Black And White House Blends With Its Mountainous Surroundings
The black and white combo is a popular choice in interior design but also in a lot of other fields. Its magnificence is reflected in the wonderful balance and contrast featured by projects such as this residence located in Divčibare, Serbia.
The house offers a total of 72 square meters of living space and was completed in 2015 by EXE, an architecture and design studio founded in 2008 in Belgrade. The team focuses on researching complex architectural forms and incorporating new technologies in their projects, including the use of 3D software.
This is a residence located near a popular tourist resort, on a remote site populated by small pine trees, on the slope of Mount Maljen. In order to minimize the impact on the site and the surroundings as well as to avoid disturbing the land, the house was built into the hillside.
The location, while it presents great advantages, also raised a series of challenges. The construction process, for example, was difficult because of the site’s inaccessibility but also because of the relatively small budget. The selection of materials was based on the criteria of cost, durability and looks and all the timber was locally-sourced.
The house has a white portion and a black one and they each stand out in their own way. These two main volumes creates an interesting play of light and dark elements and allow the house to merge with the natural environment surrounding it.
The white portion of the house contains the social areas. It’s connected to the outdoors through a full height panorama window that opens the entire room to the stunning views. Long neutral-colored curtains offer privacy when needed.
This side of the house is finished with white ceramic tiles and contrast with the surroundings but, at the same time, also offers a hint regarding the interior functions of the space. This volume contains the kitchen, the dining area and the living space and all three are part of the same plan.
For the black portion of the house the design inspiration came from the traditional mountain homes in this area. It rises higher than the white section but is narrower. Up on the first floor is a bedroom and on the ground floor there’s a porch flanked by the white wall, serving as a sheltered outdoor space.
This striking duality of the house was meant to also allow the designers to merge traditional and contemporary elements in a way that stands out without looking out of place.