Tuesday
Feb 24,2009

In case you liked the green wall in Madrid, here’s something that breaks the conventionality. Blending with the trees and the nearby green, here’s a creative design by Parisian-based architects from R&Sie Architects who turned a concrete house into a living home.

Dubbed the Lost in Paris House, here’s a 130 sqm structure has been covered with more than 1,200 ferns that draw all their needs from some 300 traditional glass-blown beakers filled with a chemical mixture of bacteria, nutrients, and rainwater. Nothing short of breathtaking, Lost in Paris had to deal with the French planning rules for five years before turning into the creepy city rain-forest you see in here.

It sure brings the concept of the vertical garden to a new height. [StyleCrave via Wallpaper]

Wednesday
Nov 19,2008

Designed by Mareines + Patalano, this great beach home outside of Rio de Janeiro stands as a beautiful compliment to nature and adds to the planet’s beauty and tranquility.

Except for a stunning architectural show, the Brazilian Leaf House packs many green features, a perfect combination of form with function. Designed as a giant tropical banana leaf and looking like a blossoming delight, the roof helps harvest rainwater for house use, and the whole design helps providing natural ventilation and cooling, thus reducing the need to rely on the grid. The interior is “just” as green, using locally harvested wood crafted in a sustainable fashion, stone and natural fabrics.

Most often constructions that crop up on the beaches, are costly real estate properties with lavish designs that does nothing beyond destroying the natural beaches and further degrade the ecosystem. This one really looks like a dream house, isn’t it? – via World Architecture News

Friday
May 30,2008

Umbrella House

Though they have their reasons, I can’t figure out why they’ve built such a big umbrella “house”. The project uses modified umbrellas and was put up by Kengo Kuma who did it for the Milan Triennale Museum of design.

Umbrella House

The umbrellas are zipped together along their outer edges to form the modular shape you can see in the pictures, and each of them have two extra flaps hanging from the central segment which are used for different compositions. The Umbrella House has a kitchen area, a sleeping mat if you need a power nap and should be great for on-campus gatherings, don’t you think?

Umbrella House - kitchen

Umbrella House
Umbrella House - gathering

via DesignBoom