You need two basic ingredients to abandon the walls of your house: a low-crime rate and a mild, or rather, tropical climate. If they are missing you can opt for high-performance windows or retractable mobile walls that can be opened and closed when necessary. We propose an overview of projects where walls leave room for more fluid floor plans: totally absent in certain vacation homes or only perimetral in city apartments. In the latter we find the great obsession of the year: heavy curtains to divide the interior spaces – courtain walls in the literal sense of the word. To vanish the boundaries between interior and exterior in some cases the volume is only alluded through concrete beams or frosted glass walls that deliberately make rainwater flow inside the house. Along with the great classics we can find Casa Farnsworth, the precursor par excellence of perimeter-fading: to better understand its cultural significance, an article on the architecture of the sun retraces the origins of modern architecture highlighting an aspect that is often neglected, namely bringing man closer to nature also with naturism and outdoor domestic spaces. Ranging from Australia to Argentina we find houses with walls replaced by arches, mirrors or straw, but mostly concrete pillars to support large roof slabs that generate wide voids that frame the horizon, over breathtaking landscapes: from the Mexican forest to the Emilian Apennines in Italy.
20 Houses without walls
House walls are becoming thinner and flexible and sometimes are even disappearing. One reason is to not force domestic life with rigid floor plans and to look for more direct contact with nature. Here are over 20 examples that prove it.
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- Marianna Guernieri
- 30 August 2020
A self-sufficient circular cottage to feel simultaneously immersed in nature and at home.
In the suburbs of La Plata, Argentina, Reimer Risso’s residence seeks for an elementary language thinking about possible future adaptations. Photo Fernando Schapochnik
Designed by the Spanish studio Ohlab, Casa Palerm is conceived as a device that allows to live indoor and outdoor spaces in absolute continuity, making the most of natural ventilation and respecting the island's local identity. Photo José Hevia
Nestled on a steep slope, the residence designed by Formafatal is immersed in tropical nature, to which it opens up thanks to a mobile wall. Photo Boys Play Nice
Fabian Tan Architect designed the extension of a single-family house, introducing new formal expressions contrasting with the banality of the residential context. Photo Ceavs Chua
Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is one of the paradigmatic residences of 20th-century architecture. Here its history, from the complicated relationship with the client Edith Farnsworth to the recent floods. Photo Darren Bradley
At the origins of modernism there was also the intention to promote a healthy lifestyle and bring man closer to nature, even through naturism. A lesson forgotten and to be recovered, if we want to put back health at the centre of design. In this photo: Bernhard Rudofsky, Solarium and Nature House for the sculptor Tino Nivola in Amaganset, NY
The sci-fi atmospheres of Stalker, a 1979 film by Andrei Tarkovsky, inspired the design of the residence in Buenos Aires made by the Argentinean studio. Photo
Agustín Ichuribehere
Spaces built on an old terrace of the Spanish island chase each other in Marià Castelló’s project and reveal patios, passages and a swimming pool. Photo Marià Castelló
Casa Santa Teresa, designed by Amelia Tavella Architectes, uses light as architectural element and terraces on different levels to connect interiors and exteriors. Photo T. Dini
Designed by TOOP Architectuur, Diptych explores the flexibility of office spaces and their relationship with the envoronment using low-budget shipping containers. Photo Tim Van de Velde
Deltastudio turned an old agricultural warehouse into a residence open to the landscape, using a metal structure to regulate the interactions between inside and outside. Photo Simone Bossi
Arches shape the plan and elevation of a house that Studio Chenchow Little designed in Sydney. Photo Peter Bennetts
Curving concrete shrouds direct views to verdant gardens at Hawthorn House, while the upper floor is entirely hermetic to the outside world, instead favouring views of the sky. Foto Ben Hosking
Estudio Cavernas has completed an open and flexible structure representing the identity and vision of a small migrant community. Photo courtesy Estudio Cavernas
Built over 25 years, Edward James’s garden in Mexico is the perfect mix of architecture and nature, and ouvre that inspired much of the architecture in Xilitla. Photo Marianna Guernieri
Monticello is the residential project by architectural firm Di Gregorio Associati that, adding patios around a country house, provides new points of view on the Emilian landscape. Photo Hélèn Binet
Designed by Rodrigo Simão Arquitetura, the steel and glass structure lets the interiors dialogue with terraces and passageways in a continuous connection with the landscape. Photo André Nazareth
In the province of Buenos Aires, the architectural firm Botteri-Connell designs a suspended residence that becomes fusional with the surrounding nature. Photo Gustavo Sosa Pinilla
The small apartment renovated by Estudio González on the Costa del Sol is a continuous space without hierarchies, where a measured and careful arrangement of curtains organizes the spaces and filters the light of the Mediterranean Sea. Photo Luis Díaz Díaz