Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Stacked Black and White Studio House Hugs the Hillside

Posted: 27 Apr 2013 10:00 AM PDT

Two stacked volumes in black and white perch on a bed of crushed granite stone following the curves of a hillside in Wenzenbach, Germany. Studio House by Fabi Architekten BDA looks out onto the countryside with two full walls of windows from the living space and bedroom, with the top black volume resembling an archetypal house shape from the street.

The separated spaces are placed at different angles to take in varying views of the forest beyond. This arrangement creates visual interest, as well as enhancing the sense of privacy and solitude offered by hillside homes in which nearly all of the windows face the landscape rather than the street.

The glass doors slide open to offer access to the triangle-shaped gravel roof terrace. Inside, the larger volume offers a single space in which to cook, read, work and lounge, while always maintaining a visual connection to nature. The floating effect of the black volume on top of the white one is echoed in this space with a set of cantilevered stairs.

Stacked hillside houses are an increasingly common design for residences, making ideal use of small plots of uneven land by taking full advantage of the views. Other examples include an X-shaped ultramodern home in Barcelona, and a three-story beach house in Lima, Peru.

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