Architect Sven Matt mixed basic shapes with rich details in this Austrian home. The lattice shell was hewn from silver fir sourced from a nearby forest. Eternit shingles clad the roof.

Architect Christian Tonko played with a double metaphor when designing the Camera Lucida studio. The name of the cantileverd hillside space, Latin for "bright chamber," references the open window facing the valley below, as well as the skylight that bathes the workspace in natural light.

Friends from Tonko's hometown of Bregenz, Austria, commissioned the studio when they acquired some land next to their home. They use it for drawing and sketching, as well as creating clay and gypsum sculptures that are later cast into bronze. Since the area is close to where he grew up, Tonko was incredibly familar with the view from the hillside.

An unadorned spruce wood staircase leads to the upper level.

When Austrian entrepreneur Erich Sattler refocused his family’s business from mixed agriculture to grape growing, he needed headquarters to house the budding wine enterprise. He turned to his architect brother, Kurt, to design a winery capable of production, bottling, and cellaring on the ground-floor wine hall, with guest accommodations, presentation space, and an office in the wine loft above. Read the full story here.

New cement tile from Mosaic del Sur, Hansgrohe fixtures, a shower plate from Bette, and Farrow & Ball’s Chappell Green paint round out the room.

The latticework shell becomes a visual motif in the bathroom, furnished with appliances from Keramag, Kludi, and Laufen.

Screens can be used to alter the amount of daylight that streams into the studio.

The single skylight helps light the artists' workstation. The simple interior, really a shed with smooth concrete surfaces, provides a stark yet airy space for creative pursuits.

Finished this past fall, Camera Lucida lived up to Tonko's vision of a functional and earnest space for work and reflection. A staircase leads to a second level with additional workspace.

A skylight floods the loft space with daylight and offers views of the stars at night.

Spruce wood also lines the floor, walls, and ceiling in the bedrooms. The residents must climb a ladder to access the loft above.

Tonko positioned the "lens" of the building to look over the Rhine Valley below. The owners have considered hanging some of the bronze sculptures outside the window, to allow them to develop a natural patina over time.

The house's simple gable form helps the house blend in with its neighbors.

The two buildings on either end of the house form an intimate, private courtyard between them — a common feature of farmhouses in the region. Within, a Mediterranean-style gravel garden designed by architect Joachim Kräftner offers an ideal spot for play and relaxation. Klauser calls it “a walk-in sculpture.”

The interior of the Sattler Winery is kept at a constant 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

The structure is clad in weathered steel with an interior of concrete and untreated oak window frames. Tonko's design is meant to be what he describes as a "delicate workshop," an easy-to-clean, distraction-free space that allow for concentration and creativity.

Contrasting with the densely organized upper floor, the lower one features one main open area for cooking, eating, and living that spans the building's entire depth. Pendant lamps by Supermodular hang above the dining table.

Residents enter the house from the street through the upper level, which contains the bedrooms. The rafters were removed to create additional loft space.

Built-in shelving crafted by local carpenters distinguish the living area from the service zone, where appliances and utilities are stored. "Because of the integrated shelving, no additional furniture is needed for storage," Matt says.

The whimsical façade is clad with irregular, unplaned white fir slats that thoroughly insulate the structure. These echo its energy-efficient timber construction, which includes triple-glazed super-windows and a comfort ventilation system. The poppy-red front door introduces a burst of color.

Camera Lucida | Austria An artist's atelier becomes a looking device into the Austrian landscape. By Vienna architect Christian Tonko.

A wood-burning stove that had occupied the clients’ previous home now dominates the bungalow’s main room. “It’s the heart of the house and serves for cooking as well as for heating,” Klauser says. The space is filled with furniture purchased in antique stores or crafted by the residents themselves, though the cooking table was made by a local metalworker.

To the west, a fitness room in an external building lets the home’s owners work up a sweat while taking in expansive views. Closer to the main bungalow, a small kitchen garden (known as a “garteln” in the local dialect) soaks up morning sun.

For the bathroom, Reckendorfer wanted a shower for daily use, but opted to keep a 1950s bathtub that she discovered in her basement. “I studied graphic design and photography, so visual things are so important to me,” she says. “I love sleek, light-filled Scandinavian designs, but I also love flea markets and pieces with history.”

The home’s current site was formerly occupied by a pond teeming with fish, which posed challenges to laying the new foundation. The architect solved the problem by exchanging several feet of marshy soil with crushed stone that could bear the building weight and evenly distribute the load.

Context and Contrast in the Alps | Austria An Austrian vacation home’s design references its mountainside setting and expansive views across the valley. By Tom Lechner / LP Architektur

Plaster walls mixed with gray marble powder dominate the interior of the bottom floor, complementing its spruce wood carpentry.

Seamless silver fir panels known as “Täfer” cover the interior walls and ceiling. “In old farmhouses in lower Austria, it’s traditional to cover interior surfaces with wood, and we wanted to continue this tradition in our new building to give the clients a cozy atmosphere,” Klauser says. The architect selected rustic parquet and slate stone flooring for the combination living-cooking area that continues the idea of connecting old and new.

The space-saving Murphy tub, as Reckendorfer calls it, was jury-rigged by the previous owner to tuck into a cabinet, which features a water heater and towel rack. Placed on a hinge, it’s easy for one person to lower it into place.

The couple built the cabin in Poland and eventually moved it to near the shore of Packer Lake in Austria.

The winery is nestled in a residential area in the city of Tadten in eastern Austria.

A wide roof overhang on the south side terrace provides plenty of protection from the sun. At its eastern end, a standalone bedroom offers guests extra privacy.

A “Schof” – a type of closed porch that’s common in the Alpine region of Austria, links the corridor-kitchen to the western side of the house.

This 21-story structure, interspersed with cut forms and antilevered parts, provides a plethora of views and canopies with which to gaze upon Vienna. It’s a carefully sculpted and controlled piece of glass and steel.

High-performance design doesn’t necessarily mean importing your windows from Austria; these are from Marvin. An abundance of natural light reduced the number of decorative lighting fixtures needed.