Small Scale to Big Ideas: Technology in the Modern Home Even those homeowners who haven’t embraced complete home automation systems now have their pick of simple product upgrades that pack a major impact. Join three vanguards in the home tech industry: Matt Rogers, co-founder of Nest, Phillip Prestigomo, director of industrial design for Legrand, and Richard Gresens, senior director of North American design for Whirlpool. We'll delve into how these design-forward companies are shaping the smallest details to the broadest concepts surrounding what it means to have a smart modern home for today and tomorrow. Catch the lively discussion Saturday, June 22, at 1:00 p.m. on the Sustainable Design stage.

Nest There is not other smartphone-controlled device as successful as the Nest thermostat. It is as the forefront of a new smart home industry, and looks amazing while at it. For more on the nest, read Dwell's previous coverage and check out how readers like you nest. Photo by: Nest

Smart Temperature Control–Like Goldilocks’ porridge we want the temperature of our homes to be just right, all the time. Enter the smart thermostat, a hot little high-tech gadget that is almost too cool for the room. Many smart thermostats have the ability to learn your preferred home temperature habits and then program themselves accordingly. While you’re away, a smartphone app allows you to remotely dial the thermostat up or down, so you’ll never waste money and energy heating or cooling an empty house.

Smart Thermostat Sure you already have a thermostat, but does your thermostat measure your energy usage and tell you where you can cut back? Does your thermostat remember when you turn the heat or air conditioning on and off, and adjust automatically? If you answered no to any of these questions, you are missing out on one of the coolest gadgets of 2013.

When Willson is within 30 miles of the house and the temperature is below a certain level, his Nest Thermostats are programmed to heat it up to 70 degrees.

The world of smart home technology is rapidly changing. We'll call upon the greatest minds in the industry—and draw on what we learned at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show—to sort out what will become integral to the 21st-century home. For more information on Dwell on Design, visit our Onstage schedule.

You don't need a full greenhouse to successfully grow herbs, just a dedicated spot that will get at least six hours of sun a day. In fact, your indoor herb garden can be as simple as a row of potted plants.

The familiar thermostat design can be used without the app, as well. Like previous Honeywell thermostats, turning the exterior wheel changes the temperature, and an audible click indicates each degree of change. The all-white exterior uses motion sensors to light up with control displays, and then dim when you walk away.

Lyric by Honeywell, $279 For its new thermostat, Honeywell sticks with the round shape Henry Dreyfuss introduced in 1953. It syncs with your phone to determine your location, adjusting settings to real-time indoor and outdoor weather conditions and temperature. Apple HomeKit–compatible. Read more about Lyric here.

Oregon designer Robert Johans came up with the initial idea for Nest.

Nearly every room has a Nest Mini, and the house also has a Nest Wi-Fi router, a Google Home Max sound system, and a Nest Thermostat.

Like its peer, the Nest, it takes into account information like bedtimes and the sunrise to use heating and cooling systems efficiently. Honeywell expects that you will control it mainly through the app itself, which lets you change the temperature from any location, or set it to a timer so the house gets warmed or cooled according to your expected arrival time.

A look at the Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd Gen).

Retailer nest.co.uk, which sells modern furniture, lighting, and accessories from brands such as Hay, Tom Dixon, and Flos, will also have a pop-up shop.

Inspired by bird nests, artist Nina Bruun used curled strips of birch to mimick the organized chaos of a bird’s home in her Nest chair. Birch, textile, foam, 2010. Courtesy of the artist, photo by Adam Dyrvig Tatt.

Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership The tesselating glass facade designed by local firm Krueck & Sexton still stuns; 726 pieces of glass, cut in a complex set of 556 unique shapes, produces a crystalline exterior, a multifacted metaphor for the institution within.

The Nuheat Signature floor-heating thermostst is wi-fi enabled.

The rest of the device’s interface is deliberately basic—the only buttons are used to start the “At Home” and “Away” cycles, or to bring up a 12-hour weather forecast. It’s a far more approachable interface than the dense screen display found on Honeywell’s other thermostat, the voice-activated Alto.

As an established mega-company with volumes of proprietary technology to its name, Honeywell’s Lyric will be particularly competitive with the Nest because it is the first in what will likely be a wide range of Honeywell-brand smart home products. On its own, too, the Lyric is capable because of its geofencing capabilities and attention to the functional design traits—carried over from the brand’s rich appliance history.

Clear-yet-subtle labels mark controls for water flow and temperature on Axor’s Select Thermostat.

WORKac designed a teaching classroom at Brooklyn’s P.S. 216 elementary school that channels runoff rainwater from its roof for reuse in its mobile greenhouse.

Ultra-tactile upholstery on the Nest sofa by Paola Navone for Ercol.

Beijing, China-With thousands of years of history, China has paved the way for many artistic styles and expressions in the Eastern world. China has contributed historical and structural wonders such as the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, and Tianning Temple. The recent construction of the Bejing National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest”, garnered worldwide attention not only for its modern design, but also for its hefty price tag. Photo by: sHzaam!.

Skool Haus: Nikole Bouchard and Vanessa Moon (Milwaukee) Receiving an honorable mention, this concept—inspired by the Yard's naval history—envisions the learning process as something that can stay on land or move onto the water.

The Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning, an award-winning tennis center in the Bronx, was designed and built by New York's own GLUCK+.

Library and Learning Centre at the University of Economics Vienna (Zaha Hadid Architects: 2013) From the daring cantilevered main library, which leans forward over the Vienna campus, to the striking black and white color contrast of the main structures, Hadid’s newly realized campus design would be as fitting for Starfleet academy as it is for the European school.

As an example of IFTTT as “digital duct tape”, BMW’s “Warm Welcome Home” Applet opens the garage door as soon as the car pulls into the driveway, turns the house lights on and sets the Nest Thermostat to 72.

Smart home integration let you control the lights with your voice, set scenes, and display the temperature from a Nest thermostat, air quality and humidity from a Netatmo Weather Station, or the name of the song playing on your Sonos.

Berlin Jespersen, 8, daintily rocks the family drum kit, which Brent is also learning to play.

A sunny day at the Learning Garden at Venice High School.

Pioneering chef Alice Waters has been converting schoolyards into spaces where children can grow plants and learn about making food since 1995. Her latest site, at P.S. 216 in Brooklyn, was designed by WORKac and is housed in a glass enclosure that features a greenhouse, raised beds, a chicken coop, and an indoor kitchen classroom. The structure channels runoff rainwater from its roof for reuse in the greenhouse.

Nest is making waves at CES by announcing parnterships with 15 companies including LG, Big Ass Fans, Mercedes-Benz, and August Smart Locks, on a series of collaborations it is calling Works With Nest. It has worked with Whirlpool on a smart washer-dryer set that interfaces with your Nest thermostat to find out when you're home and when you're away. (The dryer, for instance, can switch to a longer, lower-temparature cycle that consumes less energy.)

@best_treehouses: "This treehouse in Sweden is called the Bird's Nest Treehouse! It was designed to look like a bird's nest from the outside, but the inside is modern!"

Nest 100 food prep set, $100, by Joseph Joseph. This set includes mixing bowls, a sieve, a colander and measuring cups, all stacked together at the chef’s fingertips in a sleek silver and black palette. The rainbow version is available at the Dwell Store.

Nest Learning Thermostats now come in more color options to fit into a larger range of design schemes. The white edition pairs well with Nest Cam Outdoor and complements clean, minimalist spaces; the black option boasts diamond-like carbon coating that resists scratches and repels oil. Finally, the copper version, pictured above, brings warmth to a space.