The world’s most popular doll, with a hot-pink blueprint tube and a hard hat: friend or foe to a profession already suffering from a pronounced gender gap?

Sherman chats with his neighbor Sakhawat Ullah, the mason who built his front stoop.

Small Talk print by One Must Dash, $56–$88. The Swedish design duo draws from a rich Scandinavian tradition of simple, powerful graphics in this poster inspired by the art of small talk.

Benjamin Pardo and Jeffrey Osborne talk onstage while Nasir Kassamali listens from the the first row.

The doors are set on a track by Häfele and pivot 90 degrees.

Phoenix visits the Coin Op Laundry in Bellflower, California.

While Edwardian timber homes are common in Sandringham, a beachside suburb in Melbourne, this one features a custom rear extension with two gable roofs that house the master bedroom, kitchen, and dining room. The open plan allows the spaces to flow into the yard, which features a new patio with a timber pergola for open-air dining.

Two complementary lighting fixtures from New Hampshire Antiques co-op hang in the kitchen. "One of my good friends from college was getting married in New Hampshire, and he mentioned an antique store down the street. We probably spent three hours in there,

Comprising 11 modules, this green-roofed prefab was built in 90 days in a factory near São Paulo and then transported to the site in three shipments on flatbed trucks.

Designer Bryan Boyer and lawyer Laura Lewis bought their townhouse in Lafayette Park in 2015, the same year the storied co-op joined the National Register of Historic Places. Their restoration included laying slate floor tiles the same size as the original linoleum squares, hanging modular Dieter Rams wall shelving, and adding appliances by Fisher & Paykel.

The Airstream is tucked into the back garden of a Berkeley co-op. Having a garden at my footsteps and chickens just over the fence make it feel peaceful and private.

Sherbanuk (left) and Campbell sit by the outdoor fireplace, which adjoins the screened-in porch.

Education was a key focus of designer Bruce Mau's talk. Photo courtesy Compostmodern.

A little one points to a chicken in a stylized plywood-and-acrylic coop by Chicken Co-Op. Complete with egg-shaped venting cutouts, the co-op has passive heating and cooling systems and a solar-powered fan to keep hens happy and naturally productive.

Clayden and Sam Cutler, both former tour managers for rock bands, talk music in the spacious, uncluttered living room that opens onto the balcony.

The facade of a house in Belgium consists of "knitted bricks." “In this part of Belgium, 90 percent of the houses are built with brick,” says architect Tom Verschueren. “It’s a classic material that we tried to use in House BVA in a totally different way.”

The architects had to gain approval from the co-op board to break through to the roof—the loft is on the top floor—and add a terrace and master bedroom suite.

Professor Rebecca Ginsburg will talk on February 16th at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Part of the goal of the take-out window is to get people talking about political and social issues.

A pair of posters by op-art master Victor Vasarely in the other bedroom. Read more about Borrego Springs's symmetrical Spanish- and Southwestern- style home here.

The home located at 56 Willow Street is a pet-friendly property, and has additional storage in the basement, as well as a part-time superintendent that looks after the co-op building.

Lee Buchanan of Lee Build created a screen of white ash slats beside the kitchen as well as the entry. "The stairs are beautifully integrated into the kitchen so the kids and I are always talking and someone is always sitting on the bottom steps,

Erin and Tyler went through a three-month-long interview and application process to land their live/work space in the Emeryville Artists Co-op. A hand-painted mural by Erin peeks out from the stairs leading down to the laundry room.

The family was drawn to this home for it's 90-foot double-wide lot, mature trees and park-like setting.

Burnt Cedar playfully interacts with the landscape—including the 60- to 90-foot Jeffrey and Ponderosa pines that populate the lakeshore.

On the parlor level, the pigmented plaster walls eschew the finish of paint. A modest reveal between the ceiling plane and the walls ingeniously accommodates a concealed picture rail that runs the perimeter of the room. The 1968 painting above the sofa is by op-artist Julian Stanczak.

Set next to protected wetlands and close to the beach, House for Hermes is located about 90 minutes south of Melbourne.

This uber-green dwelling not only walks the walk, it talks the talk.

View from house to forest & Photo Op area

The modules were built to 90% completion inside a factory—fittings, fixtures, tiles, and more were installed before the units were trucked to the site and placed atop the foundation in five hours.

The undulating wood-and-steel structure is engineered to hide a 90-foot steel structural beam that supports the cantilevered canopy and creates the illusion of a floating pavilion from the front.

The entire property consists of 90,000 square meters, or about 22 acres, on the island of Milos in Greece. Each of the five corrals are defined in the landscape by a white border.

After successfully reconfiguring his own tiny New York City apartment, Robert Garneau, partner at Architecture Workshop PC, reinvented a 400-square-foot studio for neighbors just a few floors down. Called the Pivot Apartment, the highly efficient residence now serves multiple functions, thanks to a central modular unit that can be arranged to create distinct stations for living, sleeping, and entertaining.

Architect Christopher Beer helped his DIY-friendly former roommates Karen and Grant Jack create a mixed-use dwelling in a town located about 90 miles south of Auckland.

Fresh air is important and 90 percent of the air that goes in your lungs is indoor air. Airmega makes sure that the indoor air you breathe is as clean as it can be.