Architect Grant explains that the recessed orange wall with built-in storage shelving is a counterpoint to the view of Boston in the opposite direction.

Tina Hovsepian explains her Cardborigami prototype.

Pepa gets a better view of what Gorman is explaining in the girls’ bathroom from her stump stool.

Here's a graphic explaining how to stow everything away. Photo by Simon Bouisson.

Simple wall-mounted strip lighting, seen here in the cloakroom, is used throughout the house. "The beauty is the light, not the fitting," explains Van Everbroeck.

Kai and Téa brush their teeth in the upstairs bathroom shared by all. “We went with the 1950s thing—a family bathroom,” explains Blatt. The sinks are by Kohler.

LeMae and Vigil extended their environmentalist leanings outdoors. “In landscaping, we thought a lot about low-water and native plants,” LeMae explains. “The lawn we selected needs 50 percent less water than a normal Kentucky bluegrass lawn.”

"The main forms were wrapped in stainless steel to reflect the landscape and create a colorful, shimmering, envelope," explain the architects on their website.

“My brother-in-law is an avid gardener, so pairing rooms with gardens, and experiencing the house as a series of spaces with different relationships to plants and trees, evolved naturally,” explains George.

“The arrow opens up to the north so it can receive all the natural light from the sun’s path,” explains Noguera.

The solarium was designed “to highlight the solar elements of these buildings as an articulated object,” explains Kiss of the protruding glass rooms.

“Our objective was always to have a luminous house,” explains homeowner Isabel Pinto of the choice to have a window cover the entire north-facing wall.

Sattler-Smith explains that “the north side of the house is covered with corrugated galvanized steel and pierced with only a few very small windows; this protects from the 100-mile-per-hour north winds.”

One of their favorite pieces is the dining nook banquette. “We both grew up in Germany,” explains Hoeller, “where wraparound seating areas around the dining or kitchen table are common.”

"As with a tree, we tried to create organic architecture that could be formed by a hierarchical combination of different parts, such as plants, pleats as openings, and concrete boxes," explains Hirata.

"Three elongated blackened timber pavilions form a U shape, encompassing the external courtyard and identifying strongly with the site narrative and notions of a working yard or arena," the architects explain.

A diagrammatic way of explaining how The Generator fits into the larger picture of people gathering to build a man-made megastructure.

Robert Williams, a graduate student in architecture at RISD, explains lightning fields, Hawaii's new energy policies, and more.

"The placement of the stacked boxes and the space between them has been treated in a sculptural way—always considering the functional needs of habitability and the beauty of the house," explains Estudio Caballero Colón.

“The exterior walls are not happy with just being the limitation between interior and exterior,” Collectif Encore explains. “You can shower, go to the toilet, stand on stage, cook, sleep and bathe ‘inside’ the walls.”

The sod roof is angled to create a sweeping elevation on approach and is planted with grass tussocks cut from the hillside during construction. “The tussocks camouflage the house, melting it into the landscape,” explains architect Kate Brown.

"The importance of this outdoor connection was a very high priority for the clients," O'Brien explains. "They wanted the boys to be free, but wanted to keep an eye on them without them feeling like they’re being monitored."

“On the first floor, we decided to open the cabins up to views with a floor-to-ceiling window that connects the living area to the sea,” explains Felipe Croxatto. “In the second-floor bedroom, we frame select views through smaller windows.”

Architect Gregory Phillips connected the original house to a new modern extension that doesn’t interfere with the surrounding houses. “I try to be true to the location,”he explains, “so it doesn’t seem like some spaceship has landed.”

“The walls consist of a stick-framed stud wall with prefabricated structural insulated panels attached to it, made off-site in a facility to our design and specifications,” explains Gibson. “The roof structure consists of trusses built off-site.”

Mac describes adding the fireplace’s Domingue plaster finish as a real "labor of love." "The end result was a credit to the builder and his team. It really pulled the spaces together, and there is nothing better than the natural light playing with the plaster finish," explains the architect.

"The border between inside and outside fades because of the perpetuation of the washed concrete flooring, reminiscent of cannon bases. Just like the shutters of the old barn, the sliding facades of the expansion offer the opportunity to seal off the guest complex entirely," explains Vanhoutte.

The kitchen of the Birch Le Collaboration House features Durat solid surface countertops which are made from 30-50% recycled hard plastics and are 100% recyclable. "We worked with Cara Green, our healthy building materials partner to source these countertops," explains Karchner.

Each arch is strategically located to provide flow. “The wall is traditionally seen as a dividing element of the space, but with the arch walls, spaces flow onto each other, allowing the rooms to contract and expand without full separation,” explains the firm.

Red-stained plywood is a twist on the familiar green construction plywood so often found lining New York City construction sites; the rough plaster finish on the bathroom walls is an allusion to the texture of city sidewalks. “It’s really a streetscape,” explains Khoi.

“The house was designed for a family with young kids—it’s a place to get outside, collect specimens along the shore of the lake, play in the dirt, and spend time with family and friends,” explain Taylor and Morris. A glimpse of the detached two-bedroom guesthouse can be see behind the great room building.

On one side of the house, a white central staircase leads to a split-level landing the Robertsons call "the reading room." "We needed a place to hang out and for the kids to read," explains owner Vivi Nguyen-Robertson. Awaiting the birth of the couple's son, she relaxes in a built-in reading nook in the library.

One of the most important aspects of the renovation was to achieve the same high quality of crafted finish that had defined the original building—and much of the budget was allocated to skilled craftsmen, bricklayers, and carpenters. “Obviously, this has a huge impact on a renovation project like this,” explains Thomas.

"Our guiding mantra was: space is the ultimate luxury. With this house it was of the utmost importance to feel serenity," explains Bailey Peace Design's Betsy Peace. "And so every choice was constantly filtered by asking the questions, ‘Is this necessary? Does this belong? Can it co-exist without distracting the eye?’"

Tapias covered the addition’s shady east facade with two layers of cork, which he also placed on the roof of the three bedrooms. “Cork is a natural insulation that can be used without any cladding,” he explains. “It lets the wood breathe, and it’s waterproof.”

“There is a lot of glass so you can enjoy the view and the outdoor lifestyle even inside,” Henrik explains. “You live in the middle of the weather somehow. It’s a really harsh environment, as you have these southwesterly winds blowing through the house. But it is really beautiful as well.”