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Located in southern Chile’s Lake District at San Agustín, ZeroCabin Krul backs into a forest and faces an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. The cabin is also close to the Andes mountains and the Patagonian fjords.

“The cabin’s shape is in humble dialogue with the surrounding nature,” says Lüer, who collaborated on the final design with Alejandro Otero. “It is like a tree that only uses what is available to live.”

The three-bedroom, two-bath home includes a ground-floor kitchen and living area as well as a loft on the third floor.

The living room opens up to a 30-square-meter deck and views of the sea.

Collected rainwater is treated in a five-cycle system—electrolysis, reverse osmosis and filters for quartz, chlorine and ozone—to meet all of the home’s water needs.

Bathroom waste is treated through a vericomposting “Toha System,” where earthworms turn sewage into nutrient-rich humus. Shower water is collected and reused to flush the toilet.

The home gets most of its space heating from its passive solar design. Supplemental heating is provided by a Becker Stove, which is also used for cooking and heating the hot tub.

The cabin is elevated 1.5 meters from the ground in response to the region’s extreme humidity and to allow winter sun to reach the ground floor, which would have otherwise been blocked by the tall trees.

The bright yellow trim calls attention to the ZeroCabin Krul’s unique, site-specific form. “We combined completely different shapes for the four facades, which are optimized for the collection of water, sun and wind, just like a tree,” explains Lüer. “We wanted to highlight those lines to show a new kind of architecture that puts living harmoniously with nature at the forefront.”

Salvaged thermopane panels were used for the home’s many windows, which have been placed in response to views and the sun’s trajectory.

Thanks to a robust solar panel array, the house is net-zero, with enough energy to charge the couple's electric car as well.

Floor plan of The Cabin by Delo Design

The bed features integrated storage, making the most of the small space.

The Cabin is furnished with designs by Delo Design, including TRU chairs in cream. The bed is nestled beneath a large window that frames the landscape, and a small kitchenette sits opposite the dining zone.

The minimalistic form and simple geometry of The Cabin has been designed to easily fit into any natural landscape. Large windows allow the inhabitants to engage with the surroundings even when they are inside.

The Cabin is built solely from ecological materials, including pine boards. The various structural components were designed and produced individually for the project, giving it a highly crafted and bespoke appearance.

The cabin is available to rent all year long, and only accessible by foot, skis, and snowshoes. Transport carts or sleds are available to bring in gear.

How to build a fire pit—because it’s not summer without a backyard s’mores station.

Woven into a stand of redwoods on Jason Titus and Nerija Sinkevičiūtė-Titus’s property in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a tree house by San Francisco designer/artist Jay Nelson gives the couple and their three boys a new perspective on the forest.