The donut house in Bali epitomizes the radical idea of total integration between habitat and ecosystem, functioning not merely as a building but as a living organism embedded in the forest’s rhythm; its perfectly circular roof, reminiscent of a torus or ring, generates an encompassing spatial continuity that eliminates hierarchy between interior and exterior, allowing the dwelling to dissolve visually and functionally into the landscape while also promoting passive environmental strategies such as natural ventilation and rainwater harvesting via the central oculus, which doubles as a symbolic and climatic core of the structure, and this form—timeless and intuitive—resonates with ancient cosmologies and bioclimatic wisdom that predates modern sustainability discourses yet aligns seamlessly with them in contemporary practice, especially in tropical contexts where shade, airflow, and orientation dictate human comfort, as demonstrated in the case of the Green School Bali’s adjacent campus retreat, where this donut-shaped pavilion functions as a pedagogical sanctuary for immersive learning, its wooden skin and elevated walkways ensuring minimal disruption to the existing terrain while maximizing experiential contact with surrounding biodiversity, and thus the structure exemplifies a shift toward biophilic design not as aesthetic trend but as architectural ethic, one that reframes the built environment as cohabitant rather than conqueror of nature, opening new paths for regenerative architecture that responds to place, climate and culture without compromise or spectacle but through quiet, radical coherence, turning geometry into gesture and shelter into statement.
