A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

Suzanne and Brooks Kelley at the back of their 1,100-square-foot guest cottage.

The owners toured this home, which surrounds a mature tipu tipu tree, while visiting relatives for the day. The brick is original to the 1947 construction.

Sliding doors by Quantum were made to look like the original panes that couldn't be saved, and they lead to a fire pit outside.

“A building can have far greater impact than the space it stands in.”—William Carpenter, architect and resident

New zoning allowed for a zero-lot-line structure, but required a public storefront, which Carpenter uses as an art gallery.

At night, the entire studio glows like a lantern, its light amplified by the reflection in the seasonal pond. I

The reflecting pool is surrounded by foliage and breathtaking views of the bay.

See Arch restored the exterior fireplace wall and painted it a deep blue hue to match the repainted blue timber cladding.

It took Susanna several layers of sanding—and then finally tossing her water-based paint and selecting the proper oil-based formula—to get the floor as white as she'd envisioned. But she couldn't be happier with the result. “The apartment looks bigger when there are white surfaces for the light to bounce on,” she says.

The pitched facade has a sculptural play of spruce siding and triple-glazed windows that reflect the surrounding treetops.

The bath’s Kohler Purist fixtures and Frederick Weinberg animal figures sit on a Corian countertop

The Airstream Haus’s interior is minimalist, but comfortable, boasting a fully functional kitchen and queen-size bed that doubles as a couch.

The Kelleys furnished the cottage with help from Suzanne’s daughter Betsy Burbank of Betsy Burbank Interiors. Classic modernist icons, such as a Saarinen Womb chair for Knoll, a Herman Miller Eames lounge chair, and an Eileen Grey E1027 side table look at home alongside present-day pieces such as an Encore sofa (which handily folds down into a sleeping surface) from Room & Board and a Doka rug designed and produced by Stephanie Odegard. The Wohlert pendant lights from Louis Poulsen were designed by Vilhelm Wohlert in 1959, but grouped as such, they appear distinctly contemporary.

The Airstream Haus, parked in Ojai, California. August says that when your dwelling is small, it’s important to make the most of outdoor space.

“I really believe buildings are part of a city as an organism.”—William Carpenter, architect and resident

The Artichoke Pendant Light was designed in 1958 by Poul Henningsen for the Langelinie Pavillonen restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it still hangs. Considered an iconic design of modern lighting, the Artichoke pendant is a sculptural fixture that features 72 precisely positioned leaves in 12 rows. The pendant is 15% off until October 31, 2015.

Black and white kitchen tiles add visual interest to this stunning modern kitchen by IKEA.

Neutra's Kaufmann home was initially designed for living just two months out of the year. Yet after the original owner passed, future tenants attempted to retrofit the space for year-long use. An air conditioning unit was placed atop the roof, and square footage was added, enclosing this courtyard. To return it to its original state, the current owner underwent a five-year restoration and reopened this courtyard to honor the original design. Photo: Tim Street-Porter

Tom Dixon’s Copper Shade pendant lamps reflect his background in metalwork.

The first step was to tear out the existing wall-to-wall carpeting and replace it with cabin-grade, oak flooring to give the house a classic feel and to help anchor the more modern walls and trim. They ordered the flooring from a large company and despite it being the cheapest option offered, the total expense came to $2,300 for materials, making the wood floors—according to Anderson—their biggest splurge.

The apartment is accessed via an old freight elevator. The cabinetry around the elevator entrance—including a massive bookshelf and storage space—is black, contrasting with the white brick walls and the white oak joinery.

Pleased with the pop-up they designed last summer, Frame approached i29 again this fall to construct a more long-term installation: a shop meant to evoke a 3-D walk through of an issue of their magazine.

Dump Truck by Green Toys, $20.

Fashion-tech designer Anouk Wipprecht’s white Spider Dress 2.0 was developed with Philip Wilck along the lines of a previous dress she made inspired by arachnids. The 3D-printed robotic garment with eight jointed arms (activated by sensors and Intel Edison chips with artificial bio-signal intelligence) protects the wearer. Depending on the wearer's mood—agitated or pleased—the arms of the dress spring upward to ward off intrusions.

Part of the PIXEL series, the Ripple 2.0 Coffee Table, shown in walnut with powder coated steel pulls, takes the same inspiration of the movement created by a ripple of water and brings it to a different, slightly darker, place by using a different kind of wood and pixelating the motif further.

What was once a dull asphalt driveway with sporadic, overgrown foliage was morphed into a large, welcoming social area in the front entryway. A reflecting pool was carved out of the earth. Extensive landscaping makes the area more appealing to visitors. The corrugated metal used on the facade—a nod to the owner’s original desire to use repurposed shipping containers—was painted electric green underneath the cantilevered front porch roof, and blue for the side fencing that surrounds an outdoor dining area, to keep the color palette upbeat and fun.

The Clark Art Institute's tiered reflecting pools were conceived by Tadao Ando and developed by Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture. Image courtesy of the Clark Art Institute.

The reflecting pool off the main Plenary room dome.

Here's a view of the reflecting pool from inside the house.

Upstairs, the clutter-free bedrooms of Segal’s teenagers reflect their father’s less-is-more ethos.

The floor tile is from Virginia Tile, while the wall tile is from Daltile.