This unusually shaped house is meant to become one with nature, both from a shape and function point of view. Designed by Russian architect AN RO, this 3-storey building takes the organic shape of an insect, more specifically that of a grasshopper. The building is made of various layers which seem to hold together thanks to the side wooden articulated arms that mimic the legs of a grasshopper. The first level is a concrete box, which constitutes the foundation of the house. On top of this box there is a wooden slab that cantilevers on all sides of the box, and that meets the slope creating a bridge for the main entrance. Another box is placed on this slab, this time made in wood and glass. This box is the living area of the house, with kitchen, dining and living spaces. The box doesn’t occupy the whole surface of the wooden base slab, creating terraces at the front and at the back, and passages of the two lateral sides which makes circulation possible all around the box. The same scenario is repeated on the second floor, with a cantilevering wooden slab and a wood and glass box. This second box serves as the night side of the house, where we find bedrooms and bathrooms. Though the size of the boxes is identical, that of the wooden base is smaller, as it has to make room for the sloping roof.
The steep roof is covered partly with solar panels that create enough energy for the house to be independent. Under the highest side of the roof there is the “engine” that keeps the house running. This big cylinder stores the energy and then distributes whenever and wherever necessary throughout the house.
As if the house had been built around it, a tall tree pierces through all the floors and out through the roof. The house has thus a minimum impact on the natural site, integrating it into its structure.
