I came across this gorgeous design for a vacation home in northern Portugal this morning, and was absolutely inspired by its display of creativity, efficiency and relative affordability:
The structure, designed by architect Alvaro Leite Size Vieira, is certainly luxurious, with three bedrooms, a small outdoor pool and other amenities. But it also works in harmony with the natural environment, not only aesthetically – reflecting the curve and grade of the hillside – but also practically, optimizing access to natural sunlight with south-facing orientation, and benefiting from natural cooling resulting from its position within the ground.
But as far as luxury homes go, it's not completely inaccessible: According to the bloggers at New York WTF, the house was built for the equivalent of $150,000 U.S. dollars.
It's this kind of thinking that gives me hope for an end to a culture that is quite nearly its opposite:
Photo credit: Casa Tolo photos by Fernando Guerra.
Thanks to our friends at Slow Home for sharing the McMansion video with us!
