The house in the woods: inhabited nature, in 15 contemporary architectures

As human beings, we have very powerful, yet still limited, tools to make sense of our surroundings, and the image of a house in the woods is quite indicative in this regard: inhabiting a forest might seem like an artificial act, starting from a constructed shelter. The forest, on the other hand, is a place of dwelling par excellence, since it has existed, a home before houses were invented.
We can look at the houses that human beings build in such environments more as tools for understanding their relationship with nature than as shelters or protections. It is possible to go beyond Marc-Antoine Laugier and his primitive hut – it was 1753 – which has now been transformed from an encyclopedic archetype into the all-contemporary trend of the cabin-in-the-woods, and to discover architectures that are real devices for welcoming nature far beyond the cliché of watching the greenery, devices to access a deeper comprehension of a whole world.
"I gained a profound respect for the wilderness and nature and the benign dark power of woods. I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world” wrote Bill Bryson, in a glade of open introspection punctuating the thicket of fierce ironies with which he rediscovered late-millennium United States (the book is A Walk in the Woods). We have selected, from among the architectures we recently featured, those that most effectively embody the profound and multiple dimensions of living in the forest: contemplative, explorative, protective at times, designed for earthly or spiritual life, rooted in the ground or raised in the treetops, in the canopy where to share the life of other living beings.

Mork-Ulnes Architects embarked on a quest for the language of domestic warmth in a small guesthouse blending flexibility, functionality and sustainability of construction. Read more

In the woods of Mount Rokko, the renovation of a historic villa with five new cottages offers the opportunity to lodge, work or simply contemplate nature, decanting the pace of a not-far-away metropolitan life. Read more

The Chinese studio Wiki World has developed a profoundly place-based conception of architecture, in the belief that the future of living lies in a cooperative society and in bringing man closer to nature. Starting with the first housing projects in rural areas, for years the studio has adopted practices of co-design and co-construction with users not only to satisfy housing needs but also to stimulate collective intelligence, developing a community’s ability to solve problems through collaboration and the sharing of knowledge: processes in which building becomes a playful and involving experience, a game to learn and repeat, in a social rituality from which a cohesive and competent community emerges. Read more

A holiday home designed by PAT. on an equatorial island redefines the concept of luxury by interpreting it in terms of simplicity, functionality and minimal environmental impact, following in the footsteps of Pierre Koenig. Read more

In the Sierras de Córdoba, an exposed concrete house embodies the best of brutalist legacy, amidst skinny masses and forthright materials, seeking an ethic of authenticity and an intimate dialogue with the landscape. Read more

Immersed in nature, Casa Monóculo is a holiday retreat hidden among the trees, designed by Brazilian architecture studio Alan Chu. Located in the Eldorado district, an urban expansion of the city of Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Brazil, the project establishes a symbiotic kin with the green landscape of a protected natural area. Read more

Surrounded by vegetation and pine trees, Zarzales is a holiday home in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The architecture, conceived by PPAA Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados, allows the environment to enter, to be always present, removing all boundaries between inside and outside. Two volumes characterize the house: the first is made of a living area and a spacious patio, while the second houses the protection and intimacy of bedrooms bathrooms. Read more

Nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains, on a sloping lot among hundred-year-old pine forests near Lake Tahoe, the house Faulkner Architects designed for a client with a passion for extreme hiking is conceived as an efficient “base camp” from which to leave, and a safe and cosy place to return to. Read more

Reflect Architecture’s design for a buen retiro in the Ontario forests interprets the dwelling as an introverted and protected place, on the one hand, open and integrated into the landscape on the other. Read more

The house set in the ground generously opens up towards the natural landscape, framed as the undisputed protagonist of the scene. Read more

Arhitektuuribüroo Eek & Mutso designed a summer house inspired by local architecture: a discrete dwelling that transforms and integrates perfectly into nature. Read more

Building by lightening the anthropic load deriving from construction seems a paradox: however, this small work in the heart of the Trebbia Valley, amidst woods and steep terraces, demonstrates how it is possible to strike a balance between man-made work and nature, “dismantling” the usual settlement paradigm based on hypertrophic and unmotivated needs without renouncing quality of life, regardless of the size of the building. Read more

Four cabins built according to circular criteria overlook the Norwegian fjord and blend with the spectacle of pristine nature. Read more

In the Đạo Mẫu Museum in Soc Son, Arb Architects reused thousands of tiles from demolished buildings to build a project charged with meaning and memory. Read more

The result of research conducted by students and researchers of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia's (IAAC) Master's in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities, this small artifact fits within the largest forest in the mountain area embracing Barcelona. Read more