8 Amazing Buildings Perched Near Volcanos
Photo: Courtesy of Jorge Javier Andrade Benítez1/14Quilotoa Shalalá Overlook, Zumbahua, Ecuador
Cantilevering over Quilotoa Crater Lake, some 13,000 feet above sea level, the structure gives its visitors the illusion of flying.
Photo: Courtesy of Jorge Javier Andrade Benítez2/14Quilotoa Shalalá Overlook, Zumbahua, Ecuador
Architects Javier Mera Luna, Daniel Moreno Flores, and Jorge Javier Andrade Benítez designed this vertigo-inducing overlook, which is perched on the edge of the nearly two-mile-wide crater of a volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes.
Photo: Courtesy of Spasm Design3/14Spasm Design’s Khopoli House, Khopoli, India
Mumbai firm Spasm Design took a cue from the basalt outcroppings that dot India’s Maharashtrian countryside in order to create the minimalist Khopoli House. The villa’s basalt slabs, formed from ancient volcanic activity, emerge organically from the cliff and dramatically frame the distant mountains.
Photo: Courtesy of Spasm Design4/14Spasm Design’s Khopoli House, Khopoli, India
The use of concrete and basalt was dictated by Maharashtra’s extreme climate—overwhelmingly wet during monsoon season but arid during India's long dry season.
Photo: Courtesy of Arkibúllan5/14Arkibúllan’s Gufunes Cemetery Offices, Reykjavík, Iceland
This basalt-clad building, devised by the Icelandic architecture firm Arkibúllan, was the first of many contemporary additions to Reykjavík’s Gufunes cemetery. The basalt comes from the region's Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
Photo: Courtesy of Arkibúllan6/14Arkibúllan’s Gufunes Cemetery Offices, Reykjavík, Iceland
The two-story structure comprises three interwoven volumes, which house offices and rooms for the churchyard staff.
Photo: Courtesy of Foldes Architects7/14Földes Architects’ Kemenes Volcano Park Visitor Center, Celldömölk, Hungary
This Budapest-based studio designed a hulking testament to Hungary’s volcanic past in the shadow of Ság Hill—a five-million-year-old former volcano. The firm utilized industrial materials such as Cor-Ten steel and charcoal-gray concrete.
Photo: Courtesy of Foldes Architects8/14Földes Architects’ Kemenes Volcano Park Visitor Center, Celldömölk, Hungary
Guests are greeted by a transcendent five-story atrium that concludes in a small skylight in the center’s roof, purposefully mimicking the crater of a volcano.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbosa & Guimarães Architects9/14Barbosa & Guimarães Architects’ Municipal Pool Complex, Povoação, Portugal
A charcoal-hued pool complex rises from the ashes of a former sports field in Povoação, Portugal—a town know for its volcanic beach. Slabs of monolithic-sized basalt rock emerge from the nearby hillside and run alongside the slope as if a continuation of it.
Photo: Courtesy of EDAA10/14EDAA’s Casa Meztitla, Tepoztlán, Mexico
Perched in the foothills of Tepozteco Mountain and surrounded by blooms of bougainvillea, this residence is clad in volcanic stone and lush pine. The natural materials help the home blend seamlessly into the setting.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbosa & Guimarães Architects11/14Barbosa & Guimarães Architects’ Municipal Pool Complex, Povoação, Portugal
A green roof tops the structures, which are punctuated by small porthole windows that dot the interiors with light.
Photo: Courtesy of EON12/14EON’s Mt. Hekla Museum, Rangárþing ytra, Iceland
The architecture firm EON transformed a former farm into this geological museum, set in the shadow of Iceland’s volcanic Mt. Hekla. The 6,500-square-foot building begins with a subterranean descent into a cave beneath the valley’s lava fields, which takes visitors through the history of Iceland’s most volatile volcano.
Photo: Courtesy of EDAA13/14EDAA’s Casa Meztitla, Tepoztlán, Mexico
The house, which occupies only a small section of the rural plot it sits on, has employed an ambitious rainwater-harvesting system to encourage sustainability.
Photo: Courtesy of EON14/14EON’s Mt. Hekla Museum, Rangárþing ytra, Iceland
The museum’s standout feature is a 20-foot-tall folded lava façade, which draws upon traditional Icelandic building methods.