The “mid-ground” between the three structures serves as a community hub. Dick takes advantage of the site’s shared bicycle storage and its proximity to a popular bike lane.

Street Multi Unit Street is a collection of stackable units for storage and display of magazines, books and plants in public and private spaces. The system consists of four parts, a frame and a house, high and low unit. The units can be combined in different ways, for example as a shelf or a room divider.

This unique plywood-and-slate combination makes a great choice for small bathrooms that require a corner bathroom vanity.

Architect Christi Azevedo, along with homeowners Lorena Siminovich and Esteban Kerner, transformed this 1,485-square-foot, multilevel, mid-century maze into a modern and efficient family home in just three months. “It was the craziest frickin’ thing,” laughs Azevedo. “It was like a Tetris game, putting it all together, trying to squeak out space wherever we could.” Purchased as if straight out of 1955, the home is now the ideal small space for Siminovich and Kerner to raise their young daughter, Matilda.

Orpilla pecks, Apolo pedals.

The wooden box is as functional as it is finely crafted, with room for clothes up top. Each niche holds treasures from travels, family keepsakes, books, and more.

Classic butterfly chairs from Universal Patio Furniture are stationed by the pool. The mural is by street artist Morley, a close friend.

The units don't even require foundations—simple ground screws from Krinner are enough to support them.

Lushna's dwellings are available in Europe and the U.S., though for customers in the latter, prices can vary based on shipping costs and taxes. The baseline price of Villa Massive, seen here, is approximately $9,375. The canvas-lined Villa Air's is $4,453. To see Lushna's full range of products, visit their website here!

One of the greatest design challenges, according to Franz and Paré-Mayer, was reimagining the dark, unfinished garage space in a way that would “establish [it] as primary, instead of an afterthought to the original floor above.” This was achieved by layering open, linked spaces on the ground floor and sticking to a few carefully selected materials for cohesion and fluidity. There are hardly any hallways in the home; every space serves a function. Polished concrete floors continue throughout the new living level, and a bent metal dining chair with a reclaimed Douglas fir backrest made by Scholz sits in front of an open white oak staircase.

New York (SITU Studio and Cohabitation Strategies) Glittering Manhattan high-rises and sensational headlines about real estate mega-deals obscures the other side of New York, a system of crowded housing rivaling that of the other cities in the exhibition. The New York team proposed new systems for cooperative living and adaptive housing to improve living conditions for workers. Cohabitation Strategies sought to alter perceptions of property and investment by introducing Housing Cooperative Trusts, which would build value while taking real estate away from developers. "We think housing can be a site of social production and reproduction," says Gabriela Rendon, whose team propose an affordable housing cooperative situated around a land trust, creating incentives that support tenants long-term instead of awarding developers for short-term affordable solutions. "There's been a massive loss of affordable housing, and architecture can't fix it alone." SITU looked at how to better utilize housing stock and steer development towards more sustainable construction. Community Growth Corporations (pictured above) offer an alternative that isn't just about accomodating density, but taking these less-valuable neighborhoods and realigning the housing stock with those living there. The system of utilizing air rights and splitting up and reorganizing one- or two-bedroom family homes into multi-unit residences would better reflect the community and allow for DIY improvements. "It's not 60 stories or nothing, it's ways that better reflect the neighborhood," says SITU's Bradley Samuels. "We want to take the capital created with these developments and turn it over to the neighborhoods."

London based photographer, Ed Reeve used dark cedar to achieve his lifelong goal: to build his own house on a perfect plot of land located in De Beauvoir Town. Photos by: Ed Reeve

Bring In the Trash With an eye for the industrial, Winterhalder built the garbage area in the kitchen around two standard-issue plastic trash cans common in German cities. One is orange; the other, green. These in turn inspired her to start adding color accents around the house.

“Materials were a major consideration in this house,” says Massie, who created a curtain wall with steel supports adorned with sandwiched layers of birch plywood and amber acrylic. “When light enters that wall, the layers of acrylic allow it to come through and glow—it’s really quite beautiful,” says Massie, who added the same acrylic for the thin window at the end. “That plays off the yellows in the Gambone ceramics and the Eames storage unit,” notes Wooten.

A unit facing Natoma Street looks on to what was once housing for the area's factory workers.

Movable and space-saving design elements define this creative family home in the Mission District. The kitchen was given an economical revamp by adding new drawer and door fronts to the existing cabinet boxes. Countertops were replaced with custom fabricated white oak butcher block surfaces, and a complementary white oak kitchen island was installed. A Wolf range, Vent-a-Hood hood, Franke stainless steel sink, and Bosch dishwasher complete the space.

The Element House by MOS Architects stands on pylons, creating the illusion of it hovering over the desert floor. Nine thermal chimneys, one of which can be seen right, channel hot air out from the interior living areas.

Bishop is an avid record collector—Rolling Stones albums are a sought-after favorite—and he keeps his vinyl in the shelving unit ”1.1,” a reproduction of Arbel’s first completed work. The kids can often be found playing video games at the desk in the great room.

Movable and space-saving design elements define this creative family home in San Francisco’s Mission District. A midcentury home was transformed, and through the renovation, the molding at the fireplace was taken down, as was the cast plaster mantle. The sleek, new, metal fireplace design features a white oak custom bench made by Zack, accented by a vintage carnation milk crate from his mother’s childhood.

With a small budget, an open mind, and perhaps a little help from your friends, there’s nothing stopping you from building your own tiny home.

Milan Hughston's apartment is at the rear of a historic multi-unit building

The couple made the house feel even more spacious by flooding a series of levels with natural light.

A small airspace separates the building's aluminum skin from the wall underneath. The aluminum acts like a heat sink during the day: it absorbs heat but remains thermally separated (by the narrow gap) from the Element House walls.

Sunlight permeates the interior thanks to skylights within the thermal chimneys. A single common area, comprising a kitchen, dining, and living area, links all the three bedrooms.

Another view of the kitchen. What looks like drawers are not all drawers—some are false cabinet fronts that conceal appliances.

Another view of the library and media room. Photo by Francis Dzikowski/ESTO.

What else is the porch good for? Tricycle races, of course.

The Element House stands on pylons, creating the illusion of it hovering over the desert floor. Nine thermal chimneys, one of which can be seen right, channel hot air out from the interior living areas.

Street View showing the matching Cedar Siding Mailbox and flush to face garage door.

The Element House is powered by solar panels, seen right.

In the kitchen, the continuous kitchen worktop and table are made of marble from Caledonia Marble. The pink Tamatik dining chairs are by Connie Chisholm and are from the Canadian design shop Made. The Blinding Love pendant lights are by Periphere, which has shops in Montreal and Toronto. Photo by Naomi Finlay.

Multifunctional furniture makes small spaces a little more livable. Need a place to sit, set your coffee, or house your collection of paperbacks? This modular Platone Unit is a bench, bookcase, and coffee table together as one.

The larch rainscreen covering the second floor give the house a light appearance and also provides privacy. Though it's difficult for outsiders to look in, the openings between the slats of wood let the family sneak views to the outside.

Konishi and Gaffney's bedroom is fairly austere, though a pair of dormers let in lovely natural light.

The focal point of the home’s modernized exterior is a custom, wood-and-steel entry gate designed by atelier KS and built by DeFauw Design + Fabrication, a local fabricator who also made custom closing hardware for the piece. Franz and Paré-Mayer paired angled cypress slats with an industrial metal frame to create the entryway. A few paces behind the gate, a large glass door provides direct access to the home, fulfilling the owners’ wish for an entry vestibule that would be separate from the street. The angled wood slats offer privacy from the exterior, while selectively allowing light to penetrate through.

Margarita McGrath and Scott Oliver of Noroof Architects termed the 1,650-square-foot house in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, “Pushmi-Pullyu,” in reference to the interior-exterior flow they created. Resident Jill Magid, pictured on her front steps with son Linus, is a conceptual artist; she fabricated the neon house numbers.