Daniel Knoll

Hōsen-in (2011) - The absence of windows frames the gardens as a natural extension of the meditation space. The effect is an immersive indoor-outdoor experience.

Michèle Monory’s Chinon farmhouse is an idyllic getaway from her home basein Paris. After she inherited the property and centuries-old structure from her father, she hired Matali Crasset, who runs a cutting-edge architecture and design firm, to update the living spaces.

The sprawling 16-acre Katsura Imperial Villa was commissioned in the 17th Century by a pair of father-son princes, and attributed to a cadre of craftsmen and consultants. Though its rich architectural language—a polychrome of woods, wallpapers, decorative plasterwork, and swooping roofs—is more resplendent than restrained, its geometric sensibility and modular construction easily aligned with the ideals of 20th-century modernists.

Large clerestory windows face the street at the Higashibatas’ house in Tokyo, optimizing both privacy and natural light within.

Architect Tadashi Murai designed this remote retreat for a Tokyo transplant who abandoned his corporate existence.

Eikan-dō (2009) - Views, Kyoto will be released March 24 via Hatje Cantz. Additionally, Benrubi Gallery in New York will exhibit photos from Hassink's series from March 26 until May 9. Hassink will appear at the opening, as well as host a book signing at the International Center of Photography in New York on April 7.

The Kingston House abuts a rock shelf upon which architects Aaron Roberts and Thomas Bailey once sat, dreaming up ideas for the design.

This side view highlights the cantilever of the coffee table, a solid structure that appears airy with just two legs and a tiny base. Photo courtesy Robert Andrew Highsmith.

The stunning Star Map bench or table is simple in silhouette yet features painstakingly detailed inlay. Photo courtesy Robert Andrew Highsmith.

Israelow designed this elegant platform bed and headboard with oil-finished walnuts and "a touch of inlay," he describes. Photo courtesy Robert Andrew Highsmith.

Windows create a lot of the drama in the Rose House. Each one was thoughtfully planned out and placed by architect Robert Thibodeau, says the owner.

Ceramic shotgun house by New Orleans artist Robert Tannen, $100. "Robert Tannen is one of my favorite renegade artists of all time! He is a brilliant engineer and urban planner as well, and a major visionary force in New Orleans for decades. He has elevated the importance of the shotgun house in numerous mediums through out his career and has been working with his buddy Frank Gehry to create a new living model for Louisiana and the world. This ceramic object in collaboration with New Orleans jewelry designer Mignon Faget memorializes the shotgun housing that was torn down in Lafayette and is another great example of Tannen's love of his home region's architecture."

Another view of the bed, showcasing the two types of walnut used and the inlay detail. Photo courtesy Robert Andrew Highsmith.

Simon's Table, a coffee table with built-in storage, again features the contrast of walnut on maple. Photo courtesy Robert Andrew Highsmith.

Shown here, the brass inlay on the walnut slab top of the Star Map bench/table. Photo courtesy Robert Andrew Highsmith.

As much as the owners and Roberts wanted – and needed – to modernize the home, they also tried to honor some of its historical touches. They preserved the mantel, and replaced the plaster crowns on the parlor level. The antique chaise is by Lisa Sherman, and the walls are painted pavilion gray by Farrow & Ball.

Miami Parking Garage, designed by Robert Law Weed, 1949.

In 2004, Urban Edge Developers in Dallas purchased the tract to construct a sustainable community, engaging landscape architect Kevin Sloan Studio and architects including Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. The refined aesthetics and careful grooming are equaled by environmentally sensitive details: the main street is a continuous biofilter; storm water is conveyed into rain gardens, separated by parking; cypress and reed plants filter water to sedimentation ponds for low-velocity drip irrigation. Concrete fragments and steel beams left over from its previous use as a landfill have been repurposed as “bricolage” for pavements and terraces. As part of the Dialogue, attendees will visit the landscapes of three private residences.

We spy a handful of iconic Saarinen chairs in the interior of architect Robert Elkington's self-designed midcentury residence—long since potentially threatened by demolition and disrepair. Image courtesy of Kyrle Boldt III.

“We were required to keep the existing wall, floor and roof framing in the historical house. Working to get the floors level and the walls plumb presented the biggest challenge,” Gurney said. The windows are from Hope’s Windows Inc.

Chairs by Robert Mallet-Stevens hang on a wall near a vintage Army folding mirrored desk for Knoll.

“The client wished to more that double the size of the house,” Gurney said. “The goal was to provide the additional space as a series of smaller pavilions to allow the original historical house to be the most important part of the composition.” Steel swing doors by Hope’s Windows Inc. lead outside, and a custom standing seam metal roof slopes above the far end of the pool.

Wave, by Robert Longo

314 Park (Coda Design + Build) Star also made aging in place a focus. The freelance writer’s first floor office, which boasts a Minka Fan and street-facing windows, and the powder room, can be converted into living quarters when stairs become difficult.

Here's the courtyard of the Kathryn Moore House. Photo via the Charles Moore Foundation.

HENRY DREYFUSS Thermostat, "T86 Round". Manufactured by Honeywell, Inc., 1953. Photo: Cooper Hewitt

The interior walls are painted Regal by Benjamin Moore.

The ground floor serves as an in-law for when the residents’ parents come to visit. Moore added salvaged windows to the walls to open up the space and let light in. Wherever there was a pane of broken glass, he replaced it with a piece colored glass. Photo courtesy of Mike Moore/Tres Birds Workshop

This drawing taken from Roman Forum by David Watkin is by Henry Parke (c. 1810) and shows a student of architecture climbing up to the top of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, measuring rod in hand. The drawing shows an idealized temple, not the ruin that Parke would actually have seen.

The 2241 House by Tres Birds Workshop Photo courtesy of Mike Moore/Tres Birds Workshop

Here Egoyan captures Catherine Stewart (Julianne Moore) through the various glass planes in the house. A sense of hovering doom pervades the film; only bad things happen once you get upstairs.

In a loft renovated by designer Andrea Michaelson, a Liebherr refrigerator blends in with stainless-steel cabinets from Fagor. Flow chairs by Henry Hall Designs and CB2 benches pull up to an antique farm table.

Henry Wessel, (American, b. 1942), [Tucson, Arizona], 1974; George Eastman House collections; © 1973 Henry Wessel

One-Family Custom Housing: Joeb Moore & Partners created Bridge House in Kent, Connecticut, with references to the geological features of its site and echos of the historic covered bridges common in the area in the home's form and materials.

Mint and Magnolia by Brad Moore