Have you ever thought how it would be like to live in a bunker or an underground tunnel? Well, today we bring you the upgraded version of that, which is an all-equipped underground home. Situated in the Swiss village of Vals, deep in the mountains, the house is very hard to spot, which makes for a perfect gateway. The unusual architecture plan comes from SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects, and includes all the facilities a common house has, such as a guest room, an entertainment area, but also “specialized” interiors like an underground pathway. The entrance is a wide oval opening that you are driven to by some traditional stairs made in stone. Large windows make it noticeable and draw attention to the inside décors- that is when the people living there are up for some company.
- Posted in Architecture, Best Of
-
By Lavinia
Twitter
Facebook
RSS
This truly is a marvelous example of contemporary architecture.
So weird! I wonder if it is more energy efficient than a similar house.
This house is astounding. All of the details of the interior and exterior really make this an exciting piece of architecture.
Absolutely stunning images and great interior designs, thanks for sharing.
I think it is a very interesting concept still it is an architect’s house, not one you would like to live in every day. It simply isn’t practical. I.e. the stairs to the basement, it has no protection. If you have kids they could fall down and get hurt, if you are old you don’t have anything to hold on to, you wouldn’t be able to go up or down the stairs. In addition since the house has a lot of floors it is not practical to live in, having to go up and down all day long. Another example are the two beds, one above the other. How do you climb to the upper bed? There are no stairs in the picture. It looks nice, but is it practical? You can find a lot more similar issues. Still, congratulations for the concept. I would build the house in another neighborhood though, it seems a bit weird within the remaining houses.
it’s so incredible,
the design concept is so excellent.
Full of daylight, big window!
I wish I could live in such a nice house some day!
i like this house. it’s so unusual. It’s splendid!!!
its damn hard make a decision to invest money in something like that … you know. … all money you will ever make in youre live, everything into THIS instead of big classic house …
Like the concept, but they made some horrid design choices: the satellite dishes, the stoneplate stair, the cardboard(?) church ceiling, the clothes hanger above the bathtub. Also, right underneath the bathroom pic, where does that wooden roof come from?
I’d like to build my own Hobbit-hole one day. To see one in real life, through these pictures shown, is simply awesome.
In addition to Jose Domingues’s comment,
what about water run-off..
I know here in Appalachia, U.S. on hillsides you have to worry about natural springs a lot when building..
wouldn’t rain pour off the hillside onto the porch and, eventually, flood the house?
really earthy interior n exterior design, absolutely stunning. cant pull my eyes away it must have took a freaking number of calculations for this to stand so magnificently..!
I have always thought, living underground would become a normal means of survival in the future. Great house!
how to built this i like to have the same
This is a truly magnificent design!! Eco-friendly and stylish…. How many millions did it cost?
What happens after a heavy rain?
I don’t see any protection against the slightest flood to come from higher ground.
it is awsome buliding but what about when it snows or rains? does it work out on certain weather condition?
Amazing design and concept. I wish that these kinds of houses were more widely available….
Awesome house design
ooh,you lucky bastards.
Looks like the furnitures are from Ikea.
Aloha. Excellent design concept, nominal exterior maintenance, augmented by local culture. I can enjoy living in a residence a like this. Not clear is the life safety program considered i.e. exiting, fire/smoke issues, etc. Mahalo for sharing.12-18-09
It reminded me of Matmata city in North Africa. Natural way to keep the house warm in winter and cold in summer.
Not a new idea but very corageous to perform.
Is this healthy house!!!
Oh my Gosh, the architecture is so incredibly awesome.
Great concept, although i have serious doubts in case of floods or heavy rains.
Unless it has an excelent water drain system, it will flood faster than a bucket.
I’d like to build my own Hobbit-hole one day. To see one in real life, through these pictures shown, is simply awesome.
I almost built an underground house once. Wish I would have. This is awesome!
Raw concrete walls and ceilings kills it for me. Wood paneling would be much nicer.
I generally dislike leaving negative coments but – What a heap of crap. Brushed concrete walls, underground. Who wants to live in that? A little rendering might make it a little less soleless.
wow , this is really great !Recently my friend recommand me a cool place where i can meet some rich and famous people
,If you are looking for a wealthy lifestyle or looking for a business partner, maybe you should check it out,you don’t have to be a millionaire.but you can meet one.I think everyone need to meet some miracle====M e e t M i l l i o n a i r e . c om ===== ,Good Luck!!!
that’s pretty cool – this would be a great place for anyone who doesn’t have family baggage
Very well done! I lived in Montreux, Switzerland for a year. But nothing compared to this!
Looks like there may be more than one ‘building’ in the design. Very nice pictures and space, but a floorplan would be very helpful to better understand spacial relationships (though I know they are not always available)
Also, if some random person on the internet can think of potential problems, don’t you think trained architects, engineers and builders would catch them and provide a workaround or alternate design? If I were building this as my own home, I know I would be concerned as well. And I wouldn’t let any construction start until there were very clear and practical plans to deal with any obvious issues (and would trust the professionals to deal with the not so obvious issues).
I love the idea of an underground house. I don’t like the unfinished concrete in this one though. I’m sure the house is high enough in the mountains that water drainage isn’t a problem
Enjoy.
This was incredible! Thanks for sharing pics of this home!
The bare concrete looks very falloutish.. Nice.
But the rest of it looks, like it was designed by a group of renegade queers…
I also wonder, if that half egg front yard would turn in to a swimmingpool, if it rained too much..
the concept is nice but im worried about landslide… you’ll be buried alive
can you built swiming poll from the family but when it rain its bad !!
I’m familiar to this house
the TeleTubbies live there
Tinky Winky. LaLa. Po and Dipsey
I think what they’ve achieved for a ‘hole-in-the ground’ is incredibly beautiful, despite the grey walls.
Courageous, innovative, inspiring. So unusual to have multiple story underground rather than the usual one story, and the resulting dialog between the interior and exterior of the single vertical facade is dynamic. Thank you for the effort and the extensive documentation. Appears to be very accommodating for underground life.
Really amazing pictures. I would like to spend a weekend in a house like this.
I think the concept is awesome, there are definitely features of this place that I would adopt.
Those pictures are so mouth watering.
Very good article. Fantastic article. Thanks for sharing
I am truky speechless….
Breathtaking.Perfect.Future.
ilovemyhusband<3
It’s certainly very different, even from existing Underground / Earth Sheltered houses, on my Yahoo Group we have a VERY large collection of Photos and Links to Underground / ES houses, etc. if some of you are interested?
Yours Jon.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UndergroundHouse/
frumoasa casa.felictari arhitectului
Interesting and informative. But will you write about this one more?