Crook Cup Bow Twist House by Schwartz and Architecture, USA

The home is respectful to the surrounding land, featuring wood fittings, stone flooring and raw concrete throughout

The architects took cues from the wildness of the site, engaging with the land's natural formations and incorporating them into the house's orientation and organisation, offering sweeping views of the countryside from every room

The open plan living spaces lead out onto a decked terrace

The bedrooms are modestly decorated, with muted materials and colour palettes helping them blend into the wild

A bathroom, featuring contemporary fixtures, with a view to the hills and beyond

The entrance to the home features plenty of cleverly integrated storage space

Each part of the house is connected visually by generously sized windows

The house was arranged within two distinct, long and narrow volumes that follow the land's contours and are linked by an outdoor pool area. Embracing the site's original flora, Eucalyptus tree wood was used for the construction of the house's key external feature: the southwest-facing solar screen

The result is an impressive element that protects from the sun and at the same time pays homage to the role the site's natural elements had in the design. The striated wood cleverly personifies the area's character, while it crooks, cups, bows and twists, evolving over time as the timber ages

This striated pattern is echoed in architectural details around the home, such as in this slitted concrete bathroom wall, which allows natural light to filter in, while offering privacy