The Food Zone Fine-tuning your cooking and dining areas pays off in more ways than just saving resources. As in other functional zones, their success starts with awareness: Where exactly does your food come from? Where exactly does your trash go after you haul it to the curb? Playing an active role in your family’s food cycle can be eye-opening, and it often helps spark an interest in improving other house zones.

How House, the site of the May 17, 2014 reception and talk, and included on the May 18 tour. Photo by Tim Street-Porter.

Find out how Passive House standards are being integrated into affordable housing projects in the United States.

Julia: How to Make a Concrete Camera Are you looking for a creative project for the weekend? Well look no further! Why not make a pinhole camera out of concrete? I came across this DIY tutorial and was surprised that this unlikely material was being used to make a camera. How wonderful!

Wearing rubber gloves, apply the oil, starting from the corner of the room farthest from the door. Apply an even layer of oil all over the floor, using a wide floor brush or paintbrush. Use a small paintbrush for edges.

The Weiners sit in one of the many large window bays, showing how the reused truck bodies look from within.

For the Dwell Fan: Learn what reading essentials editor-in-chief Amanda Dameron put in the fifty boxes of books she took with her when she moved to New York last year.

Using medium-grade sandpaper, sand down the front and edges of wooden, painted, or varnished doors or drawer fronts with power sander (2A) or sanding block (2B).

A diagram of the chair's structure.

Most tiles come in boxes or sheets enough to cover one square foot. Simply measure the length and width of area in feet and multiply to calculate the number of tiles to buy.

While technology keeps evolving, little has changed in the way the ELO is made since it was introduced in 1956. To ensure continuity of craftsmanship, new workers are paired with experienced mentors who pass down tips and techniques. The average maker has been working with the product for 10 years.

Here's the schematic for how to put the thing together.

Use these drawings to create the dotted lines on the side of the chair.

The LV prototype’s bathroom shows how buyers can vary finish levels according to budget.

Tension rods provide bracing for the glass walls, and exposed bolts reveal how everything is put together.

An outdoor shower is made from one complete concrete module—a visual demonstration of how the entire house was built.

Glimpsed from the outside, it becomes clear how an internal corridor flows through both structures at an uncommon angle.

Even after 60 years, each piece is hand-assembled in the United States. That human touch makes sure each piece is thoughtfully put together, and that natural variations in the leather and wood are taken into account.

A rear view of the narrow house shows how Chong twisted the house’s volumes to bring daylight into each room.

Alan Koch and Rebecca Rudolph contemplating how to design the workspace.

Here's how my Jabba's eyes look up close.

Keener demonstrates how the translucent glass doors in the hallway pivot to create larger private spaces, like an expanded bathroom.

Considering how lovely the view was from the restaurant, I was surprised at how wholly the tree covers the place when viewed from the beach.

How to See: A Guide to Reading Our Manmade Environment by George Nelson (Little, Brown and Company, 1979). Although George Nelson is best known for his modern designs, his writing was equally innovative.

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A little glowing clock adorns this rough-hewn table. I love how unassuming it is, and how brightly the clock detail shines against the materials.

I love this graphic representation of how Dow's initials became his logo.

Driveway view of kitchen and lower level entrances at Rudolph Schindler's How House from 1925. Photo by Jessie Askinazi.

Hillside view from the concrete terrace. The gardens of Schindler's How House were designed by Richard Neutra. Photo by Jessie Askinazi.

Cash and Rock are shown here in front of a blackened steel “fireplace wall” that was designed by Hufft Projects. Matthew explains how he’s learned to design things that are durable and safe. He continues, “You never realize how destructive kids are until you have them. I’m continuously learning from them and how they interact within architecture.”

Here's a detail showing how the Corian skin fits over the plywood base.

The living room of Schindler's 1925 How House, featuring built-ins and lamps designed by the architect. Photo by Jessie Askinazi.

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

Kevin Conger, project director and principal at CMG, shows how it's done.

A clean connection detail shows how the parts of the staircase are vertically held together.