Maison Le Cap in Southern France by Pascal Grasso Architectures

The studio of Paris-based architect Pascal Grasso has designed this holiday house in Southern France, which combines the brutalist-architecture roughness of exposed concrete with the warmth of local materials and the surrounding landscape.

Dubbed “Maison La Cap”, the house consists of several orthogonal volumes which protrude outwards offering sweeping views over the Mediterranean; the house’s four large openings were conceived more like cinema-screens than windows, since they frame particular views of the winding coastline and the surrounding forest.

Existing stone walls on the site were extended so that they could be incorporated in the new design, and special care was taken to shelter the interior from the intense summer light and heat. The building’s poured-concrete volumes were created using formwork of sanded wood, resulting in a particularly fine texture that alludes to the beach’s sand a few meters away. With its subtle play of geometry and light, the residence makes for an ideal space for visual explorations — it therefore comes as no surprise that the house is the subject of a 112-page photography book: the hardcover “Maison Le Cap - Pascal Grasso Architectures” features photography by Cyrille Weiner and was published in 2015 by RVB Books.