Classic butterfly chairs from Universal Patio Furniture are stationed by the pool. The mural is by street artist Morley, a close friend.

One of the greatest design challenges, according to Franz and Paré-Mayer, was reimagining the dark, unfinished garage space in a way that would “establish [it] as primary, instead of an afterthought to the original floor above.” This was achieved by layering open, linked spaces on the ground floor and sticking to a few carefully selected materials for cohesion and fluidity. There are hardly any hallways in the home; every space serves a function. Polished concrete floors continue throughout the new living level, and a bent metal dining chair with a reclaimed Douglas fir backrest made by Scholz sits in front of an open white oak staircase.

London based photographer, Ed Reeve used dark cedar to achieve his lifelong goal: to build his own house on a perfect plot of land located in De Beauvoir Town. Photos by: Ed Reeve

Movable and space-saving design elements define this creative family home in the Mission District. The kitchen was given an economical revamp by adding new drawer and door fronts to the existing cabinet boxes. Countertops were replaced with custom fabricated white oak butcher block surfaces, and a complementary white oak kitchen island was installed. A Wolf range, Vent-a-Hood hood, Franke stainless steel sink, and Bosch dishwasher complete the space.

Movable and space-saving design elements define this creative family home in San Francisco’s Mission District. A midcentury home was transformed, and through the renovation, the molding at the fireplace was taken down, as was the cast plaster mantle. The sleek, new, metal fireplace design features a white oak custom bench made by Zack, accented by a vintage carnation milk crate from his mother’s childhood.

Another view of the library and media room. Photo by Francis Dzikowski/ESTO.

Street View showing the matching Cedar Siding Mailbox and flush to face garage door.

In the kitchen, the continuous kitchen worktop and table are made of marble from Caledonia Marble. The pink Tamatik dining chairs are by Connie Chisholm and are from the Canadian design shop Made. The Blinding Love pendant lights are by Periphere, which has shops in Montreal and Toronto. Photo by Naomi Finlay.

The bedroom is outfitted with only the basics.

LA-MÁS, Backyard Basics: An Alternative Story of the Granny Flat LA-Más will propose a collective approach to housing in Elysian Valley. Our vision is to write an alternative history for the future of the neighborhood that will serve as a resident-led and resident-owned model for low-rise high-density housing. The project will critically engage lot-lines and speculative buildable space at the air-rights level to envision new territories for low-density development. By utilizing the neighborhood’s existing buildable space, we will propose an architectural strategy that realizes the needs of Elysian Valley through cooperative development, combined entitlements, consolidated services, re-consideration of permitted granny flats, and other various opportunities that are possible only through a collective community approach.

The larch rainscreen covering the second floor give the house a light appearance and also provides privacy. Though it's difficult for outsiders to look in, the openings between the slats of wood let the family sneak views to the outside.

The past can be intimidating for architects working in older cities with limited examples of contemporary design, but Adam Sokol has managed to push a new look forward in Buffalo, New York, with his Birdhouse. Completed in 2011, the residence replaces a vacant lot on Bird Avenue—a rare opportunity for new construction in a healthy neighborhood defined by its collection of century-old infrastructure.

The focal point of the home’s modernized exterior is a custom, wood-and-steel entry gate designed by atelier KS and built by DeFauw Design + Fabrication, a local fabricator who also made custom closing hardware for the piece. Franz and Paré-Mayer paired angled cypress slats with an industrial metal frame to create the entryway. A few paces behind the gate, a large glass door provides direct access to the home, fulfilling the owners’ wish for an entry vestibule that would be separate from the street. The angled wood slats offer privacy from the exterior, while selectively allowing light to penetrate through.

Margarita McGrath and Scott Oliver of Noroof Architects termed the 1,650-square-foot house in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, “Pushmi-Pullyu,” in reference to the interior-exterior flow they created. Resident Jill Magid, pictured on her front steps with son Linus, is a conceptual artist; she fabricated the neon house numbers.

Greiner Hall at University of Buffalo, designed by Cannon Design, boasts floor tiling made from recycled soda bottles, man-made ponds for recycling greywater, electrical outlets that are wheelchair-height accessible, and lounge-style classrooms and meeting areas.

Olson Kundig refurbished this 1950s building as a flexible off-site exhibition space for SFMOMA's Project Los Altos in downtown Los Altos, California. The firm replaced the front facade with a double-height, floor-to-ceiling window wall that can be raised or lowered at the whim of the user.

Bright train headlights make their way through the pillars that separate sets of tracks. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Signage on walls let workers know how far they are from the platform. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

A section of tunnel in the NYC subway. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Street Seats image courtesy of BSC Architecture

Worker tools left for construction. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

An autobiographical diary entry by the graffiti artist REVS, who scattered these pages of his life story throughout the transit system. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Beneath the Streets A train passes through an abandoned station in the New York City subway. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Graffiti artist standing on a wood covering over the third rail. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Masstransiscope—a 228-panel installation by artist Bill Brand—can be viewed from trains headed towards the Manhattan Bridge. It was installed in 1980 and sanctioned by the MTA. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Red and white panels on track walls indicate areas of no clearance in which an individual will be hit by the train

Emergency exits in tunnels lead back to the street level above. Photo courtesy Matt Litwack.

Since Marble Basics creates small decorative items, they maintain an accessible price point despite an expensive material.

From the street, the home bears many of the hallmarks of an Eichler home. Its low roofline is in large part supported by glass walls. Clear cedar siding provides additional warmth. The exterior tiles used around the house are actually custom poured concrete from RJ & Associates Landscape Specialists.

“The house was designed to complement the challenging triangular corner site and its context.” —George Bradley, architect.

Nestled within a forest clearing near the Argentinian city of Córdoba, this 2,153-square-foot house named "La Negrita" is designed to exist in harmony with nature. Designed by Córdoba–based Morini Arquitectos, the house first reveals itself as a black corrugated wall in the middle of the woodlands. "The house is totally introverted [and] mysterious towards the street and extroverted towards the interior," says Morini.

The front of the 1910 house belies the modern extension architects Doug Skidmore and Heidi Beebe created to extend the family’s living space.

Averse to the idea of a television being the centerpiece of a space, the owners instead opted for a clever alternative in the library/media room. Continuing the theme of movable and multi-functional design elements, a rolling chalkboard panel was designed to conceal the TV when not in use. Throughout the home, the family’s furniture is an eclectic mix of purchased, custom built, inherited, and self-made pieces. The room is accented with a reclaimed red office chair with custom white oak armrests made by Scholz.

The four separate modules, made primarily from timber, took 26 weeks to construct. To offset the amount of wood used in construction, Archiblox plants 100 trees for each home it builds.

A garage-style door separates the patio from the street.

Organizations such as Friends of the Los Angeles River have been working on revitalizing the waterfront for decades, reserving years of planning and development that led a once vital source of water for agriculture to become a concrete-covered waterway known known by many as the site of gritty Hollywood chase scenes. Play the LA River wants to add to that conversation around revitalization.