Extending down the hillside from an existing hotel, a series of matte black structures rise from the deep green landscape like spikes. Without revealing many details, Peter Pichler Architecture has unveiled its vision for unique sustainable “Tree Houses” in the Italian Dolomites – though they’re quite unlike most of the tree houses we’re used to seeing. Taking inspiration from the sharp, dramatic shapes found within these forested mountainous environments, the elevated huts offer sweeping views from two stories of expansive glazing.

Spiked on both ends, the cabins almost seem to have been hammered into the ground. Each one measures 35 – 45 square meters (about 376 – 484 square feet) and features a small sitting area on the lower level and a bedroom and bath on the top floor. Made of local wood with blackened timber exteriors, the structures appear to be quite open to each other, though they might ultimately face in slightly different directions to give the occupants more privacy.

“We believe that the future of tourism is based on the relationship of the human being with nature,” says the Milan-based studio. “Well integrated, sustainable architecture can amplify this relationship, nothing else is needed.”

Though certainly sharper and more dramatic, the new structures aren’t dissimilar from a previous project of Pichler’s. The Obereggen Mountain Hut contains a new restaurant adjacent to the cable station Oberholz in Obereggen, Italy with direct connection to a ski slope. The architect envisions it as a growth emerging from the hill like a fallen tree, with three main branches creating “a symbiosis” with the landscape.

There are mysterious and maybe slightly creepy black buildings, and then there are the blackest of black buildings made from the light-absorbing pigment known as Vantablack. Architect Asif Khan designed a pavilion for the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony coated in the highly coveted pigment, which consists of carbon nanotubes that absorb 99% of light, making it difficult to make out shapes and textures on its surface. Khan creates a starry sky effect with the addition of thousands of illuminated rods extending from the facade.

The experience of standing in front of the building is said to be the closest any of us will ever get to seeing what outer space looks like while grounded firmly on Earth. The rods further confuse the effect, making it difficult to tell where the building’s parabolic facade begins and ends.

Inside, visitors find a “narrative” of five themed interiors: water, solar, electrolysis, hydrogen fuel stack and recreation of water. Walking through the tunnel-like entrance, you feel like you’re being enveloped by a black cloud before emerging into another world. The concept was created to highlight Hyundai’s research in hydrogen fuel cells without being too literal, highlighting outer space as the birthplace of hydrogen during the Big Bang.

Vantablack is perhaps most famous for being licensed exclusively to the sculptor of Anish Kapoor, a controversial designation that hasn’t made Kapoor too popular with his fellow artists and spawned some passive-aggressive sparring. Ben Jensen of Surrey Nanosystems, which created the material, says Vantablack will never be a retail product because it has to be applied by specialist contractors using a technique that forms a consistent nanostructure.

“The level of interest really took us aback,” says Jensen. “We were inundated by architects and designers asking how they could use Vantablack, with ideas for everything from museum interiors to hiding unsightly cabling runs in the ceiling.”

For a deeper explanation of each of the five interiors and their meanings, check out an interview with Jang Young of Hyundai Creative Works at Archdaily.

Most people can be divided into two pretty clear-cut categories: those who think black houses are creepy in a bad way, and those who love them for all their mysterious allure. Victorian houses in San Francisco, famously witchy mansions in Salem, modern homes in Japan and gingerbread houses in the woods of New York all get cool points when they’re painted top-to-bottom in shades of coal and pitch, though one abandoned black house in North Carolina looks legitimately scary in its dark disarray.

Black Ocean Firehouse, New York

The black paint on this facade of a former New York City firehouse highlights all of the ornate neo-gothic architectural details, modernizing the 1890s structure for its new life as the headquarters for Black Ocean, a digital media company.

Haus in Schwarz, Germany

This house in Germany wasn’t painted pitch black all over until after it was condemned, as a sort of tribute before it was demolished, and that’s kind of a shame. It looks way cooler than its similarly-shaped neighbors on the same street. At night, it virtually disappears into the sky.

Shingle House by NORD

Located on the shingle beach of Dungeness, one of England’s most unique landscapes, this home by NORD stands out from a sea of fisherman’s huts with its pitch paint and tarred black roof. It’s available for rent as part of Living Architecture, a project offering vacations in striking works of modern architecture.

Abandoned Black House in North Carolina

Unlike the other houses on this list, which simply don harmless black exteriors, this home on a peak in mountainous Western North Carolina is truly creepy. Located on Howard’s Knob in Boone, the home known as “The Cult House” has been abandoned for many years since its owners were went to prison, and has deteriorated after being broken into, vandalized and used as a party house. Once a million dollar home, it’s now peeling and crumbling.

Black-Fronted Residence for Park Place, London

In London, SHH Architects won permission to convert a 1960s office into a home with a black facade. The original seven-story building was demolished and replaced with black brick, a double-story Oriel bay window with a decorative metalwork screen, and polished granite window frames.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Paint It Black 16 Houses That Have Joined The Dark Side