Architecture that clings to cliff faces may not be the most practical or environmentally sensitive, but it sure is visually striking. A new proposal from Turkish designer and architect Hayri Atak takes the drama up a few notches with a vertigo-inducing cantilevered platform that juts out from the rock, complete with a glass-bottomed infinity pool.

The Cliff Concept Hotel is designed with Norways’ famous cliff Preikestolen in mind, overlooking the beautiful Lysefjorden body of water below. The lookout point itself resembles a pulpit, hence its name, and is the most popular tourist attraction in the Ryfylke area. Atak imagines the rock transforming into a boutique hotel with oval balconies, the rooms presumably carved into the rock beneath the plateau.

It would certainly offer a unique tourist experience, especially for those brave enough to venture out into the tip of the swimming pool, and the design itself is an intriguing one. However, it’s probably safe to say that people who like to visit the rock wouldn’t exactly appreciate it being taken over as a for-profit venture exclusively catering to deep-pocketed travelers, and would prefer to leave it as it is.

As fantasy architecture, or perhaps a project for another location, it’s pretty cool, and a great way for a young architect to call global attention to himself and his work. Hayri Atak is a graduate of Istanbul Technical University, Auburn University and the Nuova Academia di Belle Arti in Milan, and his projects include parametric pavilions and facades, retail and restaurant interiors and other hotel designs.

Test your heights-hardiness at a glass-floored cocktail bar cantilevered hundreds of feet above the floor of Mexico’s Copper Canyon at this stunning cliffside bar designed by Tall Arquitectos. The square-shaped, minimalist concrete building juts out from the hillside high above the trees, its overhang so dramatic it’s bound to give the squeamish a little bit of a stomach flutter just looking at the photos. But if you’re brave enough to venture out to its edges, you’ll be rewarded with views of the stunning Basaseachic Falls – not to mention a drink to calm your nerves.

Two levels offer sunny or shaded views of the surrounding natural landscape, with a glass floor allowing guests to look straight down. There’s lounge space on the upper floor observation deck and cafe tables on the perimeter of the lower level so you can soak in the sights of pines, oaks, dusty plateaus and the streaks of orange-red on the canyon walls that give the area in the northwestern state of Chihuahua its name.

The design is reminiscent of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a controversial project that extends a loop-shaped overlook 66 feet from the canyon’s edge, with a two-inch-thick glass floor. That project received some criticism for potential ecological impact and insensitivity to the sacred traditions of local Native tribes. As cool as it looks, it’s unlikely that the Copper Canyon design will ever make it past this proposal.

Another knee-shaker of a cliff-clinging building positions a modern modular home right off a cliff wall, with its roof at the same level as the plateau. Envisioned for the Australian coast, Cliff House by Modscape Concept is another pie-in-the-sky concept that’ll never see the light of day, but it’s spectacular to look at nonetheless.

Clinging to a craggy cliff like an oversized artificial barnacle, this pod is only accessible to those willing to scale the 400-foot rock face from the base of a Peruvian mountain. If you’re brave and hardy enough to pull off that feat, you’ll probably do just fine taking up residence in a hotel room that the rest of us will only ever have nightmares about. In addition to its precarious location, the Natura Vive Skylodge is completely transparent, so you can’t exactly forget that you’re hundreds of feet in the air while inside.

As fragile as they look, these three pods are made of aerospace aluminum and weather-resistant polycarbonate, so they’re not likely to be blown down or punctured in a storm. At 25 feet long and 8 feet wide, each one is spacious enough to accommodate eight guests, offering comfortable beds, a dining room and even a private bathroom.

The journey to the pod is actually safer than it looks, as climbers can be tied to a steel cable as they traverse the trails, with ladders and bridges helping them to the top. This zipline route offers alternate access for those who aren’t experienced enough to make the climb. You can even hook yourself to the cables as you perch on a wooden observation deck positioned atop each pod, looking out over the valley.

Solar panels capture energy to power four interior lamps and a reading light, and the ‘sink’ and toilet are dry. The roughly $300-per-person-per-night fee includes transportation to and from your hotel, guides, equipment, snacks, a gourmet dinner with a bottle of wine and an al fresco breakfast.

Dangling precariously from cliffs, tumbling down hillsides or jutting out over the water, these beautiful seaside homes feature mirage-like rooftop infinity pools, diving boards that lead nowhere, terrifying drop-offs and terraces that seem to float.

Mirage House with Rooftop Infinity Pool

The glimmer of water on the rooftop of this incredible home on Greece’s Tinos Island seems like a mirage at first, encompassing the entirety of a flat, rectangular surface. Come closer and you’ll see that it’s not a mirage at all – it’s an infinity pool on the cantilevered rooftop of a modern home by Kois Associated Architects. The home was designed to blend into the Aegean Sea so as to be virtually undetectable, with the visible parts of the front of the home mimicking the surrounding stone.

Dangling Modular Cliff House

All that can be seen of this five-level modular home from ground level is the very top portion. The rest dangles in rather terrifying fashion over the roiling water, producing an effect that’s worthy of a Bond villain. Cliff House by Modscape Concept makes use of a challenging plot of land on a rocky portion of the southwest coast of Victoria in Australia. Each floor has glass walls for maximum views, and the whole thing is anchored to the cliff with engineered steel pins.

Actually Affordable Elevated Ocean Views

It’s rare that elevated homes with stunning views of the sea are actually affordable, but Canadian firm Mackay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects has created a modest timber box that juts out over a bedrock cliff to make it seem as if it’s floating. Clad in wood to blend into the environment, the 960-square-foot cabin has a galvanized steel frame skeleton and diagonal planks supported by joists to eliminate the need for interior cladding.

Retrofuturistic Mushroom House

Sam Bell’s retrofuturistic Mushroom House is tucked away next to the Pacific Ocean in the cliffs of San Diego, its round design offering panoramic views, a concrete sea wall and elevated living area keeping it from being inundated by the waves. And if you’re wondering just how the owners even access it, there’s an elevator stretching up the cliff face to a larger home above.

Dizzying Drop-Off House Design

What looks like a diving board jutting out of the end of this concrete house in Japan by KA Architects leads nowhere but a cascading rocky cliff, so you probably don’t want to actually jump. The all-white home is all about sharp lines and stark contrast, with no transition between the street and the outdoor room that can be seen on the top level.

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Seaside Stunners 14 Cliff Clinging Houses With Crazy Views

Only the uppermost portion of this ambitious five-level home is visible when approaching from land, preserving the views for others and making for one dramatic way to live adjacent to the sea. Cliff House by Modscape Concept is a response to the demand in Australia for residences to be built along extreme parcels of rocky land on the coast.

The clients approached Modscape to explore options for a vacation home on the southwest coast of Victoria, where they own a piece of land that could prove a challenge for more conventional architectural solutions.

The architects took inspiration from the way barnacles cling to the hull of a ship, hanging the home off the side of the cliff instead of perching it at the edge. This configuration makes it feel like an extension of the cliff face, opening up incredible views of the water.

The prefabricated, modular house would be anchored to the cliff using engineered steel pins, with entrance through a carport on the top floor.