Every year, architects unveil a variety of innovative architectural designs. Sometimes these creations are whimsical while at other times they take more serious forms.
These unconventional architectural designs veer away from conventional design ideals and embrace a contemporary visual concept while employing complex construction practices.
They feature spiral staircases, unusual curves, and more – these eccentric homes will inspire you and may make you wish you lived there yourself!
1. The X-Shape House
This house plan takes unconventional architecture to new heights. Set amid natural surroundings, this zinc-clad home is truly spectacular – featuring floor to ceiling windows for stunning views of valley, mountains, and seascape.
Cadaval & Sola-Morales’ X-shaped structure hangs off of a hillside on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. Their architect chose this shape so as to respect preexisting pine trees on site while offering multiple directions of views from multiple windows within.
The X side houses the master suite and studio, while the circle holds back of house and pool areas. Each room’s glazed walls have been strategically angled away from nearby homes to maximize privacy and stunning vistas.
2. The Basket House
Connecticut couple Shannon Young and Adam Clark’s jaw-dropping timber home features an exquisite helical staircase housed within a silo-like structure. It serves as an interpretive nod to Staten Island’s traditional basket-making heritage – an economic activity she says was vitally important to rural families on Staten Island.
This home reimagines family life for an imagined household in New Springville during the mid-19th century, when many residents engaged in various occupations such as oystering, farming and basket making. To highlight how these different activities interrelate with one another, its precise positioning in the landscape helps reveal different experiences as one moves throughout it.
The building seems less like an extravagant piece of celebrity architecture and more like your wealthy aunt proudly showing you her collections. Hopefully that won’t hinder its future transformation into hotels, multifamily housing units or senior living facilities.
3. The Upside-Down House
Chicken Little may think the sky is falling when he sees this home, which may cause dizziness and cause him to become dizzy with fear.
Expanses of glass and strategically-placed balconies make this house ideal for taking advantage of views, as well as providing a welcoming, social space. Featuring three en suite bedrooms and an open plan kitchen/living/dining area.
Broederstroom in South Africa boasts an eccentric upside-down house which makes an excellent stop after visiting big city attractions or photo safaris. Boasting two stories of intriguing rooms to explore and some tasty snacks for visitors, many find themselves feeling seasick just by being inside! Perhaps due to uneven walls that threw them off balance!
4. The Curved House
Sparkling with charm in an idyllic rural setting, this glass-walled palace welcomes visitors to take in its breathtaking view while making social connections. Enjoy watching movies at its media cinema, sip cocktails on its porch or soak in its hot tub to take in its surroundings.
Even with limited footprint, this summer house artfully transforms its site with curving walls and six step levels, each providing ample light slits between slabs to enhance our perception of space and create an uninterrupted path across its curved surfaces.
This spectacular timber structure draws gasps of delight for its mesmerizing craftsmanship and is a testimony to pushing boundaries. The design team imagined it as an homage to nature using natural materials and organic lines to blend in seamlessly with the landscape; additionally it defies gravity by being circular-shaped which wraps around its square living spaces and references the horizon line.
5. The Eyeball House
As if taken straight out of science fiction, this house features interconnecting cylinders covered in redwood and glass tiles. Designed by Dang Viet Nga, its shape ensures cooling during summer heat waves while warming in winter thanks to sunlight and geothermal energy.
Frank Lloyd Wright first coined the phrase, “form follows function,” but this organic design concept has since been taken further by unconventional architectural designs that integrate seamlessly with their surroundings.
These incredible structures may not provide us with an immediate solution to housing insecurity and sustainability issues, but they do open our eyes to many innovative structural systems that may exist today. Take a look at these unconventional architecture finds to see what radical designs could come about if only our minds could run free!
