Weird and Wonderful Buildings Part 3 The Nautilus House
The Nautilus House in Mexico is a remarkable blend of artistic experimentation and simplified living. It was designed by Javier Senosiain of Arquitectura Organica.
Inspired by the work of Gaudí and Frank Lloyd Wright, the Nautilus House is is another example of Senosiain calls “Bio-Architecture”. This is the theory that buildings based on the principles of organic forms bring us back to local history, tradition and cultural roots, thus creating harmony with nature.
Bio-Architecture blends nature and design. It reminds us that we are also organic beings.
The house has a smooth facade with a large wall of coloured mosaics which light up the interior with an amazing rainbow effect.
Entering the house through a door in the giant glass wall you walk into a living room where the plant covered floor is separated by long narrow pathways alongside an artificial stream.
“This home’s social life flows inside The Nautilus without any division, a harmonic area in three dimensions where you can notice the continuous dynamic of the fourth dimension when moving in spiral over the stairs with a feeling of floating over the vegetation.” Javier Senosiain
Javier Senosiain wanted to make the home’s inhabitants feel ‘like a mollusc moving from one chamber to another, like a symbiotic dweller of a huge fossil maternal cloister.’
The Nautilus House is constructed of a steel frame covered in a sprayable ceramic called Grancrete. This material is stronger than concrete, provides good insulation in both hot and cold climates and is fire resistant. The spiral shaped design and construction materials make the house easy to maintain and earthquake proof.
The house was built using a technique called ferrocement construction. A steel frame is coated with concrete allowing for rounded natural curves. Inside the house is full of spirals and organically shaped rooms that imitate the concave chambers you would see inside a mollusc shell.
The Nautilus House is very unusual, innovative and audacious.
Images courtesy of Arquitectura Organica/Javier Senosiain
I love Architecture. I think it’s vital to talk about all aspects of Architecture — whether it be planning, construction, design or green building. I have written 3 E-Books & over 110 articles. Please feel free to let me know if you have any queries regarding architecture, planning & construction & I will assist you.
I am originally from the UK and moved to South Africa in 1999. I started Blue Designs in 2004 after working as a driver for Avalon Construction on a luxury home in the Featherbrook Estate. In my spare time I am an artist and writer (The Naked Architect).
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https://medium.com/@clairecardwell/green-buildings-are-healthier-5ed1471344b2
Sources :-
https://inhabitat.com/the-nautilus-giant-snail-shaped-home-fit-for-a-family/
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