Sleeping nooks that look like the grooves in a block of cheese.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

A couple enlist Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to reimagine their home as a multigenerational meeting point. In 1963, landscape designer Lawrence Halprin devised a master plan for a community that would live in harmony with the natural environment. The resulting Sea Ranch, which stretches 10 miles along the Pacific coastline in Sonoma County, California, is characterized by timber-frame, wood-clad structures that are in dialogue with the local climate and terrain. Sited on a bluff within this pioneering community is the vacation home of a lawyer couple. After purchasing the residence in 2007, they lived in the home as it was for four years, even keeping the previous owners’ furniture. Envisioning a retreat that would accommodate their extended family and guests, they then recruited Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to help guide the project.

Sketch of Soma Water

Djeribi’s studio.

The bathroom’s width and reinforced handrails accommodate Wansbrough’s needs.

This low-maintenance home near Brisbane, Australia, exemplifies architect James Grose’s design philosophy based around simple, lightweight construction techniques well suited to the region’s subtropical climate.

The table’s base, which itself is an additional storage container, rolls easily into place to support the surface.

The custom leather platform bed was designed by Shikany’s firm, PS Studios.

"4x4," S2 Architecture This modernist cube by S2 Architecture features transparent Plexiglas windows that emit a warm glow from the interior.

At P.S. 111, the Trust for Public Land transformed an asphalt eyesore into a green sanctuary for New York City schoolchildren.

The light-filled foyer was part of Goodman’s original design for Unit House No. 6, upon which the Wilson’s model is based.

Assembly Rack by M-S-D-S Studio for EQ3, $300 Made of oak, this minimal, ladder-like rack can squeeze into the tightest of spaces. No mounting or installation is needed—just lean it against a wall.

Toronto multidisciplinary design studio M-S-D-S created a solid beech ladder-style rack for a slim storage solution.

Edge Studio used an aluminum-and-glass curtain-wall system for the building’s façade. Enormous floor-to-ceiling windows frame impressive views of Pittsburgh’s skyscrapers to the south.

In need of more room for their growing brood, Eric and Emma Gimon, with Luc, Paul, baby Louise, and their dog, Nefi, asked for a private space to accompany the house designed for Eric’s great-aunt.

The chairs and end table in the living room are of Eric’s design.

The master suite was fashioned from the house’s original garage in a 1970s renovation.

The Circus: 1870s-1950s by Linda Granfield and Dominique Jando with Fred Dahlinger. TASCHEN art director Andy Disl designed what the New York Times called a "gee-whiz spectacle of a book" as a hardcover in a slipcase.

Judin was fascinated by the abandoned gas station ever since he first discovered it in 1992. At the time, it had been unused for seven years. He finally purchased it in 2005 and transformed it into a one-of-a-kind residence.

The Kiasma, which opened in 1998, is Helsinki’s contemporary art museum. Designed by Steven Holl, the building’s scale is based on the dimensions of the human body.

Förster’s studio is in a turn-of-the-century building that used to be a porn shop. Taking over the space, she says, was “a feminist action.”

A pair of environmentally attuned architects combined adjoining properties in a Los Angeles canyon to house their modernist menagerie. With exposed industrial materials for finishes, the interior includes hand-troweled, waxed concrete floors, Douglas fir beams, and sealed-plywood ceilings. The open kitchen’s island, topped with soapstone, doubles as a bookcase for the living room.

Foyer

In 1950, architect Chalfont Head designed The French Residence in Fillmore, California, for Dr. William French and his family. The redwood-clad home sits on a spacious lot, surrounded by neighboring midcentury abodes. Upon arrival, the gravel driveway opens to a motor court and a two-car garage.

The Andersen Architectural Collection’s Eagle windows and doors provide the panes and passageways of the home.

The apartment is located on the third floor of an Yves Salier–designed building.

White brick exterior of Goddard and Mandolene’s home post renovation.

In 2013, the hotel renovated half its rooms to evoke Danish design in the 50s. Last year, the hotel refreshed the rest of its rooms to epitomize the country’s iconic 60s aesthetic.