Leaf House

"Angra dos Reis, Brazil

Background: The roof of this architectural masterpiece looks like a giant flower with six petals, each of which covers a different section of the home. A curved swimming pool works its way through the house before culminating as a small pond stocked with fish and vegetation in the backyard.Why Its Unique: Architect firm Mareines + Patalano designed the interior of this house to be free of hallways, providing ample space for the beach winds to blow through. The idea of hallways stems from production homebuilding, which has so dominated our environment and market place that people see them as a standard, says Peter Koliopoulos, an architect with 26 years of experience and founder of Arizona-based Circle West Architects. That is really unfortunate because great spaces are developed in a way that this home has been developed. "