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The exterior of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura's headquarters.

Cut out of the walls at different heights, these doors reveal the unusual and quirky interior arrangement of the chalet.

Upon purchasing a 10-acre plot surrounded by a cluster of boulders, a couple wrote a handwritten letter to architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, which resulted in the 5,000-square-foot High Desert House on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park. Kellog spent five years designing a home that would settle into the landscape, “crouching on the rocks, maybe like an animal asleep.” The house features 26 freestanding concrete columns reminiscent of rib bones, and a glass ceiling that fills the home with daylight and views of the stars at night.

"How would a kid draw a house?" architect Per Franson asked himself when designing the Olivero-Reinius family home. The simple prefab structure’s unusual color comes from a traditional source: falu rödfärg, the historic mineral paint that gives the region’s famous barns their red color.

"The ceiling in the bedroom adorned with a crystal chandelier, which (along with the other vintage accessories) gives this residence a unique soul," Dragisic says.

Bishop is an avid record collector—Rolling Stones albums are a sought-after favorite—and he keeps his vinyl in the shelving unit ”1.1,” a reproduction of Arbel’s first completed work. The kids can often be found playing video games at the desk in the great room.

This wooden staircase doubles as kitchen shelving in the English designer's home. Tyler hired David Restorick, a furniture maker and friend, to build a staircase that doubles as display space for Tyler's vast collection of colorful cookware.

Szu-Ping Patricia Chen Suchart and Thamarit Suchart of Chen + Suchart Studio used brushed-finished stainless steel and glass on the upper volume of this Sonoran Desert home. The glass, which has been treated with thermal coating that provides good sun protection, creates surfaces with a silvery, mirrored effect that captures the colors of the desert and mountain peaks.

The unusual floor plan includes a long gallery that wraps a grassy courtyard. The family commissioned an aluminum sculpture by Los Angeles–based artist Evan Holloway for the space.

Just over an acre, the residential property is covered in oak trees and volcanic rock.

San Diego’s main Mormon temple is an unusual building, but architect Aaron Anderson will take unusual over bland any day.