The apartments face a landscaped common courtyard. The site is an irregular trapezoid, a fact the zig-zagging sidewalks reflect well.

The eight container apartments, huddled together in a wise use of the space, are situated on an old used car lot in downtown Phoenix. A decommissioned container costs between $1,800 and $5,000, says architect Wesley James. Transportation, handling, and site assembly run at least as much.

Nine-foot ceilings, white walls, and IKEA furniture define the bedroom, located at the back of the container.

The containers are fused side-by-side, giving each apartment a 16-foot width. They are then stacked in four pairs with wrought, industrial-style exterior staircases in-between. To spare living space and installation headaches, a cinder block core houses utilities and a bathroom for each unit.

The galley kitchen, which includes a washer/dryer combo, separates the living room and bedroom.

The lone furnished unit, which is slated to be an Airbnb rental, features a RAR rocker and two LCW chairs by Charles and Ray Eames.

Floor-to-ceiling windows front each unit, with sections of container wall folded out and fixed in place as part of the shading strategy.

Inside, white paint lightens up the middle of the building. A vintage Danish dining set and Cloud pendants by Frank Gehry for Vitra define the dining area.

Experience Music Project by Gehry Partners, Seattle 1999, shot for Vulcan, Inc. © Lara Swimmer

2008: Frank Gehry Inspired by da Vinci’s drawings of wooden catapults as well as seaside huts, Gehry’s vision for the Pavilion, his first built structure in England, was another signature, angular construction, a gorgeous glass-and-timber fractal floating above the ground. Photograph © 2008 Nick Rochowski

The living room of an unoccupied apartment showcases refinished original hardwood flooring. The joint between the two containers is left exposed.

A stack of 1955 Grand Prix chairs by Arne Jacobsen rests besides a minimal art piece.

Using i.design EFFIX, a high performance material conceived by Italcementi, Luca Galbusera designed a table centerpiece for outdoor use. Luca Galbusera, winner of the Concrete Design International Competition, will show work as part of Alessi's Design Lab exhibit at WantedDesign.

Paul Schlase as "Igor," Tony Revolori as "Zero," Tilda Swinton as "Madame D." and Ralph Fiennes as "M. Gustave". Stockhausen and his crew -- including prop master Robin Miller, set decorator Anna Piccock and graphic designer Anna Atkins, who created all the film’s incredible typography from scratch -- crafted the sets by cherry-picking the best of the best. After extensive scouting trips and time spent scouring through old books and photos, elements from continental classics like Berlin’s Adlon informed the layout.

Maggie's Dundee exterior. Architect: Frank Gehry. Pic © Raf Makda, August 2003.

Fisher Center at Bard College by Gehry Partners, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 2003. © Bilyana Dimitrova

Frank Gehry: The outline of Gehry’s sculptural facades also lends itself well to his face.

Dundee Exterior. Roof Architect: Frank Gehry. © Maggie's Centres

Dundee jetty. Architect: Frank Gehry. © Maggie's Centres.

Dundee exterior and landscape. Architect: Frank Gehry. Landscape Architect: Arabella Lennox-Boyd. © Maggie's Centres

“The building has feelings which I hope engender community activity, and that it’s comfortable for the patients to be there. It’s respectful of Chinese architecture and motifs.” —Frank Gehry

As his parents look on, Apolo plans his commute under a fire-top piece by the artist Michael Ricardo Andreev and alongside a Wiggle chair by Frank Gehry.

Exterior of the Grand Budapest Hotel, created with miniatures. One place in particular loomed large as an influence, the Grand Hotel Pupp, the gem of Karlovy Vary, a famed spa town in the Czech Republic that hosts an annual film festival. It’s part of a strip of pastel-painted buildings on the Slovenska River in the city center, all painted in shades of tangerine, pistachio and bright yellow ochre that inspired Stockhausen. He says the exterior of the Pupp is the closest thing to the Grand Budapest.

While the windows are larger than what one would find in a traditional Cape Cod structure, they were essential in establishing a connection with the forest.

Lobby shot of the Grand Budapest Hotel. “We took our favorite pieces and combined them together,” says Stockhausen. “We did our own version of the beautiful fabric work and murals found in top hotels. All the fabrics are hand done, and the furniture is all antiques. We sourced locally from Eastern Germany, and reached farther afield -- we were pulling in from Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, Prague, even London, anywhere we could.”

...a record player! The music selection in my room was eclectic: Elton John, Toto, Ola Magnell, Madonna, and a handful of others; unfortunately (or fortunately?) there was no Abba. I wonder if those records were reserved for the ultra swanky rooms?

The bar is located on the ground floor and has a steady rotation of DJs and live bands to entertain guests. It's also open to the public.

There's a playhouse in Grand Central Terminal.

Speaking of swanky, here's another view of one of the suites, showing the living room.

Interior of the Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson stumbled upon the Görlitzer Warenhaus, an abandoned department store in Görlitz. This “tremendous find,” according to Stockhausen, made building an interior possible within his budget, and the production crew build an entire hotel lobby inside.

The bathrooms are crisp and uncluttered with toiletries by Face Stockholm. Scandic (like Sweden in general) has a strong environmental commitment. The bathrooms have dual-flush toilets (pretty standard in Europe), larger pump bottles rather than single-use throwaways for shampoo and soap, and a sign that says "80 percent of guests reuse towels." Nothing like the bandwagon effect to motivate people to be more conscious of the resources they use! On a related note, you have to insert your key card into a socket to turn on your room's lights. Not only does it ensure that the lights will be off when you depart, your card will always be right next to the door—great for those (such as myself) who frequently misplace small things.

Here's another suite in the hotel, which is similar to the one in which I'm staying. My junior suite is a corner room located on the fifth floor overlooking the neoclassical rooftops of the Norrmalm district, and the bustling intersection of Kungsgatan and Vasagatan. It's kitted out with high ceilings, loads of natural daylight, desk, flat-screen T.V., sofa, and...

Here's one of the hotel's 391 rooms, a junior suite. In terms of amenities, there's a complimentary breakfast, free WiFi, hair dryers, television, toiletries, and safe for all rooms. Rooms range from a 1182 SEK Cabin ($175) to a 3222 SEK ($482) Master Suite. Be forewarned: though the lower price of cabin rooms is tempting, they do not have windows.

The interiors are by local firm Koncept. While the lobby is a mix of rich colors and textures, the corridors are monochromatic with quotes emblazoned on the walls. The patterns on the carpet are inspired by Stockholm's manhole covers.