If you think roofs are just basic covering and protection from weather and extreme climate condition, well think again. If you think decorating the house is limited to the interiors and landscapes, then you haven’t seen these amazing photos yet. Going over the top couldn’t be as literal as these roofing designs!
Brazilian Leaf Roof
Outside of Rio de Janeiro, on a beautiful little beach with amazing blue water, sits a little house with a flowering roof that shades and protects like a big tropical banana leaf. Designed by Mareines + Patalano, the open air abode is meant to encourage interaction and connection between man and nature. With verandas and open spaces in between rooms and no corridors, the tropical beach house is an ideal place for social gatherings and parties. The open layout also takes advantage of trade winds that blow in from the sea, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling.
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word “tongkonan” comes from the Torajan tongkon (“to sit”). Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life.
Casa Batlló Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain
{All images courtesy of http://www.oddee.com}
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