In our article for this cliff-hanging project by Modscape published last year, we said that all it needed was James Bond and an invisible Aston Martin in the garage. The images OPA (Open Platform for Architecture) presented for their new project offer us James Bond and a (sadly visible) Ferrari. Perhaps it’s not quite what we expected. Still, either way, it’s a big step forward for the supervillains lair market: OPA’s Casa Brutale gives us wall-to-wall water and concrete set into cliffs above the Aegean Sea in what OPA will be a ground-breaking development.
Unclad and straightforward, the house is all about modesty, making no impact on the landscape beyond a surface swimming pool and a set of steps. Descending these steps, though, brings you to the entire point of this home; an enormous glass façade set flush into the cliff face, bringing an incredible view of the Aegean sea to the whole residence. Upping the stakes, the living quarters are topped with a skylight that turns out to be, in fact, the swimming pool – made of reinforced glass, it functions as the only other window in the house, diffusing the sunlight to soften the hard surfaces of the building itself and giving you views that could plausibly claim to be 100% water.
With jaw-dropping features like these, OPA chose to keep the rest restrained. Simple, raw concrete surfaces and slabs set off by aged wood and steel form the rest of the project, placing an open living area around the main stairs and a main bedroom on the mezzanine floor, making the incredible water views perfectly visible from the bed, which is also made of cast concrete. The landscape and the swimming pool cool the whole thing, thanks to the design’s clever twist – aside from the big chunk of rock removed from the cliff, there’s minimal impact on the landscape.
An inverted Casa Malaparte – brutalist, plain concrete mixed with water, light, and rock – OPA says their concept “seeks an investor or an ambitious owner to finance its construction.” Fill the pool with sharks for extra supervillain points, although that might make the view from the bed slightly off-putting.
Roof Level Plan
Swimming Pool Level Plan
Upper Floor Plan
Lower Floor Plan
Cliffside Elevation
Section
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Photos by: OPA Works
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