A 19th-century wartime bunker on the Dutch waterways might not sound like the most obvious holiday rental, but two years ago it was turned into exactly that. Inspired by Le Corbusier’s holiday home in the south of France, architects B-ILD came up with inventive ways to make the most of the small space, from custom-made wooden furniture that could be stowed away when it’s not in use to beds that fold up against the wall.
This is just one of 70 cabins, huts and unusual hideaways featured in The Hinterland, the latest coffee table tome from German publisher Gestalten. The book taps into our need to experience quieter, emptier landscapes, even if only for a short time.
“Of course, this idea of a cabin as a place that you long for, as a counterpoint to a busy city life, is nothing new but the interesting part is how we’ve developed the idea,” explains Gestalten creative director Sven Ehmann. “We looked at spatial concepts, a variety of scale, the materials used and what drove the owners and architects to build these structures. What they have in common are their unique locations.”
Projects range from a trio of tree houses in America’s deep south, strung up with fairy lights and connected by bridges, to a contemporary eco chalet on a hillside in Serbia supplied with natural mountain spring water and a thermal flywheel that releases the summer heat during the winter.
“Each owner has found a spot that deserves a building,” says Ehmann. “A friend of mine has a place outside Berlin by a lake where I go and stay every year. It’s a simple building but it has an unbeatable atmosphere.”
Flicking through the book, what’s almost more interesting than the weekend retreats are the structures with a practical purpose: the wilderness observatory on stilts that is part of the RTU International Summer School in Latvia; a refuge for a rescue team on the Faragas Mountains in Romania; an artist’s studio in Scotland; and pods that cling perilously to the edge of a cliff in the Peruvian Andes, in which gutsy climbers spend the night.
“It’s not just about pretty houses in nice places,” says Ehmann. “We wanted to explore different, often more basic lifestyles where there might not be heating or electricity, or it’s an escape from the digital world.”
The architecture, too, is more imaginative than in a city, where so many planning restrictions apply. Yes, there are logistical problems that come with building on wilder, tricky terrain but the results can be brilliant in their simplicity, often influenced by the local vernacular but given a modern twist.
Ultimately, this is a book designed to inspire anyone who has ever fancied putting down roots by a river or in the middle of a forest. But if that’s not possible, why not just emulate one Brooklyn home owner who built a garden studio from salvaged cedar in his backyard? It proves that even in the city it is possible to shut out the noise and carve out a slice of solitude.
The Hinterland is published by Gestalten on 13 September at £35. To order a copy, visit gestalten.com
