“5” candleholders by So by Sonja-Taking the pentagon shape as her inspiration, Sonja Björk Ragnarsdóttir masterminded a five-sided puzzle of sorts with candle holders for her own brand, So by Sonja. "It's impossible to create a straight line with them. But placed together they will always create an interesting shape," she said. Ragnarsdóttir's "5" candle holder uses neither wool, wood nor stone but rather the lesser known but equally Icelandic material of aluminum, manufactured in large quantities by the island nation. By applying autumnal colors (the designer's favorite time of year) the cold metal seems if not natural then at least as reaching out to the land from which it was born. Photo by: Tiffany Orvet

Works on so many levels.

Moreland House

The cabinet opens up like so.

“I simply was drawn to the notion of concrete. So much great modern architecture has made use of it,” Blauvelt says.

The compound was built on one of the Frio Cañon homesites along the Frio River—a ranch that’s been divided up into lots and developed with utilities. So while it’s rural, it also avoids some of the typical headaches of a remote location.

IF House - Photo 04

“Our drive to have a landscaped garden was for the kids to be able to have a space where they could adventure around the place,” says Natalie. “And part of what we enjoy is being able to sit and admire something that’s so beautiful.” They chose hardy Australian native plants to make the garden easy to maintain with minimal water.

The home features a combination of interior and exterior living spaces that afford privacy to the occupants. “There are social spaces for everyone to be together, but also spots outside the building where people can have a private coffee—and that’s so important,” says architect Line Solgaard.

An ever-so-dashing shot of Wesley Crusher.

The north façade of the Kukje Art Gallery by SO – IL. At a distance one might believe the chain is a hard-edged exterior to the building. Seoul, South Korea. Photo by Iwan Baan.

This three-bedroom villa in the commune of Noto in Sicily has a front portion that’s raised a few feet off the ground and supported by three concrete structures. It's louvered exterior skin can be closed or opened fully, so guests can enjoy views of the sea from a distance.

In a narrow residual area between the breezeway and the house's northern elevation, Cohen created a so-called "skinny space," with a changing area accessible to the outdoor shower.

The white tent by SO-IL has an impressive presence from above. Frieze New York, 2012. Photograph by Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Iwan Baan/ Frieze.

White was charmed by the original fireplace with a built-in planter—so much so that the new open floor plan is centered around it.

SO – IL made the interior of the gallery an ideal white box with open floor plan by moving facilities and the lobby to the perimeter of the building. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Molly and Jeff wanted their guests to have creature comforts, so early on they built an outdoor shower that’s illuminated by string lights at night.

“Stacey’s property abuts an artists’ colony, so she didn’t want the container to wall off her friends, so we used a bamboo hedge behind it as a way of protecting it from sun yet remaining welcoming to her neighbors.”

The east entrance of the Kukje Art Gallery by SO – IL. The removed lobby gives the netting an opportunity to show its flexibility. Seoul, South Korea. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Hot seats in the oh-so-cool Absolut Icebar Copenhagen.

Scale was an important design factor. "We wanted it to be flexible," Laurie says. "It's scaled down for a child but is also tall enough so an adult can walk in it." The height between the floor of the lower platform and its ceiling is six feet—so taller adults do still need to duck slightly, but most can make it through. "Kids are small for a very short time and then they grow up and go to college and you're left with this structure," she says. "We wanted it to have a use after they're gone." Pictured here is Laurie and Peter's daughter Emily.Photograph courtesy of Laurie Stubb.

"There are so many things Michael considered that make the space quite incredible to be in," Clint says. Case in point: the bathrooms. "They’re small spaces, so if you want to do something wacky, that’s the place," adds Lumby. The downstairs bathroom features a sink with a Crestial faucet in the windowsill. Water runs down an angled pane and into the garden.

Detour for Dwell Magazine

Restorick also built this quirky oak staircase with open shelving along one side. "I use accessories as the color in spaces," says Tyler, "so these items are an integral part of the overall design."

SO – IL transformed a typical New York loft by using scrim walls to obscure columns and provide diffused lighting throughout the work space. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Frieze Art Fair Entrance; Friday May 4th 2012

Most beachfront houses treat the ocean as part of the visual landscape with panoramic views and wraparound balconies. Tom Lloyd-Butler’s beach house by Ernest Born, however, is deeply interior, and far more interested in its tranquil inner courtyard than anything beyond. One transparent addition later, the avid surfer has a new outlook. Aidlin Darling took pains during construction to preserve the cypress trees that give the Great Highway House so much of its charm.

The bedroom pavilion is mostly hidden, thanks to a massive native California oak—part of a grove. “That’s the good thing about oaks—they keep their leaves in the winter, so you don’t have one view in the summer and another in the winter,” Suzanne says.

A “Schof” – a type of closed porch that’s common in the Alpine region of Austria, links the corridor-kitchen to the western side of the house.

Waiters raced in and out of the restaurant. The looked so efficient and official in their white uniforms.

The eggs will coagulate as they come into contact with the hot pasta so it is important to work quickly.

Dwell favorite Donna Wilson designed this oh-so-giftable wool scarf.

Plant Prefab was originally established in 2016 as an offshoot of LivingHomes, a design and development company that’s built dozens of award-winning prefabs—including actor Will Arnett's home.

Because the kitchen is so open, Erik designed it in such a way that there’s room for everything from cookbooks to wine racks. Even the Viking stove hood disappears into the counter at the touch of a button. “People ask if we spend a lot of time cleaning, but that’s just not the case. There’s a place for everything.”

The open, pull-out shelves allow for easy reaching and the gap at the bottom of the drawers makes room for the feet of someone in a wheelchair so they can be closer to the counter.

For all its hard environmental work, one of the most immediate of the Blue Sky Home’s pleasures is how it sits so snugly in its desert surroundings.