See Google Glass, designed by Isabelle Olsson, onstage at Dwell on Design.

A PK 22 Easy Chair by Poul Kjaerholm for Fritz Hansen adds a dash of yellow to the breakfast room.

It might not make you popular with your contractor, but for a more streamlined look, Chris recommends forgoing trim. "It lends a clean look with less visual clutter," the architect says. In their house, the doors, lights, cabinetry, and even wall sockets (all 22 by Bocci) are installed without trim. This allows the planar surfaces to recede and do their jobs without unnecessarily distracting the eye.

Abutting a costal reserve, the property has uninterrupted views of the Snowy River and surrounding wetlands

PAR, 6030 Wilshire PAR proposes a new model of high-rise courtyard housing on the LACMA Tower site, integrated with mass transit, in the central cultural district of Los Angeles. The high rise tower is an important element within the contemporary metropolis. However, towers have come to be predominantly defined by their height and, as a type, have become anonymous. Typical residential towers, while successful in providing density, rarely provide living environments with individuality or access to nature, two qualities that are the essence of Los Angeles living. Our proposal acts against this endemic anonymity and repetitiveness of the recent past and puts forth a new model for the contemporary tower. Its aim is to achieve, despite its size, an individual and personal character comprised of a stack of individual houses in which each house is unique and identifiable with a direct connection to nature.

The Tinbeerwah house and studio keep a low profile among the site’s eucalyptus trees.

Bocci's 22 Series offers stealthy electrical, cable, USB, and phone outlets.

The Weber residence sits comfortably in the rich, green Wisconsin valley.

The three arms of the Apfel House stretch out to catch the best views of Ranco Lake and the Andes Mountains.

Mary and Kundan Bhullar built a shipshape country escape that sits lightly on the land in the Aravalli hills near Gurgaon, India.

The Armadillo is parked on a 1,000-square-foot lot that gives the couple ample outdoor space.

Celesta - Eskema Arquitectos

Celesta - Eskema Arquitectos

Q&A With Google Glass Design Isabelle Olsson We chat with Isabelle Olsson, Google Glass Designer, about new possibilities, women in design, and that one piece of technology that everyone is buzzing about.

The Joseph Joseph Index Plus replaces that clunky counter-space-hogging knife block and thick, heavy cutting board by combining the knife and cutting board storage into one slim design. It's also great for reducing the chance of cross-contamination when working in close quarters with its four color coded cutting boards and matching knives.

Celesta - Eskema Arquitectos

Pavisa - Work+

Pavisa - Work+

Site work in progress.

“Every time you challenge a basic assumption, there needs to be some method of expressing the fact that there’s new logic at work.”—Omer Arbel, creative director at Bocci

PeaceBOMB Bracelets by Article 22 "A22PeaceBomb3" $38.00 for three A special product with a special story. PeaceBOMB bracelets are crafted from the reclaimed metal of Vietnam-era bombs dropped on Laos during the United States' conflict in Indochina. Developed through a social enterprise that supports sustainable development through design thinking, its collaborators include Naphia spoon makers, Helvetas’s Rural Income Through Sustainable Energy Project and ARTICLE 22. These bracelets not only represent an opportunity for artisan families to generate income, but also tell a story about their makers and the legacies of a shared history. Buy the bombs back!"

Future site view. Overgrown 21+ acre forested site.

The same location in 2012, four years later.

Another intersection in Los Angeles, 2008.

Though Detroit is often associated with urban decay, it too has seen its share of development in the past five years. This image was taken in 2007.

An empty building in Detroit, 2009.

In 2013, a residential conversion has emerged across from a different, new residential building.

A street corner on Kent Street in Brooklyn, New York, 2007.

The same block in 2013.