Pictured: The world's most spectacularly-designed houses that prove that nothing is impossible when it comes to architecture

Artists and architects have created these magnificent and somewhat bizarre homes in stunning settings



Some opt for natural materials like wood and water in their designs; others prefer bleak and grey concrete



Top 60 newest and most impressive homes from around the world open our eyes to how the other half live




These images show just how the other half live, and how architecture really is pushing the boundaries on home living.

Sixty of the planet's most spectacular homes, designed by world-famous architects, some dramatically balanced on cliff edges, others almost touching the sea, have been pulled together for a Collection in Architecture Now! Houses 3 published by TASCHEN.

The homes have all been completed in the last few years and demonstrate just how different life can be lived when space, materials, setting, and environment are used in novel and interesting ways.

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Natural elements: Large expanses of water, combined with simple lines to use space and nothingness in his designs, are a mainstay of Japanese self-taught architect Tadao Ando's designs, as illustrated with this example of his work: 'House in Monterrey', in Monterrey, Mexico

BF House, Borriol, Castellón de la Plana, Spain: Designed by a team of architects from OAB and ADI Arquitectura, the spectacular BF House sits 25metres high, on a 3,0000sqm plot

Presented with photos and drawings, alongside the architects’ project lists and addresses - for those fortunate enough to be in a position to ask Shigeru Ban to design an 800-square-meter house on a cliff in Sri Lanka for them (Villa Vista).

But even if the budget for such extravagance is lacking, curiosity will surely see you delving into the magazine's third edition of its eye-opening and thought-provoking Architecture Now! series.

Japanese self-taught architect, Tadao Ando, who dropped a career as a boxer to immerse himself in his passion for building design, has created some of Japan's most renowned structures.

Born in 1941, Mr Ando is inspired by Japanese culture, particularly the Buddhist concept of Zen, focusing on simplicity and inner feelings rather than outward appearance.

Arthur Casas, Quinta da Baroneza, Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil: A home that is completely 'open' overlooking a beautiful golf course in the middle of a natural landscape. The challenge was simple: to create an extensive (more than a 1000sqm) house with plenty of space for children and guests

Barclay & Crousse, Vedoble Houses, Cañete, Peru, left: A set of 4 houses stems from a 'prototype' house, La Casa Equis (2003), situated in the same bay. While the houses were not designed as a set, they share a coherency with their surroundings and reference the life style engendered by the Peruvian desert. And right, Carsten Höller and Marcel Odenbach, House Turtle, Biriwa, Ghana. From a distance it looks abandoned, save for the flying flag showing it is in fact lived in

Characteristics of his work include large expanses of unadorned architectural concrete walls combined with wooden or stone floors and large windows.

He uses these materials to give his buildings a feeling of cleanness and weightiness. Active natural elements, like sun, rain, and wind are a distinctive inclusion to his style.

Ando's architectural style is said to create a 'haiku' effect, emphasizing nothingness and empty space to represent the beauty of simplicity.

He favours designing complex spatial circulation while maintaining the appearance of simplicity, always keeping his Japanese culture and language in mind while he travels around Europe for research.

He believes that the right architecture can change society, by changing a city he can help reform a city, by generating international interest, promoting a formerly unknown place, and giving it an identity.

Mr Ando, who lives in Japan, has designed many notable buildings, including Row House in Sumiyoshi, Osaka, 1976, which gave him the Annual Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan in 1979.



Woodstock Farm Estate, Woodstock, Vermont, USA: The simple, but very effective, Woodstock Farm by Rick Joy Architects, is a contemporary gable house with stone walls and a cedar shingle barn. It has several modern touches including large windows that wrap up over the roof and open plan interior

In the UK, his work can be found in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens, where he designed the area's regeneration in 2002.

Designed by a team of architects from the Office of Architecture, Barcelona (OAB) and ADI Arquitectura, the spectacular BF House, in Borriol, Castellón de la Plana, Spain, sits 25metres high, on a 3,0000sqm plot.

Quoted in ArchDaily, the teams said: 'Our position towards the plot was that of absolute respect, so the construction method should also respect the land, thus us opting for a prefabricated building system that is deposited on the land practically without touching it, without cutting down trees, and taking advantage of existing terrace/garden areas, which were rebuilt in the damaged areas, with the same stone and same technique.

Part of the house – garage and auxiliary areas – is buried, allowing the designers to 're-introduce native vegetation on the natural terrain'.



Arthur Casas, in Quinta da Baroneza, Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil is a home that is completely 'open' overlooking a beautiful golf course in the middle of a natural landscape. The challenge was simple: to create an extensive (more than a 1000sqm) house with plenty of space for children and guests, an area for a couple and communal space for all.

Mathias Klotz's Raul House, in Aculeo, Chile: A lavish 'getaway house' for the weekend, located in the hills surrounding the Aculeo Lagoon, 60km from Santiago. It's for family use, developed in one level throughout a continuous space that gives amplitude and flexibility

The dichotomy between these two programs generated a horizontal volume for the guests in contrast to a cube.

Perhaps one of the most unusual homes is by Sou Fujimoto: House NA, in Tokyo, Japan. It was designed for a young couple in a quiet Tokyo neighborhood.



The 914 square-foot transparent house contrasts the typical concrete block walls seen in most of Japan's dense residential areas.



Associated with the concept of living within a tree, the spacious interior is comprised of 21 individual floor plates, all situated at various heights, that satisfy the clients desire to live as nomads within their own home.

In Chile, the spectacular views of the Andes Mountains are certainly enough to help the owner's of Mathias Klotz's Raul House to relax. The 'getaway house' for the weekend, located in the hills surrounding the Aculeo Lagoon, 60km from Santiago is for family use, developed in one level throughout a continuous space that gives amplitude and flexibility.



A design by Pedro Reis, 'House in Melides', Melides, Grândola, Portugal: This simple house is achieved by two rectangular volumes overlapping in the shape of a cross. The aim is not just to reduce the scale and presence of the construction, but also to split the programme into two areas

Shigeru Ban, Villa Vista, Weligama, Sri Lanka: A private residence located in Weligama, Sri Lanka. The project, created for a local businessman, follows a series of recently completed post-tsunami reconstruction residences also completed by Ban. Positioned on a hilltop site, the design is structured and situated to capture a series of ocean, jungle and cliffside views

The house is located in the side of a hill with a strong slope that allows excellent views 180 degrees from east to west, with views to the lagoon and the Andes Mountains.

Klotz, born in April 1965, focuses his work on elegance while being deeply rooted in the modernist tradition.



The strong geometric imprint in designer Pedro Reis's Melides home, in Grândola Municipality, Portugal, is achieved by two volumes overlapping in the shape of a cross.



The aim is not just to reduce the scale and presence of the construction, but also to split the programme into two areas - one more exuberant and exposed and the other more intimate and contained.

Reiss, a Portuguese artist who has exhibited at London's Tate Modern, is known for his use of industrial materials, and for highlighting the process of construction.



UID architects, Nest, Onomichi, Hiroshima, Japan: In Onomichi, Hiroshima, Japan, UID architects have desigend a small home, called the Nest - a house planned in a forest surrounded by an abundance of nature. The site, located in the foot of a mountain with scarce neighbours, is lived in by three women: a mother and two daughters, plus their cat

Having started his career as a painter, Reis continues to see his work as an extension of painting. He told the Tate: ‘When I use glass or fluorescent tubes, plaster, wood, steel or poured paint it’s still about the vocabulary of painting.’

A private residence known as Villa Vista, located in Weligama, Sri Lanka, designed by Shigeru Ban, follows a series of recently completed post-tsunami reconstruction residences also completed by Ban.



Positioned on a hilltop site, the design is structured and situated to capture a series of ocean, jungle and cliffside views.

Intersecting planes frame horizontal, vertical and perpendicular elements of the surrounding environment, with each cantilevered volume positioned towards another varied landscape.



In Onomichi, Hiroshima, Japan, UID architects have designed a small home, called the Nest - a small house planned in a forest surrounded by an abundance of nature.



UNStudio, Haus am Weinberg, Stuttgart, Germany: This space-age home, designed by Dutch firm UNStudio, is organised around the twisting vertical circulation located at its core, while the form responds directly to the topography of the immediate landscape

Sou Fujimoto, House NA, Tokyo, Japan, left, was designed for a young couple in a quiet Tokyo neighborhood. The 914 square-foot transparent house contrasts the typical concrete block walls seen in most of Japan's dense residential areas. It is one of 60 homes featuring in Taschen's 3rd edition of Architecture Now! Homes



The site, located in the foot of a mountain with scarce neighbours, is lived in by three women: a mother and two daughters, plus their cat.



'Since there are only three women, we thought it would be appropriate to gently connect a boundary of the place’s environment and architecture, allowing close distance between the family members.' the architects told ArchDaily.



Dutch firm UNStudio has just completed the 'Haus am Weinberg' outside of Stuttgart on a site between the town and a terraced vineyard.



The white, ultra-modern and almost space-age looking house is organized around the twisting vertical circulation located at its core, while the form 'responds directly to the topography of the immediate landscape,'.



Elements of the building are placed around the central stairs following the sun's path to benefit from the greatest amount of natural light during the peak times that the space would be used.

