Sightseers are as likely as worshippers to make the pilgrimage to Mirador de Turi, a historic church nestled in the hills south of Cuenca, Ecuador. From its white spire, visitors are treated to a breathtaking panorama of the four-and-a-half-century-old city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site.

The view from the top may seem one-of-a-kind, but another high-altitude sanctuary has an almost equal vantage point all to itself. Nearby, a relaxed single-family home by INAI Arquitectura reclines into the same slope, gazing out at the terra-cotta conurbation below.

Juan Alberto Andrade Guillem