The kitchen was custom made by a local carpenter due to its unconventional scale. The appliances consist of a De Dietrich oven, Amana refrigerator, and Imperial microwave.

Christine (at left), and Amanda (at right) chat with David’s sister Aroha Yates-Smith (center) in the kitchen.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

You can see Chilean architect Smiljan Radic's finished 2014 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London from June 26 to October 14. Photo by Hisao Suzuki.

Because the house is narrow and long (16 by 68 feet), the design team decided to create a huge open-air space to light the interior naturally. Two retractable motor-driven canvas canopies shelter the space during Singapore’s frequent rains.

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.

Lightroom 1.0, a photography studio, is a freestanding structure on the property. “Together, they represent an autobiography of my career,” Carpenter says.

The Pite House takes advantage of its stunning cliffside location, blending into the setting with large windows, open floor plans, and cantilevered pool which reaches towards the water below. Photo by Cristobal Palma.

Fashion designer Josie and her husband Ken Natori are big fans of traditional Japanese architecture, so when Brooklyn-based practice Tsao & McKown Architects designed their home in Pound Ridge, New York, they used a heavy, exposed-timber structure, and included Japanese-style gardens and landscaping.

The owners of this 2,300-square-foot converted loft in SoHo have a penchant for color and collections. To make way for these elements, BC-OA kept new materials simple and desaturated with super white walls; oil-finished, white oak flooring; and white lacquered cabinetry. In the dining area, a custom designed, built-in, tufted banquette adds soft juxtaposition against the live edge dining table. The velvet upholstery is meant to provide contrast against the exposed, white-washed original brick in both texture and era. Overhead a brass chandelier with exposed Edison bulbs references the former Swan Incandescent Electric Light Co. which occupied the loft after construction was completed in 1897.

A look at the home's front facade. In a Melbourne suburb, Splinter Society Architecture designed the versatile home for Mark and Cara Harbottle and their three young children.

Inspired by modern Japanese minimalism, Hong Kong practice JAAK demolished the walls of this two-bedroom apartment and remodelled it into a studio with an

The living area boasts nearly 10-foot-high ceilings that impart a feeling of airiness and spaciousness. Discreet, built-in storage in the floor at the top of the steps prevents clutter from accumulating.

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"In this project, we got so much benefit out of this 'secret garden' for the master suite along with all of these environmental benefits that the residents were excited to embrace. It's one of the pieces we are happiest about," says architect Jonathan Feldman.

Living in between the woods

A pair of matching Idea lights by Vesoi over a dining room table and chairs, both locally-made.

View of chalet from entry drive.

Inside houses a cafe and multi purpose social space, which will also host special events throughout the summer. The pavilion’s dynamic shape invites visitors to move through the space, revealing its changing form. Image courtesy of Smiljan Radic Studio.

Radic’s pavilion will grace the lawn of the Serpentine Gallery from late June until October; its form resembles an orb balanced on a quarry of stones, giving the structure the appearance of a giant weightless volume. Image courtesy of Smiljan Radic Studio

The master bath contains all functions in the white fiberglass panel that runs the length of the wall. Lazor designed the vanity; the tub is by Duravit.

“It was a major decision to put the kitchen in the center where everything would revolve around it,” says Lazor. “We did this simply by following what patterns we observed—it was just where people gravitated.” The bar stools are by Blu Dot, and the chairs by Charles and Ray Eames.

Random Studio, an interactive digital design studio based in Amsterdam, and Petrovsky & Ramone created Our Kisses, a wish-bone shaped contraption that invites viewers to kiss one end while a camera hidden at the other end records them. The project aimed to bring strangers together onscreen with a simple human gesture that extends beyond race, age, and gender. The installation was originally created for the Oxymoron exhibition of Petrovsky & Ramone during Beijing Design Week 2013.

The master bedroom features a low-level picture window that opens out to the green space behind the house.

In their concrete-walled courtyard, Yuka and Aaron watch as twins Emerson and Jasper, daughters Maude and Mirene, and Alfie the dog play. The house is painted in Black Bean Soup by Benjamin Moore, a color in keeping with the period of the original architecture. The garden was designed by Lauren Hall-Behrens of Lilyvilla Gardens.

Day takes a swim in a new lap pool framed by a lush Southern California garden. The lower wall next to the pool is made from stacked Pennsylvania bluestone, which was used for all exterior stone as well.

Niko Architect and landscape firm Ecopochva designed a Moscow home that doesn’t play by the rectilinear rules of conventional architecture. Vegetation blankets the home’s concrete form, and its walls sweep upward and outward to become roofs. Molded floor-to-ceiling windows curve to grant panoramic views of the backyard and swimming pool.

Homeowner Simon Doonan stands next to the front door. "We have flamboyance, and we’re not inhibited about anything. [Architect] Gray Organschi gave [the house] that intellectual rigor needed to make it beautiful. We were well matched."

Our original notes of space needs for our house program.

Karen White, David MacNaughtan, and their sons, Griffin and Finlay, hang out on the front deck, which lines up next to the neighbors' porch.

The idea develops further...

Other notable projects of Radic’s include the Copper House 2, completed in Talca, Chile in 2005. The house uses textured sheets of copper for its exterior, and takes many of its design cues from other structures in the surrounding area. Photo by Cristobal Palma.

The Mestizo Restaurant in Santiago consists of enormous black concrete beams supported by granite shapes of varying sizes. The project was the winner a public competition held by the municipality to create a restaurant for the northeast end of Las Americas Park in Santiago. Photo by Gonzalo Puga.

At night, the semi-translucent sphere will give off a soft light, providing the lawn with a warm, inviting ambience. Image courtesy of Smiljan Radic Studio.