15 Intriguing Homes Perched Above the Earth
Today living above the ground can open up all sorts of possibilities, from simply allowing views over a garden wall to maximizing amazing views, making the most of a small plot and taking advantage of cool breezes. The constraints of a tight plot can be overcome by putting a house on columns. A house on stilts can allow for buildings above water. In a tropical climate, a tree house can provide protection and refreshing breezes.
However, this style of living isn't for everyone. Some of these houses infringe on neighbors' privacy. Others have issues with universal access. Take a look at these stunning homes perched above the ground. Could you live in one of these spaces?
Living units stacked one above the next with a workshop, tavern or shop at street level are typical in older cities. French windows with a simple wood guardrail overlook the narrow streets and provide light and air to the living units here. Often, the apartments opposite each other are within touching reach.
This single-family house, raised on pilotis above the ground, embodies the contemporary idea of living above ground. It also exemplifies Corbusier's famous Five Points for a New Architecture, which many architects have followed with varying degrees of success.
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This modernist house perched on pilotis is on the edge of the dense city core of Portugal's medieval capital, Guimares. The living spaces are raised above the recessed ground floor, and the main outdoor spaces are up on the roof.
Rudolph Schindler's Lovell Beach House presents a double-height void at street level; the living areas are high above to maximize views to the ocean.
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The cube-shaped living space of Randy Browne's Laboratory House projects out into the landscape for a stunning view. Bridges and stairs connect the disparate elements of the house.
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This living room extension, suspended above a lake in the English Cotswolds, is a good distance away from main house. Full-height glazing on three sides creates the sense of being afloat on the lake.
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Elliot and Elliot's Pond House is another example of a house anchored to the land on one side and extending out over the water on stilts. This time the house references wharf-side buildings.
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The main living level of the Surfside House is raised above the horizon line, giving the impression that the house is hovering above the dunes. Its lightness and transparency is emphasized by the glimpses of the ocean visible beneath and through the house.
Simon Evans' Bamboo House in Bali is partially closed at the ground level but fully open above to make the most of the beautiful views of the surrounding forest.
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Dutch architecture firm MVRDV extended the main body of this redbrick house upward to provide additional bedrooms and an outdoor living space.
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A series of stepped transparent platforms comprises Sou Fujimoto's steel and glass house in Tokyo. The architect has compared living in the open, perched structure to living in a tree.
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This architect squeezed his home, a steel-framed glazed infill building, onto a tiny plot in Chicago by stacking the house functions. As with Villa Savoye, the ground is dedicated to the car and entrance, while the roof is dedicated to the garden. The living spaces are raised above the bedrooms.
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Vertical living is taken to an extreme in this skinny little space in Warsaw, by architect Jakub Szczęsny of Centrala. At street level a staircase drops down from a hatch to allow access to the house.
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Kube Architecture's tower in the forest is a four-story extension of an existing house. A playroom and bedrooms are on the lower levels, and an office and media space is on the upper level.
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For this extraordinary housing project in the Osdorp neighborhood of Amsterdam, the architects cantilevered 13 additional housing units from what might otherwise have been an ordinary slab housing block.
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Living above the ground is taken to an extreme in the science fiction movie Oblivion; the Skytower residence is 3,000 feet above the polluted earth below. It has all the classic features of a supercool modern home: wraparound decking, fully glazed walls and, of course, a heliport.