You may think that a library has to be its own room, but books can be stored and read just about anywhere. Lining a hallway with books turns it into a library that you’ll walk through, and be inspired by, every day. Cabinets below provide extra storage and even a place to sit and read.

In the flat’s living room, midcentury modern art and furniture harmonize with the rich floor tiles, opulent molded ceilings. and original pine wood doors. Prints by Gordon Matta-Clark line the wall near a 1950s Danish dining table that’s paired with Eames chairs. A painting by Kuuti Lavonen hangs above a pink chair and ottoman by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

The architects’ two young children occupy this bright bedroom, furnished with Ikea beds. Another custom lamp illuminates the space.

In the living room of the Barcelona apartment designer Elina Vila D’Acosta-Calheiros shares with her husband, Ginés Gorriz, Arne Jacobsen Swan chairs join a sofa by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani. The cabinet is from Cappellini, as is the Marcel Wanders Big Shadow lamp.

In 1910, when the building was constructed, Barcelona’s economy was booming and, as a result, so were the arts. Architecture was especially popular among the city’s wealthier citizens, and splendid buildings were built in the new neighborhood of L’Eixample, on the edge of the old, Gothic city center.

In the marble-paved bathroom, the architects employed a simple trick to get the most out of the small space. Since the ceilings were already high, they raised the floor level about two feet to fit a Dornbracht bathtub beneath the shower. “By doing so, we also gained a storage space under the bathroom floor, and the window, without moving it, suddenly was in the right place!” Eugeni says. The shower head and sink are by Duravit.

Since the original kitchen was not functional, the architects built a new one from scratch while preserving the original tiles. “We designed very plain oak cupboards so the floor would be the protagonist,” Eugeni says. Ceiling lamps by Vico Magistretti illuminate the warm wood countertops.

A glazed veranda on the flat’s west side offers a cozy spot to enjoy an espresso. The utilitarian table and chairs were purchased second-hand, while the lamp was custom designed.

In the living area of Daniel Rozensztroch’s Paris apartment, an Eames La Chaise and a butterfly chair complement a Moroccan Berber rug.

The new walls of La Formiga d'Or do more than just house the inventory of reading materials—they invite one's eye to wander up and through the dramatic space.

David Garcia, head of the Institute for Architecture and Technology at the Royal Danish Arts Academy in Denmark, says we should fully integrate technology into building design. He calls out the Media TIC building in Barcelona by Cloud 9. "The building uses new technology not as a gimmick, but as a new way to mitigate environmental challenges," he says. "The building fine-tunes its facades to shield itself from light and thermal heat from the sun."

See La Carmina's house tour in full at www.lacarmina.com/blo...

Understated décor in the master bedroom lets the floor tiles fully pop. A pendant lamp designed in 1957 by Spanish modernist architect José Antonio hangs above the bed.

Fernando & Humberto Campana, Mandacarú Formiga Ant Cactus, 2006, protype for Alessi © Estudio Campana, Photo: Fernando Laszlo

Layer by layer, a crumbling 18th-century flat in the middle of Barcelona finds new life at the hands of architect Benedetta Tagliabue. Paths of Andalusian tile and intervening plaster walls help to delineate space in the expansive apartment, which is centered around an internal entry courtyard. The armchair, designed by Peter and Alison Smithson, is covered in a Josef Frank textile from Just Scandinavian. The white piece just behind it is a repurposed Austrian stove that’s now used as a storage device.

"La vouivre" is a wood hut enclosed by a magical, anaconda-sized green snake concieved and built by Zebra3.

A built-in closet and chalkboard surface in the entry keeps things tidy and the couple's to-do list in order.

do it: the compendium, Independent Curators International (ICI), New York and D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., May 2013, 448 pages. ISBN: 978-1-938922-01-5. Foreword and acknowledgements by Kate Fowle and Frances Wu Giarratano. Introduction by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Essays by Bruce Altshuler, Hu Fang, Virginia Perez-Ratton, and Elizabeth Presa. Available to purchase at Curators International.

Though the renovation was significant, you wouldn’t necessarily know it, as the new materials blend well with the old. The transitions between spaces, such as that from the living room to an enclosed veranda, feel completely natural.

The open wardrobe is simply a bench with a single rod traversing the bedroom.

“The color choice relied on intuition,” says Elizadle. “Wood was the perfect material, and great way to bridge old and new. It’s traditional and really Nordic, an inspiration from a trip to Stockholm a few years ago.”

A set of birch plywood pieces, used to create sliding doors, benches, and storage, added subtle accents and maximized the space. The apartment features a very open floor plan centered around the custom dining room table.

“The access and position of the house provided only one facade, so the distribution [of the rooms] had to be open towards that facade,” the firm says. “By breaking the levels we could drag the light deep in the house.” As for interior lighting, the wall-mounted lamps throughout the house are from Faro, a Barcelona-based lighting company.

“It was beautiful to see the passage of time in the apartment,” he says, referencing the original tiled floors, which he patched up with newer tiles to create a subtle chromatic shift across the floor.

Elizadle had sensed there was big opportunities when he started the project in January, and found a plenty hidden by previous residents. He said the process was like a selective defoliation, peeling back layers to reveal the inspiring original construction.

Numerous renovations left the 1930s apartment dark, cramped, and confused, a space searching for a strong personality. Stripping the track-marked wood floors and dropped ceilings of the roughly 750-square-foot space revealed a subtle vaulted ceiling and a colorful series of tiles.

The kitchen sink from the original building was repurposed for the bathroom, with a custom vanity that continues the blue scheme. The space is enclosed by walls of water-repellant brick.

Barcelona-based architect Adrian Elizalde embarked on a renovation project for his family’s new apartment. His strategy was to inject some Scandinavian cool on a limited budget, using custom wood pieces and a sparse aesthetic to open things up. Lamps sourced from secondhand stores and a set of Belloch chairs by Santa & Cole are arrayed across the space.

The current open-plan living area will be transformed into two bedrooms. The update was intended to be bright, airy, and flexible, in order to easily accommodate this future configuration.

Chairs bought from a friend surround a table made from a found piece of glass and salvaged trestles. Over the table is a lamp by Poul Henningsen obtained in Copenhagen. “I believe it’s better to own a few good things for a long time and treasure them, rather than buy new, cheaper stuff every few months,” she says.

The stairs are partically hidden behind a slatted ash screen that supports steel bookshelves.

Sréphane Thidet conceived of "La belle étoile," a yellow, star-shaped shelter made of stainless steel and wood.