Welcome to Origin Story, a series that chronicles the lesser-known histories of designs that have shaped how we live.

The first issue of Dwell came out in October 2000. We’re kicking off a year-long celebration of our 25th anniversary with a look back at some of the major themes and moments that have shaped the stories on our pages.

2000

The Fruit Bowl Manifesto

In Dwell’s debut issue, our first editor-in-chief spells out a vision for an honest, human-centered style of photography that we still follow today: “to demonstrate that a home is truly livable [by showing] it as it is lived in.”

2001

Our First Prefab Issue

We declare “Prefab Is Pretty Fabulous!” in a full issue dedicated to prefabricated and modular construction—topics we’ve continued to explore in depth since.

2002

A Passion for Planning

The question “Does good architecture make good neighbors?” sets the tone for future explorations of everything from New Urbanism to reinventing the suburbs.

Welcome to Van Life

Long before the #vanlife—and long before hashtags—artist Andrea Zittel’s Joshua Tree homestead makes the cover of our Modern Nomad issue, which also features a school bus conversion.

2003–2004

Dwell Home Design Invitational

Inspired by Case Study houses, we launch our own challenge to a group of architects: Design a prefab prototype house that can be built for $200,000. We sponsor the winning design’s construction and feature it in our Groundbreaking Ideas issue.

2005

Dwell’s Got Sole

We partner with Medium Footwear to produce limited-edition branded kicks.

National Magazine Award for General Excellence

Dwell gets the stamp of approval from its peers, winning a top industry honor.

2006

Dwell on Design

We debut our annual conference, which ran through 2018. It inspired a new event series we’re launching this October in Los Angeles.

Dwell.com Launch

Our first modern website goes live, and we begin covering home design in totally new ways.

Moriyama House Cover

The Tokyo prefab compound by Ryue Nishizawa, who won the Pritzker Prize with his partner Kazuyo Sejima, heralds a new era of playful minimalism that influences design for years to come.

Home Office 101

Almost 15 years before the pandemic kicked off the WFH revolution, an essay explores if telecommuting—“answering emails in your underwear”—is all it’s cracked up to be. (If only we knew.)

2007

Our 50th Issue—and Some Prescient Gadgetry

Dwell travels to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show to look for innovative products. We also mention the iPhone for the first time.

2009

Our First Shipping Container Home Feature

A Houston home made from repurposed containers lands in our Made in the USA issue, announcing the arrival of the cargotecture craze.

2010

Unhappy Hipsters

The irreverent Tumblr launches, poking fun at the visual style of Dwell’s home tours with cutting captions and the tagline “It’s lonely in the modern world.” We’re flattered to this day.

2009–2010

The Future Issue and Dwell’s 10th Anniversary

We shine a light on LED lamps and make far-ranging predictions for practical prefabs, self-driving cars, and… life in space? Your mileage may vary.

2011

Smaller and Smarter Issue

In the wake of the financial crisis, Dwell doubles down on small-scale living and features articles about renting, Craigslist, recycled materials, and doing more with less.

2012

Prime Time Cameos

Appearances on The Simpsons and The Office cement Dwell’s place in the pop culture firmament.

Jens Risom’s Block Island Family Retreat

The revered designer’s prefab vacation house on our cover marks a moment when a similar blend of modern lines and rustic materials comes to dominate some corners of design.

2015

Scaling Down

We’ve come a long way since the McMansion. Dwell used to call a home under 1,000 square feet a small space. Now, our cutoff is closer to 500, depending on how many people live there, showing how much economizing your home’s footprint has caught on.

2016

Memphis for Millennials

The exuberant squiggles of ’80s Italian design are just beginning to take over Instagram when we visit a home by pomo OG Ettore Sottsass—in Maui, of all places.

Modern by Dwell at Target

We set out to democratize design by creating a furniture collection with the ubiquitous big-box store.

2017

Tech Booms at Home

We look into the evolution of the smart home—and ponder its future—during a Cambrian moment for appliances, when brands began connecting everything from your window blinds to your blender to the internet. Right, Alexa?

Conversation Pits Make a Comeback?

Some might say sunken seating never left, but the midcentury staple begins its current resurgence when we feature this cover story on a Cupertino, California, home by Craig Steely.

2018

Budget Breakdown

Looking at beautiful projects has its purpose, but getting under the hood, financially, makes it much more valuable. That’s why we start a recurring series that demystifies what it actually costs to realize a great design.

2020

The ADU Is the Future of Home

During the pandemic, the accessory dwelling unit came into its own, offering much-needed flexible living space in the era of remote work and in-law apartments, in addition to promising sensible density in single-family neighborhoods.

2021

Concrete Collab Collab

We launch a creatively configurable tile line with our friends at California brand Concrete Collaborative.

Dwell 24 Takes the Spotlight

For the first time, a member of our annual survey of emerging designers takes a star turn on the cover of the magazine.

2022

The Dwell House

Dwell partners with California ADU company Abodu and Copenhagen’s Norm Architects to design a 540-square-foot prefab house. The first one lands in a Sonoma County backyard.

2023

Pandemic Influence

The “pandemic project” comes to fruition. Homes conceived and designed during 2020 lockdowns reach completion with features and floor plans that reflect a new normal of working from home and other adaptations.

2020–Present

Fixing an Affordability Crisis

Everyone has the right to a home. But economics, politics, and demographics conspire to make rents unaffordable, exacerbate unconscionable homelessness, and dangle homeownership well out of reach of seemingly anyone who doesn’t already own a house. We champion the architects, designers, policymakers, and activists proposing—and building—solutions.

Top illustration by Dwell

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