Here, one of El Cosmico's three teepees is a lantern for desert travelers.

Jaunts through nature are a great way to exercise, relieve stress, and get some vitamin D.

The open plan living room and kitchen areas utilize natural materials, from reclaimed oak flooring to custom-made cabinetry. The Oscar sofa by Matthew Hilton from Future Perfect marks off the living room area.

The cabin’s basic structure was reclaimed from a barn built in 1840 and purchased from Heritage Barns out of Waco, Texas. The same company supplied the recycled wood that clads the walls, though the ceiling boards are new. “We stained them with a gray wash to match the tones of the post and beam, but with a more clean look,” Bronee explains. The concrete floors were polished and waxed for a sleek finish.

Steel pipe columns and wood beams were recycled from a 1960s church carport; the old-growth fir sliding screens, fence, and gate originate from a heavy timber warehouse in Pioneer Square; the aluminum-and-glass garage door is reclaimed from a downtown condo conversion; and the studio’s shelving and track lighting is courtesy of workstations from another downtown building.

The courtyard offers a glimpse of nature from nearly every angle, including up.

In addition to consulting major companies on material use, Material ConneXion has a subscription-based library with over 7,500 innovative materials.

Around 40 materials are introduced into the library each month, after undergoing a jury review process.

The company has offices in nine cities around the world, including Korea, Sweden, and Italy.

With its green features, durable materials, and clean-lined minimalism, the house represents the new generation of building for its mostly colonial neighborhood.

Architect Stefano Girodo explains the building has a “completely prefabricated and modular structure.” It was built using recyclable and environmentally friendly materials and designed to ensure easy mechanical assembly once on site.

The house architects Teresa Sarmiento and Nicolas Tovo designed for their family—including 1-year-old Clara, for whom the structure is named—is a celebration of recycled materials.

Materials Village presentation on material innovation. See it at Triennale Di Milano, Viale Alemagna 6.

A view of the Chiang Mai office.

The rear facade. A system of sliding glass windows and doors underscore the indoor/outdoor nature of the house.

Architect Michael Cobb used Douglas fir harvested from the site throughout the house, such as on a sliding door outfitted with Swiss Rod SS hardware from the Real Carriage Door Company.

Reclaimed materials: Recycled building materials can cut construction costs while simultaneously forging a link with the past. “Be alert about what is being taken down in the area and talk to homebuilders,” Campbell says. “There may be more opportunities than you think.”

The Yees live in a nature preserve in Carmel, California, in a home designed by Lake Flato Architects. Here's a glimpse at their idyllic surroundings.

From the outside, the house appears as a composition of cubic volumes that barely hints at its reused nature. Expanses of glass, skylights, terraces, and balconies all strengthen the relationship between inside and outside and make the interior uniformly light.

A rare interior hallway space is made and furnished almost entirely with reclaimed materials. Materials for doors, windows, and the slatted wooden floor were collected from demolished Saigon homes and customized to fit the residence.

For the walls surrounding the living room fireplace, Cobb specified high-volume fly ash concrete made with a by-product of burning coal in power plants that usually ends up in landfills.

Daylight adds to the warm ambiance of the wooden millwork of the Nature Preserve House kitchen.

The Nature Preserve House in Middlebury, Vermont, won the AIA Vermont Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture.

“Things that have the virtue of being simple have become some of the most complicated forms of construction,” Cobb says.

In the kitchen, Santa Rosa–based Reliance Fine Finishing applied a conversion varnish tinted with a green hue.

The project also invovled deepening and revitalizing the existing pond. "Designing a pond to be 20 feet deep instead of three feet deep improves the oxygen level and the water quality," Gang explains.

The panel of judges awarded Best Material to Mosa.

Kapla small unit by Cedric Ragot for Roche Bobois. The mix-and-match buffet is available in a wide array of material combinations (two types of wood and 30 colors of matte lacquer, plus chromed steel).

FolioRED by Studio ColonyExhibited at Satellite, a section for emerging designers, this room divider prototype by Stephanie Estoppey and Ozan Alaca is made from porcelain. The subtle red lines were created by capillaries in the material that absorb color.

At the Dwell Materials Lab, show goers had the opportunity to touch, feel, and learn about common—and not so common—construction materials.

More from the Materials Lab.

In contrast from the sleek matte exterior, the vehicles interior combines tobacco brown leather with ash grey sofa-style fabric seats.

Dent directs material research for the company and oversees the voting process that introduces new materials into the libraries.

The structure is designed to open up the pond ecosystem to visitors and serve as an outdoor classroom space.

Due to the prefab construction of the wood frame, installation on site only took about five days. A fiberglass dome protects the shelter from rain.