Brick materials

The sunken bathtub in George Nakashima’s Sanso Villa mimics the shape of a swimming pool on the grounds. His daughter, Mira Nakashima, took over the studio after his death and now lives and works on the property. “A Japanese garden often has a central pond derived from the character for ‘heart’ or ‘spirit,’ and this may be an abstraction of that character,” she says of the tub’s sculptural form.

Since the bunk bathroom has no exterior windows, the owners wanted to bring the outside in through artistic means. The whimsical bathroom includes a sculptural concrete tub handcrafted by a local artist and a 21'x9' custom tile mosaic (Lunada Bay Tile) by architectural designer Courtney Snyder of McCall Design & Planning. The floor is Island Stone King Pebble.

The wet bathroom, clad in Savoy penny tile by Ann Sacks, helped optimize the home’s petite footprint.

For the bathroom inside a renovated Hollywood bungalow, architect Noah Walker used a simple palette of gray and white tile, black countertops, and stainless steel fixtures. "I love minimal bathrooms with natural light, so less is more, and pay attention to the details," he advises.

A small bathroom project inspired by artist Piet Mondrian. Floor-to-ceiling glass tiles re-interpret Mondrian’s compositions.

In a part of Belgium where 90 percent of residences are made of brick, architect Tom Verschueren, of Mechelen, Belgium-based DMVA Architects used “knitted” bricks to screen seven tall, slim windows on a home’s street-side façade.