These examples of metal architecture range from structures set high on a mountaintop, ready to brace the elements, to designs done purely for aesthetic reasons. What's intriguing is just how many types of buildings can be put together with this type of material.
With the correct insulation used along with the metal exterior, a house made from this material can withstand the worse of the elements. From gale-force winds to sleet and snow, those living inside can rest with a better peace of mind. Perhaps one of the most impressive pieces of metal architecture here is the house situated in the Swiss alps designed by Savioz Fabrizzi. It was recently updated to include solar panels and an improved heating system to survive the harsh conditions at such high altitudes.
45 Examples of Metal Architecture
From Mountainous Metallic Abodes to Shipwreck-Inspired Buildings:
Jamie Danielle Munro — Mar 16, 2014 — Art & Design
44
Container Stores
Uniqlo Drops Stores in NYC
43
Container Condos
Metal Shutter House in New York
42
Refuge-Encouraging Abodes
The Main Street House by SHED Architecture & Design Stimulates Solace
41
Modern Multi-Dimensional Abodes
The Private House by Divercity Architects Layers Cubed Elements
40
Bulging Bladder Abodes
The Succulent House by Murmur Digests Anatomical Architecture
39
Mirrored Indoor Slide Abodes
The 'Skyhouse' By David Hotson x Ghislaine Vinas is Incredible
38
Mountainous Metallic Abodes
The Mountain House by Savioz Fabrizzi Architectes Naturally Blends In
37
Shipwreck-Inspired Buildings
The Titanic Belfast Pays Tribute to a Doomed Vessel
36
Roof-Raising Residences
Javier Corvalan Designs a Home with a Unique Self-Ventilation System
35
Elegant Spiraling Abodes
Toda House by Kimihiko Okada Rests on Stilts
34
Biomorphic Architecture
Jet House
33
Grain Storage Homes
Gigaplex's Monte-Silo
32
Sleek Geometric Properties
This Modern Abode by Craft Arquitectos is Fire Truck Red
31
Desert Skyscraper Hotels
The Stone Towers in Cairo, Egypt by Zaha Hadid Are a Cool Oasis
30
Eternity Puzzle-Inspired Architecture
The Perth Arena is Futuristically Faceted
29
Curvy Aluminum Schools
Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas Create the 'Lycée Georges Frêche'
28
Pristine Prismatic Buildings
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland Toys With Geometry
27
Sci-Fi Angular Abodes
The Hironaka House by Ken Yokogawa Brings Bold Architecture to the Suburbs
26
Shipping Container Theatres
Platoon Kunsthalle is an Eco-Friendly Space for Artistic Works
25
Modernized Barn Abodes
The Stables by Andy Ramus Houses Humans Not Horses
24
Ink Splatter Architecture
The Linkong SOHO Building Will Have You Zip-Zagging Through Its Hallways
23
Boxy Metallic Abodes
The Sluijmer & Van Leeuwen Villa Horatiuslaan House is Roomy and Rectangular
22
Metal Mesh Architecture
Marcelo Alvarenga Creates Metallic Knit Storefront for Coven
21
Modern Faceted Abodes
The Palms House Gives a Sense of Privacy via Its Metal Enclosure
20
Silver Spaceship Structures
The OCT Design Museum by Studio Pei-Zhu is Inspired by the Ocean
19
Metallic Ribbon Exteriors
The Performance Center Alexanderhoehe Features a Unique Linkage Space
18
Scrap Metal Surf Shacks
The Third Wave Kiosk in Australia by Tony Hobba Architects Reclaims Waste
17
Fanciful Futuristic Facades
This Renovation Project has a Sun-Protecting Perforated Metal Shield
16
Symmetrical Honeycomb Stores
This New Furniture Store in Brazil Boasts Honeycomb Designs
15
Sawtoothed Skyline Architecture
(RE)Configured-Assemblage Rebuilds the City with Recycled Metal
14
Sleek Sliced Metal Complexes
Beijing's Wangjing Soho Complex is a Contemporary Architecture Dream
13
Pleated Metal Architecture
The Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum by Zaha Hadid
12
Metal-Encased Skyscrapers
The M9D4 Apartments by Architectures Anne Démians Filter Urban Spac
11
Shuttered Facade Exteriors
IS by Yo Yamagata Architects is a Contemporary Abode in Japan
10
Metal-Clad Cottages
The Aluminum Cabin Mirrors the Mineral Aesthetic of its Rough Site
9
Malleable Skyscrapers
The Kinetower Unites Movable Design and Architecture
8
Metal Lace Exteriors
The Beautiful Elsbethen Site Extension by Trint + Kreuder d.n.a
7
Silver Armadillo Buildings
The Dalian Shell Museum Houses Calcified Formations
6
Oceanic Recreation Pavilions
The Liège Ice Rink by L’Escaut is Built to Resemble a Whal
5
Metal Cloud Architecture
The Experience Music Project in Seattle by Frank Gehry Houses a Sci-Fi Mu
4
Monolithic Glacier Museums
The Glacarium Resembles the Very Formations it Hopes to Save
3
Metal Nest Exteriors
The Manny Building is Covered in Aluminum Bars
2
Tentacle Transport Systems
Terreform 1 + KARV Designs the Smart DOTS + Soft MOBS Concept
1
Crinkled Steel Facades
The M03 House is Newly Fitted with a Lightweight Metal Roof Extension
Related Ideas
A-Frame Alpine-Inspired Cabins
The Adventure Whare Retreat by Studio Well is Demure
Nest-Inspired Urban Houses
This Vietnamese Dwelling Offers Respite From the Concrete Jungle
Japanese Minimalism Portland Homes
SHED Architecture & Design Created the Mori House in Portland
Plant-Based Cabin Constructions
Moontower Design Build Creates the Cross Cabin in Austin
Plant-Filled Latticed Buildings
Wallflower Architecture + Design Creates the Touching Eden House
Origami-Inspired Sleek Cabins
A.L.P.S. Designs the Infinity Mobile Architecture System
Stacked Compact Compact Homes
The Cabini Edelweiss is Comperise of Square Metal Pipe Framings
Serenely Stilted Houses
This Sustainable Tiny Home is Situated On An Elevated Platform
Plant-Based Timber Cabins
Moontower Design Build Has Created the Cross Cabin in Austin
Minimal Japanese Home Designs
FujiwaraMuro Architects Designs the House in Kyobate
Weatherized Steel Pyramidal House
TW Ryan Architecture Designs the Four Roof House in Montana
Treehouse-Inspired Norwegian Residences
This House Aesthetically Connects With its Surroundings
Extreme Space-Saving Architecture
A 74-Square-Foot Apartment is Redefining Urban Living
Discreet Architectural Polish Homes
Mobius Architekci Designs the Loop House in Rural Poland
Taiwanese Steel Metal Homes
Studio Tngtetshiu Designs the Double Roof House in Tainan
Beautifully Sculptural Concrete Museums
Qatar Museums Unveils Official Images of the Lusail Museum
H-Shaped Structural Mountain Homes
Studio B Architecture + Interiors Designs the Villa H
Contemporary Ski Home Projects
Alfredo Paredes Reimagines the Traditional Ski Chalet
Local Culture-Honoring Beach House
The Skagen Klitgaard Beach House by PAX has Historic Background
Copper-Clad Mountain Range Cabins
The DNA Alpine Cabin by CCY Architects is in Colorado
Aluminum Cladded Mountain Refuge
EX Creates the Pinwheel Shelter with Prefabricatef CLT Panels
War Plane-Inspired Off-Grid Homes
Peter Markos Designs the Tiny Monocoque Cabin
Curved Translucent Experimental Apartments
NEUHÄUSL HUNAL Designs the Sculptor's Apartment
Silver Curtain Concrete Homes
Local Studio Bangkok Tokyo Architecture Designs the House K
Landscape-Integrated Hill Homes
Elías Rizo Arquitectos Designs the Casa AV in the Hills
Warm Timber Coastal Homes
Parsonson Architects Designs the Lookout Home on a Stilted Base
Sheep Wool-Insulated Guest Houses
DUB Arquiectura Created the Casa La Escocesa on a Farm
High Concrete Walled Homes
Cesar Mancillas Creates a Linear Home with Tranquil Elements
Off-Grid Oceanside Homes
Campos Studio Designs a Sculptural Cliffside Home in Mexico
Anticipatory Architectural Homes
The Vulcan House in Perth Has a Sensible Design Process
Countryside Woodland Cabin Designs
BABELstudio Creates the Aralar Cottage in the Forest
Prefabricated Exposed Structural Homes
Workshop Architecture Inc Designs the Unfinished House
Swooped Museum Roof Planes
BIG Designs the Waterfront Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art
Modernist Reconfigured Belgian Homes
ISM Architecten Adds a New Roof to the BEEV Home
NYC-Inspired Steel Furniture
Micah Rosenblatt Designs the City Block Collection of Furniture
Bamboo-Inspired Cultural Buildings
This Cultural Center Seamlessly Blends Into its Surroundings
Highland Building-Converted Studios
Moxon Architects Renovates a Cluster of Farm Buildings
Hand-Bent Steel Performance Pavilions
Trahan Architecture Completes the Performance Pavilion
Dynamic Y-Shaped Glazed Houses
Saunders Architecture Designs the Y House in Alberta
Bamboo Luxe Pool Houses
Baldó Arquitectura Designs the Godai Pavilion with a Hanging Roof
Wooden Surrounded Concrete Homes
Omer Arbel Presents Designs for a Range of Washington State Homes
Elevated Timber-Clad Homes
Habitable Form Designs the Victory Bay House on Kiawah Island
Monolithic Metal-Formed Homes
Boyd Architects Designs the Summerville House in South Carolina
Greenhouse-Topped Residences
Moe Architecten Adds a Greenhouse on Top of the Wooden House
Modern Minimal Concrete Homes
Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados Designs the Copas Home
Shed-Like Storage Facilities
Lahznimmo Architects Designs the Powerhouse Castle Hill
Relaxing Wooden Holiday Homes
Norm Architects Designs the Heatherhill Beach House
Charred Timber-Clad Office Designs
Loader Monteith Designs an Office for H&i Adventures
Sea-Facing Mass-Timber Houses
Architecture Discipline Designed the Vagator Residence in India
Meadow-Overlooking Sleek Homes
StudioAC Designs a Holiday Home iwth a Cedar-Clad Build
Contemporary A-Frame Cabins
Heliotrope Architects Creates the Buoy Bat A-Frame Cabin
Black-Metal Angled Holiday Homes
The Ranch Mine Designs the Shadow Box House in Montana
Recycling-Centric Waterfront Homes
Measured Architecture Designs the Shor House Project
Robust Monolithic Walled Homes
H Arquitectes Completes the Casa 1736 in Barcelona
Geometric Prefabricated Pavilions
Heams & Michel Architectes Presents the 7 Kiosks Project
Contrasting Facade Clad Apartments
Messner Architets Designs the RVTK Apartments in Italy
Simplistic Timber Warehouses
Aretz Dürr Architektur Designs the Structures of Halle S 46
Mountaintop Cantilevered Residences
Alejandro Vazquez Designs the Levitar House on a Mountain
Concrete Boxes-Overlapping Homes
FujiwaraMuro Architects Designs the House in Tsurumi-ku
Corten Steel Home Extensions
Studio on the Rye Designs the New Extension of the Rusty House
Modern Concrete Hayfield Homes
Omer Arbel Designs the 75.9 House in the Canadian Pacific Northwest
Mid-Century Modern Historical Homes
SHED Architecture & Design Creates the Lark House
Crystalline Chinese Museum Buildings
The 'Space Crystal' Building Looks Like An Otherworldly Rock
Welcoming Prefabricated Student Housing
Ignacio Prego Architectures Designs New Student Housing
Log Cabin-Inspired Minimal Homes
Gartnerfuglen Arkitkter Designs the Årestua Home in Telemark
Local Craft-Shown Bamboo Pavilions
AtArchitecture Designs the Northeast Pavilion for an Art Fair
Stainless Steel-Wrapped Buildings
Payette Adorns the EXP Building with Metal Strips Throughout
Self-Cooling Exterior Buildings
Modu Creates the Promenade Building to Control Air Temperature
Weatherized Steel Family Homes
The Ranch Mine Designs the Malapai Tower House in Arizona
Exposed Concrete Stealthy Homes
OFIS Aritekti Designs the Villa Eternal Way in Slovenia
Hat-Shaped Metal-Topped Holiday Cabins
Studio Ellsinger Designs the Hee House with a Metal Roof
Metal-Wrapped Exhibition Spaces
Trace Architecture Office Creates a Structural Steel Wrap
Barrel-Vaulted Roof Parks
Bear Architects Designs the Zubitegi Park in Spain
Elemental Black Modern Cabins
Studio Bua Created the Atelier Nyp on Once a Sheed Shed
Steel-Cladded Social Housing
Christ & Gantenbein Creates a Block of Social Housing in Paris
Monolithic Sleek Summer Homes
Jan Henrik Jansen Arkitekter Creates the Vollerup Atrium Home
Live-In Art Gallery Homes
Casa Galeria is a Home That Doubles as an Art Gallery
Raw Concrete Industrial Homes
Studio Cochi Architects Designs the House in Nishizaki
Woodland-Inspired Timber Office Spaces
Atelier du Pont Completes the Pavilion Jardins Building
Graphic-Accented Brutalist Apartments
Jean Verville Designs a Creative Laboratory in Quebec City
Corrugated Winery Sawtooth Roofs
COA Arquitectura Designs the Tierra Tinta Winery Roof
Beach-Overlooking Picturesque Homes
teamSTAR Designs the Villa A in Japan's Yokosuka-City
Sculptural Juxtaposing Suburban Homes
SILO Creates the Steel Louise House in Charlotte
Gridded Steel Framed Homes
3dor Concepts Designs the Elegant House XO in Kerala, India
Earthy Tonal Tiled Sheds
LMNL Office Designs the Studio Shed in Brabant, the Netherlands
Cutout Roof Cement-Clad Homes
Edition Office Designs a Home with a Focus on Tree Views
Green Zinc Paneling Homes
Westerdahl Designs the Folded House Located in Cambridge
Orange Tonal Concrete Homes
Álvaro Siza Designs the Colien House on a Sloped Site in Spain
Modular Wooden Holiday Homes
Arsenit Designs the Piil Home Resting in an Estonian Forest
Rammed Earth Coastal Houses
Wood Marsh Designs the Peninsula House Along the Australian Coast
Welded Steel Cantilevered Footbridges
Ehl & KKoumar Architekti Designs a Sculptural Footbridge
Cascading Aluminum Pipe Museums
Kengo Kuma Design the Audeum Museum with an Aluminum Facade
Natural Landscape-Surrounding Homes
All(zone) Designs the Under the Rain Trees Holiday Home
Bright Red Timber Buildings
Office ParkScheerbarth Designs the Compact Haus 2+ in Berlin
Mountainous Elliptical House
MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Designs the House at 9,000 Feet
Weathering Steel-Clad Retreats
Miró Rivera Architects Completes the River Hill Residence
Glass-Clad Stacked Skyscrapers
The Team at Alloy Unveil Images of 505 State Street Building
Rustic Warm Homey Residences
CPlus Architects Design Mother's House in Southwest Beijing
Open-Air Perforated Concrete Homes
MM++ Architects Designs the Anchor House in Vietnam
Latticed-Steel Transport Hub Columns
Tremend Designs the Metropolitan Station in Lublin
Reinforced Concrete Housing Sets
Atelier Rampazzi Designs the Residenza Carèsg Row of Homes
Mass-Timber Transport Hubs
BIG and A+ Architecture Build the Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub
Roman Architecture-Themed Pavilions
Pratique and Fanum Design the Forum des Vestiges Pavilion
Thick-Walled Coastal Buildings
KLG Architects Designs the Hytte Riverview in South Africa
Steel Pavilion Sports Clubs
Urlo Studio Designs the Mocolí Sports Club in Ecuador
Interconnected Brick-Clad Buildings
David Chipperfield Architects Blends Three Housing Typologies
Brutalist Minimal Apartment Designs
Zalc Arquitetura Reimagines the JF Apartment in Brazil
Gold-Tonal Metal Building Extensions
Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter Extends a Skylab at a University
Dynamic Military Archive Buildings
Jahn Completes the Pritzker Military Archives Center Design
Exposed Concrete Steelwork Homes
Objekt Architecten Designs the Lamat House in Wichelen
Volcanic Terrain Modern Homes
The Ranch Mine Designs the Noir Peaks House in Arizona
Boat Design-Inspired Modern Homes
Bates Masi + Architects Designs the Three Mile Harbor
Blocky Structural Coastal Homes
Åsa Hjort Architects Completes a Home Design in Sweden
Reflective Mountain-Based Shelters
Senorer Tammerle Architekten Updates the Shelter Santerpass
Mirrored Steel Solar Farms
Bilgin Architects Designs the Central Control Building in Turkey
Paper-Like Art Museum Roofs
BIG Expands the Museum for Paper Art in Denmark with a Folded Roof
Industrial Warehouse-Inspired Offices
Carr Designs a New Office Block with Industrial Themes
Textured Concrete Tiered Homes
Nomo Studio Designs the Shift House Holiday Residence
Rustic Contemporary Bunkhouses
SHED Architecture & Design Unveil the Guemes Island Bunkhouse
Holiday Mountain Village Chalets
Giona Bierens de Haan Architectures Designs the Perfect Day House
Wooden Roof Japanese Museums
Shigeru Ban Designs the Toyota City Museum in Japan
X-Shaped Nature-Interacting Gabled Cabins
Tall Architects Designs the Fowl River Cabin in Alabama
Expansive Roofs Concrete Homes
Studio MOB Creates a House in the Farm in Coimbatore
Steel Structural Dynamic Workspaces
Skylab Architecture Builds a New Skylab Office in Oregon
Metal Mesh Residential Buildings
Ædifica Designs the Cité Angus II Structure Outside Montreal
Landscape-Overlooking Modern Cabins
Wendell Burnette Architects Creates the Telescope House
Star-Shaped Structural Pavilions
Minsuk Cho Designs the Archipelagic Void Shelter in London
Dynamic Concrete Modern Buildings
Atelier Matias Mosquera Designs the Shire Building
Monolithic Custom Residences
Laboratorio de Arquitectura Designs the Casa Catedral Project
Housing Block Defensive Facades
Bureau des Mésarchitecture Creates Gold Aluminum Shutters
Water Flow-Inspired Art Buildings
MAD Designs the Waterfront Nanhai Arts Center in Guangdong
Metal Sheet-Facade Book Stores
Wutopia Labs Designs the Shanghai Book City with a Dynamic Facade
Stone Ruin-Transformed Spanish Homes
H Arquitectes Designs the Casa 1627 in Spain
Creative Work-Encouraging Homes
Mork-Ulnes Architects Designs the Silver Lining House
Gridded Screen Apartment Blocks
Neri&Hu Design a Grid Facade Residential Building in Taiwan
Distinctive Airlifted Structures
Arête Architects and Makers Fabrication Design the Karka Tower
Timber-Clad Canadian Holiday Homes
Naturehumaine Designs La Cime Home in Lanaudière
Elevated Water Towers
Temperaturas Extremas Designs The Bird & Mammal Shelter and Water Reservoir
Weatherized Visual Wooden Homes
Denizen Works Creates the Hundred Acre Wood House in Scotland
Regional Modern Tropical Homes
Lijo Reny Architects Designs the Stoic Wall Residence