Five homes designed for sustainable living

A classic example of an eco-sustainable project is the Casa de Monte, designed by the TACO firm - Taller de Arquitectura Contextual. It’s a beautiful mansion situated in one of Mexico's endless landscapes, the Nuevo León region. The house looks like a living organism that merges with the surrounding land. Only local materials such as stone and wood were used to build it, while the design was conceived to optimize energy efficiency. Thanks to its unique location, the mansion enjoys boundless views of the surrounding mountains, and the layout of the interior spaces allows for the best use of natural light. Composed of a series of interconnected volumes that house the living spaces, and a large central patio – a common space that links the rooms – nothing is left to chance at Casa de Monte. In fact, the dwelling is equipped with a rainwater collection system, which is stored in underground reservoirs for use in times of drought.

In upstate New York, shaded by the trees of the Catskill Forest, there’s a 210-square-meter single-family home designed by renowned architect Steven Holl. The dwelling is called T2 Reserve and features a design conceived to blend in with the surrounding landscape thanks both to its shape and the materials used. A conceptual reworking of medieval tower-houses, T2 Reserve is a kind of container home composed of separate pavilions, each with different shapes and sizes that fit harmoniously with the rock formations and vegetation in the area. One of the highlights of this project is sustainability. In fact, the house is equipped with eco-friendly solutions such as geothermal heating and cooling, solar panels, and rainwater collection, all incorporated into the design to maximize the use of natural resources. Steven Holl's T2 Reserve demonstrates that attention to sustainability need not be sacrificed in the name of design. Rather, it can be incorporated into design without compromising style.

Projects like these show how sustainability and design can be combined with the use of environmentally sustainable materials and techniques, creating living spaces that are as elegant as they are eco-friendly. Whether it's a forest retreat or a house built from recycled materials, choosing solutions such as energy-efficient systems or preferring durable siding such as ceramic tiles can make all the difference in designing a home conceived to consume little and last a long time.