These seats on the Los Angeles Metro are Model 850 Innovator (rail).

Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen designed the Gateway Arch monument, completed in St. Louis in 1965 (it opened to the public in 1967). The world's largest arch, the iconic, 632-foot tall structure was built as a monument to westward expansion in the United States. Here, he's shown alongside models of the arch. Credit: Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives; © St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A floor-to-ceiling wall unit accommodates a fridge, stove, oven, and convertible custom cabinetry. The pendant light is from the Multi Luminaire showroom in Pointe Claire, Quebec; the appliances are from Bosch and Miele.

Cubicco, a pre-engineered housing company based in Miami and the Netherlands, creates homes that are designed to meet winds of up to 180 miles per hour, per the hurricane zone code of Miami Dade County.

In an 850-square-foot loft in Montreal, Quebec–based firm Gepetto built understated, custom cabinetry to suit an aging couple's needs. Here, the Murphy bed that folds into a larger walnut storage unit. The wall, which also conceals a washer and dryer, does double duty as a partition between the bedroom and the loft’s entrance. Modern Murphy beds like this one often incorporate sleek lines constructed in dark-toned woods.

A model of the Aero House, by architect Tadashi Murai.

Gensler's Constellation of Fins speaks to the surfing condition on several planes: the physical aspect of how waves address the bathymetry of the Bay, a snapshot of wave-riding cultural hotspots, and the navigational equipment that is defined by them.

Building on her sensual flare for lighting design, Campbell’s vision for Das Haus’s gentle light will include string lighting in collaboration with Kvadrat, who will tailor print textile envelopes for the lamps. “There will be giant chains of light,” beams Campbell.

Model of the center's floorplan.

Calling all space nerds: A+R's Pop-up shop will include London- and Hong Kong–based Papafoxtrot's spacecraft models.

The prefab office is perfectly suited for the rugged, remote site and integrates seamlessly into the backyard.

Bacsac Composter Bag, $75–$95 at the Dwell Store Made in Bacsac’s signature geotextile fabric, this Composter Bag is available with 5.2 gallon or 10.5 gallon capacity, and is a simple solution to at-home composting.

A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons, Architects. Fairhaven Tract Eichler Homes Model LJ-124, Orange, California, 1961. Photograph by Jason Schmidt, 2012. Courtesy Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

Zoë plays with a model in the office.

Norwegian architect Marianne Borge.

“What could I have that would feel luxurious, would make me feel really great?” muses one of the homeowners. “My husband and I travel a lot in Europe, and we always loved the marble showers. So we put a marble shower up against the window.” The sink and countertop are from Batimat, while the wall-hung vanity is another custom piece by Gepetto.

Through their jewelry and accessories brand ACME Studio, Lesley Bailey and Adrian Olabuenaga collaborated with Ettore Sottsass, as well as many of the other principals of the Memphis movement, starting in the 1980s. When they purchased this property by the sea in Maui, they reached out to Sottsass to see if he would consider designing a home on it.

The Casita 850 modular model emphasizes indoor/outdoor living with a flexible two-bedroom and one-bath layout.

Lesley recounts their first meeting with Sottsass as clients: "We had worked with Ettore since the conception of our company. Adrian sent him a fax and said what he wanted to do. He said, 'When am I coming?'" "That was in 1989 that we asked him and he turned up with a model and this little bag. [At the airport in] Maui at that point, you had to walk across the tarmac. He comes up with this little bag, he gives it to Adrian, he says, 'Be very careful. That is your house.'"

The home's plans went through years of eclectic redesigns.

The only grouping of Frank Lloyd Wright's early American System-Built Homes—built by Arthur Richards and designed with standardized components for mass appeal to moderate-income families—is situated in the Burnham Park neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The four model 7A duplexes, one model B1 bungalow (shown here), and model C3 bungalow were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

The Wrap Expandable Dining Table from Debra Folz is constructed in Ash wood and borrows from the language of textile weaving. The tabletop is comprised of contrasting sections of ash wood, separated by their different wood grains to give the illusion of multilayered, wrapped fabric. The result is a table that is at once soft and sculptural, and extends on a diagonal to create a decidedly new form.

A playful array of models and materials in the studio.

This is the painted model of Broadacre City, showing the amount of undeveloped land between residences. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York).

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Broadacre City Model as an example of low-density development over a large area. It toured the country for several years in the 1930s and provides a counterpoint to his skyscrapers. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York). Photo by Roy E. Petersen.

One of the goals of the new building was for it to be an example for the students of each of the three disciplines. For the urban planning students, the task was accomplished by appropriately inserting the building into the "urban configuration of campus," says Robert Livesey, a professor and the school's director during the building's design and construction.

A model by Skidmore, Owings & Merril shows San Francisco in three dimensions. "At the exhibit opening it was fascinating to see how engaged people became while taking a close look at all the buildings in San Francisco," says Arieff. "The three dimensionality provides a level of understanding that is hard to replace."

A model of a one-room cabin.

Homes completed in the Biloxi Model Home program include work by (clockwise from top left): Huff & Gooden Architects, Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, Marlon Blackwell Architect, and Brett Zamore Design.

The Stop2Go Watch from Swiss Company Mondaine takes the classic Swiss Railway Clock and reimagines it as a sophisticated wristwatch. Modeled after the Swiss Railway Clock designed by Hans Hilfiker in 1944, the watch captures the clock’s classic red second hand, along with its subtle twist. The red hand sweeps a full circle in 58 seconds—instead of the typical 60 seconds—and pauses for two seconds at 12 o’clock so the black minute hand can advance.

The Parentesi Floor Lamp from Flos was designed in 1970 by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù. Now a design classic, the Parentesi blends the concept of a floor light and a ceiling lamp by including a ceiling mount and floor base. Although strong and stable, the Parentesi gives the illusion of lightness with its slender silhouette and cable that appears to float in space.

The Case Study Alpine Platform Bed takes a functional home furnishing and recasts it as an attractive, sculptural accent. The first bed of its kind, the Alpine Platform Bed is defined by its simple silhouette, fluid lines, and layers of molded wood. The entire structure of the bed, inclusive of the headboard and legs, are comprised of 16 layers of North American maple wood and top and bottom veneers of North American walnut wood. Featuring a purposeful angle, the headboard is designed to give back support while reading or watching television. The curved rails at the foot of the bed secure the mattress in place, preventing sliding or shifting. The Case Study Alpine Platform Bed was inspired by the traditional craftsmanship of vintage sporting equipment, including wooden skis, kayaks, and bentwood tennis rackets.

An exploration of the possibilities of materials, Souda’s Kreten Side Table employs stretch fabric as a mold for fiberglass reinforced concrete. Due to the nature of the materials—the stretch of the fabric and the weight of the concrete, each table takes on a distinctive form. The result is a truly one-of-a-kind side table that marries both industrial qualities and an organic sensibility.

Designed by Pablo Pardo, the Brazo LED Table Lamp is an innovative light with a tremendous amount of range and versatility. The Spanish word for “arm,” Brazo is a flexible lamp that has 360-degree adjustability and a 90-degree range of tilt. The Brazo is the first LED task light to use calibrated focus control, which provides a variable beam as well as focused, direct light.