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A raised living space with integrated storage is open to the kitchen-and-dining area, where there's birch plywood cabinetry and Thermowood counters.

The $85K off-grid tiny home on wheels Gonçalo Marrote designed in Mafra, Portugal, looks to views of rolling hills and wide-open sky.

A cave-like fireplace carved into the side of the sunken living room emphasizes the “primordial” feeling Mitsui says he was after.

The 50-degree pitch of the rear facade is evident in a side view.

Architect Ana Smud’s residence in the Vicente López suburb of Buenos Aires is surrounded by gardens and wrapped in timber, concrete, and glass.

A panoramic, south-facing window offers spectacular views of Oslo.

The flat, postage-stamp backyard has a screen porch that extends off the main house. The couple added synthetic grass.

Stevie works from a built-in L-shaped desk. The marker board is also a much-used feature.

Bizna Estudio combines passive house principles with a few regional materials to keep one family cool while on vacation.

The group was budget-conscious when designing the kitchenette. They used Ikea cabinets with custom-built faces in a white oak, cabinet-grade veneer. Braithwaite extended the same material to the ceiling beneath the mezzanine to define the kitchen zone. As a result, “it feels like it is part of the same language,” he says. Instead of traditional plumbing, the group added a filtered water collection system to the metal roof, and opted for an incinerator toilet.

The living space includes a Stuv woodburning stove. To balance the raw hemlock, Braithwaite customized industrial touches like Edison-bulb light fixtures that suspend at varying heights on fabric wire.