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Gorgeous Eco Beach Cottage in Madagascar

Here is an amazing and highly original beach house on coastal Madagascar by SCEG architects.

The house is superbly designed to maximize coastal breezes.

The roof is flipped up to catch and direct a flow of air through the structure.

Under the shelter of the straw roof, only four rooms at each corner are enclosed.

Only two enclosed spaces are on a second ‘floor’ that is otherwise completely open.

Between these stucco rooms, the heart of the home is entirely open to the cross breeze.

The enclosed spaces on the second floor are connected by wooden paths under the roof.

A modular rhythm is established by the persistent use of open air trelliswork to separate the spaces.

The four enclosed stucco-clad spaces are at the four edges of the house.

In the enclosed rooms, the modular rhythm is continued in the window muntins.

A platform of cooling concrete keeps the bedrooms cool.

Wooden French doors attractively frame the cool grey concrete.

The straw roof is loosely suspended above the entire structure.

A lovely earth toned stucco is combined with a warm red wood to create a simple but sensuous texture palette.

The overall effect is simultaneously sultry and cool.

The wood detailing throughout has a beguiling charm.

The uniqueness of the design is all the more astonishing for being on such an isolated island.

The design, combining architectural woodworking with colored stucco and concrete is reminiscent of the work of Studio Mumbai.

Wood is even used to frame tiny square windows that poke out from the bedrooms upstairs.

Each day’s end brings the warm glow of the sunset behind the island of Sakatia.

This is a very unique home that is warmly welcoming and civilized, while being completely open.

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A Beautiful and Cutting Edge Eco-Tech Prefab

Along with beauty, architect Philippe Stark injects a little fun into this eco-tech design.

One charming and novel idea is a shallow water feature that does not require the water use of a full pool.

The shallow water has the same cooling effect on a hot day.

Starck and Riko have collaborated on energy efficient and self-powering prefabricated home designs in the P.A.T.H. project.

Its state-of-the-art eco tech roof is part cooling greenroof and part solar panels.

The solar array is raised up off the roof allowing air to flow under the panels to cool them making them more efficient.

Riko is one of the leading European manufacturers of wooden sustainable prefab buildings and the homes are built using state of the art prefab techniques.

The very precise building process minimizes the possibilities of mistakes during the construction process.

Cutting edge ecological solutions combine with timeless design for a high tech and classic outlook.

The level of fine quality in the detailing and finish is remarkable.

Retractable awnings are precisely engineered into the space between the floors.

Prefabrication reduces waste, cuts construction time, and lowers costs.

This translates into both time and money savings for the homeowners.

The result is poetic, rebellious and definitely beautiful.

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A Glass Elevator on a Cute Gabled House in Poland

Designed by Architeckt Tadeusz Lemanski, the striking GG House is located in Krakow, Poland on a steep, south-facing slope.

To deal with the steep site, a glass elevator to the side of the house glides you up four floors, moving through the view during ascension.

A glass walkway makes it possible to walk along the side of the building to the glass elevator.

Three small windows to the side of the living room share the light of the glass walkway.

At night, the glass elevator is lit up from within.

Cantilevered decks extend forward from the front of the building.

The generous decks thus created allow for outdoor dining when weather permits.

With most of the glazing to the front of the house, the house depends on the huge gabled front for its light.

But every room can thus take advantage of the views out over the old city to the distant mountains.

A gabled design that references the old world, and a glass extension that is very much new.