Settle into the Ground

Source: Juan Solano archdaily.com

Volumes With Gender, Carlos, Ecuador designed by Longhi Architects

The house is composed of three volumes separated by open spaces that allow natural light and cross ventilation for all private spaces while providing common vertical and horizontal circulations articulated by cast in place sculptural elements that pretend conversations with the sun during different times of the day. -- ArchDaily

Source: Kodiak Greenwood archdaily.com

House Ocho, Carmel, California, USA, 2004 designed by Feldman Architecture

In order to reduce the impact of the home’s massing and to preserve site lines, the building settles into the ground and overhanging roofs are planted with tall native grasses. The house is also divided up into a series of pavilions to lessen its overall mass. -- ArchDaily

Source; Barbosae Benigno archdaily.com

House Foz do Arelho, Obidos Lagoon, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, 2009 designed by Alexandre Burmester Arquitectos Associados

The house takes part of the sloping ground, developing in accordance with the local topography. Several volumes oriented to the sun and to the views. A part with access to the highest level, other semi-buried is linked by a common circulation, and both with communication with the ground. -- ArchDaily

Source: Sama Jim Canzian archdaily.com

Whistler Residence, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, 2010 designed by BattersbyHowat Architects

Situated in a prominent site, the visual mass of the structure was diminished by making a substantial portion of the house appear to be below grade through the strategic removal of bedrock, and by the extension of the living room terrace over the garage. An upper courtyard deck area was also carved in to the massing to gather light centrally into the house. The result is a home that looks deceptively modest in relation to the neighboring properties. -- ArchDaily

Source: David Wakely Photography archdaily.com

Kentfield Hillside Residence, Kentfield, California, USA, 2010 designed by Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects

The house is tucked under the living roof, which visually merges the house with the land. Growing out of the hillside, the roof is carved away to form a protected courtyard for the pool. Three volumes housing the living room, kitchen-dining area, and master bedroom rise up above the living roof with shed roofs angled to capture the sun for photovoltaic and solar hot water panels. -- ArchDaily

Source: Adam Letch archdaily.com

Nettleton 198, Clifton, Cape Town, South Africa, 2011 designed by SAOTA

....a six-bedroom, seven-level home that makes the most of the site, the views and the mountain. The site enjoys spectacular views, both of the sea and Lions Head and these views and the impact of the sun were key informants contributing to the overall design. The sun being both a defining and also harsh influence on the property inspired the choice of screens, shutters and louvres that give the lower levels its distinctive gravitas. The living room can open up onto the west and the east completely, giving it the feeling of an open pavilion. -- ArchDaily

Source: Patricia Hernández archdaily.com

The Forest Pavilion, Mazamitla, Jalisco, Mexico, 2011 designed by Espacio EMA

From the outside, the pavilion looks like a small glass box of 9 x 5 meters, which sits on the top of a 10 meters high rock and disappears beneath a roof garden, buried under the natural slope of the land as if it was a cave. The pavilion blends seamlessly with the site, establishing a direct relationship with the timber “box” of the existing house. -- ArchDaily

Source: Lischer Partner Architekten Planer archdaily.com

Urban Villas, Lucerne, Switzerland, 2012 designed by Lischer Partner Architekten Planer

Because buildings may only be on one level of the terrain, the buildings have surprisingly simple forms. The houses are built of solid yellow Jurassic limestone. The roof is covered with plates of the same material. This natural stone emerged about 150 million years ago as a lagoon sediment; its use underscores how the townhouses are in close dialogue with the historic fabric of their environment. -- ArchDaily

Source: José Maria Oliveira archdaily.com

N2X035 House, Azores, Portugal, 2012 designed by N2X Arquitectos

This project is located on a plot of land of some interest in a place called Lugar da Ribeira da Praia. We started from an unusual context, as this plot housed some ruins at a higher location, naturally kept apart from the surrounding lower agglomerate with which it apparently dialogues and which we then designated as “village”.  The project’s idea is to “fill” the physical emptiness existing in these ruins by constructing two related modules that overlap each other and are similar to one another material-wise, but that differ in their limits, making evident the construction principle based on the loose and mismatched stone of the ruins and its surrounding walls. -- ArchDaily

Source: Koichi Torimura archdaily.com

House in Raizan-Forest, Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, 2012 designed by Rhythmdesign 

The site has over 14meters difference of elevation, and is the only one which remains original terrain. The house was built as if stairs bridge over the hill. We aimed to keep original landscape of the site as much as we could. -- ArchDaily

Source: Ed White archdaily.com

Lefebvre-Smyth Residence, Kaleden, BC, Canada, 2012 designed by CEI Architecture

Due to the steep sloping site, the building footprint was minimized in order to reduce complex foundation construction. The majority of living space is placed on a second floor cantilevering over the steep gorge of the property. -- ArchDaily

Source: Phoebe Giannisi & Kotionis Zissis archdaily.com

Summer House in Naxos, Paros, Greece, 2012 designed by Phoebe Giannisi & Kotionis Zissis

The building rests on the sloping ground building scalable two bars. One houses the public and other private areas (bedrooms, bathrooms). The interface is organized outdoor area with swimming pool, which is the center of summer life on an island. -- ArchDaily

Source: Aytac Architects archdaily.com

Hebil 157 Houses, Bodrum, Turkey, 2012 designed by Aytac Architects

Hebil 157 Houses is a manifestation of this idea. Five unique villas are spread over five acres overlooking the tranquil panorama of Hebil Bay. Each villa is positioned strategically. All equally benefit from vast and wonderful views of the bay as they interact with the surrounding Aegean landscape, and the Mediterranean Breeze. -- ArchDaily

Source: Imeh Akpanudosen archdaily.com

MUL:7691, Los Angeles, California, USA designed by VOID Inc.

Situated on steep incline, the design meets the challenges of the terrain and physical constraints of its L-shaped lot, presenting an optimal solution to a unique set of conditions. Its sunken nature not only guards against the harsh western sun, but also serves to maximize energy efficiency. As a result, the house seems to gently cascades down the hillside, allowing each level to have an unobstructed panoramic view of the landscape. -- ArchDaily

Source: Eduardo Abreu archdaily.com

RD House, Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, 2013 designed by VASHO

Burying the house is proposed as a visual action. Hiding the overall volume of the work to the existing natural geography to cushion the impact of the volume to the eye upon arrival, being conscientious of the paradisiacal surroundings, but always seeking to make the natural surroundings appear from the interior before the user: “Disappear to make appear”. -- ArchDaily

Source: John J. Macaulay archdaily.com

Topo House, Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, USA, 2013 designed by Johnsen Schmaling Architects

Based on early conceptual studies interpreting the site’s distinct topography as a series of folded parallel planes, the house forms a low-slung, partially submerged building volume with a meticulously detailed copper roof plane that slowly peels itself up from the ground and extends the adjacent fields as a green carpet over the lower portion of the house. -- ArchDaily

Source: José Ramón Oller archdaily.com

House on a hillside, Mesa Mota, 38206, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, 2013 designed by Virgilio Gutiérrez Herreros

The project investigates the typology of the single family home, the construction of landscape in the margins, the relationship between object and nature -- ArchDaily

Source: Haruo Mikami archdaily.com

Torreão House, Brasilia – Federal District, Brazil, 2014 designed by Bloco Arquitetos

The roof garden works as an extension of the backyard, an observation platform open to all sides. It provides thermal insulation during the whole year and reinforces the visual continuity between the street, the house and the native vegetation. -- ArchDaily