Concrete houses

The Benesse Art Site Naoshima, located on Japan's Naoshima island, was concevied in 1985 thanks to a collaboration between a wealthy businessman and local mayor. Benesse - combining Latin's words for "well" and "being" - describes the site's complex aim of promoting connections among art, religion, nature, and education. Among the site's holdings are the Benesse House (above) and the Chichu Art Museum (two slides ahead), both of which were designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. His iconic use of concrete is in full view at the Benesse House Musuem (completed 1992) which holds numerous artworks. Photo Courtesy 準建築人手札網站 Forgemind ArchiMedia via flikr.

The master bath is clad in Bianco Venatino marble. The tub is by ADM; the showerhead is by Hansgrohe.

White-oak stairs connect the first-floor living spaces with the upstairs sleeping areas.

Located off of the kitchen, Vivi’s office disappears behind sliding walls covered in black chalkboard paint from Behr. This is one of the best home office setup ideas if you're short on space or if you're going for a minimalist look.

In the entryway, a Tati lamp by Ferruccio Laviani for Kartell sits on a shelf Christopher made from kitchen cabinetry scraps.

The living room features a sofa from Roche Bobois, Metropolitan armchairs by Jeffrey Bernett for B&B Italia, and a Good Morning table in copper and Anytime table in anthracite frosted glass from Ligne Roset. The rug is by Tissage.

Sliding doors from Western Window Systems connect the living room and the deck, which is made of pressure-treated pine planks surrounding a black gravel pit.

It took six weeks to build the formwork for the poured-concrete walls that make up the first floor. Inthe kitchen the floors are raw European white oak, the countertops are Capolavoro granite with a leather finish by Antolini, and the natural oak cabinets are by Varenna.

On a trip to Naoshima, Japan, the Houston newlyweds behind Robertson Design fell in love with Tadao Ando’s concrete-composed museums. This led the couple to create a residence of their own comprised of a low concrete wall, concrete cube, and box clad in Siberian larch. The indoors are rounded out with white oak, marble, and leather-finished granite.

Designers Christopher Robertson and Vivi Nguyen-Robertson conceived their house as an unfolding sequence of simple geometric forms: a low concrete wall, a concrete cube, and a boxclad in Siberian larch.