Home is symbolic of lifestyle, the personality of its residents, as well the era in which it was built. For the very same reasons, people have started to take interest in consciously making choices about their modern homes, and their needs are efficiently met through the use of concrete as a building material. Concrete being a homogenous mixture of heterogeneous materials is capable of taking any form and shape with a remarkable performance under both compressive as well as tensile forces.
1. Ha Long Villa, Vietnam | Modern concrete homes
This Villa, designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, is a perfect example of how the muted color palette of exposed concrete can be easily rejuvenated with the use of trees as an element used for both aesthetics and enhancement of the spaces within.
The huge rectangular openings on the concrete façade of Ha Long Villa, with trees growing out of them, give the residents an experience similar to that of living with nature.
2. Casa Castaños, Argentina | Concrete Houses
This concrete abode was designed by architects María Belén García Bottazzini and Ekaterina Künzel as Belén’s home. Casa Castaños is situated in a gated residential community and it comprises a two-story concrete structure that resembles a box supported by stilts. Any architect would easily place this house as a fine example of the Brutalist style of architecture, wherein the materials are allowed to speak for themselves.
3. Residence 1065, Chandigarh, India
Residence 1065 is a home designed for a family of three generations – the children, their parents, and their grandparents. Located in Sector 27 of the Indian city of Chandigarh, this house is a remarkable reimagination of Le Corbusier’s way of designing.
Designed by architecture studio Charged Voids, this concrete house is representative of what the word ‘Modern’ meant to Corbusier as well as the image of the city itself.
4. House Within, Panchkula, India
With its bold horizontal and vertical lines, this house is a reflection of how concrete came to be the face of Brutalist architecture around the world. Concrete, as a material, renders a rustic feel to the front façade and envelopes the volumes interlinked with each other.
This 3130 sq ft house was designed by Arch.Lab is an amalgamation of play with planes in wood and volumes in concrete. It stands for a minimalistic approach in designing homes.
5. The Diary House, Vietnam | Modern concrete homes
This 270 sqm house designed by DA VÁNG studio consists of a long narrow rectangular mass that has been carved out to let in light and air in various places within its roof. The walls and floors are built out of concrete with plaster and tile finish respectively.
The concept was to create a series of different spaces resembling the different experiences of life captured in the pages of a diary.
6. Towers Road House, Melbourne
Concrete often sparks an image of a lifeless grey stone carved into spaces, but this project paints a completely different picture. This residence, designed by Australian architecture studio Wood Marsh, is home to galleries featuring the resident’s art collection.
With its curved walls defining the ensemble of an organic inhabitation and green spaces to envelop it from all sides the Towers Road House, set in the suburbs of Melbourne, stands high and proud of how even the most inanimate material can give rise to a picturesque abode.
7. Casa Povo, Portugal | Concrete Houses
The Casa Povo is a concrete house built in an angular form inspired by the caves found in its Portuguese surrounding landscapes. This three-bedroom house was designed to blend into the rugged landscape it is surrounded by with pine trees and sloping contours.
The project is an image of serenity and peace during dusk and dawn with the pigmented hues of sunlight playing off the exposed concrete facades.
8. Concrete House, Sussex, Southern England
Designed by an office Raw Architecture Workshop for a young family, this Concrete House is a humble dwelling with interiors exhibiting warmth in the types of spaces, the palette of furniture used, and the specks of greens here and there. The site is lined with trees and this creates a natural buffer between the house and the streets.
This modern monolith of a house looks like cubes and cuboids stacked one after another with a strip of water body extending from within to balance the built and the unbuilt.
9. VDC – Modular Housing, Portugal
These prefabricated concrete houses, designed by Architecture studio Summary, define minimalism in concrete. VDC consists of six independent cabin style concrete houses, staggered horizontally, opening up to a communal terrace also built out of concrete. It represents minimalism in material as well as design.
Minimalism and the concept of ‘less is more’ represent the modern style of designing on an international level and this project symbolizes the same.
10. Shaded Rooftop House, Seoul | Modern concrete homes
BCHO Architects crafted this design keeping in mind a sheltered outdoor living space for the occupants to enjoy. The three storeys built-in concrete makes the structure look bulky, but this is cleverly balanced out by the elevated and perforated gable roof. This also makes room for an outdoor space that is naturally lit and equally protected.
The house sits ahead of a hillside and stands out from the natural backdrop with its stark white-colored facades.
