Life as Art: When Luxury Homes Are Living Sculptures

SOURCE: Sotheby’s

Extraordinary residences blur the line between art and architecture when daring design meets everyday life, writes Riya Patel

While there are many extraordinary private homes worldwide, only a distinct few can be described as “living sculptures.” Closer to art than architecture, these residences have a purity of form, material, or visual language. Like the greatest sculptures or experimental pavilions, they play spatial tricks to elicit emotion when moving through them. Yet unlike abstract artworks, sculptural homes are made not just to be admired, but to be lived in. The best examples strike the right balance of function and form. 

Dominic Bradbury, author of the ”Iconic House” book series for Thames & Hudson, has come across many architects who have, in his words, “purposefully pioneered a new approach to residential design that is dynamic, expressive and sculptural.” Two examples from the “Iconic American House” are Charles Deaton’s Sculptured House in Colorado (1965) and Simon Ungers’ T-House in New York State (1992). Both took decades to complete “given the complexity of the form and structure,” says Bradbury. 

Then there are houses by artists that are consciously conceived as works of art, such as British and Turner prize-winning artist Grayson Perry’s A House for Essex (2014), designed with FAT Architecture. As a rental home, Bradbury says, it offers “a wonderful opportunity to experience the idea of living in an artwork, surrounded by Perry’s paintings and tapestries.”

Many of these unique homes from the past exist only as museums, but for those interested in owning one themselves, several properties currently on the market lay claim to the “living sculpture” tag. 

In Wyoming, The River House by architect Wallace Cunningham is nestled low among a landscape of river and creeks. From the outside, the building—completed in 2023— appears like a public art gallery, with a shallow arched roof and floor-to-ceiling glazed walls. Inside, stone fireplaces and timber joinery add comfort amid abundant natural light and views into the surrounding nature. 

In stark contrast, the 2016 Rhode Island residence, Brutaliste Sur Mer, is designed to be seen from afar. Like a Rubik’s cube of interlocking concrete planes, this outwardly striking home— a committed example of coastal brutalism—is warmed up internally with teak wall cladding and bespoke features such as a timber-lined dressing room and six-seater home theater. It also has unparalleled vistas of the Sakonnet Passage thanks to its high elevation.

Bradbury believes it takes a certain type of an architect to achieve homes that are so daring. “Through the books, we’ve explored many innovative and experimental architects who like to explore new ways of thinking as well as fresh structural forms,” he says of the “Iconic House” series. Perhaps every generation has them.

One 1970s visionary is French architect Savin Couëlle, whose Corsican home is remarkable for its raw and rustic use of local materials. Spread across several split levels, it is anchored by a central staircase carved directly from the waterside granite. A more futuristic take on the idea of life inside a sculpture can be found in the jungles of Tulum, Mexico, where four luxury condos shaped organically and designed to be in tune with nature are on the drawing board.

Living in a sculptural home requires commitment to the vision. The more extreme examples, like Deaton’s elliptical mountaintop home in Colorado, are built to be lived in by their architects, who use them as prototypes to test out new ideas. Success can also arise where an architect works in close collaboration with a client of an artistic persuasion.

Among the stunning homes in Bradbury’s next book, focused on the Nordics, is Studio Bua’s Artist’s House in Iceland (2021), which transformed an abandoned farm outhouse. The home combines old and new: an existing rough concrete base with a gabled timber volume above. Those looking to buy an art-led home at the more liveable end, might also look to warmer materials, touches of nature or places accepting of a personal touch to feel more familiar.

SOURCE: Sotheby’s