Dwell January/February 2004, Vol. 04 Issue 03: Make It New!

Ever aware of context, architect Henry Siegel says of his house, “A lot of architects’ buildings look better on a pedestal than in context. Our design would look out of place on a pedestal—we placed it so it really fits its specific site.”

Designers and Studio 5 volunteers Mike Lenhart and Sandy Kitson with their class of fifth-graders at Sunnyside Elementary School in San Francisco. The lesson for the day was letterforms and type. By the end of class, the students had designed monograms of their initials for their own personal portfolios.

Marmol Radziner andAssociates have restored and augmented a number of classic homes by California’s original modernists. This image: The Loewy house designed byAlbert Frey in 1946.

Making use of the hilltop location, each window was planned to frame interesting vistas or to find the best sight lines around adjoining buildings.

Architect Grant explains that the recessed orange wall with built-in storage shelving is a counterpoint to the view of Boston in the opposite direction.

Milwaukee studio Vetter Denk Architects designed this eye-catching prefab on the banks of Moose Lake, Wisconsin, as a weekend retreat. The home was based on an idea presented by the home's owner, who was inspired by a screw-top jug of $9.99 red wine.

This 1930s farmhouse on the coast of Tuscany is sited on a podere, land claimed from the low-lying salt marshes by the Fascist government in the early decades of the 20th century. The Dutch technique of “podering” the landscape refers to the process of creating a grid of levees and then draining the squares, which leaves a gridded farmscape with low, even ridges dividing it.

MAKE IT NEW! 8 Great Renovations January/February 2004, Vol. 04 Issue 03.