Image via Complex Original
From houses designed to look like a block tofu, a Chinese coin, and a tree house, we've seen it all this year. Some architects set to work on luxury abodes, complete with infinity pools and stunning sunset views. Other firms took a subtler approach, creating homes that blended in with their environments both physically and with eco-friendly material. From the jagged edges of Daniel Libeskind's 18.36.54 House to the smooth curves of the Spiral House in Espoo, this year included a wide diversity of stunning architecture. Check them all out with our list of the Houses Built in 2013 That Will Blow Your Mind.
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Linear House
Location: Aspen, Colo.
Architect: Studio B Architects
This winter dream home comes with incredible mountain views along its 24-acre alpine spread. Seated on the Elk Mountain Range, the design blends modern comfort with the romanticism of cabin life. The home was made from hand carved Yangtze River limestone as well as Japanese plaster, weathered teak siding, and glass.
Spiral House in Espoo
Location: Espoo, Finland
Architect: Olavi Kopose
This entire home was transformed into a spiral, creating an unusual, round interior space. The house was recently listed, so if you have the dough, you can take on the challenge of decorating a home with no corners.
Levin Residence
Location: Marana, Ariz.
Architect: Ibarra Rosano Design Architects
This residence creates a stark contrast between desert and home. It consists of three hovering rectangular volumes. The organic shapes of the desert juxtapose with the harsh walls of the rectangular building, creating a sense of discomfort between humans and nature. The home was created to be simple and functional, built for effective use of the wind and sun.
18.36.54 House
Location: Connecticut
Architect: Daniel Libeskind
This home combines traditional and unusual angular forms. The home is tiled with copper paneling that reflects images of the surrounding trees, making it blend into the environment. The interior is just as unconventional as the exterior. It even comes with a custom bookcase that was created to fit the specific measurements of the house.
Tower House
Location: Upstate New York
Architect: Gluck+
Tower House is a tree house for grown-ups, or at least that's what it was designed to be. The residence features a living room that is nine meters above the rest of the three-story structure. The bright yellow staircase is a distinctive feature of the home. Just like any other tree house, the architect wanted it to blend in with nature instead of working against it. Mirrored glass helps the home camouflage into its surroundings.
Promenade Residence
Location: Queensland, Australia
Architect: BGD Architects
Welcome to surfers' paradise. This residence offers impressive views, natural light, and an enormous pool. It was designed to be the ideal space for work and play. The architect designed a patterned screen that filters views and light. The home is also very adaptable because areas of the home can be opened up to connect with the outdoors.
Cove 6
Location: Knysna, South Africa
Architect: Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects
Need an infinity pool? Cove 6 is an infinity house. The whole estate is located on an exposed cliff with amazing views. Each side of the house has an outdoor feature built into it so residents can utilize every aspect of the outdoor landscape. There is a terrace for watching the sunset and a deck for observing the sunrise. This home truly is paradise.
Agua House
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Architect: Barrionuevo Sierchuk Arquitectas
The Agua house provides exactly what its name promises: exotic water the Canal Arias River. The home offers incredible views through floor-to-ceiling windows and includes a gigantic swimming pool. Concealed sliding wooden doors can be used to connect the indoor and outdoor spaces.
V House
Location: Alkmaar, The Netherlands
Architect: Baksvanwengerden Architecten
This home embraces romance and modernity simultaneously with its grey tile exterior and lush gardens. The house has a strange shape because the roof is pitched and supports two rooftop gardens. The structure is a traditional house other than the roof, which blends it well with the greenery surrounding it.
Chinese Coin House
Location: Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Architect: Juan Carlos Menacho Durán
The round shape of this house was inspired by a Chinese coin. The structure's meeting of round and rectangular is supposed to represent the meeting of sky and earth. This residence is based on themes of harmony and serenity. The measurements all follow the Golden Ratio and also consider the earth's electromagnetic field to place the proper energies in appropriate rooms.
The Glass House
Location: Winchester, England
Architect: AR Design Studio
This home used to be an old English house, and the remnants of the history can be seen blending with the new modern facets. The glass parts of the building mix with the red brick in a beautiful way. The house derives its beauty from this very contrast. The glass extension was formerly the servant's quarters. The extension brings in a lot of natural light and allows for a more up-to-date kitchen and living room in the otherwise traditional home.
House on the Miño River
Location: Galicia, Spain
Architect: Quico Jorreto
What you see of this home from the outside is only the tip of the iceberg. A large portion of the structure, including a parking space, terrace, and glass room, is hidden beneath the upper level. The pool is actually a rooftop pool that hangs over this sequestered space. An additional concrete slab creates a patio space, complete with a fire pit.
House T
Location: Miyazaki, Japan
Architect: Tsukano Architect Office
We've heard of houses being inspired by some interesting things but never a block of tofu. The minimalist rectangular design yields maximum interior space. The three stories of the home are interconnected by the high ceiling living room. Each of the bedrooms has a private staircase to take the residents to an upper level. The central atrium is designed to merge public and private life more subtly within the residence.
OLS House
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Architect: J. Meyer H. Architects
The organic shape and the concrete building blocks of this structure surprisingly work well together. The home's rounded corners define the curvy interior layout. The main staircase runs through the home and moves the residents from the ground level through the spa, living room, and outdoor terraces.
Home for Six in Sagaponack
Location: Sagaponack, New York
Architect: Bates Masi + Architects
This home built for a family of six focuses on health for its residents and the surrounding environment. The house features expansive views to make residents feel calm and at peace. The house is geothermally insulated with a sustainable green roof. There are sliding doors that can be concealed and pulled out to allow light and air to flow in a way that's appropriate with the weather conditions. The exterior surfaces were treated with vinegar and iron in order to withstand ocean salt without harmful chemicals.
The Nest
Location: Thuận An, Vietnam
Architect: a21 studio
This high design house is so cheap because it's made out of a simple steel frame and metal sheets that allow nature to grow and intertwine with the structure. This intermingling between home and earth reoccurs in the living room, which doesn't have any doors or walls. The home comes furnished with restored recycled furniture.
El Viento
Location: Collado Villalba, Madrid, Spain
Architect: Otto Medem de la Torriente
The architect built this house specifically to fit into its surroundings. He used natural marble, wooden accents, and local vegetation to do so. The strange geometric shapes that make up the residence create space for rooftop decks and an interesting array of angles and space. Even considering the brightness of its façade, this abode fits right in with its environment.
Residence in Kallitechnoupolis
Location: Greecem
Architect: Tense Architecture Network
This colossal, Greek home is an edifice to behold. Sheathed in an angular outer shell, this pyramid-like Residence in Kallitechnoupolis consists of three stories, each which comes with its own balcony and mesmerizing view of rural Greece. There's even a swimming pool at the base of the building.
The Green House
Location: Singapore
Architect: K2LD Architects
This home by K2LD Architects is green both in appearance and because of its energy-saving qualities. The Green House's refreshing mint-green facade actually reflects heat to control the building's temperatures and to retain energy. The rectilinear, cube-like structures stacked on top of one another makes it a modern humble abode.
Self-Sufficient House
Location: Het Holtien, Dwingeloo, Netherlands
Architect: Pieter Brink
Sitting in a field of grass, the Self-Sufficient House stands out for its slanted roof and scaly, concrete facade. A visitor would never be able to discern its true uniqueness just from looking at it, however. This Pieter Brink home is almost completely self-sufficient, built with its own water plant and disposal plant. Constructed from nearly all recycled materials, it consists of thick walls, solar panels, a heat pump, and a fireplace that help keep the building warm.
Dzintaru 32
Location: Jurmala, Latvia
Architect: SZK/Z
Dzintaru 32 is mind-blowing not only for its aesthetic appeal and size but its intricacies and concept too. The 800-square building sits in the heart of Jurmala, a Latvian coast city known for its tradition to incorporate detailed carvings into its buildings. Likewise, SZK/Z designed Dzintaru 32 to fit in with its surroundings, adding complex woodwork and carvings to the building terraces. What's more fascinating is the fact that Dzintaru 32 has been split into three intertwined buildings, each one indicating a distinct trend in Jurmala's history of architecture and design.
Villa Kanousan
Location: Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Architect: Yuusuke Karasawa
Though its exterior is more or less minimalist and stark, Villa Kanousan somehow still looks pretty cozy from the outside with its organic facade. It seems bizarre yet somehow magical for Villa Kanousan to be located amongst such a lush, green setting. The inside of the house is even more curious and illusory with its clean, white walls, asymmetric windows, and random cut-outs.
Green Screen House
Location: Saitama, Japan
Architect: Hideo Kumaki Architects
Believe it or not, the green screen of this house by Hideo Kumaki Architects can actually lower the building's temperature by 50 degrees. The architects installed a literal green screen from the top awning of the colossal, Green Screen House to help block excessive sunlight.
Yujin's Jip-Soori
Location: Seoul, Korea
Architect: Moohoi Architecture Studio
Yujin's Jip-Soori resembles a modern-day castle with its impressive stone walls. But it makes sense that this Seoul home looks like a fortress, for it's situated near a military base. Moonhoi Architecture Studio recognized the importance of privacy and thus enclosed the living space with protective walls. On the other hand, the open space inside the walls makes for an engaging are both for its residents to relax and to take in the surrounding trees and greenery.
Blairgowrie House
Location: Melbourne
Architect: Wolveridge Architects
Wolveridge Architects designed Blairgowrie as an extension to the home of a family with three young boys because the original structure did not engage with the surrounding land and natural lighting. The architects built the three bedrooms above an existing, street-level garage and added openings throughout the facade to allow for natural light to enter into the children's rooms. The protruding windows limit the amount of direct light shining into the rooms but allow for engagement with the street outside—not to mention a trendy design.
The Dune House
Location: Bergen, North Holland
Architect: Jetty and Maarten Min (Min2)
The Dune House is captivating not only for its exterior or its floor-to-ceiling windows but its seamless blending with its surroundings. Dutch architects Jetty and Maarten Min, known collectively as Min2, based their idea of Dune House around the location's surrounding landscape. Located in Bergen, North Holland, the Dune House consists of an arched roof to resemble the area's seaside dunes. The unfinished timber and clay tiles used in constructing the home also give it a rustic feel.
Refuge du Gouter
Location: Mont Blanc, Italy and France
Architect: Groupe H and DécaLaage
Perhaps the greatest aspect of Refuge du Gouter is its location. Situated 14,000 feet above ground, near the top of the highest mountain in all of Europe, Refuge du Gouter offers skiers breathtaking views of the Alps' snow-capped mountains. It has also been designed to weather strong winds; the whole hut is self-functioning with solar panels to provide electricity and melted snow for thermal energy.
Blooming Bamboo Home
Location: Vietnam
Architect: H&P Architects
The primarily construction material used in building the Blooming Bamboo Home is in fact bamboo, as its name suggests. Flexible, enduring, and requiring little processing, bamboo was the ideal component to this H&P Architects creation. Located in Vietnam, a country prone to floods, the Blooming Bamboo Home can withstand and survive a 1.5-meter-high flood.
Mullet House
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Architect: March Studio
Appropriately named after the haircut of yesteryear, Mullet House consists of a twisted, triangular roof so the front of the structure looks different from the back, just like the old school hairdo. The structure itself is actually an addition to an existing home in Melbourne, and it protrudes from the back of the house so the Edwardian home has a fun, little twist.
Lucid Stead
Location: Joshua Tree, Calif.
Architect: Phillip K Smith III
This is not a house. Similar to Magritte's "this is not a pipe" piece, this is also a piece of contemporary art. The artist, Phillip K. Smith III, created an installation called Lucid Stead. The installation consists of a plain wooden house that has methodologically placed mirror panels that camouflage the building into the night. Well, except for the few neon lights that are installed as well. To share this installation with the world, photographer Lou Mora spent 14 hours shooting this installation. The art home is an installation that makes the viewer think about how a home interacts with different times of day and the significance of that relationship.