The master bedroom features a low-level picture window that opens out to the green space behind the house.

Yang Yeo and his girlfriend Ching Ian relax on the back stoop of their renovated and radically updated Singapore shophouse—an archetypal building type in this busy port city. “Shophouses brought back memories of our childhood,” says Yeo.

Christine (at left), and Amanda (at right) chat with David’s sister Aroha Yates-Smith (center) in the kitchen.

A forest of material—Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock, pine and spruce, as well as engineered wood products—came together in the Wood Innovation and Design Center in Vancouver, a six-story statement for tall-wood structures. Designer Michael Green isn't stopping there, however; he's floated a proposal for a 30-story timber structure that would truly take over the skyline.

“There was too much visual pollution disturbing the simplicity. The goal was to allow the existing buildings to work within a totally new program, each still distinguishable by its own destiny.” —Architect Bart Len

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

It’s a good idea to read reviews about specific pieces before buying them, which can help prepare you for the unexpected.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

With more than 400 objects, the Indianapolis Museum of Art's contemporary design collection is among the largest of its kind in North America. Photo by Eric Lubrick.

The 9,000-square-foot main gallery showcases contemporary design objects since 1980. Photo by Eric Lubrick.

Chair One by Konstantin Grcic. Photo by Eric Lubrick.

Extra Big Shadow lamp by Marcel Wanders. Photo by Eric Lubrick.

The gallery focuses on post-1980 design, a period of growth and creativity. Photo by Eric Lubrick.

The museum's Department of Design Arts was founded in 2007 and focuses on representing a wide range of media, including furniture, glass, ceramics, metal work and product design from the United States, Europe, and Asia. Photo by Eric Lubrick.

Photo by Eric Lubrick.

Designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners, the museum was recently awarded the AIANY Design Award for the wing. Curved white walls guide the visitor through free-standing displays while a skylight system fills the space with natural light.

Stratflex Skin (single and double seater) by Wintec Innovation-The East London company's founder, Al Stratford, began working as a builder straight out of high school. Decades later, his practical experience earned him the right to take the qualifying exams (which he passed) to become a licensed architect. He's applied his know-how to develop these chairs out of plywood and local salinga wood. Skin ships flat--but all in one piece, with unique bendy bits that provide texture and color as well as stability once assembled.

Wintec Innovations won the 2013 Design Indaba Expo Innovation Award.

Having lived, he says, in “a number of houses where the living room is the most adorned and the least used,” it was important for Lazor to create a functional family living space. As the gathering above attests, it worked. The carpet is by InterfaceFLOR, and the armchairs by Blu Dot.

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

Stormwater cycle throughout the Twin Lake site

For now, one-year-old Awa is small enough to sleep in the hammock that hangs from the ceiling.

Shophouses are a staple of Southeast Asian urban architecture. A team of designers including Yong Ter, Teng Wui, Andrew Lee, and Edwin Foo renovated this shophouse into a contemporary sanctuary over the course of two years. They left the roof completely open from the beginning of the original airshaft to the back of the house. The heart is a cooking/dining area with a 13-foot-long Indonesian table made from a single piece of teak.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

After living on and studying a woodsy acre of land in North Zealand, Denmark, architect Jesper Brask cleared a stand of pine trees and, from the timber, built a getaway open to its surroundings. The house, which Brask shares with his wife, Lene, and sons, Kristian, Jens, and Niels, is used mainly in summer, when the weather is optimal for throwing open the glass doors.

Rainwater is collected from the rooftop of the Permanent Camping! Mudgee abode by Casey Brown, NSW, Australia. Photo by Penny Clay

Mami and Goo the Kishu dog return from a frolic in the forest, which the couple, along with Hideaki, has thinned and trimmed back over many weekends. It’s an idyllic escape and a world away from the concrete expanse of Tokyo.

In Seattle's rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood, the Art Stable is a classic example of urban infill. Built on the site of a former horse stable, the seven-story mixed-use building carries its history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units.

The Green School in Badung, Bali, Indonesia, by Effan Adhiwira, employs micro-hydro power, solar power, bio-diesel, and natural air conditioning; it was also constructed with 99% natural materials. Photo by Iwan Baan

100 Contemporary Green Buildings, Volume 1 is available through Taschen

The big ‘move’ was to create the little box, a separate stand-alone piece that gave us a resolutely private sanctuary,” says Lazor. “It’s a place with no phone, no TV, no other person. The second big thing was the space in between the courtyard, which cements the house to the site and takes advantage of the greenway behind the space.”

Japanese showers are usually set low down so the bather can sit on a stool and scrub, then pour cedar buckets of hot water over their heads for a refreshing rinse. This homeowner in Venice, California mounted a handheld shower head on the wall for added flexibility. The drain is under the removable cedar floor slats, keeping the room design uncluttered. Wood tubs are cleaned with a simple rinse and last for decades, as the antiseptic properties of cedar guard against mold and rot. This ofuro was designed by Santiago Ortiz and fabricated by Bartok Design.

The living room opens to the backyard thanks to a large sliding glass door.