onlookers as they arrive on the mountain. Many visitors look forward to their mountain excursion all year, and shorter snow seasons can be highly disappointing. With Aspen warming by about 0.4 degrees per decade, a future in which skiing is no longer possible may be within sight. The groups hope anyone moved by the installation will write to their senators, pressure their favorite businesses to use their voices and influence in Washington, or work to affect small changes like clean energy standards in their own towns.

The installation is rendered even more poignant by the dramatic juxtaposition of two recent events in Colorado: a rare winter wildfire that killed at least four people and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in the Boulder area, and the 10 inches of snow that extinguished it. On the day the fire started, the area was experiencing unusually high winds after months of drought. The fires blazed across an urban area once thought to be much safer than forested areas in terms of fire risk, burning down a Target and a hotel.

“The record warm temperatures we’ve had in Colorado definitely played a role in this,” says Jennifer Balch, fire scientist and the director of the Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, in an interview with Colorado Public Radio. “Our temperatures across the Front Range between June and December were the warmest on record going back to the early 1960s. Climate change is essentially keeping our fuels drier longer. These grasses that we’re burning during this event, they’ve been baked, essentially, all fall and all winter. And then, on top of that, we didn’t get a lick of moisture.”

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“We designed an umbrella-shaped eastern house and toilet that resonate with the shape of Mt. Fuji in the observation park on the hillside of the Kintaro Fujimi Line, which is famous as a sanctuary for hikers,” the company website explains.

Located in Oath Hill Park, a rest area on the oustskirts of Oyama, Japan, the “eastern house” is a pair of cone-shaped structures with interlocking roofs that provide shade and a bench to weary hikers at the observation deck. The wooden columns that hold up the house are held together with a ring-shaped iron plate, and the whole configuration is left exposed for visitors to touch and admire. The tented roofs were informed by the ridgeline of Mt. Fuji, with one topped by a translucent material and the other covered in an opaque white covering treated with fluorine to make it weatherproof.

“By combining the flexibility of wood, the strength of iron, and the lightness of the film, a warm and open eastern house was realized,” the studio says, adding that “At night the silhouette of the wooden structure emerges in the woods.”

The toilet building sits adjacent to the eastern house, itself wrapped in thick, white cylindrical walls. The roofs of the two connected spaces are also interlinked and covered in the same opaque material as the shade structure.

With their white-capped roofs and conical forms, the buildings become mini versions of Mt. Fuji. The imposing mountain can even be perfectly centered between them at a certain angle for a stunning picture-perfect vista. The new toilets were officially opened to the public in October 2021.

These aren’t the only nature-blending toilets Kengo Kuma has created. A few months earlier, in June 2021, the firm unveiled a “toilet village” in Shoto Park. Camouflaged by cedar board louvers, the structures’ randomly-skewed lines of wood create a fun forest feel.

“The plans, equipment, and interiors of each toilet that makes up the village are different to meet various needs (child-rearing, grooming, wheelchairs, etc.),” the Kengo Kuma website explains. “By splitting the various private rooms into separate buildings, a well-ventilated, walk-through ‘public toilet village’ was created in the park, which was suitable for the post-corona era. The era of diversity and the era of forests have arrived for toilets.”

The Shoto Park toilets were Kengo Kuma’s contribution to the Nippon Foundation’s Tokyo Toilet Project, an initiative to bring 17 updated and design-minded public restrooms to the city ahead of the 2020 Olympics. The architecture company also designed the cedar-planked Japan National Stadium for the Games.

Kengo Kuma & Associates was established by Kuma in 1990, himself known for his eye for “architecture that opens up a new relationship between nature, technology, and humans.” The studio currently has projects underway in 30 countries, including one in France to add a contemporary, sculptural stone entrance to an ancient gothic cathedral.

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Designed by SYN Architects, the “Hometown Moon” chapel in the Shandong village of Tai’an is a two-story structure with an enormous semi-circle of glass and concrete sitting atop a reflecting pool, causing it to appear as one great shining orb. Inside the ground floor, an identical half-circle descends from a mirrored ceiling, producing a similar effect.

The 11,000 square-foot ceremonial hall was commissioned by the Shandong Lushang Group as part of a larger project to develop a 20-square-mile mountainous region of rural villages, and to bring more tourism and business to the area. The Hometown Moon is the second attraction on that particular hill. In 2019, the billowy “Hometown Cloud” structure emerged from the green hillsides of Tai’an, but the regional planners wanted more.

The Moon was strategically placed to face the Cloud without blocking the view of the beautiful mountain behind it. SYN Architects took great care to incorporate the Hometown Cloud into their plans for the chapel, creating an entire experience with nature for visitors. For instance, the parking lot was purposefully set far away from both structures, requiring guests to take a roughly 10-minute walk through the bushes and rocks, further immersing themselves in the natural surroundings and breaking away from their normal lives.

As they journey, tourists will catch glimpses of the semi-circle rising above the pond, and the spectacle will dip playfully in and out of sight until they reach the chapel where the moon then looms large in front of the surrounding landscape.

Once inside, the lunar-like orb continues to glow, suspended from above and flanked by mossy rocks that mimic the outside world. Visitors can reach out and feel the celestial sphere as it almost touches the floor.

The symbolism of the Moon, especially one that never sets, was chosen for this event center, especially considering the many weddings that may be held in the chapel. Single individuals, entering as less than whole, emerge bonded with their other half, now a fully completed entity. The traditional Buddhist principles of harmony, perpetuity, comprehensiveness, and endlessness are also embedded in the contemplative spaces throughout the facility.

The Beijing-based company hopes that connection with those values and the organic world around the Hometown Moon will provide a long-lasting repose from the rush of every-day living.

“Since the completion of the building, it has started a dialogue with users and nature. I look forward to seeing it being modified over time, further blending with the environment as the trees grow,” says Zou Yingxi, lead architect of SYN architects. “Each architecture has two destinies: being destroyed or being protected. I look forward to creating an architecture that is reluctant to be destroyed. It will be the highest achievement of my career. For this reason, I will bestow deeper meaning to my architecture and create more emotional bonds for its users. I hope that the Moon can become this kind of architecture. Even if it disappears in time, it will still exist in our spiritual world.”

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That’s what architecture firm KRADS has achieved with its “Holiday home by Þingvallavatn,” which perches on a densely vegetated hilltop sloping in the direction of Lake Þingvallavatn. This lush, intensely green landscape, with views of viridian and black hills in the distance, informed the shape, appearance, and layout of a vacation home for a couple. The design consists of three staggered planes following the contours of the terrain, almost as if the home were a natural extension of the hill.

“An essential part of a good building is a good client, they say,” explain architects Kristján Örn Kjartansson and Kristján Eggertson of KRADS. “This general principle felt particularly present in the process surrounding Tina Dickow’s and Helgi Jónsson’s holiday home. As performing artists, they showed an unusual understanding around the creative process, and all the aspects it involves. This led to a journey that was characterized by an enthusiastic exchange of thoughts and ideas which were anchored in a common understanding of materiality and general expression. This created an atmosphere of mutual trust and openness between the architect and the client that one rarely experiences. We hope this feeling is conveyed in the finished house.”

The north-facing facade of the home faces the sparkling lake, poking up and out of the hill like new growth. The roof, planted with grasses and moss in the Icelandic turf house tradition, slopes down toward the ground on the south side, interrupted by a void that separates this section of the building into two volumes. KRADS designed the layout to take full advantage of the lake view while integrating the home into its surroundings. A southwest-facing terrace ringed by trees provides peeks of the mountains Jórutindur and Hátindur.

The design team explains that “apart from the terrace, the immediate surroundings of the building are so densely vegetated that they are close to impenetrable. Preserving the landscape as pristine as possible was a major intention in both the design process and during the construction of the house. In return, the greened roof is established as an accessible plane. Access to the roof can be gained from inside, from the house’s sleep and play loft, or from the outside where the slope starts at the foot of the integrated boat shed. Following the ascend, standing at the top of the roofs edge above the trees, the landscape opens up in a magnificent and ever-changing panorama towards the lake and the surrounding mountains.”

Inside, an older turf home dating back to the 18th century or earlier would most likely consist of either earth, stone, or timber panelling (usually imported, since Iceland doesn’t have a lot of timber of its own). But this home is all contemporary luxury with its smooth white walls, whitewashed wood floors, and timber details. A sunken living area and an adjacent tile-clad tub hidden beneath bench seating enjoy some of the home’s most stunning views.

The post Moss-Draped Holiday Home in Iceland Bridges the Space Between Lakes and Mountains first appeared on Dornob.

One level of the home is for a young family, one is for their parents, and another offers a recreational sports space and gym for the residents and their guests. The third volume rises above the others, jutting out vertically over the cliffside so that one tower-like section feels like it’s hovering in the air. A continuous stairway can also be glimpsed through the windows, making it sort of like an observation tower. Both the son’s house and the parents’ house have their own private backyards tucked somewhat safely against the cliff, and a shaded corridor offers access to the swimming pool from the son’s house.

One of the coolest aspects of this design is its wooden rooftop shades, which can be either closed or opened to let sunlight flood inside (a nice treat in this rainy part of the world). The glass walls facing the water unfold into balconies reminiscent of vertigo-inducing skyscraper platforms like the Skydeck at Chicago’s Willis Tower, the swimming pool features an infinity edge, and if you look closely, you’ll see what looks like the world’s most dangerous swing at the edge of the outdoor terrace. In other words, this residence is for daredevils only, and anyone who’s clumsy or afraid of heights need not apply.

If you think this concept looks unlikely to ever actually become a reality, you may be right, though Iranian architect and interior designer Milad Eshtiyaghi says construction plans are underway and set to begin later this year. It’s a daring project, but not impossible, and it wouldn’t be wildly out of place among the more luxurious homes in British Columbia. You can see short animations of the home’s interiors and various angles of the exterior, including the approach from the top of the cliff, at Eshtiyaghi’s website.

Eshtiyaghi is known for dreaming up incredible architectural concepts that veer into futuristic and fantastical characteristics without losing the sense that they could be real. Anything but ordinary, these projects often reconceptualize what homes and apartment buildings or condos can look like. For instance, the Villa Residential Complex, envisioned for the north of Iran, consists of a bunch of stacked triangles in various sizes ranging from singles to duplexes and triplexes facing both the southern forest and the northern sea.

Another dramatic cantilevered project, Suspended House, takes an ultramodern silhouette in black and dangles over half of it over the edge of a cliff. Cables attach the home to a huge steel mast that bears the weight of gravity while withstanding lateral and upward wind forces. “We designed the mast of the project as someone who has been bended by opposition and is pulling a rope,” says the designer.

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Zermatt Matterhorn, a travel information website centered around tourism within Switzerland’s most iconic mountain village, has spent their time in quarantine finding ways to inspire hope.

Beginning March 24th and continuing through April 26th, 2020, the organization blasted messages to the top of the highest peak, the famous 14,692-Matterhorn Mountain in the Swiss Alps. These projections occurred every evening over the five-week period, with over 80 symbols and words lighting up the alpine peak. The campaign’s goal was to unite the people of the planet in an understanding that we’re all in this together, and to provide hope that with unity we will stand strong in the end.

Symbols included a heart, praying hands, musical symbols, a candle, and the Earth itself. Word art also appeared, such as “#Hope,” “#AllofUs,” “Dream now, travel later,” and the final thank you message “#Grazie.” The flags of many countries were also illuminated in a sign of solidarity. From nearby locations in Europe like Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands to far-off lands in South Africa, across the Middle East, and Asia, the flags appeared on the top of the mountain as a message that Switzerland supports the global community in their battles against the virus.

On April 16th, when the United States flag appeared on the peak, Zermatt Matterhorn posted the following message on its Facebook page:

“Our thoughts are with all American people at this unprecedented time. We look forward to meeting again at the foot of the Matterhorn, we are all in this together.”

The next day, Jacque Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the U.S., posted a picture of the projection on Twitter and wrote: “Magnificent! Last night, #Switzerland sent a message of #hope and solidarity to the U.S. by projecting the American flag onto the peak of the iconic #Swiss mountain, the Matterhorn.”

To implement the lighting, Zermatt Matterhorn reached out to acclaimed light artist Gerry Hofstetter, whose work has transformed buildings, monuments, landscapes, and mountains into temporary art objects since 1999.

According to the Zermatt Matterhorn website, the messages were overwhelmingly well-received, with social media postings from leaders around the world reaching up to 700 million people and netting millions of likes.

There are always a few naysayers, of course, but in this case it appears the low-level grumblings came from local citizens who complained about light pollution and appeals to avoid mass-marketing the fragile landscape of the mountain. In response, the Zermatt team and local authorities offered assurance that the light show was a limited time event meant to promote hope and solidarity during an extraordinary time, and that while it would undoubtedly promote tourism to the area, they were well aware of the “beauty and fragility” and would continue to prioritize the protection of nature above all else in the future.

All images courtesy of Frank Schwarzbach

The post Projections of Solidarity Light Up the Matterhorn in Wake of COVID-19 first appeared on Dornob.

But that doesn’t mean rural architecture has to remain stuck in the past, either, even when it comes to the most basic of dwellings. For instance, the humble cabin is usually associated with rusticity, simplicity, and disconnection from all the distractions and complications of modern life. That usually translates to the use of natural materials in its construction, but when you really investigate the root of a cabin’s purpose, there’s simply nothing as important as the feeling of connection to nature it gives you. Aesthetics are secondary.

Today, it’s really no surprise that many contemporary cabin dwellers seeking that all-important immersion in the natural world are bringing their preferences for contemporary architecture along with them. And sometimes, the contrasts that come out of that are fascinating.

David Coleman Architecture recently completed “Bear Run Cabin” in Marblemount, Washington, a wooded, low-population area along the Skagit River in the northwest region of the state. Describing it as a “striking modern cabin,” the architects explain that they’ve put a lot of thought into how the year-round home interacts with its surroundings. Its angled rooflines are designed to mimic the North Cascades mountains, while the colors and materials make the most of the area’s rainy winters and sunny summers.

But above all else, the cabin’s defining feature is a long, narrow volume lined with green-tinted windows on one side, picking up some of the more vivid tones in the vegetation outside. At night, when it’s illuminated from within, it emits a gentle glow. This ‘studio’ measures 1000 square feet and contains a music room, workshop, and guest loft, while the 890-square-foot cabin holds a great room, bath, and sleeping loft.

The firm explains that the cabin “has a big presence in a big landscape. Surrounded by dramatic, distant peaks, the site slopes gently to the east and overlooks a large woodlot. Our clients wanted a building that had presence in and subservience to the wild landscape. This duality became the thematic tag that informed the design.”

“The building site is marked by a 30-foot by 100-foot perimeter. Two buildings are juxtaposed within this footprint in a yin/yang fashion, leaving a sinuous exterior space that is defensible and varied. The western terrace is carved into the site, stepping down into the earth, leading toward a soaking tub set behind a glass wall. The south-eastern porch and monumental stair, both covered by a soaring roof, rise above the site, offering shelter from the rain and summer sun. Both spaces meet in an interstitial ‘rain garden’ – a place where seasonal rains gather and flow toward the river below.”

The post Translucent Modern Cabin Lights Up the Cascades first appeared on Dornob.

Remarkably, corten steel holds up to even the most rugged and punishing environments, including rain, snow, ice, and fog. Its vivid orange hue contrasts beautifully with the greenery of many landscapes and harmonizes with the umber tones of deserts. It’s particularly well-suited to simple, geometric building shapes, so it’s no surprise that it pops up often in modern architecture.

US-based architecture firm Axis Mundi has envisioned a visually spectacular use for it in one of the world’s most dramatic landscapes. Set high up in the Swiss Alps, “XYZ House” consists of three long, skinny rectangular volumes stacked against each other to create one of the most unusual house shapes you’ve ever seen.

Measuring about 4,000 square feet, the house has a steel and concrete inner frame finished off with corten steel and glass.

The firm explains that the home’s “cruciform-ike assemblage contains three bold architectural volumes clad in corten steel,” adding that “conceptually the project is organized by three mutually perpendicular planes (the three Cartesian coordinates of x, y, and z): an entry tunnel/bridge, a tower which contains the vertical circulation (staircase and elevator), and the main habitable space, which is suspended weightlessly above the valley below.”

“In essence, this is a dwelling meaningfully stripped of all nostalgia from the material world. One is immediately reminded of the great German romantic poets and painters like Caspar David Friedrich and the poet Heinrich Heine, who’s work emphasized the tension between the daily world and the irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius. The project is a ruin from the future and its poetic power lies in its supreme muteness, as a place to contemplate the horizon and eternity in silence.”

As you can see, lead architect John Beckmann’s description of it as a “ruin from the future” is fitting. Its starkness against the mountain scenery, with no other structures in sight, conjures the feeling of coming across something from another time in an unexpected place.

It may seem like oddly shaped structures like XYZ House are unrealistic and unlikely to ever be built, but you might be surprised by some of the incredible modern structures that can be found in similar places. Mohr Life Resort’s new wellness area in Tirol, Austria by local architecture practice noa* is one recent example, and a vision for the Nemrut Caldera Observation Route in Turkey uses corten steel to a similar effect.

Interested in seeing how corten steel holds up in real-life projects? Check out the “Site Shack” portable prefab office by Powers Construction, which is designed to hold up to the rigors of construction sites, and a Washington State cabin sheathed in corten steel shingles.

The post Cantilevered Corten Steel XYZ House Looks Out on Scenic Swiss Alps first appeared on Dornob.

The “House of Flying Tiles” contains surprises and delights at practically every turn. Some observers, approaching its exterior screen of clay tiles dangling from wires, find it very strange. What could the purpose of this contraption possibly be? Is it purely artistic? Not exactly. It defines a small area of the yard for private lounging without cutting off access to fresh air and views of the sky, while simultaneously shading a facade that consists almost entirely of glass. But it also sets the mood for a quirky residence designed for optimal engagement with nature — and optimal daylight for reading.

Architect Daniel Moreno Flores made it his mission to ensure the house was highly customized to his clients, expressing their unique identity while meeting all their needs and desires. For starters, the setting needed to remain as pristine as possible, with not a single tree removed to make way for the house. Ultimately, “House of Flying Tiles” was oriented to views of the adjacent mountains above all else. Thankfully, privacy is not much of an issue its rural location, making all of those glazed walls more livable than they might seem.

Flores explains that “the design of the house was born in a search of the essence of the owner, for which it is inquired on many of the topics related to it. From that essence, [I] identified a lot of creativity, a playful spirit, innocence, exploratory features, surprise seeking, sensory experiences, aim to discover, valuing processes, [and an] interest in mutations and changes in space. In this process, much of the characteristics of the owner’s character were absorbed and personal meanings were worked on. Due to the passion of the owner for the illustrations, it was established that it was fundamental to get involved in the owner’s logic and make illustrations as a design methodology (a book was made).”

“After understanding this constellation of ideas, we sought to encourage spaces that allow timelessness so that the owner was able to immerse in reading. These spaces seek an intensification in the relationship with some externalities such as the mountain, the low vegetation, the sky, and the Guirachuro (a local bird species). For the location of the house, an event was held with the owner in which we met to be able to witness the sunrise. This was fundamental to understand where the sun rises and to have that relationship in mind during the whole project.”

The house makes use of abundant natural and local materials like Abeto wood, reclaimed eucalyptus staves from an older home in the city, and clay tiles. The slanting planes of its exterior create diagonal lines connecting to the views or nearby trees and give the house a dynamic feel. All of its volumes are arranged in a way that creates “spaces that are discovered” as you enter. Even the angles at which light will enter the house at different times of year have been considered, with some glass configured so that rays of sunlight will enter the home vertically on the equinoxes.

The living room, dining area, and kitchen on the home’s lower level are bright and. A private, darker chamber containing the bedroom and bathroom is also set within this main volume, its roof creating one of the upper platforms and its exterior covered in open shelving. In place of conventional doors, bookcases and panels slide to reveal access.

To get to the office area one level up, simply pull down a set of ladder-like steps, and swing them back up again when they aren’t needed. A second, higher interior platform contains a reading nook, and yet another ladder grants access to the roof.

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that there’s certainly no shortage of heights and angles from which to enjoy the land in this house.

The post Glass-Walled “House of Flying Tiles” Designed With Reading in Mind first appeared on Dornob.

Local architectural practice noa* adds a new “theatrical spa” to that list with the Mohr Life Resort’s new wellness area. Leveraging “the incredible nature at the heart of Tirol,” the architects aimed to design a “stirring” contemporary building offering a fresh take on the traditional spa. Concrete may not seem like an obvious choice for a structure that wants, more than anything, to be in dialogue with the physicality, culture, and history of its natural surroundings, but the trick is in the balance.

The architects say of the project: “In October 2018, the Mohr Life Resort’s new wellness area was inaugurated in Lermoos, one of the oldest skiing areas in Tirol just an 80-kilometer drive from Innsbruck. The Hotel itself is steeped in history, a household name for anyone visiting the skiing carousel in the northern Alps in Tirol. The new glass and cement structure was built organically on a gentle slope located below the hotel. It features a unique view across the spacious Ehrwalder Becken valley peppered with old farmhouses and barns; what’s more, the imposing 3,000 metres of the Zugspitze mountain — which represents a geographical border between Austria and Germany — overlooks the entire valley.”

Lead architect Christian Rottensteiner adds that the “majestic and powerful presence of the mountain itself” serves as the anchor of the concept, and by extension is the project’s “protagonist.” The building feels just as solid as the peaks that surround it, yet permeable at the same time, its reflective glass surface echoing the rocks and trees outside as well as the powerful presence of the Zugspitze, the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains at 2,962 meters (about 9,718 feet) above sea level.

“The glass and cement structure extends horizontally to create an artificial rib, mirrored by the dry stone walls running along its side. The project was specifically designed considering the gently sloping terrain and develops across two levels: this creates a height difference [that allows] for the creation of the swimming pool. A sober and light building in the landscape obtained by the aggregation of simple shapes: glass cubes placed across the two levels create the structural grid for the edifice’s skeleton.”

Inside, the spa acts as a counterpoint to that grid, offering soft, organic surfaces that welcome tactile interaction. The ground floor features a private lounge, lobby, bar, spa and scenic sauna, mini bistro, private relaxation booths, and a gorgeous spiral staircase leading to stepped relaxation areas designed to look like theater stages with views across the mountain.

Set adjacent to one of Tirol’s oldest skiing areas, the Mohr Life Resort beckons weary adventurers with a place to rest and recuperate while seeing the stunning local scenery from a new viewpoint. Learn more or book your stay at the official Mohr Life Resort website.

The post Theatrical Spa Resort in Austrian Alps Makes Concrete Seem Cozy first appeared on Dornob.

While some brands work to find ever more irritating ways to get through to their target audiences, others are growing savvy to the fact that if you want to reach people, entice them to buy your products, and build trust in your brand, you have to actually provide them with something useful.

Swiss running brand On demonstrates one way to do that with the “On Mountain Hut,” a beautiful reflective cabin set high up in the Alps on the Piz Lunghin. The project marks the launch of the brand’s latest collection, including its first hiking shoe, but it’s also designed to offer a little something special to runners and hikers in the area.

Swiss alpine huts are a centuries-old tradition, and while some can be rented and reserved ahead of time, others are first-come, first-serve and free to anyone who may come along.

The company explains: “For us, the mountains are a source of energy, ideas, and innovation. They have the power to invigorate and provide fresh perspective. In fact, the first ever On business plan was put together by our three co-founders while hiking in Engadin. You might say that if it wasn’t for these mountains, On wouldn’t exist. Literally, they are our source.”

“Since then, they have continued to play a pivotal role in our development; shaping our technology, our products, and our ethos. And why not? Overcoming mountains demands serious research, planning, perseverance, and commitment. You have to do things right; there are no shortcuts. We are proud to champion the same approach with our innovations.”

On’s designers say they wanted to “go back to the source” of their inspiration to celebrate the release of the Cloudrock waterproof hiking shoe. Their intention is to celebrate the beauty of the Engadin Valley while also offering a peaceful place to rest for everyone who passes by.

Inside the minimal mountain cabin, which is only accessible by foot, is a simple plywood-clad interior with built-in tables and seating, a wood stove and kettle for heating up simple meals, picture windows overlooking the incredible views, and even a lofted bed.

There’s room for two people to relax inside the self-sustainable cabin, which is powered by solar panels and features a rooftop rain collector that filters rainwater for use inside. You might expect to see references to the shoe and other products by On plastered all over every surface, but the brand keeps it simple and subtle with just a single logo on the exterior.

Minimalist and modular, the off-grid refuge is made almost entirely of local wood and designed to disassemble easily so it can be removed at a later date, giving it a light footprint on the land.

Whether adventurers set out to find the cabin or happen upon it by accident, chances are they’ll remember the hospitality it provides and associate that feeling with the brand well into the future.

The post Mirrored Off-Grid Mountain Hut Overlooks the Swiss Alps first appeared on Dornob.

When Henry David Thoreau wrote the immensely influential classic Walden; Or, Life in the Woods about simple living in natural surroundings, it’s safe to say he wasn’t envisioning a waterfront mansion. Completed in a small cabin of his own making on Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, the book uses the passage of the four seasons as a metaphor for human development. Today, it’s often associated with solitude, spiritual discovery, and self-sufficiency.

Though Thoreau’s original cabin no longer exists, an onsite replica memorializing the author consists of just a single room, giving us a vivid visual representation of his vision. When Selldorf Architects set out to capture its spirit for a $29 million Colorado mountain home, they knew their project would contrast sharply with the raw simplicity of Thoreau’s former residence.

Relating “Walden House” to the story that inspires it requires conjuring up its essence in the form of materials and mood. World-renowned architect Annabelle Selldorf has created a luxurious modern residence that would be completely foreign to Thoreau, but connection to nature is the real point she’s trying to make here.

“I loved the notion of making a connection to something that has such a strong association with the way that we relate to nature,” Selldorf told Architectural Digest. “I wanted the house to be situated in such a way to strengthen the connections between inside and outside, the built world and the natural world, as much as possible.”

Set on 70 acres across Whiskey Ridge in Vail, the 10,515-square-foot Walden House is designed to appreciate its surroundings from all angles. The facade is almost entirely clad in floor-to-ceiling windows, some looking out onto the pond, some the swimming pool, some an internal courtyard, and others the mountains beyond. Where it isn’t glass, it’s covered in log-pole siding and beetle kill pine arranged vertically for a contemporary look that still holds a dialogue with the nature around it.

The common spaces of the house are held within a ranch-style volume perched at the edge of the water, just a brief jaunt from a floating swimming dock. The home’s three nearly-identical bedrooms are stacked in a connected tower for privacy and separation from distractions, each with their own unique view.

The firm explains: “Designed as a series of smaller volumes organized around a central courtyard, the courtyard creates an intimate counterpoint to the grandeur and scale of the surrounding mountain landscape.”

“Internal circulation is organized along the perimeter of the courtyard, with the main living spaces opening directly from the corridor. The interpenetration of indoor and outdoor spaces fuses the architecture with its natural setting. Each volume has a distinct programmatic use and diverse material articulation. Local materials including copper, field rock, log-pole siding, and beetle kill pine wood reinforce the relationship between the building and its high mountain landscape.”

This mansion may be a far cry from what Thoreau initially imagined, but it certainly captured a little slice of that Walden feeling of communion with nature for whomever its lucky inhabitants end up being. The home is currently listed by Mark Rutstein and Adam Phebus of Iconic Homes.

The post Selldorf Architects Build $29 Million Mansion Inspired by Thoreau’s Walden first appeared on Dornob.

Aitken notes that the single-level ranch house is an archetypal 20th century-design in the United States — one whose exceedingly simple shape made it the perfect blank canvas for the project. Developed in the 1920s and 30s, this style marries the modernism of Frank Lloyd Wright with the rugged, straightforward characteristics of traditional houses built throughout the American West. It’s become so ubiquitous that it almost lacks any personality of its own. Cover it in mirrors and it disappears altogether, greeting visitors with a surreal, dreamlike space that will never look exactly the same twice. It’s essentially defined by its surroundings, and by the perception of whoever enters it.

Set in a snowy field beside the vernacular houses of the Swiss Alps, the installation was designed to illustrate a contrast between the idea of manifest destiny in the American West and its presumptive settler colonialism with the staid traditions of Europe. In a way, the apparent “blankness” of the house is a mirage in itself, just as the West appeared unclaimed and ripe for the taking by European settlers in the 19th century despite centuries of habitation by Native Americans. Mirage Gstaad will remain in place and open to visitors through January 2021.

Aitken adds: “In the tradition of land-art as a reflection of the dreams and aspirations projected onto the American West, Mirage Gstaad presents a continually changing encounter in which subject and object, inside and outside are in constant flux. With every available surface clad in mirror, it both absorbs and reflects the landscape around it in such ways that the exterior will seemingly disappear just as the interior draws the viewer into a never-ending kaleidoscope of light and reflection.”

“As Mirage Gstaad pulls the landscape in and reflects it back out, this classic one-story suburban house becomes a framing device, a perceptual echo-chamber endlessly bouncing between the dream of nature as pure uninhabited state and the pursuit of its conquest. Situated against the backdrop of Videmanette in Gstaad, Mirage Gstaad will bring the idea of manifest destiny and the American West into contact with the European landscape and the tradition of the sublime.”

Aitken previously erected a similarly mirrored ranch house in an entirely different environment: urban Detroit. That site-specific installation, which opened in October 2018, is set within the main vault of the historic State Savings Bank, essentially “reactivating” a space that’s frozen in time. Because the old bank is devoid of natural light, lighting design played a significant role in the process, with carefully choreographed white light slowly moving through the interior to mimic the same gradual changes that are produced by the sun in the Gstaad installation.

The post Kaleidoscopic Mirror House in the Swiss Alps Creates an Ever-Changing Mirage first appeared on Dornob.