BOOK:Elemental Living, Phaidon Publications

One of architecture’s fundamental roles is to present, and represent, the world around us. Its elements: walls, roof, windows and door, serve to bridge interior worlds, or rooms, with exterior space, a role that graduallyhas assumed greater importance to those who wish to dwell poetically.  With 280 pages and 260 illustrations the book “Elemental Living – Contemporary Houses in Nature” by Phaidon Publications, collects projects for either the deferential approach of the architects and their clients or the demands from the landscape itself, engage with their surroundings in an innovative and considered way. The first section highlights houses built within nature, structures that respond to a particular context, such as a woodland, a valley, or a cliff face, by employing materials that can be extracted, harvested, or found nearby in order to blend into the landscape. The second section is a collection of projects designed for the purpose of looking at nature: houses in which certain elements, such as windows, terraces, and platforms, are specifically positioned to command spectacular views. The third section explores how nature itself becomes an active building element, either because the construction materials were taken directly from the surroundings or because the topography of the site is a part of the structure, driving the shape of the building.-Efi Michalarou