Modern Design

Portland-based pastry chef Andrea Nicholas purchased a 1953 midcentury ranch whose 2,500 square feet needed "a lot of TLC." Nicholas hired architect Risa Boyer to design the renovation, which involved opening up the kitchen to the dining room and creating a contemporary open-plan living space.

The Twist by Bjarke Ingels Group is a museum that hovers over the Randselva River, adding a second, spectacular water crossing to Norway’s Kistefos sculpture park. Visitors can wander through the bridge’s shifting volumes, peering out at the forested landscape through a full-width glass wall that twists upwards as one moves from North to South across the river. Aluminum panels stack like a fan to create a mesmerizing spiraling effect. “Wherever you look, you see arches and curves, Fibonacci spirals and saddle shapes, but when you look closer you realize that everything is created from straight lines—straight sheets of aluminum, straight boards of wood. It’s an expressive organic sculpture composed of rational repetitive elements,” says Bjarke Ingels.

The living room offers a touch of Nordic simplicity with a combined steel TV unit and fireplace from Space Furniture, rattan chair from IKEA, C-shape gunmetal table from Casalife, and art from Cocoon Furnishings.

Remarkable for its walls of triple-glazed glass, Snorre Stinessen Architecture’s Ejford Cabin straddles two stone ridges on northern Norway’s Hallvardøy Island. Perched on a concrete slab, it intentionally capitalizes upon passive solar conditions and features thick insulation to minimize energy output.

The pool deck has a resort-like feel.

The 1000-square-foot ADU is two levels with a footprint that allows the owners to retain plenty of outdoor space for their dogs to play. The façade “is a rain screen system, so the heat gain on the Brazilian hardwood is minimized by being physically separated by an air gap between it and the membrane behind it,” said Knight. “So, the wood heats up when sun hits it and this is not directly translated into the wall on the interior; it is instead buffered by this air gap.” The large doors and second-story skylights then work together to pull a nice breeze through the house.

WDA demolished a 1950s tract home to built a brand new, two-story, 4,898-square-foot oasis with five bedrooms and four-and-a-half-baths. Topping off this Silicon Valley home is an asymmetrical, Le Corbusier-style butterfly roof that gives the home its distinctive form while creating soaring spaces on the second floor.

This airy home makes the most of its beachside location with sustainable design, careful siting, and an expansive, glazed facade.

Built in 1949, Byrdview is one of four residential homes designed by the famed midcentury architect William Pereira, known for his futuristic designs that include the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco.

A massive concrete hearth, placed just off center, anchors the living room. The Douglas fir floors have been painted a creamy white.

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

Wooden ceilings ground some of the home's more industrial features in its organic setting.

In the living area, Lou sits on a Room & Board sofa, while one of the family’s two Great Danes relaxes nearby; the fireplace is by Montigo.

In the kitchen, bar stools by Living Divani pull up to an island with Bretonstone countertops; the faucet is by Blanco.

Desert Midcentury Modern Landscape

Set at the edge of Stoney Lake in Ontario, Canada, is a photographer's home, studio, and boat house designed by Toronto-based studio GH3. The glass box unites landscape and architecture while providing ideal spaces for photography, programmatic functions for living, and boat storage.

The indoor/outdoor structure embraces the wine-making process and provides a strong sense of space. The exterior wood is repurposed 100-year-old wine tanks.