For these surreal times, a house that has been compared to the sought-after bathroom item many are stockpiling: Casa Barría, Panama –
Designed by Mallol & Wolfschoon in 1986, it was built in 1990.
’90s
an affinity for curves
With the death of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer on December 5, the world has lost a leading proponent of curved, rounded, wavy and spiraling forms. A modernist innovator, Niemeyer, who began working in the late 1930s, eschewed the straight lines and boxy shapes that had characterized modernism up to that time.
“Right angles don’t attract me. Nor straight, hard and inflexible lines created by man,” explained Niemeyer in The Curves of Time, his 1998 memoir. “What attracts me are free and sensual curves. The curves we find in mountains, in the waves of the sea, in the body of the woman we love.”
buy a spaceship in the forest
Currently on sale for $1.2 million, this rotating dome in New Paltz can turn a full circle in five minutes. The house was built using a kit from France called Domespace and has bamboo floors, stone cabinets, and a central spiral staircase.
It looks “like a space ship,” said the real estate agent handling the sale. “But it’s an amazing home. It’s the coolest home I’ve ever seen.”
slicing up a round house
If round houses aren’t radical enough for your tastes, take a look at this: a house in the shape of a crescent –
Designed by architect Ken Shuttleworth of make architects, and built in 1997 in Marlborough Downs, UK, the Crescent House is made entirely of concrete. “We are suspicious of modern boxes dumped on unsuspecting landscapes,” its owners explained.
Even the plans are beautiful –
round houses 