As human beings, we have very powerful, yet still limited, tools to make sense of our surroundings, and the image of a house in the woods is quite indicative in this regard: inhabiting a forest might seem like an artificial act, starting from a constructed shelter. The forest, on the other hand, is a place of dwelling par excellence, since it has existed, a home before houses were invented.
We can look at the houses that human beings build in such environments more as tools for understanding their relationship with nature than as shelters or protections. It is possible to go beyond Marc-Antoine Laugier and his primitive hut – it was 1753 – which has now been transformed from an encyclopedic archetype into the all-contemporary trend of the cabin-in-the-woods, and to discover architectures that are real devices for welcoming nature far beyond the cliché of watching the greenery, devices to access a deeper comprehension of a whole world.
"I gained a profound respect for the wilderness and nature and the benign dark power of woods. I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world” wrote Bill Bryson, in a glade of open introspection punctuating the thicket of fierce ironies with which he rediscovered late-millennium United States (the book is A Walk in the Woods).

We have selected, from among the architectures we recently featured, those that most effectively embody the profound and multiple dimensions of living in the forest: contemplative, explorative, protective at times, designed for earthly or spiritual life, rooted in the ground or raised in the treetops, in the canopy where to share the life of other living beings.

Mork-Ulnes Architects embarked on a quest for the language of domestic warmth in a small guesthouse blending flexibility, functionality and sustainability of construction. Read more

In the woods of Mount Rokko, the renovation of a historic villa with five new cottages offers the opportunity to lodge, work or simply contemplate nature, decanting the pace of a not-far-away metropolitan life. Read more

The Chinese studio Wiki World has developed a profoundly place-based conception of architecture, in the belief that the future of living lies in a cooperative society and in bringing man closer to nature. Starting with the first housing projects in rural areas, for years the studio has adopted practices of co-design and co-construction with users not only to satisfy housing needs but also to stimulate collective intelligence, developing a community’s ability to solve problems through collaboration and the sharing of knowledge: processes in which building becomes a playful and involving experience, a game to learn and repeat, in a social rituality from which a cohesive and competent community emerges. Read more

A holiday home designed by PAT. on an equatorial island redefines the concept of luxury by interpreting it in terms of simplicity, functionality and minimal environmental impact, following in the footsteps of Pierre Koenig. Read more

In the Sierras de Córdoba, an exposed concrete house embodies the best of brutalist legacy, amidst skinny masses and forthright materials, seeking an ethic of authenticity and an intimate dialogue with the landscape. Read more

Immersed in nature, Casa Monóculo is a holiday retreat hidden among the trees, designed by Brazilian architecture studio Alan Chu. Located in the Eldorado district, an urban expansion of the city of Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Brazil, the project establishes a symbiotic kin with the green landscape of a protected natural area. Read more