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The Lowreys worked with architect Luis Sánchez and a team of local craftsmen to complete the build. The custom counters in the kitchen are terrazzo and granite; the oven and cooktop are from Teka.

Towering, mature trees surround the 19th-century residence, ensuring ample privacy while also providing a tranquil city escape.

Lower level living room.

Kid's room; custom built-in closet.

Primary bathroom shower.

Primary bathroom; calacatta oro marble.

Dining room; vintage, 1960s brass pendant light in the style of French lighting designer Jean Perzel, chosen for its geometric, Art Deco feel.

Kitchen.

Living room. Steel casement windows throughout home provide contrast.

An Italian architecture studio took advantage of an ideal setting for a getaway: rolling hills dotted with villages and castles in Italy's Oltre Po Pavese region. A young Milanese couple wanted a small vacation home on their 3000-square-meter lot there—and 35a Studio delivered, by way of this 120-square-meter cabin decked out in textural concrete and strategically accented with wood. While its exterior offers a smoother, stuccoed appearance, its interiors give way to a juxtaposition of two different concrete applications, opting for a rougher, board-formed treatment on the walls and a quartz paste polish on the floors. Wood accents, by way of the trimwork, doors, and cabinetry, provide rich, striking counterpoints.

Large, dramatic openings bring transparency and contrast to the 10-inch-thick concrete facade, framing perspectival views of the landscape.

Inside Out Architecture renovated an apartment in the Clerkenwell section of central London, removing interior walls to create an open, loft-like living space. The architects were taken in by the "dramatic geometry" of the existing board-formed concrete ceiling, and their design maintained and emphasized its dynamic criss-crosses and texture.

Architect Federico Rivera Rio updated traditional Oaxacan beach huts with palapa roofs, transforming it into stylish, minimalist bungalow hotel rooms with stucco walls, wooden floors and polished concrete bathrooms.

Traditional isleño tiles (at the top) were augmented with a new pattern by Nataniel Fúster.

The living room is further lit by three protruding skylights angled to catch morning and afternoon light.

Windows have been pushed out with deep concrete wells.