“It has a surreal element,” says Wooten of the house, nicknamed the Skull. In the snow, the building blends into the landscape. Its tallest form holds a periscope. Inside, Guido Gambone ceramics brighten the living area.

As Wright’s first L.A. project, the iconic Hollyhock House was built between 1919 and 1921 and was filled with challenges from beginning to end. Enter Aline Barnsdall, the wealthy oil heiress and arts patron who held the dream of having a live-in venue to produce her own avant-garde plays. Wright wanted to create a design that would be defined by the region and that took advantage of Southern California's temperate climate. To do this, each interior space is echoed with an exterior space in the form of pergolas, porches, outdoor sleeping quarters, glass doors, and rooftop terraces that look out to the Hollywood Hills and the Los Angeles Basin.

Architect Bill Yudchitz asked his son, Daniel, to help him create a self-sustaining multi-level family cabin in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

Kelsey: AnOther Kind of Selfie While the awkwardly angled, lips-pursed cell phone "selfie" may be a strictly 21st century iteration of the self-portrait genre, it's worth noting that even famous people—and professional photographers—have engaged in the practice from time to time. AnOther magazine has rounded up a few such gems, from a Roloflex family snapshot by Jackie Kennedy with her husband and sister-in-law to Cecil Beaton's selfie with Mick Jagger, on set in 1968.

Self-Made Seat for Campeggi, starting at $259 per cushion

The plush poufs of this sofa system can be freely stacked and arranged. Each cushion can also be carried like a suitcase by its bold, bright orange strap.

A Friedlander self-portrait taken in New York City in 1968 from In the Picture: Self Portraits 1958-2011 (Yale University Press), 2011. In the afterword to the book, photographer Richard Benson writes: "I once asked him why he became so dedicated to making books, and he told me that when he was young he found a copy of Walker Evan’s great book American Photographs, and every time he went through it he something new. The book became the ultimate venue for Lee, not the transitory one of the gallery show, where the pictures could be seen only for a short time, but instead a visual structure that lasted and could repeatedly reacquaint us with what we thought we already knew so well." Image copyright Lee Friedlander/Fraenkel Gallery. Click on the image to see the entire page in the book.

Danielle Trofe DesignThe Live Screen is an indoor planter system that uses self-sustaining, hydroponic technology.

This self-contained garden by Global Gardens doesn't require a planter. Just dip the soil ball in water and drain to keep the herbs and succulents growing.

The Boskke cube is filled through an opening in the corner of the plant. Simply filling the water to the marked line in the cube will enable the plant to be effectively irrigated for thirty days. Once the water dips below the line, it’s time to refill the water. If there is any sediment or dirt in the cube, the cover—including the plant—easily pops off, making cleaning the planter a breeze.

Once hung, the planter can "self water" by pulling from the reservoir at bottom, and aerates the plants through the holes in the BPA-free plastic shell.

Contemporary gardening company Boskke creates products with urban spaces in mind. The Boskke Cube is an innovative, self-watering planter that only needs to be watered once a month. In addition to this practical feature, the Cube also exhibits a distinctive design— the classic pot is deconstructed and recast as a transparent planter, revealing the plant’s water, soil, and roots.

Since septic systems are impossibilities on Criehaven, the Porters chose a Sun-Mar self-contained composting toilet as the ideal alternative.

The Boskke Planters—available in a single cube and three-cube versions—are transparent, self-watering planters. Fehrenbacher says, “I am coveting these transparent planters right now! I love the design concept of transparency; in the case of these plant pots you can see the roots and thus the inner life and health of your plants. This would make a great gift for kids or adults.”

Encourage a friend or loved one to finally grow that kitchen herb garden with this planter from Bosske. With a self-watering mechanism, the planter makes it easy to care for herbs, flowers, or grasses.

The cover of Self Portrait (Haywire Press), 1970. Image copyright Lee Friedlander/Fraenkel Gallery.

The Exploratorium museum, housed within the original bulkhead at Pier 15, accommodates four spacious galleries. The glass-and-steel Bay Observatory—the only new structure on the site—unites the Embarcadero with the bay. Photo by: Bruce Damonte. Original architects: G.A. Wood, H.B. Fisher, A.W. Nordwell (1930s) Contemporary architect: EHDD (2013) Preservation architect: Page & Turnbull 2013

The Cerritos sold the house in 1969, and it eventually fell into repair with its next owners. By 2007, its current owners decided to bulldoze the home and build anew on the land. Charlie Cerrito says, "That house was a classic. It's just a shame that it ended up with that other piece of crap on it." Photo by Chris Mottalini.

An example of Rudolph's trademark sun shades on the facade. Photo by Chris Mottalini.

For his recently published book with Columbia College Chicago Press, photographer Chris Mottalini documented the demolition of three midcentury houses designed by architect Paul Rudolph. The first, which appears on the book cover, is the Micheels House (1972) in Westport, Connecticut. He writes about the image, "The damage in this photograph occurred when I was away from the house, having some lunch and waiting for the light to change. The vandalism was most likely in response to preservation efforts." Photo by Chris Mottalini.

However, nothing new has been built on the site yet. "It's as if the house never existed," writes Mottalini. Photo by Chris Mottalini. Purchase a copy of After You Left / They Took It Apart: Demolished Paul Rudolph Homes here.

Built-ins and an open stair characterize the interiors of the 1972 Micheels residence by Paul Rudolph, which was torn down in 2007. Photo by Chris Mottalini.

The 1956 Cerrito House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, was built in 1956 and demolished in 2007. Siblings Charlie and Marlene Cerrito—whose father hired Ralph Twitchell's firm, and by extension Paul Rudolph, to design the house—recall that the neighbors, who all owned Colonial mansions, hated the structure. "The house was alive," recalls Marlene Cerrito, "and we were part of the outdoors inside. Each night as I went to sleep I got to hear the sounds of the surf." Photo by Chris Mottalini.

Twitchell was said to have hosted raucous parties in the main room of the house. Mottalini writes, "The home's final owner documented the house thoroughly and preserved its building materials, including many of the wooden beams and supports, with the intention of rebuilding it at some point in the future." Photo by Chris Mottalini.

The Twitchell House in Siesta Key, Florida, was built in 1941 for Rudolph's boss, architect Ralph Twitchell. It was torn down in 2007. Photo by Chris Mottalini.

The house was located approximately fifty feet from the Gulf of Mexico, which resulted in "substantial weather- and flood-related damage" over its sixty-six year life span. Photo by Chris Mottalini.

Self Growing Lab: Diaz Paunetto Arquitectos (San Juan) The other first-place prize went to an amorphous concept by Puerto Rican firm Diaz Paunetto Arquitectos. Built of a genetically manipulated bacteria laid on a structural frame, the concept could theoretically be manipulated and even expand on its own to meet the facility's shifting needs over time.

In addition to its fleet of cube planters, Bosske designed the Sky Planter, which can be hung from a ceiling or covered porch. The interior of each planter includes a self-watering reservoir, limiting the amount of time one needs to spend watering. The hanging model also limits the amount of floor or table space that traditional planters take up, making them perfect options for small apartments.

According to the firm, the lab structure is conditioned to adapt to its environment, so it can be installed outdoors as well.

The cover of In the Picture: Self Portraits 1958-2011. Image copyright Lee Friedlander/Fraenkel Gallery.

This project sparks a conversation about the future of the relationship between urban development and the preservation of natural areas.

The former Jessie Street Substation, with its elegant neoclassical design, took on a radically new dimension in 2008 with the completion of Daniel Liebeskind’s Contemporary Jewish Museum, a lustrous blue cubic structure which transects the historic brick facade. These geometries and materials—stainless steel against traditional masonry—amplify the contrast between old and new. Photo by: Jeremy Blakeslee. Original architect: Willis Polk (1905–1909) Contemporary architect: Daniel Liebeskind (2008)

This Pleated Planter is sized to hold one plant and includes a self-watering wick to ensure that the plant does not need to be watered as frequently as typical earthenware planters. The earthy color of the planter makes it a neutral accent that will complement a dining room table, side table, or even the corner of a room.