A new book by Messrs Oscar Riera Ojeda and Byron Hawes showcases some of the world’s most stunning equatorial homes.

When discussing modernist architecture, we tend to think of the sparse Lutheran efforts of Germanic and Scandinavian schools, in particular. ­Brutalist breeze-block fortresses tend not to be what you look for in a beach house. Based on the evidence of Modern Tropical: Houses In The Sun by Messrs Oscar Riera Ojeda and Byron Hawes, however, it might be time to tweak your Airbnb settings.

The authors have assembled 35 of the world’s most stunning homes that are within 35 degrees of the equator, and demonstrate that stark edifices of glass, steel and concrete can serve to frame the verdant natural world around them. Dense foliage pops against whitewashed walls and vast windows drink in light, while thick walls keep the stifling heat out. The blurring of indoor and outdoor space – the “rejection of compartmentalisation”, as the authors put it – is a lot more bearable when you don’t have to put on more clothes to cross the threshold.

The irony of the less-is-more approach to design is that less often equates to more in terms of price. Coupled with the equatorial setting, Messrs Hawes and Riera Ojeda freely admit that the lush, statement geometric-slab homes have become an “aesthetic short form for a certain lifestyle. Puff Daddy-esque white parties… the lair of a billionaire South American drug kingpin.” The houses showcased in the book don’t come cheap. “Far from from suggesting some rock-star lifestyle, each of these houses feels somehow introverted,” say the authors. “Private, intimate, quiet. A place of repose, not excess.”

From the deployment of botanical installations to the materials used (concrete is surprisingly adaptable to life in tropical climates), there is much to take home from the properties featured in the book. Here are three of our favourites.

Miami, USA

Low impact in terms of its ecological footprint, Brillhart Architecture’s 1,500sq ft glass and steel structure is nevertheless striking. It is a thoroughly modern dwelling within the Spring Garden Historic District, one of Miami’s first purpose-built neighbourhoods, but stands out by not standing out. It is shuttered for privacy, but the entire house can be opened up to the outside world. And as for concerns about the changing coastal environment, this house rises above them, standing, as it does, 5ft above the ground.

Valle de Bravo, Mexico

Tucán House, the handiwork of architects Messrs Héctor Barroso Riba and Andrea Pérez Salazar, is perched above the lakeside city of Valle de Bravo. The uneven topology has been embraced with staggered sections that provide pavilions at different levels that help the house merge with its surroundings. The materials used are largely natural and locally sourced – even the concrete was made using soil from the site – and the stone walls have been left exposed.

Brazil

Placed as if to mark the Tropic of Capricorn, the coastal city of Ubatuba is one of the wettest places in Brazil, a country that has most of the Amazon rainforest within its borders. And conservation is very much built into the architecture of this house, which is constructed on three columns of reinforced concrete that elevate it in order to protect trees the trees beneath. We particularly like the swimming pool, which has been designed to absorb the maximum amount of sunlight.

Modern Tropical: Houses In The Sun by Messrs Byron Hawes and Oscar Riera Ojeda (Rizzoli) is out today