Modern

Kanuka Valley House by WireDog Architecture

The inverted pyramid roof of Kloof 119A glows at night, creating a giant light box effect.

Salem, Oregon-based Ideabox approaches prefabricated homes from a modern and sustainable point of view, seeking to build prefab residences that are beautiful, efficient, and affordable. With 9 basic types that can be customized, the homes start at 400-500 square feet and reach about 1,600 square feet. Each home is built with open-web engineered trusses, insulation with high R-values, dual pane low-e windows, and EnergyStar-certified appliances.

“Although the LDK (living room, dining room, kitchen) faces east, it is bathed in light reflected off the hill in the afternoon,” say the architects. “With the absence of beams and sealing strips, the rafter seems to protrude from the white structural wall, making the LDK seem like a semi-outdoor veranda. The living room has become part of the garden, where you can naturally engage with the children playing or sprawling on the slope of the hill.”

Casa FM by Alarcia Ferrer Arquitectos

This single-family residence in Bloomfield, Michigan, known as the Treehaus, embodies the iconic style of midcentury modernism. Thanks to a thoughtful renovation, this rare dwelling has been restored to its original state of refined elegance.

Italian architects Roberto Dini and Stefano Girodo designed this tiny bivouac structure in the Italian Alps to help encourage exploration of the remote location. Perched on the side of a mountain at an altitude of 10,794 feet, the structure was commissioned by the family of Luca Pasqualetti, a mountaineer who tragically passed away in the Alps. The installation was an exercise in well-planned logistics: The architects collaborated with the Italian prefab company LEAPfactory to assemble the unit in an off-site workshop, and the prefab pieces were lifted into place via helicopter and installed in a single day.

"The buildings recall the agricultural forms of the local built environment, but as is our nature in our designs, we sought to take that context and evolve it to a more emphatic modern language. We sought to design something that was exquisitely proportioned in a quiet, agricultural way." –Tom Kundig, Design Principal

A shell of concrete in the desert

The double-height living space is anchored by a wood-burning stove by Lopi in the corner. The large east-facing window on the far wall floods the room with magical morning light. All the windows and doors are by Quantum.

Mirrored glass allows this holiday home in Mexico to blend in with it's woodland site.

Nine shipping containers form the basis of this new multigenerational house near Denver.

Because the architects wanted to showcase the view of one of the more majestic oaks on the property, they placed a lap pool below the tree so the mirror-like surface of the water would gracefully reflect its image.

The spacious open-air atrium has a bit of a jungle-like feel, and it brings a strong sense of the outdoors into the home.