Forest • 2017 • episode "S1E2" • The World's Most Extraordinary Homes

Category: Design

Architect Piers Taylor and actress Caroline Quentin explore unusual homes built in or near areas of forest. After trips to properties near Madrid and the Catskill Mountains in New York State, they arrive in Piha, New Zealand, to a house built within an indigenous forest of pohutukawa trees. Navigating very strict environmental laws, this wooden-cladded and glass-roofed property mimics the branches of the surrounding trees, while its huge sliding glass walls open up to allow the surrounding forest to become an intrinsic part of the house itself.

Make a donation

Buy a brother a hot coffee? Or a cold beer?

Hope you're finding these documentaries fascinating and eye-opening. It's just me, working hard behind the scenes to bring you this enriching content.

Running and maintaining a website like this takes time and resources. That's why I'm reaching out to you. If you appreciate what I do and would like to support my efforts, would you consider "buying me a coffee"?

Donation addresses

BTC: bc1q8ldskxh4x9qnddhcrgcun8rtvddeldm2a07r2v

ETH: 0x5CCAAA1afc5c5D814129d99277dDb5A979672116

With your donation through , you can show your appreciation and help me keep this project going. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant impact. It goes directly towards covering server costs.

The World's Most Extraordinary Homes • 2017 - 2019 • 12 episodes •

Mountain

They begin in California, viewing a property built from the wings and tail fins of a Boeing 747. In Arizona, the pair stay in a modern house with an innovative take on an ancient technique of absorbing the heat during the day and releasing it at night. In New Zealand, Caroline and Piers view a house camouflaged using cedar cladding, while their last stop takes them to a hexagonal alpine chalet with a steel chimney core that anchors it to the mountain.

2017 • Design

Forest

Architect Piers Taylor and actress Caroline Quentin explore unusual homes built in or near areas of forest. After trips to properties near Madrid and the Catskill Mountains in New York State, they arrive in Piha, New Zealand, to a house built within an indigenous forest of pohutukawa trees. Navigating very strict environmental laws, this wooden-cladded and glass-roofed property mimics the branches of the surrounding trees, while its huge sliding glass walls open up to allow the surrounding forest to become an intrinsic part of the house itself.

2017 • Design

Coast

Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin visit an island in Norway, spending two days in a house built on a footprint of just 100 square metres. In Spain, the pair head to a home built into a steep cliff face overlooking the Mediterranean, featuring a cantilevered terrace offering maximum sea views and a swimming pool as well as an unusual tiled roof. After viewing a house in New Zealand crafted from two separate wooden cladded structures, the duo explore a home in Canada inspired by two ships in dry dock, designed to peer over the coast, allowing the sea to pass underneath.

2017 • Design

Underground

Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin explore unusual homes built underground. In Greece, they view a house hidden beneath the landscape that still boasts stunning sea views. In the Swiss Alps, they visit a house made so invisible it has to be accessed via a tunnel. Next it's over to New Zealand's South Island to a house built underground to soften its impact on the landscape as well as withstand the threat of earthquakes, before the pair inspects a Dutch house created by deep excavation, which features a huge, light-filled open-plan living space.

2017 • Design

USA

Piers and Caroline end their tour in Florida with a waterfront wonder, a modest pavilion, a modernist showpiece and a high-end home built on stilts

2018 • Design

Portugal

Caroline and Piers start the season in Portugal, where a fully automated home, a serpentine design, an X-shaped stunner and a woodland property await

2018 • Design

Switzerland

In Switzerland, Piers and Caroline tour a modern chalet, a concrete retreat, an S-shaped home and a house built for it's owner's classic cars

2018 • Design

Japan

Caroline and Piers visit Japan to see a V-shaped home, an eccentric gathering place, a Zen-like escape, and a glass and concrete marvel

2018 • Design

Spain

In Spain, Caroline and Piers see a farmhouse made of steel, a home with a floating pool, a circular sanctuary and a shared dwelling for three sisters.

2019 • Design

India

A tour of India includes an airy fortress, a fluid home with origami-like roofs, a new take on a tea plantation house and a lovely "patchwork" property.

2019 • Design

Norway

Piers and Caroline travel to Norway to see a charming family cottage, a summer house built around a rock, a daring concrete home and a rugged retreat.

2019 • Design

Israel

Israel serves up a palatial family estate, a pastoral property that filters the elements, a house built on a cliff and a home with three gardens.

2019 • Design

You might also like

The Toilet: An Unspoken History

The Toilet: An Unspoken History

We each spend three years of our lives on the toilet, but how happy are we talking about this essential part of our lives? This film challenges that mindset by uncovering its role in our culture and exploring the social history of the toilet in Britain and abroad - as well as exploring many of our cultural toilet taboos. Starting in Merida, Spain with some of the the earliest surviving Roman toilets, we journey around the world - from the UK to China, Japan and Bangladesh - visiting toilets, ranging from the historically significant to the beautiful, from the functional and sometimes not-so-functional to the downright bizarre. Leading the journey is Everyman figure, Welsh poet and presenter Ifor ap Glyn, who has a passionate interest in the toilet, its history and how it has evolved over the centuries, right up to the development of the current design. Finally, there's a glimpse of the future and a possible solution to the global sanitation issues we now face.

2012 • Design

Animation 2018

A showcase of top animation from the UK's finest new talents. British animator Osbert Parker presents the TV premiere of exciting short films. All were recipients of grants under BBC Four and the British Film Institute's Animation 2018 initiative, which called out for new and emerging talent from around the country. The films take a variety of approaches, using styles and techniques ranging from hand-drawn images to live-action puppetry, stop motion, CG, 2D and 3D, covering a diversity of genres from science-fiction to documentary. Though richly varied in tone and content, they have been curated into four groups on the themes of animals, other worlds, obsession and love. Morris dancing badgers, a noir fairy tale, a heartening tale of love beyond the grave and an alien coming-of-age story are just some of the treats in store from some of the nation's most-imaginative and talented new animators.

2018 • Design

World of Warcraft: Looking for Group

World of Warcraft: Looking for Group

Explore the history of WoW with its creators, and journey into corners of Blizzard and the WoW community you’ve never seen before.

Cas Holman: Design for Play

Cas Holman: Design for Play

As founder of toy company Heroes Will Rise, Cas Holman crafts tools and objects designed to inspire kids (and adults) to play creatively.

S2E4 • Abstract: The Art of Design • 2019 • Design

Ilse Crawford: Interior Design

Ilse Crawford: Interior Design

Interior designer Ilse Crawford creates spaces and objects that engage the senses and promote well-being, from high-end hotels to Ikea furniture.

S1E8 • Abstract: The Art of Design • 2017 • Design

Why is Modern Art so Bad?

Why is Modern Art so Bad?

For two millennia, great artists set the standard for beauty. Now those standards are gone. Modern Art is a competition between the ugly and the twisted; the most shocking wins. What happened?