The best houses of 2023

We selected the best houses published on Domus during the year: evolutionary, in dialogue with nature and landscape, not only and necessarily built around humans alone.

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Giovanni Comoglio
13 December 2023

We can say that 2023 helped us give content to an expression that would otherwise risk sounding quite vague: evolutionary living. What does it mean? The houses we have selected from those published along 2023 are capable of transforming themselves along time following new needs and stories, they are reuse projects – again, as for the interiors, we are very close the broad concept of renovation – but above all they are projects that establish new dialogues between indoor and outdoor, between human settlement and all the other components of what we call nature: ground, greenery, forests, animals. Boundaries are blurred, and scrolling through the selection the center of the scene shifts more and more from the human to other players: certainly not a complete and closed discourse, it is rather a subject, a realm to be explored more than ever, as we will explore the houses of the coming years.

Argentina: brutalist “resistance” in the mountains

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 Photo Federico Cairoli

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 section in the environment

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 ground floor

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 intermediate floor

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 roof floor

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 cross section

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 longitudinal section

Agustín Berzero, Manuel González Veglia (TECTUM), Casa Taller, La Paisanita, Córdoba, Argentina 2021 axonometric cross section

The house designed by Agustín Berzero and Manuel González Veglia near Córdoba, Argentina, is a manifesto of "resistance" against a concept of immaterial and evanescent architecture as the result of contemporary “liquid” society, to quote Zygmunt Bauman, and of the virtual universe of hyper-technology and hyper-connectivity which increasingly replaces matter with image, the object with its representation. Read more

A house set among houses in Lisbon

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 Photo Francisco Nogueira

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 sitye plan

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 ground floor

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 first floor

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 second floor

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 basement

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 cross section

Bak Gordon Arquitectos, House in Rua São Francisco De Borja, Lisbon, Portugal 2023 longitudinal section

An intervention in the consolidated urban fabric fits gracefully into the context without renouncing its strong connotation, thanks to material erosions and playful reflections. Read more

... and a house set in the grounds of a forest in Slovakia

Studený architects, house in Pernek, Slovakia 2022 Photo Alex Shoots Buildings

Studený architects, casa a Pernek, Pernek, Slovakia 2022 site plan

Studený architects, casa a Pernek, Pernek, Slovakia 2022 ground floor

Studený architects, casa a Pernek, Pernek, Slovakia 2022 first floor

Studený architects, casa a Pernek, Pernek, Slovakia 2022 cross section

Studený architects, casa a Pernek, Pernek, Slovakia 2022 longitudinal section

Studený architects, casa a Pernek, Pernek, Slovakia 2022 east elevation

The house set in the ground generously opens up towards the natural landscape, framed as the undisputed protagonist of the scene. Read more

A house in between archeology and the Canadian landscape

Omer Arbel Office, 75.9 House, Vancouver Photo © Fahim Kassam, courtesy of Bocci

Omer Arbel Office, 75.9 House, Vancouver Ground floor plan

Omer Arbel Office, 75.9 House, Vancouver First floor plan

Omer Arbel Office, 75.9 House, Vancouver Overview section

Omer Arbel Office, 75.9 House, Vancouver Section 1:20

“Overall, I think 75.9 was designed after my studio understood its mission, which is to seek form in the ways we manipulate materials.” This is how Omer Arbel comments on his latest creation: an architectural marvel nestled within a picturesque hay field in northwestern Canada, not far from Vancouver. Read more

A garden-home in Ecuador

Al Borde, Casa-jardín, Conocoto, Equador 2020. Photo JAG Studio Photo JAG Studio

Al Borde, Casa-jardín, Conocoto, Equador 2020. Photo JAG Studio Al Borde, Casa-jardín, Conocoto, Equador 2020.

Project drawing

Al Borde, Casa-jardín, Conocoto, Equador 2020. Project drawing

Al Borde, Casa-jardín, Conocoto, Equador 2020. Construction phase. Photo Al Borde

The Ecuadorian studio Al Borde has designed the house for a client who has studied ecology as an ecosystem envisioning a new relationship between man and nature. The dwelling's water closet and bathing area are located in two volumes independent from the main body, turning the external garden into the circulation space. Read more

An “imperfect” house in Bangkok

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 Photo Spaceshift Studio

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 first floor plan

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 second floor plan

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 third floor plan

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 mezzanine floor plan

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 roof plan

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 front elevation

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 elevations

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 back elevation

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 section A-A

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 section B-B

Bangkok Project Studio, Back of the House, Bangkok, Thailand 2023 sections C-C and D-D

Architect Boonserm Premthada has designed a manifesto house for his family, relying on the inevitable ‘human error’ as an implicit requirement of any artistic expression. Read more

Full-height vertical volumes for a brick house in Catalonia

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 Photo Adrià Goula

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 SIte plan.

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 Ground floor plan.

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 Plans.

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 Section.

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 Sections.

Harquitectes, Casa 1721, Granollers, Spain, 2021 Elevations.

The single-family house in Granollers, Catalonia, totally renovated by Harquitectes is nestled between two buildings facing the street. The structure, with its facade characterised by red bricks, is 14 metres both in height and depth. The renovated building is taller than the original one, to let in more light – the layout of the houses in the neighbourhood obstructed its entrance – and makes the most of the available space, within the limits of the area’s urban planning regulations. Read more

An Australian house where technical solutions becomes aesthetic design

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022. Project drawing.

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022. Project drawing.

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022. Project drawing.

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Office MI—JI, AB House, Barwon Heads, Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, Australia, 2022

Photo Ben Hosking

Close to the city of Melbourne, studio MI-JI has completed the design for a home in which the use of material and the arrangement of volumes generate unexpected relationships in the domestic space. Situated in a flooding area, AB House is detached from the ground, defining a relationship of lightness, constructing a series of raised platforms that mediate between outdoor and indoor space. Read more

A villa by Mecanoo that becomes a design object immersed in the Dutch landscape

Mecanoo, Villa BW, Schoorl, The Netherlands 2022. Photo Ossip Architectuurfotografie

Mecanoo, Villa BW, Schoorl, The Netherlands 2022. Project drawing.

Mecanoo, Villa BW, Schoorl, The Netherlands 2022. Construction phases.

Mecanoo studio has recently completed Villa BW, a house built in the rolling countryside that characterizes the Dutch polders. This unstable landscape, which alternates dunes, water basins, and woodlands, and is characterized by a particular game of light, shadow, and reflections, is reinterpreted in the development of the cladding. Read more

A grid of concrete columns as a matrix for an ever-evolving house in Argentina

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Plan.

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Plan.

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Scheme.

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Section.

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

Iñaki Harosteguy, House with Columns, Buenos Aires, 2022

Photo Javier Agustín Rojas

The house designed by Iñaki Harosteguy of Supra Order & Hargar studio is located in Villa Elisa, Buenos Aires. House with Columns seems to be the result of a game in which multiple configurations can be tested while still ensuring the logical order of a structural matrix. Read more

A cottage rising from the ruins in Ireland

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Irlanda 2022. Foto Peter Molloy Photo by Peter Molloy

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 site plan

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 ground floor - existing

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 ground floor - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 cross section a-a - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 cross section b-b - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 longitudinal section - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 north east elevation - existing

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Irlanda 2022. Foto Peter Molloy north east elevation - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 north west elevation - existing

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 north west elevation - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 south east elevation - existing

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 south east elevation - proposed

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 south west elevation - existing

Pasparakis Friel, Saltpans Cottage, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, Ireland 2022 south west elevation - proposed

A scrupulous and delicate restoration pays homage to the vernacular architecture and the chromatic and material characteristics of the Irish landscape. Read more

Reshaping the 80s through pure geometries: a house in the Netherlands

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam, AB House roof detail

Photo Lorenzo Zandri

Space Encounters Amsterdam renovated and transformed a 1980s house in Broek op Langedijk, the Netherlands. Until land consolidation in the early 1970s, the villages near the dam, were divided into hundreds of small islands accessible only by boat. Some of these have over time become nature reserves while some have taken on a residential character by housing buildings characterised mainly by sloping roofs. Read more