meditative spaces

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

Board-formed concrete retaining walls double as ramps from the deck to the garden’s highest point.

A stepped concrete garden planted with herbs and flowers marks the descent to the house. The courtyard is the focal point of the U-shaped structure; there is clear visibility between the kitchen on one side and the children's bedrooms on the other.

Stained cedar, ipe, and concrete form the palette of this modern, verdant 2,500-square-foot home in Kansas City. Indigenous wildflowers and native grasses grow on top of the structure; this planted roof also helps insulate the home and limited its energy needs.

The living areas and an office are arranged in an open layout around a central atrium that is open to the outdoors.

Van Beek’s extra space is home to her office. She works on a Tense table by Piergiorgio and Michele Cazzaniga and Flow chairs by Jean Marie Massaud, both for MDF Italia.

Life Panel Because the Japanese maple in the courtyard had to be planted before the ipe deck was laid, Kurath designed a small removable panel to allow access to the tree’s base. The Shozis can pull up the bit of decking to tend to the tree and replace it when they’re through. And because the boards line up perfectly, only the gardener need know it’s there.

Taking cues from the warmth of the setting sun, Brooklyn-based Workstead’s renovated a 1,800-square-foot Tribeca loft in an 1864 factory building. A timber palette and custom woodwork achieve a cozy feel throughout, and the architects tore out awkward interior partitions and dated finishes and exposed the building’s original fir joists to restore the loft’s open and airy feel. Oversized windows, a light color palette, and a minimalist design approach help pull natural light deep into the home while simultaneously directing views out toward the Hudson River.

A custom white oak sliding door fabricated by Markus Bartenschlager opens to a guest room with a Bilge lounge chair by Uhuru.

Structural lines are on full display in the bedroom, where ceiling beams and a plywood bed frame catch the eye.

“This house is actually quite demanding; you have to be committed.”—Resident Nathalie Vandemoortele

The outdoor living room serves as both a counterpoint and extension of the interior, with amenities that include a Gandia Blasco dining table and bench, a Lynx grill, and a custom concrete fire pit designed by Kathleen Ferguson; it sits atop a bed of crushed white rock. A built-in bench runs along the length of the courtyard.

A wood-lined outdoor shower adds a modern touch to one of the decks.

A path created with Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers meanders through the garden past the master bedroom.

Shōden-ji (2004) - Precursors to what we might today call “user-centered design,” Buddhist temples are scaled to the 1:2 ratio of the tatami, the rush mat designed with the human form in mind.

Funda-in (2008) - Honoring the meticulousness of the temples’ mostly unknown architects, Hassink photographed 34 locations over the course of a decade. Her fascination with Japanese religious vernacular yielded a compelling photo series that reveals the hidden dynamism in these carefully composed structures.

At Moanalua Gardens, visitors gape at the giant monkeypod tree, famous in Japan for starring in Hitachi ads.

Walker left the site in its natural state, but added grasses along the path to the entrance.

Just as the barn was extended and cantilevered over the sloped site, so too was the deck off the kitchen, which juts out toward the oak grove.