Ulrich Müther, Lifeguard Station, Rügen, 1975

While it may look like a Space Age beach house, this elevated cabin was in fact designed to serve as a life guard station on the German island of Rügen. It was built by the East German starchitect Ulrich Müther, pioneer of the concrete shell structure. More than any other Müther building, the station’s “graceful curves, pillared support, cinematic fenestration and white-painted concrete” suggest the influence of Oscar Niemeyer, Architectuul.com observes, although the fellow communists never met. Today it’s principally rented out for weddings, but we’d be happy to while away our winter days in its rotund interior.