In this article we are going to discover 5 designer houses that discuss the balance between interiors and exteriors,
making us imagine while fantasizing when waking up in the morning. Walk through their rooms and hallways and go out in the garden or the terrace with a steaming cup of coffee while admiring the view that surrounds us and why not, maybe getting ready for a dip in the pool.
Architecture, design, and lifestyle are continuously intertwined in shaping not only the places where we live and spend most of the time of our lives – the place we call home – but also the culture, beauty, and the idea of aesthetic expression for any time. One can live in a small or large house, in the city or by the sea, and even when walking down the street, raising our eyes, and glancing to catch a glimpse of some detail on somebody else’s façade which attracted our attention, we rediscover within us a “hidden designer” who cannot help but give in to the call of colors, textures, materials, shapes, concepts. Some architects of the past and present have built with their experience, creativity, and vision, what we can easily call Designer Homes, that have become design icons.
Still bend di Franck lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright is an architectural legend, master of the Modernist Movement and one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. His projects are immediately recognizable for the simplicity and fluidity of the lines as well as for the perfect unity with the landscape, his core trademark. Still Bend was originally designed for an initiative by Life Magazine which in 1938 invited the world’s best architects to design a “Dream House”, for a typical American family. Bernhard Schwartz, a businessman, fell in love with the project sent by Wright and called him to design and build this home, conceived as a “Private Club”, a reality in Wisconsin. A place of comfort and style, characterized by a brick and red cypress structure, large windows and the panoramic balcony. Furthermore, anyone who wishes, can rent this architectural masterpiece, like others designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, through the American company Airbn
Villa Savoye di Le Corbusier
Villa Savoye is a private residence located in Poissy, just outside Paris, designed by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier, master of the rationalist architecture, and Pierre Jeanneret. It was built between 1928 and 1931 and commissioned by Pierre Savoye and his wife. It is considered one of the great masterpieces of Le Corbusier, who was given carte blanche from the clients and designed a dwelling featuring the use of thin pilotis to elevate the building from the ground, an open and functionally flexible floor plan, a structure that frees the façades from the load-bearing structural function, and the addition of a functional flat roof terrace to be used as garden, solarium or simply as an “outdoor living room” during the summer. The exterior is completed by long horizontal ribbon of windows which provide the rooms with an extensive amount of natural light.
Curiosity: the car played an important role in the project, influencing the building. A large portion of the ground floor was, in fact, reserved for a garage able to accommodate three cars, as well as a small studio apartment for the chauffeur. In a 1928 letter to Madame Savoye, the architect wrote that “it is the minimum turning radius of the car that defines the dimensions of the house”.
Villa Savoye - Le Corbusier
Casa das Canoas - Oscar Niemeyer
Now home to the Niemeyer Foundation, Casas das Canoas was designed by Niemeyer in 1951 as a family home. It is considered one of the most significant examples of modern Brazilian architecture. It is located on the slope of a hill overlooking the bay of Rio de Janeiro in the Tijuca forest. The villa is characterized by the sinuous lines of the roof and concave shapes of the other architectural elements, almost all made of reinforced concrete, except for the flowy and fluid glass façade, which provides an effect of harmonious fusion between indoor and outdoor environments.
The Elrod House - John Lautner
The Elrod House is a residence in Palm Springs, California, designed by American architect John Lautner built in 1968. If you are a James Bond fan, you may have recognized it. With its striking 20-meter concrete curved roof formed by a conical dome and infinity pool, it was the set of the fight between Sean Connery and the villain Willard Whyte in the 1971 film Agent 007 – Diamonds Are Forever. The Elrod House is considered one of the best examples of organic architecture, with its living area which, surrounded by retractable curved glass walls, opens onto a breathtaking panoramic view of the Coachella Valley. It is literally one of the most architecturally significant homes around the world, a house that blurs the boundaries between art and architecture.
Casa Monterrey – Tadao Ando
Casa Monterrey was designed by the Japanese master Tadao Ando, west of Monterrey, in the rocky landscape of the Cumbres de Monterrey National Park in Mexico. It is a three-story building of pure concrete which emerges from the tree-lined side of a hill and communicates a complex simplicity in forms and materials. The house structure revolves around a library that extends through the center and with its windowpanes, overlooks a pair of triangular-shaped pools. Another pool extends from the hillside towards the horizon, further embellishing the design of the house.
Have you been inspired by these five magnificent designer homes designed by famous architects? In all these cases, the furnishings as well as the structure, are designed, keeping in mind, even the smallest of details so as to enjoy both indoor and outdoor spaces. So, why not do it in your own home, designing the spaces with high quality furniture that speaks of excellence, care, attention and refinement? The best way to start is to get inspired.
Swing
Heat curved slats give the chaise-longue a sinuous aspect and a particularly relaxing ergonomic form, as well as to the table with glass or teak top and the practical multifunctional stool.
