Architecture Wednesday: The Legend Of Shell House

It looks a little like the ship from Lost In Space crash landed in an otherwordly forest on another planet, the way it seems to hover above the ground, stark white against the surrounding greenery.

This is Shell Villa, designed and built  by ARTechnic, and, though ti seems like such a contrast between earth and home, Shell Villa "deforms, wraps and curves to its environment in remarkable ways."

The house curves around a central tree which stands in the interior courtyard area. While this curious form makes for an interesting visual object it also informs how people move in, through and around it--in arcing, organic and naturalistic paths left by the voids inside and out.

The interior of the home is as organic as the exterior, flowing and curving as the shell would suggest from the outside and with furniture, furnishings and fixtures that also conform to the ebbs and flows of the building’s shape.

In some places, rectilinear design objects are set against the ever-present curves but they are still tucked within the overall rounded theme. The rounded shell itself provides protection from the elements for each interior space. Each space flows into the next, with the common elements of white--for the shell and some furniture--and wood--for virtually everything else--tying the experience together. Likewise, natural ventilation carries throughout the whole house.

The shift from day to night in the structure is a remarkable one, as the ribbon of the building edge becomes a kind of border between the light glowing within and the ever-darkening surrounding skies and forest around.

The net result at night is a sense of comfort and enclosure – a connection to the elemnents through a copious use of glass mitigated by a thick, wrapping exterior shell. All in all, the results are somehow a blend of ultramodern and completely contextual.

via dornob