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Acapulco chairs sit on the adjacent deck. The windows are by Milgard and the glass sliders are by Western Window Systems.

Architect Sergio Araneda designed a contemporary timber-wrapped cabin on a remote site in Malalcahuello, Chile.

Gaia Off-Grid Shipping Container Home exploded axonometric drawing

The designer’s brother, Václav Valda, carved the cabinets for the container house using a milling cutter.

The stairs lead up to a green roof that camouflages the building amidst the landscape and protects it from direct solar heat gain in the summer.

Top 10 Black Gable Homes of 2020: A dramatic take on an archetypal shape, these pitch-roofed residences cut a striking figure.

The exterior was sealed through shou sugi ban, an environmentally friendly fireproofing practice common in Japanese architecture. The black exterior seems to disappear into the evergreens from one angle, and pops against the white snow from another.

The Impluvium Refuge is set in a dense, tall Chilean forest within the Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve.

Architect Ben Koush’s home blends into the neighborhood—but walk inside, and you’ll discover how he played with space in the design.

In the Dank Lounge, a film screen lowers in front of room-darkening curtains on movie nights. The deep sectional was built by Lizz and Isaac while the Blob coffee table is by Project Room, and the Scandinavian rya rug is vintage. The couple’s art collection includes works by many friends and local artists. A print by Alex Smith, along with drawings by Cammie Staros and Karl Haendel, hang in the lounge beside a painting by John Finneran and a photo by Lizz.

Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.

A 16-foot-wide, multi-slide door leads from the main living area to a covered patio.

The home lies low to the ground, much like the 1940s ranch house that formerly occupied the site.

The two new buildings create a courtyard-like feel in the small urban backyard.

The tree house office can be glimpsed through the bedroom window.

The kitchen cabinets are made of CVG Douglas fir plywood, which Grey stained, finished, and topped with handmade Japanese tile from California-based Wa-Kei & Company. The wall lights are original refurbished Eklipta lights by Arne Jacobson for Louis Poulsen. The ceramic bowl is by Linda Hsaio of Knotwork L.A.

To avoid excavating the land, Pang and Boyle designed a structural platform to keep the cabin level.