In architecture, cantilevered volumes are synonymous with structural and design challenges. While projecting elements bring to mind the technical achievements of the 19th century, they inevitably recall the visionary projects of the 20th century – whether it’s the Russian Constructivists like El Lissitzky, with multi-story slabs cantilevered over urban pillars or the visionary works of Japanese Metabolism, as well as the cantilevered planes of F.L. Wright’s Fallingwater.
Beyond utopian ideals and pioneering early 20th-century projects, the contemporary design landscape offers numerous examples of architectures that embrace cantilevered volumes for their expressiveness. We have gathered 15 architectural projects from various parts of the world, showcasing a diverse mosaic of aesthetics, materials, and functions. In these works, the tension between lightness and defiance of gravity – poetry and technical strength – becomes the beating heart of the space, expressing the essence of these designs.
The selected projects weave together an international narrative: from Northern European experimentalism to South American construction poetics and on to the spectacular architecture of the Emirates. The journey begins in the 1960s with Brutalist works such as the Aula of Van den Broek and Bakema in Delft, where the architectural body rises with its reinforced concrete ribs, pillars, and beams – elements that become the defining language of the work itself, also seen in William Pereira’s Geisel Library.
Moving through MVRDV’s celebrated WoZoCo and its cantilevered volumes, we arrive at the early 2000s. With Coop Himmelb(l)au, the building becomes a suspended body, while the VitraHaus features overlapping elements that freely create cantilevers and unexpected spaces.
From there, smaller-scale projects by architects like Pezo Von Ellrichshausen and Irarrázaval demonstrate how cantilevers can become pivotal to expressive and structural power even at a domestic scale. Finally, the collection concludes with recent large-scale works such as the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and One Za’abeel, which define new landmarks of contemporary metropolises through the simplicity of their volumes.