Best 10 houses of 2021

As we near the end of the year, we offer our selection of the ten best houses published on domusweb this year: from experiments in minimal living to sculptural villas.

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Romina Totaro
17 December 2021

In the last two years, the health emergency has forced many of us into the spaces at home, thus recreating the perception of domestic space. In the single-family residence, this is reflected in the design of domestic shelters almost always invaded by nature, useful to preserve the intimacy bubbles of the clients.

Here is a selection of our ten favorite homes published in recent months, between experiments in minimal spaces and plastic volumes. Focusing on the typology of the single-family house, we have selected projects from all over the world, from China and Japan to Colombia.

A “mushroom” house in a pine forest

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 In the fog. photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 Side view. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 View of the entrance. Vista di lato. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 A glimpse. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 The view on the forest. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 The bedroom. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 The stairs. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 The rounded ceiling. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 The stairs separates the room and the bathroom. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 The horizontal window. Photo Fangfang Tian

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 Loft plan

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 Plan

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 Roof plan

ZJJZ, The mushroom house, 2020 Section

The architectural form of the house is composed of two simple volumes organised by function. The largest part of the “mushroom” is the circular space of the guest room, with a panoramic window at eye level. The young Chinese studio ZJJZ has designed a small house surrounded by nature in a pine forest in Jiangxi province, China. Read the full article here.

The primitive light of Ensamble Studio

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Daytime view of the pool hewn out of the stone. The interiors of Ca’n Terra are bare and follow a continuous processof adaptation of the inhabitants to the space accoeding to the hours of the day and seasons. This is why the project is a programmatic work in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Aerial view of the quarry

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Night-time view of the pool hewn out of the stone

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Aerial view of the quarry

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Aerial view of the quarry

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress The internal view shows the translucent plastic screens with a metal frame that shelters the space while letting in the light

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress A boulder fell into the quadruple- height space when the opening was cut, bringing an olive tree with it. The cutting procedure was devised to bring natural ventilation and light into one of the deepest parts of the quarry. The layout was redefined after a high-precision 3D survey using infrared light

Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Exterior facade

Drawing Ensamble Studio

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Sections

Drawing Ensamble Studio

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Crosso section

Drawing Ensamble Studio

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Axonometric view

Drawing Ensamble Studio

Ensamble Studio, Ca’n Terra, Menorca, Spain, in progress Layout of the former quarry

Drawing Ensamble Studio

Ca’n Terra is a house of the earth, and was first just that, earth then a quarry, voiding its Mares stone. Subsequently it was used by the military as an ammunition dump during the Spanish Civil War and later abandoned, only to be rediscovered decades later and become architecture. The found space has an industrial logic, artistic potential as a sublime cavern carved by hand and a mineral nature as an extract of the stony landscape on the island of Menorca. Read the full article here.

In Portugal, a house that belongs to the land

Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021. Photo: Francisco Nogueira Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021. Photo: Francisco Nogueira

Bak Gordon,House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021. Photo: Francisco Nogueira sketch

Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021 site plan

Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021 ground floor

Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021 first floor

Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021 section

Bak Gordon, House in Grândola, Monte dos Patos, Grândola, Portugal 2021 south elevation

And it is precisely in the vast Alentejo region, dotted with villages swept by the ocean wind and criss-crossed by endless expanses of fields, that Bak Gordon seems to have best understood and interpreted this message of a strong bond with an ancient and intensely preserved land. A single-family home evokes strong emotional bonds with the landscape, using pure volumes and chromatic choices of materials. Read the full article here.

A house “woven” into Colombia’s rural landscape

Casa Tejida, Santiago Pradilla + Zuloark, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 2021 Photo Federico Cairoli

Casa Tejida, Santiago Pradilla + Zuloark, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 2021 Site Plan

Casa Tejida, Santiago Pradilla + Zuloark, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 2021 Ground floor plan and elevation

Casa Tejida, Santiago Pradilla + Zuloark, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 2021 First floor plan and elevation

Casa Tejida, Santiago Pradilla + Zuloark, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 2021 Plans

Created as a prototype of an ecological home for farmers on coffee plantations in the Cundinamarca region, Casa Tejida is not only physically woven, but also weaves the landscape in which it is rooted. In the municipality of Nocaima, not far from the Colombian capital of Bogotà, lives a rural community along a mountain path that is not easily accessible. Each of the 20 or so families living there has chosen to share the resources they cultivate with the rest of the community. Read the full article here.