Texas. The Cricket Trailer, made in Houston, can sleep up to two adults and two children. With integrated fresh water and greywater tanks along with a water heater, campers can live off-the-grid in the easily towable unit.

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.

"Fish Tales: Between Earth and Ice," Peregrine Design/Build Where water and land meet along the rocky shores of Lake Champlain, the winds and currents wash up sharpened slabs of ice, a phenomenon this shanty by Peregrine Design/Build recreates with its jagged, glistening roof.

“Gatherings here can be a very rich experience, a dis-cussion around art history, music, food, and fashion.”—Kenneth Montague

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

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.

Based in Swaziland, Quazi Design started as a jewelry maker in 2009, and now produces home accessories and furniture. Whether bowls, pendants, or pillows, all of the studio's designs are made out of paper.

More from the Stephen Burks Man Made exhibition in Milan, which will travel next to Los Angeles for Dwell on Design 2014.

Maryland. Goodwood Design's Garrett Brooks crafts simple, wooden furniture from his studio in Baltimore. The Two Edge dining table combines Douglas fir and Douglas fir plywood.

Referencing the motif in the kitchen, wood slats also appear on the rear facade of the home; the variegated cedar planks both modulate light and provide a bit of privacy (above).The garden floor, which accommodates an additional living area and office, also offers access to the backyard.

The home’s custom woodwork—including the movable furniture—was made by Orana Joinery and finished with plywood. Chemisys Group supplied the timber door and window finishes, as well as the timber deck outside.

Architect Stefano Girodo explains the building has a “completely prefabricated and modular structure.” It was built using recyclable and environmentally friendly materials and designed to ensure easy mechanical assembly once on site.

Gaps and openings between the handle-less, white oak shelves are functional and decorative, holding plants, books, and office supplies. Small touches, such as the matching color of the chair and the lower shelves, help accent the clean white surfaces.

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.

There are no paints, lacquers, or polyurethane finishes used anywhere in the house. Indoors and out, the materials were kept simple: The exterior walls and roof are oiled ipe, selected for its hardness and weather resistance.

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.

The screen around the lanai is made from extrene, a material used by the military for radio towers. The welded-steel sculpture, set atop a pile of a’a rocks, was made by Craig.

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.

Outside on the deck, one-year-old Mary and three-year-old Finbar enjoy a snack at the kid-size table and chairs Michael designed and made for them.

After an unprecedented year of earthquakes, hurricanes, and fires, a bright light has been shed on the benefits of building with concrete.

The Outward Bound cabins, designed by the University of Colorado Denver's design-build program, have steel frames that lift the structures above a three-foot snowpack while supporting corrugated-steel "snow roofs."

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.

“It was a natural choice,” says Adrian of using reclaimed and rescued wood. “I didn’t want to chop down a whole lot of trees.” The walls and ceiling are lined with planks of butternut harvested from diseased trees in Vermont.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.

Ready Made Curtain hanging system by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, produced by Kvadrat A/S.

Because the house is narrow and long (16 by 68 feet), the design team decided to create a huge open-air space to light the interior naturally. Two retractable motor-driven canvas canopies shelter the space during Singapore’s frequent rains.

For Afghan Made, Wallpaper paired modern rug companies with manufacturers from Afghanistan as a way to jumpstart the industry.

Made in the Future New manufacturing ecologies and the increased ability to make goods ourselves could lead to exceptional customization and new ideas, according to an new IDEO report.

Designed for MatterMade, the ADA Quilt is an expression of Oklahoma-raised designer Meg Callahan’s love of traditional craft, updated for the modern era. Bold graphic patterning is digitally printed on an organic cotton base with machine stitch overlay. The result is a seamless blend of the digital and handmade to create a fresh take on an age-old textile.