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Explore - Design Ideas

  1. Thibault’s Follies
    Outdoor

    Thibault’s Follies

    Quebec City architect Pierre Thibault has designed three Habitats Légers, or Light Habitats­—small structures installed in the landscape and meant as creative retreats. The first...

    written by: Aaron Britt
    02.04.09

  2. Fawning Over Flora
    Outdoor

    Fawning Over Flora

    Flora Grubb Gardens, the hippest plant merchant in the Bay Area, takes up residence in a new building as green as it is frondescent.

    written by: Aaron Britt
    photos by: Todd Hido
    02.05.09

  3. The Lawn Goodbye
    Outdoor

    The Lawn Goodbye

    We sunbathe, picnic, and play sports on them. Our bare feet seem inexorably drawn to them. And for many of us, they’re the first thing we see when we step out the front door: lawns. It&rsquo...

    written by: Arnie Cooper
    photos by: Fritz Haeg
    02.26.09

  4. Branching Out
    Outdoor

    Branching Out

    Arborsculpturist Richard Reames has spent the past 16 years making more than 100 sculptures, chairs, pieces of furniture, tool handles, mailboxes, and fences out of living trees.

    written by: James Nestor
    photos by: John Clark
    02.26.09

  5. Apples from Asphalt
    Outdoor

    Apples from Asphalt

    Mobile City Farmstead is bringing a little bit of the heartland into the big city, one vacant lot at a time.

    05.04.09

  6. Dunkin' Danish
    Outdoor

    Dunkin' Danish

    The thought of stripping down for a communal skinny dip in a salty strait might make Americans a bit squeamish, but in Denmark, it’s the stuff that can save a city.

    written by: Miyoko Ohtake
    06.17.09

  7. Outside In or Inside Out?
    Outdoor

    Outside In or Inside Out?

    Among the kitschy, gnome-loving chalets of Holland's community gardens, Krill Architects created an anomalously spare and highly adaptable Garden House.

    written by: Jane Szita
    09.10.09

  8. Botanical Garden Pavilion
    Outdoor

    Botanical Garden Pavilion

    When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, architect and University of Kentucky lecturer Mike McKay felt the pull to go down to the Big Easy to help with a task that was anything but easy:...

    written by: Miyoko Ohtake
    03.23.10

  9. Growing Home New Orleans
    Outdoor

    Growing Home New Orleans

    Five years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans still houses to up to 70,000 vacant lots. Two years ago, however, the city put a plan into place to help residents revive their neighborhoods. The...

    written by: Miyoko Ohtake
    08.19.10

  10. Cool Chicken House
    Outdoor

    Cool Chicken House

    Who doesn't love a chicken run? This cool coop is by David Rosen, an Associate Producer at CBS News in New York. His goal, in addition to sheltering four egg-laying hens, was to design a...

    written by: Jaime Gillin
    12.23.10

  11. Master Stroke
    Outdoor

    Master Stroke

    In Santa Monica, California, where pools are plenty but not always eye-pleasing, Padraic Cassidy lifted one 30 inches off the ground­—dramatically elevating its aesthetic appeal.

    written by: Miyoko Ohtake
    photos by: David Allee
    01.04.11

  12. Staten Island
    Outdoor

    Staten Island

    While my appreciation of New York’s 24-7 public transit system remains immeasurable, I am pleased, as day two begins, to catch a ride in a Parks Department Jeep to Staten Island. Within an...

    written by: Marc Kristal
    02.14.11

  13. Zaha Hadid's Milan Installation
    Outdoor

    Zaha Hadid's Milan Installation

    As part of last month's Milan Design Week, Zaha Hadid Architects teamed with LEA Ceramiche to create "Twirl," a mesmerizing installation in the 18th-century courtyard of the State...

    written by: Jaime Gillin
    05.10.11

  14. Good Clean Fun
    Outdoor

    Good Clean Fun

    Far from pandering to the whine of youth, this urban play garden fosters thoughtful interaction in a protected setting within the bustle of San Francisco.

    written by: Jordan Kushins
    photos by: Marion Brenner
    07.07.11

  15. Mid-Century Modern on the Playground
    Outdoor

    Mid-Century Modern on the Playground

    In honor of our family themed July/August issue, we've invited guest writer Paige Johnson, who spearheads the blog Playscapes, to share her perspective on some of the most innovative contemporary...

    written by: Paige Johnson
    08.01.11

  16. Video: Garrett Finney & Cricket Trailer
    Outdoor

    Video: Garrett Finney & Cricket Trailer

    After four years at NASA designing rest-eat-sleep spaces for astronauts aboard the International Space Station, architect Garrett Finney left the agency to pursue earth-based enterprises. He...

    written by: Miyoko Ohtake
    09.02.11

  17. Chicken Chapel
    Outdoor

    Chicken Chapel

    Architect Keith Moskow grew up doing grunt construction work. His dad was a builder and after his first year of college, he helped build their family's summer home. "I was doing lowly work,...

    written by: Miyoko Ohtake
    09.20.11

  18. Lighting Lower Manhattan
    Outdoor

    Lighting Lower Manhattan

    Attention lighting professionals: New York City is making like Hong Kong and illuminating its waterfront in a proposed bid that invites architects and designers to create a massive interactive...

    written by: Kelsey Keith
    12.16.11

  19. Brooklyn Botanic's New 'Do
    Outdoor

    Brooklyn Botanic's New 'Do

    Last week, as spring's balmy temperatures took a temporary dip into glacier territory, the two founding partners of architecture and urbanism firm Weiss/Manfredi led a hard hat tour of their new...

    written by: Kelsey Keith
    04.05.12

  20. Pop-up Parks
    Outdoor

    Pop-up Parks

    Eager for public space, communities re-create their streets as temporary cafes, playgrounds, and bike lanes.

    written by: Inga Saffron
    photos by: Krista Jahnke
    05.18.12

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