House

The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.

Walker Workshop designed Carla House to seamlessly integrate with the existing landscape.

The expansive estate sprawls over several terraced levels.

Murren chose maintenance-free materials, such as Stepstone precast concrete pavers for exterior decks and river-rock-covered flat roofs. He recalls his neighbors’ astonishment and delight when “we went from a giant hole in the ground to a two-story house in just four days.”

Four Leaves frame model

“At night, the chalet is transformed. When it is dark, the mirror effect of the reflection of the interior space in the windows completely changes the cabin’s relationship to its site and makes it appear larger,” adds Rasselet.

La Binocle is perched high atop a hill, maximizing views of the valley below.

The home's charred timber exterior resembles a crow's plumage.

The entrance is located between the two volumes, which are oriented in slightly different directions.

La Binocle is segmented into two volumes that reach outwards towards the tree canopy.

The home’s elevated location means its occupants can enjoy the slow rise of the full moon while staying warm indoors.

Italian architects Roberto Dini and Stefano Girodo designed this tiny bivouac structure in the Italian Alps to help encourage exploration of the remote location. Perched on the side of a mountain at an altitude of 10,794 feet, the structure was commissioned by the family of Luca Pasqualetti, a mountaineer who tragically passed away in the Alps. The installation was an exercise in well-planned logistics: The architects collaborated with the Italian prefab company LEAPfactory to assemble the unit in an off-site workshop, and the prefab pieces were lifted into place via helicopter and installed in a single day.

The high-altitude, remote site called for simple and efficient construction choices and careful logistical planning.

Enough House by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects resides on Brian MacKay Lyons' Shobac farm in Nova Scotia, a campus that allows the firm to experiment with form, materiality, and building. The Cor-Ten steel cabin, which features exposed Douglas fir plywood sheathing and stained pine flooring inside, houses an intern architect.

White concrete panel cladding and corrugated steel roof panels give this cabin a crisp, geometric form that almost melts into the landscape on bleary, snowy days.

The project’s unique challenges—a tight budget and steep, difficult terrain—led architecture firm _naturehumaine to a creative solution that gave the house its delightfully sculptural appearance. Making the first floor’s envelope slightly narrower than the top one’s saved money while minimizing the amount of excavation required.

Shaped like a cross, this four-cornered villa offers four different views of its location on an island in Finland. Avanto Architects created a black exterior, dotted with large windows, to make it invisible from the nearby lake.

A tiny outbuilding offers a cozy living space inside a simple shell.

Located in California’s Sugar Bowl neighborhood, this shadowy lair by Mork-Ulnes Architects looks like something out of fairy tale. "We call the house Troll Hus, with a reference to the otherworldly beings in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore that are said to dwell in remote mountains," architect Casper Mork-Ulnes says.