Istanbul (Atelier d'Architecture and Superpool) On flights into the Turkish capital, one of Europe's fastest growing cities, the rate of expansion becomes stark, and not only because you may catch a glance of the massive, centrally planned TOKI housing complexes out the window. According to Superpool member Gregers Thomsen, in-flights magazines are filled with ads selling the upwardly mobile lifestyle these middle-class starter homes promise. To fill in the gaps in community and infrastructre found among these drab structures, the Istanbul team proposed KOTI, an alternative housing alliance that seeks to spark entrepreneurship within the sharing economy while making the areas more livable. "It’s not just about green space, it’s about resilience and self-organization," says Doina Petrescu of Atelier d'Architecture. "We wanted to add layers to the existing TOKI developments." Social gardens, coworking spaces, and green spaces would blossom amidst the high concrete towers, supplementing an already popular system with more livable features. "We want people take action and be part of their surroundings," says Thomsen. "We’ve become a little fragile with everything coming to us. We can’t even grow a tomato ourselves or make simple repairs."

A view of the kitchen's back wall shows the bright marriage of the yellow Fireclay tile backsplash with incoming light from the adjacent sliding door and the row of windows just above the hanging Boca Raton blue cabinets. Basked in light, the new kitchen displays an organized and cheerful aesthetic.

The 1940s-era building was scheduled for demolition before the Sands purchased it in the early aughts and transformed it into their workshop, offices, and home. The space was nearly in ruins when the couple bought it and they used recycled or salvaged materials wherever possible in the renovation and even fabricated the metal work in the first-floor shop.

Entrance to the Post Family workspace, the design collective's home on Hubbard street in the West Town neighborhood.

The Post Family has engaged in a variety of design and printing projects, and will be curating a series of events at the Comfort Station space in Logan Square this March.

The Post Family is a seven-member design collective that built its own gallery, letterpress, and screenprinting studio.

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

Custom lamppost and railing design.

Chilewich's early experience experimenting with materials can still be seen in the woven vinyl placemats and floor coverings—like the tufted Shag Dot Doormats—she has created over the past decade. More recently, she has expanded her line to include cell-phone cases, bags, and other products.

Tracy Beckmann and Ryan Trowbridge spent four years shopping for furnishings, fixtures, and lighting to outfit the guest rooms, sourcing steel hardware in Hong Kong, vintage lighting in Italy and France, and many mid-century pieces in their backyard, aka Palm Springs’s renowned vintage shops.

Finds included Bertoia barstools, a J. Wade Beam coffee table, and a chrome Thonet-inspired chair in Unit One and a Warren Platner coffee table and chair in Unit Four.

Each of the four units has a private patio.

The open observatory.

At night, Goldfarb and Landers have often held philanthropic events in the central courtyard. The pool and jacuzzi are not original.

Resident Misha Bukowski plays with young Zachary in the walkway between the renovated buildings. The new units are clad in stained local cedar.

To maximize guests’ experience of Lautner’s legendary approach to daylight, Beckmann and Trowbridge forewent blinds or curtains on the windows and glazed walls, offering guests sleeping masks instead.

The eat-in kitchen features poured-in-place concrete countertops and redwood wall paneling.

Outdoor Seating Area

Lastly, a rooftop deck flanks an open-air studio. Designed to mimic the post-and-beam style, the unique workshop features accordion doors on one side and a custom-built, bi-fold garage door along another.

“Your first impression is that the house is very closed,” says David Barragán of the building he designed with Jose María Sáez in Quito, Ecuador. Stacked concrete forms, developed by Barragán and Sáez and used as planters along the front facade, offer privacy and integrate the building with the site.

Nouvel Approach When the Nouvel staircase proved too costly to copy, DeSalvo designed an affordable version. The treads are perforated bent steel plates that appear to float on a support tube, while the railings are made from tension cables and galvanized handrails and posts. It offers a similar level of architectural impact and sense of transparency at relatively low cost (both stairways, plus a matching catwalk, came in at $6,000).

In the Dolomite mountains, an angular copper-clad apartment building echoes the topography of its site. Photos by Hertha Hurnaus

The sleeping cubbies lie beneath the walkway connecting front and back units. Cedar decking and soffit add warmth and texture to the transitional space.

Jason Schwartzman (left) as “M. Jean,” Jude Law (center) as “Young Author” and Director Wes Anderson (right). The film’s depiction of the hotel’s ‘60s low point showcased a blockish, brutish, Soviet-era style -- an interior that was “Eastern Bloc-ified,” according to Stockhausen. The film was co-produced with Studio Babelsberg, in nearby Potsdam, and Stockhausen utilized their prop warehouse to source authentic period colors and designs.

The Cliff House at Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California The most epic getaway on this list, Post Ranch Inn’s Cliff House (designed by famed local architect Mickey Muennig) overlooks the Pacific and offers 960-square-feet of glass and wood surroundings. The room comes together with purposeful angles, mirroring the ocean-side cliffs below.

Master suite terrace.

Master suite terrace.

The entire Alexander Girard for Paperless Post collection, featuring 20 distinct Girard patterns, is available now.

Paperless Post has repurposed Girard's best-known patterns to fit different occasions. Originally designed in 1960 as branding for a restaurant, the La Fonda del Sol sun is particularly effective at enlivening summer party invitations.

The customizable greeting cards were inspired in part by Girard's personal fondness for letter-writing. Aleishall Girard Maxon, Girard's granddaughter and Co-Creative Director of Girard Studio, says, “As an avid traveler and someone who had a fascination in drawing connections between cultures across multiple continents, he would have embraced digital communication for its ability to bridge the gaps of time and space.”

The collection also includes holiday cards, such as this one bearing Girard's 1966 Merry Christmas Heart design.

Paperless Post and Girard Studio have teamed up to create Alexander Girard for Paperless Post, a collection of print and digital greeting cards featuring many of the midcentury designer's most iconic patterns and motifs. The instantly recognizable symbols communicate great sentiment with little or no text, making them a natural fit for the medium.

The Memphis design retrospective exhibition at Corso Magenta.