formzero's window house is a concrete shell with multiple openings

located next to a reserved forest in kuala lumpur, architectural practice FORMZERO’s ‘window house’ explores the relationship between inside and outside through the shape of the architecture. the project makes the most of the surrounding nature without sacrificing the building’s space, challenging the architects with taming the landscape whilst accommodating the monumental structure.

the house is wrapped in an additional layer of perforated concrete which appears like a shell. apart from serving as a thermal protection with cross ventilation, the shell is the first layer to control the privacy. between the house and the concrete wall, the landscape is inserted in order to create an ambiguous condition which makes the landscape to be an indoor space.

FORMZERO’s house has a telescopic form — it is tapered at the front, widened towards the forest in both plan and section, creating a giant window frame to look out to the forest. at the same time, the tapered front facade is projected to the street that creates a more human-scale house.

rooms with different functions deserve different windows: to create specific viewing experience for each room, the proportion and the position of each window are derived out of the function of each room. instead of imposing an arbitrary aesthetic, the facade, therefore, becomes a collective expression of each room. in addition to enhancing the quality of framing view, the windows are outlined with deepened eaves — every scene is captured in a picture frame.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom