During Dutch Design Week 2015, the Hands Off exhibition was shown in the Veemgebouw building. It included designer Eric Klarenbeek’s experiments with mycelium.

“We wanted the wood to appear as natural as possible, so leaving the larch untreated was the first choice,” Bas explained. But the shape of the house would make the wood turn gray unevenly, so they blackened the larch. “The clients were excited with the dark color as it helps the house blend into the trees. They didn’t want the anything excessive or showy.” But blackened timber comes with its own challenges. Since it absorbs more heat, a larger air cavity was built behind the wood to keep it cool.

Sofia Design Week 2013 featured a professional forum with prominent international speakers, as well as a one-day 'Balkan Talks' agenda. This year's speakers included names like Konstantin Grcic, Matali Crasset, Michael Marriott, Mark Chalmers, Erik Kessels, Ji Lee, Marti Guixe, Stefan Sagmeister, Genevieve Gauckler, David Carlson, Peter Bilak, and Tomek Rygalik. Between June 12 to 30 there was also an extensive line up of events throughout the city in the form of exhibitions, workshops, screenings, parties, book openings, and interactive events for children. Photo courtesy of Sofia Design Week.

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.

The scraps originate from European cars, and over 200,000 workers in the neighborhood recycle them into vehicles that suit African roads.

Melle Smets and Joost van Onna worked with the local craftspeople to craft a special car, the SMATI Turtle 1, that was featured as part of Design Indaba Expo’s "Africa is Now" exhibition.

Dutch designers Melle Smets and Joost van Onna undertook a project with craftspeople in the Ghanaian neighbourhood of Suami Magazine, where discarded car parts are transformed into new vehicles.

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

While Brooklyn brownstones conjure up memories of their turn-of-the-century roots, they also remain the modern-day face of New York’s coolest boroughs. With brownstone living, however, comes responsibility—many of these classic beauties are in need of renovation and restoration. Here are 10 standout, renovated brownstones that retain their original charm with added contemporary cool.

The Urban Stories exhibition at Palazzo Litta included work by Daniel Libeskind, Alvin Huang, and Venini, in addition to Italian-Danish duo GamFratesi's pieces for Gubi.

Terrazzo Project by Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard and Philippe-Albert Lefebvre arranged the pair's innovative TP panels into a house of cards formation. The panels are made of resin cement and stone aggregates cast onto corrugated aluminium sheets, which make them 50% lighter than traditional slabs (as well as stain proof, UV stable and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use).

A Dutch door is camouflaged in the home's board and batten siding. The Master Bedroom's private garden court gains privacy with the use of etched glass panels.

"Swing with Plants" designed by Marcel Wanders for the Dutch design house Droog.

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.

Dutch design studio Droog adapted pieces from objects in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum to create a studio space in central Milan with wallpaper designed by Irma Boom.

The Dutch's view from outside.

"The Balkan Date examined challenging themes such as East meets West, communism meets capitalism, and the desire for material things versus the aspirations for spirituality. In this controversial and dynamic context, a new breed of artists has emerged. They harbor a particular kind of sensitivity and form parts of the puzzle to our cultural identity through design. What's more, they successfully counteract the global tendency towards unified cultural products." – Sofia Design Week curators/organizers Typography by Croatian Designers in the 'In A Nutshell' exhibition at SAMCA during Sofia Design Week. Photo by Abigail Doan.

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.

Reinforced Wood Wool Cement Board by Dutch Design Initiative.

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.

Speaking of Nathalie du Pasquier, the Memphis group was well-represented by a special retrospective furniture exhibition at Fondazione Stelline; elsewhere, du Pasquier was the subject of an installation by Disegno magazine.

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.

Using prefabricated elements, Bas van Bolderen Architectuur and Studio Puisto Architects were able to complete the dwelling in just eight months so the couple’s lives could return to normal. Wall elements were constructed in Germany, then transported to the Netherlands, where the house was erected in just one week.

The entrance to Lifestylebazaar beckons visitors from Design Week London.

The staircase divides the house in two, separating the kitchen from the other living spaces. A large skylight lets in ample illumination.

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.

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.

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.

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, author Chris Brown and his dog Katsu head to the river; the path was once a dumping ground on top of a long-defunct underground oil pipeline. The green roof was conceptualized by John Hart Asher of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

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