Some weird, wonderful houses

BECAUSE we are all unique, we like to think our homes are too. We hope that our personalities will shine through our design choices, décor, landscaping and so on. While this is true, some homes are more unique than others, and by this we mean some homes are so striking, so brilliant or strange that they remain in your mind long after.

Here’s a list of some of these incredible expressions of human creativity and art.

Transparent House, Japan

Japan is known for its strange designs and incredible innovation.

For example, the Transparent House, designed by Sou Foujimito Architects allows for complete viewing from every angle. Though stunning in its elegance and design, using all the space available in a unique and accessible way, it is of course transparent. Anyone and everyone can see what you’re doing, meaning that you’re always on display.

Stone House, Portugal

We use all sorts of material to create different aspects of homes. We use wood for shelves, wool for carpeting and insulation, plants and vegetation for gum poles and rock as a foundation.

But rare is the case where we use the material as the central feature: that is, in this case, to simply use an entire rock face and build into it – not out of it.

This is the case of the Stone House, located in the Fafe Mountains, in Portugal. Using two massive granite stones as the main structure, the stones themselves are linked with concrete mix.

Though stunning, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to live in it as oppose to just ogling it.

Thin House, Poland

Space is always a constraint for anything we do. But some have taken that element, apparently, to the extreme. Jakub Szczesny has focused his efforts to create a structure in Warsaw that he wants to be the thinnest, space-saving property that is as comfortable as is possible to be.

Located in the middle of the city, it is designed to be a temporary home for travelling writers.

At its narrowest, the house is 72cm wide.

Though it looks uncomfortable, it’s merely many thin passages which most people can comfortably walk though. Just don’t carry large tables or round bags!

Upside down house, Germany

And speaking of space, who said things had to be the right way up?

Klaudiusz Golos and Sebastian Mikuciuk decided to build a house that inverts what we know about houses, by putting the roof at the bottom and the floor at the top.

Located in Trassenheide, Germany, the upside down house is primarily open for visitors to explore the various understandings of spatial constraints and measurements, and what we’ve come to expect as right and wrong ways to contain space.

These are all amazing examples of ingenuity – that might, at first seem quirky, but could become efficient: if we know to manipulate space in smart, creative ways, we might be able to create better and more efficient homes.