Sleeping nooks that look like the grooves in a block of cheese.

NOEM, a Barcelona–based architecture firm, created a metal-clad house for a young client just outside Madrid. It’s raised 12 feet off the ground to offer better views of the landscape, lending it "the futuristic feeling that it just landed," says Pol Guiu, one of NOEM’s cofounders.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

Gray-purple iron railings, a fuchsia and green wooden entry, and garage doors provide contrast to the white walls of this Santa Barbara home. Photo by Steven Holmes.

New pine and spruce wood from the Pyrenees (both recyclable and PEFC certified) were selected for the façade of the 1,000-square-foot prefab. Smart blinds cover the windows, rigged to open and close depending on the weather forecast.

This living/bedroom space showcases neutral tones and shades of white to contrast the continued use of natural, treated wood surfaces.

The original home’s second floor had three bedrooms with flat ceilings. Arch11 quickly realized there was a great volume in the upper floors at the gable ends of the home and chose to integrate the attic space into the second floor. This design move allowed the interior to be informed in part by the exterior while creating a bright, serene living space among the treetops.

Thanks to the extension’s vaulted ceiling, the master bedroom and minimalist staircase have views of the sky. Polly admits to having sacrificed floor area so that the full-height stairwell could achieve a stronger connection with the outdoors. Toyo Ito Mayhuma pendants hang from the ceiling, accentuating the space’s dramatic height.

House O, designed by Jun Igarashi, forgoes hallways and interior doors in favor of casually interconnected rooms.

Situated behind the kitchen, the lower level bathroom is equally suited to cleaning up before a meal or taking a leisurely bath. Crisp white fixtures, including a Kaldewei Centro Duo bath, ensure that the bathroom feels as light and airy as the rest of the house.

Fully realized during the last few years of his life, these "autonomous dwellings" were the culmination of all his learning and experience, according to Fuller. The "fly’s eye" holes can be used as doors or outfitted with wind or solar power to create off-the-grid housing. The largest model, a 50-foot-high dome, debuted in LA in 1981 and was out-of-sight for decades before being restored and shown at the Toulouse International Art Festival last year.

In one of the three bedrooms, Wright designed a built-in desk and graphic chair. The angular windows and skylights are continued into the bedrooms.