ArchStudio    China   A sanctuary is buried under a mound, preserving the beautiful riverside scenery around it and creating an intimate atmosphere conducive to meditating in harmony with nature. With the objective of not felling any of the trees on the site, the project

Florian Busch   Japan   Not far from Niseko, the winter destination famous for its world-class ski slopes, in the same league as Aspen or St. Moritz, a home for a large family rises in the middle of a three-hectare land of virgin forest, safe from the bustle of the tourist

BuroLandschap   Belgium   Bosland is the largest forest of Belgium’s Flanders region, and it now features an elevated pathway blended into the landscape yet clearly distinct from it. The idea was to give hikers and bikers an unprecedented, ever dynamic view of the trees aroun

Marià Castelló Architecture   Spain   The Formentera practice of Marià Castelló designed this house where five volumes are longitudinally arranged on a terrace in a steeply sloping area of Sant Mateu d’Albarca, a small village on the island of Ibiza. Between two preexisting retaining wal

Kengo Kuma   Italy   Art and nature come together at Arte Sella, an outdoor museum in the Province of Trento, where the spherical Kodoma Pavilion is assembled with solid larch wood pieces and no metal fittings or glue.

Kengo Kuma   Germany   By stacking fir tree strips, the Wood/Pile meditation space recreates the komorebi effect produced by sunrays when they are filtered through the trees, in a forest near Krün in Bavaria.

Arquitectura-G   Spain   Halfway between Barcelona and Sant Cugat, La Floresta is a low-density residential neighborhood in the Collserola mountain range. Located on a plot with a deep slope, the house replaces a small dwelling that was self-built by the client’s parents in

Álvaro Siza Carlos Castanheira   South Korea   Nestled in the dense woodlands of Gyeongsang Province, this refined complex of sculpture-like constructions explores the close relationship between architecture and landscape.

Jørn Utzon   Spain   After leaving Australia in 1966, Utzon decided to build a getaway where he could spend time with his family, and in Mallorca he found the ideal place. However, as time went by Can Lis became, as happened with his other few works, a pilgrimage site fo

Harquitectes   Spain   The house sits on a site with a deep slope covered with trees and undergrowth. The project is set out to build without harming the place, so the house sits on a rock platform which is also used as an exit and garden. Both architects and developers ag

AFGH/Andreas Fuhrimann y Gabrielle Hächler   Switzerland   Located on the shore of Lake Lucerne, this small tower serves two purposes: one is to house a rowing center, and the other is to be a sculptural marker in the landscape. The building relates with the surrounding nature through its materials: it is bu

Pezo von Ellrichshausen   Spain   This unique entity occupies a dominant position in a rural landscape of vineyards and olive groves, set against a background of medieval villages and rocky outcrops. A bare horizontal volume is detached from the ground, suspended in an almost archaic

VIPP   Denmark   Equipped with all the basic services needed for domestic life, the shelter is a module with a floor area of 55 square meters. Completely industrialized and prefabricated, this getaway retreat can be transported by road and installed in just a couple

Tham & Videgård   Sweden   This small vacation home designed by the architectural firm Tham & Videgård is located on a strategic promontory of the island of Krokholmen, very close to the city of Stockholm. The wooden construction faces a forest of conifers on one side, and

SUMA/ Issei Suma   Japan   Combining different functions and suggesting with its form the idea of a primitive hut or chapel, this small center for older people has been designed using innovative ergonomic strategies. 

López & Rivera   Spain   The house goes up on a hillock in the coastal mountain range of Les Gavarres in Tarragona (Catalonia), surrounded by a typically Mediterranean landscape. This location and the features of the site determine both the organization of the program and th

Álvaro Siza   Spain   Taking inspiration from the precipitous surrounding landscape, on a hillside of the island of Mallorca, the summer house is split up into a composition of volumes that unfurls as one descends towards the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The house is r

51N4E   Belgium   This center for assisted living is located in a clearing of a small forest in Zoersel, a village on the outskirts of the city of Antwerp (Belgium). Its irregularly sinuous floor plan follows the positions of the trees, in an endeavor to endow the bui

FRPO   Spain   Fragmented into small pavilions whose outlines adapt to the trees of a dense pine forest, the house was built using an industrialized system of counter-laminated wood.

Li Xiaodong   China   The library is a small facility for the small locality of Huairo, situated on the outskirts of Beijing, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Distancing from the noise and stress of the huge metropolis is reinforced by the particular choice of

Matali Crasset   France   Inspirados en las formas de la naturaleza, cuatro pequeños refugios ligeros, transportables y construidos con sistemas sencillos colonizan un frondoso bosque. 

Tetsuo Kondo   Estonia   Formada por una etérea estructura de acero, una pasarela describe un recorrido en espiral que, desde el suelo, conduce a un singular paseo por las entrañas de un bosque.

AFF architekten   Germany   En un singular entorno natural se emplaza una austera cabaña de hormigón armado, cuyos muros conservan en su textura la memoria del lugar y del paso del tiempo.

The firm of the Madrid architects Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano – one of Spain’s most international practices, with a branch in Berlin – recently opened the Arvo Pärt Center in Laulasmaa, 35 kilometers from Tallin. Named after the composer it