What appears, from a distance, to be a slice of land levitating above the hills of Santorini, Greece is actually an incredible modern home set on a lower level that acts like a mirrored plinth. Living greenery emerges from the roof, and the upper level bears the striations found in cross-sections of excavated earth. What must observers think of it as they approach, squinting at it in disbelief?

This unusual residence is just the latest modern wonder created by the firm Kapsimalis Architects. Located within a vineyard facing the Mediterranean Sea with views of the island’s capital city of Fira, the surreal structure pays tribute to its location with its highly unusual cave-inspired design.

Within that mirrored ground floor are the living and dining rooms, kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom, while the earthen level hosts an attic, office and terraces overlooking the spectacular setting. It’s almost like the architects magically inverted the earth and sky, since the open-plan lower level enjoys panoramic views of the outdoors through its one-way mirrored facade but feels like it’s underground thanks to the thick, heavy volume above it.

“The rough volcanic landscape, the intense alternations of the scenery, the diversity of the materials, the former architecture and the changeable weather conditions have a huge effect in our designing process. We consider that each architectural solution is related to the surrounding and is formed by it in a harmonious or a conflicting or in a totally seperate way. The differnt features and challenges of the place is the spark that leads each time to diverse architectural forms.”

“We are interested in how buildings could become integral parts of the landscape. Apart from the forms and how could be developed on each place, equally compelling is how the use of each building contribute to the environment itself. We seek for the values and the customs , the old aesthetics and the pre-existing memories of each place in order to show them up in a modern twist. Wishes and hidden desires of the future users are mixed with project’s background in search of a new perception of the space.”

Other works by the firm include hotels camouflaged within sandy hillsides, monumental concrete homes, sensitive adaptations of Greek ruins and other structures that play upon the region’s natural textures and shapes as well as the island nation’s vernacular architecture.

via Designboom

Even crueler than a real mirage, this convincing illusion continues to look like a real body of water until you reach down to touch its surface, only to find that it’s as solid as anything you’ve ever touched. Thankfully, this faux aquatic feature isn’t sitting in a desert somewhere to fake out unsuspecting travelers, but rather placed in the courtyard of the magnificent Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire Centre D’Arts et de nature, a garden center in France. The piece will be on display through November 2nd.

Designer Mathieu Lehanneur achieved the effect with a marriage of 3D computer software, hand-polished green marble and natural light, so it looks like wind is rippling on the surface of a river. What would have been a split second of scenic beauty, experienced and then forgotten by the naked eye or captured in a two-dimensional photograph, is now frozen in time, made into a durable object that could last thousands of years.

“I wanted to address the garden with water as my muse,” says Lehanneur. “The water whose presence we sense even before we first catch sight of it below the chateau, flowing uninterrupted to the sea. Some say the Loire is France’s last wild river; it shapes and nourishes the landscapes, it passes through without ever pausing along the way.”

“I hope that, when passing the Chateau gates, the visitor will experience something that comes close to a magic portal, to a forbidden place in so many fairytales. Everything is liquid in this space, evanescent, enlightened, and yet it is executed in a material that is one of the most solid imaginable.”