Acclaimed designer Numen installed this riveting art piece in the House for Contemporary Art in the summer of 2011. “Net” is a series of flexible nets suspended in the air, connected at various points to create an undulating and disorienting landscape. Or, as the designers call it, a “community hammock.”
If sun, surf, and socializing are part of your vacation agenda, then put Casa Comunal at the top of your list for places to visit. Situated on an idyllic Caribbean shoreline on Isla Colon, the largest and northernmost island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama, the modern vacation house enjoys a private beachfront with ample access to the outdoors. “It was important to me to unite travelers, the locals, and nature, and that was the triumvirate behind Casa Comunal,” says Jordan Christopher, the surfer, traveler, and self-taught architect who rallied a team of co-designers and friends to realize the project. Above the beds in Casa Norte (a three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit), a net provides additional lounge space for guests to enjoy a book or listen to a record.
An extension of Treehotel’s mission of bringing modern design to a serene natural environment, the 7th Room is a cabin lofted among the treetops that blurs the distinction between indoors and outdoors. Designed by the renowned firm Snøhetta, the structure hovers 10 meters above the ground with a black-and-white print of the canopy covering the bottom façade, creating a trompe l'oeil effect. The two bedrooms, bathroom, lounge area, and netted terrace are arranged across two slightly different levels, accommodating up to five guests. Barring a fear of heights, you can choose to lay your sleeping bag on the double-layered net that connects the two bedrooms and enjoy a night under the stars.
The Tower House is made up of tiny houses, clustered at the southern end of the property and clad in white steel panels and western red cedar shingles. Spinning off the living room on the north side of the main house, the children’s study sits separate from the other pavilions. On its upper level, Oxley netting forms a web on which the kids and their friends can sit and read with views of the leafy street and garden.
Featuring inswing or outswing flexibility, the folding door system offers unlimited configurations up to 65’ wide. This type of expansiveness not only allows for plenty of natural light, but also seamless indoor/outdoor living.
Western Window Systems' aluminum windows with large panes and minimal frames lend themselves to clean sightlines and indoor-outdoor connection.