Mediterranean Dragon House

Here’s a testament to true architectural innovation. Madrid-based firm GilBartolome Architects took the near impossible, a 42-degree cliff face on Spain’s Grenada province overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, and dug it out to situate an amazing home for a couple who purchased a difficult plot of land. The property, aptly named House on the Cliff is two stories and largely buried in the ground and covered by an overhanging zinc-clad roof that follows the angled terrain.

From below, the curvature aesthetic of the home resembles the outline of a dragon face while from above it takes after the waves of the sea. A split-level living room opens onto a cantilevered terrace hosting a swimming pool on the lower level while three bedrooms on the second floor are filled with sea air and vistas through dormer windows and glass balconies. The project was constructed in 2015 to help boost the economy with labor-intensive construction from local workers.