The glass-enclosed master bedroom floats above the corrugated, oxidized steel exterior.

A skillful configuration of restrained materials and natural light lets a gallery, studio, and residence merge inside one compelling shell. Kouichi Kimura, the founder of FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects based in the Japanese prefecture of Shiga, wrapped the upper floor of this building in sheets of galvanized steel in order to reflect light and intensify its street presence.

In the living quarters of Lightroom 2.0, Carpenter’s daughter Esme chats with her boyfriend, who is seated on a Milo Baughman Case Sofa.

Lightroom 2.0 was inspired by artists’ lofts and Decatur’s industrial past. The gallery floors are polished concrete and the exposed joists are Georgia-Pacific engineered lumber.

After a 40-year-old pine tree fell over on a Brentwood estate in Los Angeles, the owner let it lie, and the continued to grow from its newfound horizontal position. He decided to incorporate it into a 172-square-foot office and guest house with the structure floating above the tree. Around the perimeter of the butterfly roof is a clerestory that gives the illusion that the roof is floating.

On the lower roof, cedar decking and flower beds define one of several outdoor gardening spaces. Part of her ongoing research into the livability of cities, Fitzgerald aimed to create landscaped areas that were “aesthetic, aromatic, educational, and productive.” The deck is bordered by an expanded aluminum mesh railing and black metal corrugated panels.

Challenged by the dimensions of the narrow lot, the team worked through significant programmatic and logistical constraints during the design and construction process. The final concept for the layout was a modern take on the side hall plan. The living spaces are stretched back deep into the lot, and strategically raised above grade to allow sunlight to penetrate into multiple living spaces. The multifunctional courtyard serves as outdoor workspace, gardening area, children's play area, and covered parking during winter months.

Carpenter kicks back on an IKEA outdoor sectional on the sealed-pine roof deck of Lightroom 2.0. A collection of vintage Tulip armchairs by Eero Saarinen surround a “Jetsons-inspired” fireplace from the 1970s found online.

Positioned on the ground floor, the office enjoys spacial privacy, while still having intimate interaction with the living area above and common courtyard.

The 52-foot-high roof deck overlooks Decatur Square. “The building may appear as an object, but someday, it’ll become the backdrop as all of it develops,” Carpenter says. The structure shares the lot with a 1920s bungalow containing a therapist’s office that abuts the first-floor gallery, as well as Lightroom 1.0.

Designer and digital fabricator Shawn Benson shares his 595-square-foot second-floor space with his wife, Jessica, and their daughter, Roux. The 15-foot-high ceilings allow plenty of room for a full-size ocean paddleboard.

The home’s front façade features an anodized aluminum and glass curtain wall by Kawneer that's framed by Vic West black corrugated metal panels. The board-formed concrete on the exterior enables passive solar absorption, allowing optimal heat retention on cold winter days. The metal and concrete exterior cladding offers cohesive dialogue with the neighboring industrial sheds and commercial buildings.

Jane and Dan Wright furnished the living space of their new studio building with a rug from West Elm and a wood stove from Morsø.

When he became the dean of Syracuse University's School of Architecture in 2004, Mark Robbins made a plan to help the city and, potentially, the entire country. “I wanted to see if we could build houses that simultaneously made propositions about sustainability and about the possibility of constructing houses in a city like Syracuse,” Robbins said. The result was three green homes for $200,000 each and the promise of more to come. Read more about the central New York project here.

Jane Wright, a painter and printmaker, uses one end of the building as a studio. The space served as a lanuching pad for her new interior design business, Roost Modern.

The siding is locally milled native white pine, with plywood soffits and Andersen windows.

Oversize, double-hung windows draw natural light into the space.

The floors are polished concrete, a money-saving move that allowed for splurges like the floor-to-ceiling windows from Chicago Tempered Glass set in Tubelite frames.

A stack of the artist's work sits in his live/work space's front window.

Kii recently scored these flat files. Too bad his poster collection won't all fit.

Located in Chicago’s West Town, the concrete shell of Upton’s Naturals headquarters was erected in just 48 hours.

This table is where Mark paints and assembles his bicycles; he built the table and the bike standing upon it. The tall roller cabinet is from Homak.

The stair wall is clad in tongue-and-groove boards. Drywall was used for most of the other interior surfaces, with poplar trim.

A portrait of Grace Jones, by Niagra, sits on top of a locker bank.

A giant beanbag sits below his recording studio, a futuristic structure built by his father in the 1970s.

The combination of slab-on-grade construction and carefully considered material choices, including poplar flooring in the music wing, helped keep building costs to $160 per square foot.

The studio building was sited to shield the property from gusty winds off the Narragansett Bay, creating a sheltered yard between the two structures.

The floor plan.

Designer Is In consult Fariba Haiem's sketch for a Venice live-work loft.

PLANT Architect Inc. reworked the kitchen in the Berkely Live/Work Residence; it's now an airy, open social area.

Built as a live/work space for a sculptor, Indigo by Dutch practice Woonpioniers is an eco-friendly, prefabricated cabin with bent wooden walls.

Windows fill the double-height manufacturing space with natural light.

"This type of prefab is normally for quick-and-dirty construction. We tried to push the technology to make it as beautiful as possible.” —Sarah Dunn, designer

Built as a live/work space for a sculptor, Indigo by Dutch practice Woonpioniers is an eco-friendly, prefabricated cabin with bent wooden walls. The low-slung bed in the loft accentuates the height of the pitched roof and mimics the experience of camping in the woods.

The illustrator Izak Zenou sketches in his NYC live/work loft.

The office is a showcase that includes an Eames Storage Unit for Herman Miller, a wall-mounted Eames leg splint, and chairs by Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia for Knoll.