Desk and table lamps typically provide light in a downward direction, illuminating the surface directly below it rather than providing a general glow, which prevents them from often being used as ambient lights.

The newly released Original 1227 Brass Desk Lamp in Dusty Blue is both cheerful and sophisticated.

Faceture lamps by Phil Cuttance. Though the facets of the New Zealand designer’s pendant lights suggest machine tooling, each unique and handmade object is produced by casting a water-based resin into a mold.

The inverted trusses subtly establish distinct spaces in the great room, with the bottom edges lending an intimate feel to the living area. A simple rice-paper lamp shade hangs above a kauri wood tabletop that the couple borrowed from Stock’s aunt and uncle and set on a set of Taurus legs from Nils Holger Moormann. A Brit Longue chair by Sintesi isat right.

Moooi’s Brave New World lamp by freshwest in the foreground, Raimond lights by Raimond Puts (in association with ox-id) in the background, both designs new in 2009.

Tom Givone's current weekend abode, nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, is—so far—his capstone project, a synthesis of personal taste, material experimentation, and historically sensitive restoration: a living laboratory for how to bring the vernacular past into the present.

Overhead cabinets now can be easily swung open for ease of access. The kitchens are priced at IKEA’s usual retails. A 10 by 10 foot kitchen fitted with Sektion cabinets will range from around $1,300 to $2,200, excluding appliances.

In the office, a Tolomeo desk lamp from Artemide rests on a desk that Stock designed and built in her university days. The Static shelving is by Lundia.

The master bedroom features an unobstructed door-sized opening onto the double-height great room. A pair of Tolomeo classic wall lamps from Artemide hang next to the bed.

Black and white kitchen tiles add visual interest to this stunning modern kitchen by IKEA.

Vila D’Acosta-Calheiros hung a space-saving wall shelf in the library. The table is by Eero Saarinen; the Tolomeo lamp is by Michele de Lucchi for Artemide. The red beanbag-like Sacco chair is by Zanotta, as is the Sciangai coatrack in the hall, beyond.

New York Pavilion 1964 World's Fair The structure, designed by Philip Johnson, is now a rusted relic.

New York Pavilion 1964 World's Fair The massive ring of steel and reinforced concrete piers, dubbed the “Tent of Tomorrow,” once held a cable suspension roof and was clad in a terrazzo floor featuring a Texaco highway map of the state. It was a platform for New York, and homegrown companies like Kodak and CorningWare, to show off to the world, and as critic Louise Huxtable said, “a sophisticated frivolity…seriously and beautifully constructed … a ‘carnival’ with class.”

In the master bedroom, a Droog Milk Bottle lamp hangs next to a Fluttua Bed designed by Daniele Lago. An artwork by Brooke Westlund hangs over a custom pet door for the client’s dog, Kona.

1964 World's Fair It’s often said that in the borough of Queens, one of the most culturally diverse places on Earth, everyday is a world’s fair. The idiom rang true in 1964 during the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, an optimistic celebration perched at a moment between space age giddiness and late-’60s turbulence (as this pitch-perfect period footage demonstrates).

New York Pavilion 1964 World's Fair Silva has made great strides in both broadcasting the building’s story and building momentum and support for restoration. He just finished a successful Kickstarter to fund editing of his documentary, “Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion,” for release this fall, and his organization, People for the Pavilion, which he co-founded with Salmaan Khan and Christian Doran, has garnered support from people such as New York Landmarks Conservancy Director of Development Scott Leurquin and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, and helped expand the conversation about restoration.

A black side table rests outside the bedroom hallway.

Sayes and Stock furnished their living area with a Slow Chair by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra, and a Spar floor light by Jamie McLellan for Resident. A print by Stephen Bambury sits atop a sideboard that Sayes built while studying at the University of Auckland.

"Make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone." While Fuller’s ultimate goal was audacious, the idea of a real-time simulation in the ‘60s, accessible to before widespread access to computing, was just somewhat less ambitious. Fuller’s game—so-called to be accessible to everyone—was a further expansion of his Spaceship Earth philosophy, and is currently being utilized as a model by the O.S. Earth Institute. (Pictured: Bucky's Time cover from 1964.)

A tiny outbuilding offers a cozy living space inside a simple shell.

The Original 1227 Brass Desk Lamp in the newly released colorway Deep Slate.

As the facade of a Bates Masi-designed home in Water Mill, New York, rises from eight to 14 feet high, the mahogany planks subtly widen. “It was quite a demand to make of the contractor,” architect Paul Masi says. “But the design was so much about traveling through the site and weaving [the house] together with the deck.”

Fed up with flashy, environmentally insensitive beach homes, architect Gerald Parsonson and his wife, Kate, designed a humble hideaway nestled behind sand dunes along the New Zealand coastline. Crafted in the image of a modest Kiwi bach, their 1,670-square-foot retreat consists of a group of small buildings clad in black-stained pine weatherboards and fiber-cement sheets.

“At first we thought we might not need that much space, but then we started thinking long term. We look at this house as the home of our lifetime.” —Guido Chiavelli

Arbel’s projects—both products and architectural commissions—follow a chronological numbering system. The house itself is his 23rd design, while the one-of-a-kind glass pendants that accent nearly every room like a starscape are called “28.”

The family spends summers and school vacations at the bach. New Zealand's relatively mild winters mean they use the house year-round.

Tanya Wexler and Amy Zimmerman linger in the breezeway designed to draw eyes, and footsteps, from the driveway through the house to the gently sloping backyard and swimming pool beyond.

Brammy and Kyprianou hung Koura pendant lights by New Zealand designer David Trubridge above the dining area. Their organic forms and diamond-shaped shadows create intimacy in the vast space. Among Bilardo’s contributions were the black tulipwood cabinetry and ceiling and the cantilevered concrete countertop that appears to go through the glass wall.

Kayak in hand, Tom and Will make a break for the beach.

Michael Lewis dressed in contruction gear on-set at the World Trade Center contruction site in New York City.

Designer Christiane Hogner, Bruxelles

For the dining room, Freeman and Feldmann swapped their tiny table for developer John Walker's larger one since he was moving into a smaller space. They topped it with a $12 pendant lamp from Ikea and finished the "room" with a counsel from West Elm.

Mays chose Graham & Brown’s Verve Stripe wallpaper for the downstairs bedroom. The chrome lamp is vintage.

Francesco and Mafalda’s bedroom is open and playful with only a bit of Algue by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec guarding the stairs. The lamp was designed by Francesco himself and the decal on the wall is from My Vinilo.

A vintage lamp and George Nelson’s Marshmallow sofa and Spool clock embody the mid-century feel of Soheil and Nima Nakhshab’s design for a California family home.

The living room is populated with a molded plywood Eames chair and a vintage Italian lamp.