In art, there are no rules. Give the exact same material to two different sculptors, and they’re likely to make dramatically different objects. The same can’t always be said of architecture, in which the soaring possibilities of unfettered creativity are stifled by silly little things like structural integrity. Still, it’s interesting to see the results of the same experiment, in which the building materials that make up the local vernacular are translated to a whole new style. That’s what architecture firm Elastico Farm has done with “Houses of Cards,” two unexpected new dwellings set in a picturesque suburb of Turin, Italy.

Commissioned by a doctor for his two adult daughters, these bold residences are set within Torrazza Piemonte, a neighborhood which principal architect Stefano Pujatti calls “cookie-cutter.” Aerial photos back this up, especially on this particular block. Behind the houses sits a row of near-identical homes in contemporary Italian suburban style, with typical gabled shapes and terracotta roof tiles. Pujatti’s designs are more siblings than twins: composed of mostly the same shapes and materials, but clearly individuals, one more linear and orderly than the other.
To come up with these shapes, Pujatti started with a stack of business cards, cutting slits into them to arrange them into house-like shapes. He was inspired by another project his firm completed back in 2013 in a Sardinian quarry, where t...