Review: “Living on Water” by Phaidon editors

It’s said they are like unexplored planets: lakes, oceans, ponds, streams, pools or rivers. Living next to water means connecting to exotic rhythms, and ways of life both foreign and familiar. Visually stunning and thoughtfully comprised, this new edited volume shows the challenges and beauty of life next to the sea.

Each of the 55 homes are illuminated through 260 stunning colour illustrations and organised in three sections: ‘Built to Look at Water’, ‘Built on Water’, and ‘Built to Reflect Water’. Throughout its 272 enchanting pages are residences in global destinations including Finland, Chile and Greece, as well as Spain, Kenya, Lebanon and Japan.

Top architectural projects by John Pawson, David Chipperfield, Tadao Ando are immediately recognisable. But others – such as Spasm Design Architects’ House Cast in Liquid Stone in Khopoli, Maharashtra, India; Felipe Assadi’s Casa Bahia Azul in Los Vilos, Chile; and Petra Gipp Arkitektur’s Stupet / Refugium by a Staircase in Vättern, Sweden – equally capture the imagination with their visionary designs.

This is a soothing, stylish escape for architects, the design-savvy and all those who dream of life enriched by the power of the aquatic.

Living on Water

Phaidon editors