With no intention to re-discuss the age-old history of an instinctual bond uniting sea and human beings when it comes to habitat, with no need to exhume Homer and Franco Battiato, it is easy for us to recognize that such bond, however, has a multiplicity of facets that is truly difficult to embrace all at once.
There are archetypes, between the holiday and the quest for nature, like the pied dans l’eau, the beach house. But there are also several, deep ramifications on which the bond has been built, and over the years Domus has explored many, if not all of them.
The mythologies, including modern ones, of entire territories, such as the Mediterranean of the Côte d’Azur, the Atlantic of Fire Island, the East coast and West coast philosophies, are linked to living by the sea. Entire imaginaries and styles have grown on this way of life, such as the modern Italian villas of the 1960s, already anticipated by forward-looking projects such as those of Daneri, or carried on later by landscape visions such as those in Liguria at Torre del Mare and Arenzano, or those by Umberto Riva in Sardinia.
Or, come to think of it, entire landscapes were also literally invented, with their own peculiar language of relationship with nature, as it happened – and keeps happening – in Costa Smeralda.
In all these expressions, more or less affordable, mimetic, wild, overlooking beaches, rocks or seaside pine forests, the home remains the epicenter of the somehow subterranean – underwater, to be precise – bond that connects us to the sea. We have selected some of the most recent projects presented by Domus that have been able to give such bond expression and materiality.
Surf House, Drawing Works (Kim Youngbae)
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This house in Yangyang is designed to be functional for surfers, who come in large numbers to this ocean location in South Korea. At the entrance a patio with a shower is brightened by a large hole that visually connects the ground floor, with the service rooms and guest sleeping area, and the first floor. Special attention is given to the material composition, which considers the salinity of the location.
Casa Falésia D’El Rey, ida arquitectos
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The geometric volumes of this house in Portugal use the interplay of solids and voids to create intimate spaces and ocean views. The large outdoor staircase, in addition to being the link to the roof terrace, is an imposing sculptural element.
Casa Cabrita Moleiro, Atelier Data
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Situated on a hill in Vale d'el Rei, with a spectacular view of the rural landscape and the Atlantic in the distance, Casa Cabrita Moleiro combines traces of a rural past with a contemporary architectural language. The renovation used locally sourced, recycled and exposed materials, contrasting with the snow-white characteristic of buildings in the area. The memory of the place is also recognisable in the traditional "Açoteia Algarvia", the practicable flat roof typical of the region, overlooking the sea and historically used to dry the products in the sun.
House in El Torón, Ignacio Urquiza Arquitectos
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A sequence of terraces, steps and walkways are the central element of this house in Mexico, which follows the profile of the hill on which it stands. The visual and fruitive interaction between domestic and natural space is the main objective of a project that was born in a nature reserve. Considering the importance of preserving the site, 80% of the existing trees on the building plot were replanted, and logistical measures were taken during the construction phase so as not to compromise the vegetation.
Topless House, Avignon Architecte
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Topless House is a holiday home on the Atlantic coast, renovated by Avignon Architecte by installing a new architectural volume to replace the old veranda. The highlight of the intervention is a removable roof that offers different spatial configurations: by sliding, it illuminates the kitchen and becomes a projecting surface towards the outside, creating a covered outdoor patio.
NCaved, Mold Architects
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Carved out of the rockyg grounds of a Greek island, this house is sheltered from the intensity of the elements thanks to its position in relation to the strong northern winds. Natural ventilation and lighting, high-performance glazing, stone walls and a green roof are just some of the strategies adopted by Mold Architects to make it an virtuos example of energy efficiency.
Vivir frente al mar, studio Xpiral
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For the renovation of a fisherman house facing the sea, Spanish studio Xpiral expanded its spaces by placing on its roof a container wrapped in an orange tarpaulin.
Sentinel House, Aurelien Chen
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Maison Sentinel, overlooking the coast of Brittany, is developed on three volumes, each of which follows and respects the alignments of the surrounding rural buildings. The main volume, a barn-like wooden structure with a three-sided roof, rises two storeys high to offer a privileged view of the ocean. The colours are inspired by the Breton countryside: cedar red for the cladding, zinc roofing, white walls and black stained wood.
Casa Sal, RIMA Design Group
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In Baja California, the Mexican studio RIMA Design Group has designed a private residence characterised by an aesthetic continuity between the exterior and interior, with rammed earth walls, cement walls and wooden beams, in harmony with the region’s colour palette.
Casa Cova, anonimous
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A holiday home inspired by vernacular architecture in Mexico, Casa Cova is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Oaxaca mountain range. Developed as a multi-family residence, the project is built around a central palapa flanked by private spaces. Even the choice of building materials is intended to mark a strong link with local traditions: wood and concrete are the preferred materials.
El Gauchal House, Iván Bravo
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Casa El Gauchal is located in front of Navidad Bay in Chile, a few kilometres from the coast: a holiday retreat overlooking the sea, reminiscent of a traditional beach cabin. This building occupies a surface area of about 110sqm and is intended to accommodate up to 14 people and, unlike local constructions it is developed vertically, offering a panoramic view of the landscape and the sea.
Cosmos House, S-AR architects
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Just a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean, S-AR architectural studio has designed a modular residence designed to permeate the natural landscape. The heart of the rough concrete structure is a combination of four square modules, each of which corresponds to a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. An external grid delineated by a colonnade creates a succession of patios, and an external staircase gives access to the roof offering a unique view of the forest and the ocean.
Bondi Bombora House, Luigi Rosselli Architects
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A three-storey wave-inspired house on the famous Bondi Beach, just a short walk from Sydney's city centre, Bondi Bombora House is designed to accommodate a tri-generational family. The sinuous forms and blue mosaics draw on the natural elements of the urban and natural landscape.
Hourglass Corral, DECA Architecture
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The Hourglass Corral, recently completed in Milos by Athenian studio DECA Architecture, is the most recent of the corrals they have built in the last ten years on the island’s southern coast. Fully dug into the landscape, the floor plan of this residence is not laid out on a Cartesian grid but conforms to the rules of the organic composition of the land, and only the circular skylights emerge from the ground level to illuminate the different areas of the house.
Fire Island
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Not quite a residence but a collective of residences, Fire Island is made up of many small communities on a strip of sand between the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It has attracted the likes of Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and Yoko Ono and can only be reached by ferry. Initially populated by small wooden shacks and sometimes just plain tents, in the 1960s the island began to host increasingly glamorous personalities and its beach architecture became more sophisticated, chic and minimalist.