© BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

Crowning Glory: 8 Incredible Free-Form Roof Designs

From the Sydney Opera House to the Sistine Chapel, incredible roofs uplift and inspire.

Eric Baldwin Eric Baldwin

The judging process for Architizer's 12th Annual A+Awards is now away. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive updates about Public Voting, and stay tuned for winners announcements later this spring.   

Roofs have the power to dramatically shape how we understand space. As key architectural elements that define volume, atmosphere and light, roofs create openness, security or continuity. They can uplift or inspire. Iconic roofs become symbols of place, from Australia’s Sydney Opera House to the revered Sistine Chapel, moving beyond purely practical considerations and building cultural resonance. The following collection takes a closer look at buildings that have been recognized by the A+Awards and were designed with free-form roofs.

Cultural and commercial alike, the designs are located across multiple continents and climates. Formed with a range of scales and programs, these exemplars in roof design each reimagine the fifth façade through form, materiality and assembly. .

© Jing-Rui Lin (Usual Studio)

© Jing-Rui Lin (Usual Studio)

© Jing-Rui Lin (Usual Studio)

© Jing-Rui Lin (Usual Studio)

Rope Wave Office by Jing-Rui Lin (Atelier Ten), Shanghai, China

Located in the QSW Culture Center in Shanghai, this office was made to promote creativity, sharing and community. Formed with steel, wood and rope, the design creates a dynamic interior roof plane around multiple spaces.

© Form4 Architecture

© Form4 Architecture

© Form4 Architecture

© Form4 Architecture

© Form4 Architecture

© Form4 Architecture

Sea Song by Form4 Architecture, Big Sur, Calif., United States

Inspired by ocean views and manta rays, the Sea Song project creates flowing roof forms for three private structures. Formed as self-sustaining, net-zero energy buildings, the design includes curving, lyrical forms oriented out to the sea.

© kuvio.com

© kuvio.com

© kuvio.com

© kuvio.com

Löyly by Avanto Architects Ltd, Helsinki, Finland

Inspired by sauna bathing and culture, Löyly was made as a public sauna space for year-round use. A free-form wooden “cloak” wraps the project with heat-treated pine to provide visual privacy and areas for people to sit and gather.

© OFFICEUNTITLED

© OFFICEUNTITLED

© OFFICEUNTITLED

© OFFICEUNTITLED

The Camps at Coos Bay Lagoon by R&A Architecture + Design Inc., Coos Bay, Ore., United States

Sited along the Coos Bay inlet, this beachfront shelter was designed to conceptually link the site to its natural riparian past. The main pavilion includes an angled and sloping roof that reflects the local seaside vernacular.

© Hariri Pontarini Architects

© Hariri Pontarini Architects

© Hariri Pontarini Architects

© Hariri Pontarini Architects

The Bahá’í Temple of South America by Hariri Pontarini Architects, Santiago, Chile

Inspired by light and its spiritual qualities, this temple in Chile is located in the foothills of the Andes. As the last of the eight continental temples commissioned by the Bahá’í Community, the project uses translucent marble from the Portuguese Estremoz quarries to create an incredible, rising roof form.

© Zaha Hadid Architects

© Zaha Hadid Architects

© Zaha Hadid Architects

© Zaha Hadid Architects

Port House by Zaha Hadid Architects, Antwerp, Belgium

Repurposing a derelict fire station, ZHA’s new extension to the Port House boldly expands to the sky. Floating above the old building, the project includes a rippling glazed surface that transitions between roof and wall.

© BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

© BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

© BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

© BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

2016 Serpentine Pavilion by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, London, United Kingdom

Made to embody opposites like modular and sculptural, transparent and opaque, BIG’s Serpentine Pavilion design was formed as an unzipped wall. As a cave-like canyon, the design includes fiberglass frames and shifted boxes that play with light and shadow.

© SO – IL, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

© SO – IL, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

© SO – IL, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

© SO – IL, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art by SO – IL and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Davis, Calif., United States

Understanding a museum as a landscape of cultivation, this project captures the Central Valley’s optimism through invention and imagination. Created with an overarching “Grand Canopy,” the roof extends over the site with aluminum beams and a rolling patchwork screen.

The judging process for Architizer's 12th Annual A+Awards is now away. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive updates about Public Voting, and stay tuned for winners announcements later this spring.   

 

Eric Baldwin Author: Eric Baldwin
Based in New York City, Eric was trained in both architecture and communications. As Director of Communications at Sasaki, he has a background spanning media, academia, and practice. He's deeply committed to trying as many restaurants as possible in NYC.
Read more articles by Eric
© CplusC Architects + Builders

Why Architects Need to Get Back Onto the Construction Site

By engaging in the building process, architects can look outside the small inner circle of a single industry and reconsider the holistic meaning for their practice.

© Atelier TEKUTO

Feel the Squeeze: 7 Slender Japanese Homes

Despite their narrow and in some cases tiny building footprints, these homes feature interior spaces that achieve shocking levels of expansiveness and openness.

+