The one-room, steel-and-glass house designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe that has been called one of the most important works of 20th century architecture. Located in a beautiful meadow on the banks of the Fox River two miles south of Plano, the Farnsworth House has been called “sculptural” in its simplicity and a masterpiece of design. Mies’ temple-like pavilion both invites and challenges visitors. Its unsurpassed views through transparent walls will cause you to consider anew how a man-made object best relates to nature. It’s not like any house you have ever been in. The Farnsworth House is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated as a house museum by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. Transcending any traditional domestic function or program, the importance of the house lies rather in the absolute purity and consistency of its architectural idea. You can see more pictures, and find more about the Farnsworth House from their website.

Designed by Scott Specht studio architecture Spect Harpman Architects, the “Zero House” is a prefabricated house of 200 square meters totally autonomous and environmentally friendly. The roof is made of solar panels that provides electricity so you don’t have to worry about electricity and the power is then stored in a battery backup. Once completely charged, the home can run efficiently for one week without a hint of sunlight. The roof and also includes a tank of rainwater harvesting over 10 cubic meters. The ground floor when it is equipped with a unit of waste composting. The rest of the house features energy saving design strategies including ample daylighting (led lights are used for artificial light requirements), incredibly energy efficient wall assemblies (r-58 in fact), triple glazed windows, and a compact design (reducing overall energy requirements). Initial studies indicate that the home will sell for around $350,000. - Via - Treehugger & Materialicio

In an article published in the NY Times I’ve found some pictures of the ‘A Crowded Family Enters the Space Age’, conducted by Neil Denari expansion in Los Angeles. The house looks very modern, and simple, but the ony thing I don’t understand at these homes is …”Where is the privacy ?“. I don’t know how someone could live in a house where everybody at any moment can see your everything you do. Maybe someone can give me a clue.

Villa Bio is a really interesting house project that caught my attention. This project was created by architect Enric Ruiz-Geli. Usually most homes impress us with beautiful interior design, furnishings and all kind of high tech gadgets. In this case I was impressed by a thing that usually is not designed to impress …the ROOF. If you would like to find more info about this project you can go here (spanish ) .

Today you’ll see a great example of what a woman did with a small piece of land without any “architectural” help: 2 rooms, kitchen, 3 bedrooms with washrooms and a veranda! This narrow house belongs to the lady in yellow - Helenita Queiroz Grave Minho , designed by her. She live in this 1 meter wide by 10 meter tall house in Madre de Deus, Brazil. At first, the municipality refused, but in the end with the plan allowed the construction, that became a touristic spot of the small town of 12 thousand people. I think that this project is a very unique idea and something like this could be designed in big cities where the space is really a problem, but to live daily in a house like this would be exhausting. - Via - Ahboon