The quiet, minimalist kitchen features a wall in the same “criptoméria" wood used for the bookshelf in the living room. A Davide Groppi Punto 2 PL light hangs over the dining table.

Warm wooden walls ensure the simple bedroom setup, a low mattress next to a Muuto Leaf table lamp, offers more comfort than the cold stone exterior.

In keeping with the island’s rugged character, the new home was pared down to the essentials. Even the floor in the living room, elevated during the construction process to give seated guests sight lines of the coast, helped frame the outdoors. With this philosophy in mind, Vieira da Silva sourced and designed simple, light furniture, such as the custom bookshelves made from “criptoméria," a type of Japanese wood planted in the Azores for construction. The floor lamp, a Sampei model by Davide Groppi, is set above a Lamino Easy Chair by Swedese. Both the sofa and table are also Swedese.

Built as part of a functional farmhouse, the original building's ground floor was used to store food and animals, a situation that didn't exactly call for expansive views or large amounts of natural light. Vieira da Silva maintained a similar layout over the two-story home, with social areas on the upper floor and bedrooms on the ground floor, but opened up the lower level with large windows. "With the pre-existing stone walls we created patios, keeping a distance [between the walls] so we could have big openings, and create a close and intense relationship with the landscape and the ruin itself."

Initially unassuming, the E/C home appears hidden from the road, perched on the sloping edge of the island and partially wrapped in the basalt walls from an 18th-century farmhouse. Architects Ines Vieira da Silva and and Miguel Vieira approached the site with a vision to create a relationship with the landscape; they designed the 2,600-square-foot holiday home to not only be a simple escape, but also to frame the weathered coast and reflect its past. “Both paths to the house were designed with basalt stone, as if they were still a rural path,” Vieira da Silva says.

In New York about two hours north of New York City, architecture and interiors firm BarlisWedlick created an eclectic compound designed to suit a client with an idiosyncratic wish list. In the kitchen, a custom Stickbulb LED lamp hangs above a kitchen island topped by concrete from Get Real Surfaces. The cabinets and island feature a modern version of a traditional board and batten siding that are given an even more contemporary feel with the concrete countertop.

A central challenge of the renovation was to integrate lighting into the architecture in such a way that “even if the space had no furniture, you could turn on the lights and instantly get a cozy atmosphere,” says Bjerre-Poulsen. After Europe banned incandescents in 2009 Bjerre-Poulsen turned to halogen fixtures, which are more energy-efficient and give off a similar quality of light. (He won’t use LEDs until their ability to render color is further developed, he says.) In Østergaard and Olofsson’s kitchen, he embedded a halogen strip in the underside of the wooden shelf over the countertop to direct light onto the work surface.

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

The new concrete exterior has already been transformed by the rain and humidity of the Azores, and now sports an aged look. The color contrasts with the basalt wall and dark soil of the Ilha Preta ("Black Island"). Vieira da Silva anticipates that surprising patterns and textures will develop on the outer walls over time.

"I wanted the bones of the house to be bold, strong and simple,

The architects incorporated sustainably sourced parota wood into the living room’s sunken seating area. The Turn Tall side table is from Blu Dot, and the pillows are from West Elm.

A young Finnish designer bypasses building permits by creating an affordable tiny home under 100 square feet.

The journey through the dark tunnel to the new, light-filled addition is both a texturally interesting and atmospheric experience, where the contrast between old and new, dark and light, can be felt.

Pink & Brown’s Corkscrew Pendant Lamp lights the stair leading to the family room

Holiday Cards by Autograph

The exhibit includes the Shoki Collection (back left), the ASA-NO-HA Lamp (back wall), and an array of Nakashima originals.

To lure visitors into an exhibition at San Francisco's Museum of Craft and Design, Wilson strung up solar-powered phosphorus-coated wires, creating a glowing path to the museum's front door.

“Creating efficient space is valuable, but for us, rooms that offer visual and spatial continuity with nature are also important,” architect Julie Dowling explains. “When the sliding doors are open, the living room and kitchen double in size.”

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.

The outdoor atrium of Family House Litvínovice is a completely private space that's well-suited for the installation of a hammock, outdoor bath, or shower. A11 designed the home to be an exploration of minimalism and privacy from the outside world.

Rear Facade

Configur8 tiles provide distinctive cladding for the exterior of this modern home.

The house for Kundan's mother, dubbed Chameli, is constructed of two 40 x 8 containers located next to the family's garden.

The Holiday Matinee office at The Hive

Spado Architects completed the home in 2012.

This "See America" poster, commissioned by Print Collection, is modeled after the posters made by the Works Progress Administration in the 30s to encourage Americans to engage in domestic tourism by visiting National Parks. Buy it here.

The exhibition graphics employ a customized headline typeface developed by Project Projects. The painted floor graphic shows the shape of Roosevelt Island (in orange) and the extent of the pneumatic tube system (in white).

A demonstration pneumatic tube system ran throughout the exhibition, so visitors could better understand the technology.

The firm's work also includes exhibition and logo design. They handled both for the exhibition 'Fast Trash,' which spotlights the pneumatic trash disposal system used on Roosevelt Island since 1975.

I designed this desk and Michael helped me make it when I was at Pratt. Michael and I went to Pennsylvania to get the slab of walnut; it was a great day. The photos are a mix of family photos. I love to have pictures of family members throughout their lives, not just what they were to me. For instance, I have a wonderful picture of my grandmother in her teens in New York, one of her with her three kids (including my mother), and one taken in my aunt when she was in the tub reading a book in her 90s. All the pictures remind me of a happy, deep, or funny, moment. Sometimes I could swear they wink at me! -Sophie Demenge

"The site has lush vegetation dotted with mature live oak trees, and Sarah is a gifted gardener who keeps the yard beautiful,

Although synthetic slate roof tiles have been around since the 1970s, the way architect Stephen Bruns used them to completely clad Woven House is unusual. "I love this material," says Bruns. "The way light reflects off the tiles creates a specular effect, almost like a mosaic." That reflective quality is enhanced by the floor-to-ceiling windows by Loewen.

The living room has a long, built-in couch with a custom midcentury-inspired fireplace. Polished concrete floors in the interior contrast with the outdoor timber decking.