At the very beginning, people developed architecture according to their needs. Protection from the elements and other dangers was the main reason for building a shelter. Over time, other aspects became important too, like seeing from inside the house, being more comfortable, the house looking better. The city also became part of the home. Interior and exterior design became more and more important.

Due to lack of knowledge and materials, the houses were stumpy, the windows were small, walls thick and crooked. However, people learned. The windows became bigger, the walls – slicker, and the overall design – more elegant and beautiful.

SSo what would be the next step in home design? These designers asked the same question and created a series of CG renderings to renovate six old houses from the 21st century, using current and future house design trends.

Turf Houses Renovated (Iceland)

An Icelandic turf house consists of a wooden frame stuffed with blocks of turf (grass still embedded in the earth) on a stone foundation. Only the front around the doorway is bared. The entrance leads to a big hall (sometimes via an antechamber) with a firepit in the middle. Our renovated turf house complex plays with the ‘badly hidden’ appearance of traditional turf houses, which seem to sink back into the landscape. The steel-frame dome looks partly natural yet completely alien. Panels of turf and timber alternate with glass windows, using reflections to create an improbable, angular mound of grass, wood, and… clouds! In a subtler touch, the wooden planks that form the facades have been rearranged at decorative angles. Continue reading »