Twelve houses photographed directly from above
With the proliferation of drone photography more houses are being photographed from the air. Here are 12 homes that look impressive in bird's-eye view.
Rock House, Abdulla Al Salem, Kuwait, by AGi Architects
AGi Architects designed Rock House to be largely enclosed from the surrounding streets, with a concrete shell clad in stone creating a solid outer wall.
The house is focused inward around a multi-level central courtyard, which the majority of rooms look onto. Enclosed by angular walls the internal courtyard spirals down to a swimming pool on the ground floor.
Fukushima Home, Fukushima, Japan, by Cohta Asano
This home in Fukushima, Japan, is made up of a stack of nine overlapping cuboids that are all different sizes and proportions, which can be clearly seen from directly above.
Cohta Asano designed the three-storey house as his own home.
Read more about Fukushima Home ›
Casa Bruma, Mexico, by Fernanda Canales and Claudia Rodríguez
Fernanda Canales and Claudia Rodríguez designed this holiday home 100 miles southwest of Mexico City for a young couple.
The house is made from nine cuboid blocks that are arranged in a rough circle within a forest clearing. Each of the blocks contains one of the building's functions – bedrooms, living spaces, guest rooms, garage and utility room.
"The result is an 'exploded house', where the dwelling is composed of isolated volumes that are placed according to the views, the orientations and the existing vegetation," said the architects.
Vault House, Hadong county, South Korea, by OBBA
Seoul-based OBBA designed the rooms of Vault House to open onto a series of small private gardens that are protected by curved brick walls, which can be clearly seen in this bird's-eye view.
The architecture studio created the enclosed gardens to shield the spaces from a railway line and main road that pass nearby the house.
House in Hokusetsu, Osaka, Japan, by Tato Architects
House in Hokusetsu is made from a series of 12 square rooms that are connected by rhombus-shaped circulation areas.
Tato Architects created the geometric home for a client who wanted a home that would encourage the family to spend time with each other.
"The house is filled with autonomous spaces that can accommodate changes in lifestyle," said architect Yo Shimada. "It is a crystalline labyrinth where the spaces are repeatedly reflected into a prismatic figure."
Read more about House in Hokusetsu ›
Planar House, near São Paulo, Brazil, by Studio MK27
Planar House near São Paulo is topped with a monumental grass roof, which is only broken by skylights and solar panels.
"Planar House is a radical exercise in horizontality, an aspect commonly explored in the projects of the studio," said Studio MK27.
Read more about Planar House ›
Casa B, St Julian's, Malta, by Architrend Architecture
Case B in Malta is topped with a glass-fronted and -bottomed pool so that swimmers can be seen both from the street and inside the house.
Sicilian studio Architrend Architecture inserted the concrete house into a terrace of traditional houses in the town of St Julian's on the Mediterranean island.
Quadrant House, Poland, by KWK Promes
Robert Konieczny, founder of KWK Promes, created a terrace that rotates to follow the sun and can dock with two different rooms at Quadrant House.
"Part of the building reacts to the sun and follows its movement," Konieczny told Dezeen. "It gives residents shade and pleasant airflow when they are there, but also control of the sunlight in the building or extension of its space."
Read more about Quadrant House ›
H House, Zapallar, Chile, by Felipe Assadi Arquitectos
Felipe Assadi Arquitectos designed this linear house in Chile on a site overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Under the long concrete roof the rooms are arranged so that they all have views of the sea.
A pool at right angles to the home is cantilevered from the house.
Hoffman House, Valencia, Spain, by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
Hoffman House is a glass-walled house in Valencia that has been built alongside a linear pool.
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos topped the house with an extruded T-shaped roof that residents can walk along.
Read more about Hoffman House ›
Peconic House, Long Island, USA, by Mapos
The grass-roofed Peconic House stands on a site overlooking Long Island bay. The 372-square-metre house was designed by New York City-based studio Mapos to fit in with its rural surrounding and is clad in untreated wood.
Alongside the house a series of outdoor terraces step down to a swimming pool.
Read more about Peconic House ›
Second House, Los Angeles, USA, by FreelandBuck
This house is Los Angeles is made up of three irregular volumes that each have steeply pitched roofs. FreelandBuck designed the blocks so that the house has a variety of differently shaped interior and exterior spaces.
"Each room of the house is expressed as a distinct block paired with a corresponding exterior space," explained the studio.
Read more about Second House ›