Moving into your own Shell

22 Feb

No, I’m not talking about gas stations here. A young couple in Mexico grew tired of living in a conventional home, and wanted to move into something more “natural”. They commissioned Senosiain Arquitectos to build them their new home, and the end result was a gigantic Nautilus. The special house was put together using ferrocement construction, a technique involving a frame of steel-reinforced chicken wire with a special two-inch-thick composite of concrete spread over it. The end result a unique structure that’s earthquake-proof and requires no maintenance. The cost was reportedly around €160.000. Last we heard, the constant sound of the ocean was keeping everybody up all night.

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56 Responses to “Moving into your own Shell”

  1. Guy February 22, 2008 at 3:35 am #

    Very cool digs. I think if I lived there I’d suddenly feel like Alice falling into the rabbit hole. Cool, but very trippy.

  2. Patrick February 22, 2008 at 7:58 am #

    Pretty sweet idea if you ask me, elegant yet simple?

  3. Steven Smethurst February 22, 2008 at 8:38 am #

    uhm… where is the kitchen ?

  4. Ben February 22, 2008 at 10:22 am #

    Well prettycoolthings.com, that really is pretty cool! Looks like a fairly nice place to live…

  5. David Tuffley February 22, 2008 at 10:30 am #

    A living space like this would bring a person into closer communion with Nature.

    The house is beautifully conceived and executed.

    The local Century 21 Rep wouldn’t like it, but who cares about that?

  6. Lori&Jonathan February 22, 2008 at 11:33 am #

    That’s fuckin’ badass! We want a home like that!

  7. Tom February 22, 2008 at 7:44 pm #

    I’d be worried about some giant gastropod moving in in the middle of the night.

  8. Izabael DaJinn February 22, 2008 at 11:57 pm #

    I like the basic design, but that bathroom needs redone badly. What’s that hideous shower head? (It looks uncomfortable to use too!)

  9. dwha February 23, 2008 at 6:48 am #

    i want one :(

  10. Sile this Millennium February 23, 2008 at 4:25 pm #

    I like this design because is revelation for The Modern Grotto for a new
    civilization that just remember the first civilization primitive communal system….

  11. Travis February 24, 2008 at 5:40 am #

    I’d hate to think what the concrete it took to build that thing costs….

  12. max February 25, 2008 at 2:46 am #

    millions of years of evolution can’t be wrong

  13. Todd February 25, 2008 at 6:14 pm #

    That is an amazing design… But where is the home theater with state of the art 7.1 surround sound and 105 inch 1080p Projector?

    That primary living space looks serene enough but most of the space is wasted on nature. Nature is wonderful, but I leave it outdoors for a reason. :-)

    Heck, Bilbo’s place in the Shire was filled with cabinets and bookcases.

    Still, very cool living space. I’d like to see exteriors.

  14. tigh February 25, 2008 at 6:41 pm #

    like this? check out ushida-findlay.com
    especially the truss wall house under uf partnership in projects

  15. Ernie March 2, 2008 at 3:49 am #

    So, Doc, You think I’m living in a shell ? Awsome!

  16. LynzM March 2, 2008 at 2:55 pm #

    This is beautiful, I would love to live there!

  17. Sami March 2, 2008 at 6:26 pm #

    Wow… reminds me of being stuck in a K-hole somehow….

  18. Barbara March 3, 2008 at 5:53 am #

    Awe. Bummer. For some reason I can’t see the images. I’ll check back later. Voted up on reddit anyway. :)

  19. rikki and mairi March 4, 2008 at 11:48 pm #

    where do ya get these shells ?? please tell me !!

  20. Geordie March 5, 2008 at 5:36 am #

    The only way this place could be any tackier would be with the addition of some Elvis on velvet, or maybe a sign saying “George Jetson slept here”.

  21. sequoia March 5, 2008 at 6:02 am #

    holy…shit!!!!!!!!

  22. cherie March 5, 2008 at 3:36 pm #

    I just sorta suppose that actual Mexicans don’t live here.

  23. mary March 5, 2008 at 7:17 pm #

    Anyone else think it looks like the inside of a Cheesecake Factory restaurant?

  24. sir jorge March 7, 2008 at 11:04 pm #

    That’s my kind of living headquarters.

  25. Dj_Dephcon March 20, 2008 at 6:47 am #

    Until i saw the outside view of the house i thought it was the Flinstones house..lol

  26. Rudy April 11, 2008 at 7:35 pm #

    Final Fantasy much?

  27. Randy Burks June 14, 2008 at 8:17 am #

    Wow!! If god gave out wishes, I would be living there. It is amazing!! Great Feng-shui energy. It is classic 60′s interior design with a touch of star trek…..and then some. Who ever actually lives there, please send me the plans for building and invite me to dinner.

  28. Interior Designers Bay Area July 3, 2008 at 2:19 am #

    Wow.. This looks like something out of a fairy tale…

  29. john August 30, 2008 at 3:36 am #

    this is like alice in the wonderland , very very good idea

  30. cchiovitti September 21, 2008 at 9:10 pm #

    I appreciate the whimsy of it. Very Willy Wonka-ish, but I think I would eventually get tired of it’s limited possibilities.

  31. Sven September 30, 2008 at 5:11 pm #

    I want one oO Seriously. That’s crazy good!

  32. Mallory November 6, 2008 at 4:30 am #

    This is DOPE! i would love to like in that! very whimsical. i love it. very creative. great work!

  33. cherie November 6, 2008 at 10:28 am #

    Very Gaudi- esque!

  34. mish November 6, 2008 at 5:51 pm #

    words fail me! oh the parties i’d have in that place! you wouldn’t even need to think about the decor!

  35. greenerguy November 7, 2008 at 4:35 am #

    Quite the garden inside. Just wondering if there was grass to mow… and if you would use then a push mower.

  36. Bioz Segundo November 8, 2008 at 2:16 am #

    the mexican arquitect is javier senosian

    more on his bioarquitecture site

    http://www.arquitecturaorganica.com/

  37. Emerald November 8, 2008 at 3:34 am #

    Oh! How gorgeous, I want!

  38. Jeff November 8, 2008 at 7:06 pm #

    Damn, Cherie beat me to the punch! Reminds me very much of the Gaudi park in Barcelona. Very cool.

  39. LESLEY November 9, 2008 at 3:56 pm #

    Where can I get one

  40. christina November 10, 2008 at 11:48 pm #

    that has to be a pain to deal with when you need to re-wire for lighting, or a pipe breaks? no?

  41. Somik November 11, 2008 at 11:08 am #

    Wrap two, pls

  42. rampantheart November 12, 2008 at 2:51 am #

    Wow! The house looks super cool! Wonder how people get such great ideas!

  43. Shazz November 12, 2008 at 10:45 am #

    Wicked House

  44. Dreams November 12, 2008 at 9:03 pm #

    Wow, that’s pretty crazy. I wish I could afford one of the units in my back yard.

  45. Kernel November 12, 2008 at 9:47 pm #

    looks like a modern Bedrock home for Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, and Dino. Is there another near by for Barney, Betty, and Bam-Bam? …. i like it!

  46. Mathew November 13, 2008 at 6:30 am #

    Looks cozy! from the inside!

  47. pete November 16, 2008 at 10:37 pm #

    Not too original in my book, Pierre Cardin already did it.

  48. Mattress November 21, 2008 at 6:48 pm #

    wow,this is so cool. it sort of loks like the home where the teletubbies reside =)

  49. GM November 22, 2008 at 7:15 pm #

    I’ve got a big problem with this. There’s a good reason for saying “natural” in quote marks. Steel, chicken wire and concrete? Do you know the CO2 emissions related to these materials? Far, far, far from ‘natural’. If these people wanted to get closer to nature while having a beautiful, genuinely natural, well-insulated, low impact home in tune with its surroundings, they could have done so more easily and more cheaply. Just google ‘cob houses’ or ‘low impact dwellings’, or for example check out this http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm. Lecture over!

  50. Jr. November 27, 2008 at 5:13 am #

    thats cool………..

  51. Right December 5, 2008 at 8:31 pm #

    Bruce Goff also did a similar design, but on a larger scale and using recycled materials (Bavinger House).

  52. aidan December 11, 2008 at 2:46 am #

    shezzoWICKED!.. loved to live on that house !

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