Unusual Houses: The Nautilus House

 

The Nautilus House is a residential dwelling in Mexico City that was built in 2006.  I love it.  I want one.

According to one blurb on the house and its design:

The owners are a young couple with two children who, after living in a conventional home, wanted to change to one integrated to nature. The land, with upward topography, is limited to the south, north and east by high buildings. The west adjoining provides a wide view of the mountains. The architects and designers were instructed by the owners that they wanted the house to feel like an internal inhabitant of a snail, like a mollusc moving from one chamber to another, like a symbiotic dweller of a huge fossil maternal cloister. This home 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.

According to another commentary:

Upon entering the Mayorga’s home, one must first pass through the main entrance – a door set inside a large stain glass wall – into the living room where the plant covered floor is separated by long narrow pathways that run alongside an artificial stream. The hole punched doors located in the rear of the main space lead to two small cavernous rooms for the boys, while the master bedroom sweeps across the back of the structure.

The glittering shell-like paint frames the tongue shaped furniture protrusions that grow from the surrounding walls. Each element has been carefully chosen to coincide with the organic theme of the building, and as Senosian [the designer, Javier Senosian – Otto] describes, “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.”

A notable eco-factor of this unconventional home is that it’s constructed of a sprayable ceramic called Grancrete. This material is stronger than concrete, fire resistant and provides good insulation in both hot and cold climates. The spiral shaped design, material and construction methods used to build The Nautilu make it earthquake-friendly and easy to maintain.

This Bio-Architecture reminds us that we too are organic beings, and maybe what we all need is to get a little more down to earth.

http://www.beautifullife.info/urban-design/living-in-a-shell-nautilus-house/#ixzz1s3mw65Xx

The design and sketches:

The constructed house: