Tom Givone's current weekend abode, nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, is—so far—his capstone project, a synthesis of personal taste, material experimentation, and historically sensitive restoration: a living laboratory for how to bring the vernacular past into the present.

New York Pavilion 1964 World's Fair The structure, designed by Philip Johnson, is now a rusted relic.

New York Pavilion 1964 World's Fair The massive ring of steel and reinforced concrete piers, dubbed the “Tent of Tomorrow,” once held a cable suspension roof and was clad in a terrazzo floor featuring a Texaco highway map of the state. It was a platform for New York, and homegrown companies like Kodak and CorningWare, to show off to the world, and as critic Louise Huxtable said, “a sophisticated frivolity…seriously and beautifully constructed … a ‘carnival’ with class.”

1964 World's Fair It’s often said that in the borough of Queens, one of the most culturally diverse places on Earth, everyday is a world’s fair. The idiom rang true in 1964 during the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, an optimistic celebration perched at a moment between space age giddiness and late-’60s turbulence (as this pitch-perfect period footage demonstrates).

New York Pavilion 1964 World's Fair Silva has made great strides in both broadcasting the building’s story and building momentum and support for restoration. He just finished a successful Kickstarter to fund editing of his documentary, “Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion,” for release this fall, and his organization, People for the Pavilion, which he co-founded with Salmaan Khan and Christian Doran, has garnered support from people such as New York Landmarks Conservancy Director of Development Scott Leurquin and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, and helped expand the conversation about restoration.

A tiny outbuilding offers a cozy living space inside a simple shell.

As the facade of a Bates Masi-designed home in Water Mill, New York, rises from eight to 14 feet high, the mahogany planks subtly widen. “It was quite a demand to make of the contractor,” architect Paul Masi says. “But the design was so much about traveling through the site and weaving [the house] together with the deck.”

Tanya Wexler and Amy Zimmerman linger in the breezeway designed to draw eyes, and footsteps, from the driveway through the house to the gently sloping backyard and swimming pool beyond.

A 17-foot-tall freestanding play structure that designer Sharon Davis designed for her family in upstate New York can only be entered by climbing taut netting and entering through a trap door. Descending requires sliding down two structural-columns-turned-fire-poles.

In the kitchen, the cabinetry is walnut veneer with a weathered finish applied by cabinetmaker David Rogers. “The process involved sanding and rubbing in stain as well as adding a clear finish,” project architect Eero Puurunen says.

The wood-frame residence and studio are clad in vertical cedar siding—back then, a daring competitor to clapboard—instead of concrete to save costs. The effect is equally seamless, however: “If you drive by it fast enough,” Charles Gwathmey once said, “you still might mistake it for a concrete house.” Photo by Norman McGrath.

Celebrating the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the 1939 and 1964 World Fairs, the New York Transit Museum will share postcards, photos, ephemera, and souvenirs that show how transportation was a symbol for modern American life and technology.

Nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, this 200-year-old home inspired one former copywriter to delve into architecture as a living. Inside, renovator and owner Tom Givone mixes vintage and industrial decor. Photo by Mark Mahaney.

The great room in the 2,800-square-foot house that architect Drew Lang designed for his family in the Hudson Woods development north of New York City features generous amounts of white oak, which he says is his favorite material.

The Langs use an outbuilding as a rec room of sorts. "We call that the Grace Studio," Lang says. "It's designed so a car can pull in there, but we use it as more of a rec room and work space."

A yellow Pedestal filing cabinet by USM is tucked under a built-in desk in the guest bedroom. The leather-back chair was designed by Michael Robbins, a furniture designer based in New York's Hudson Valley.

The master bathroom features a cedar screen and quartzite tiles by Walker Zanger.

White oak makes a return appearance on the ceiling in the master bedroom.

The home is embedded in a hillside with five feet of soil above it. In addition to blending the structure into the landscape, the surrounding earth provides natural insulation.

Davis worked with contractor Ted Timmer to construct the playhouse on her family’s 30-acre property.

Finnish Pavilion, 1939 World's Fair, designed by Alvar Aalto. Gelatin silver print. Carnegie Museum of Art, Purchase: gift of the Drue Heinz Trust. Image courtesy of Carnegie Museum of Art, copyright Ezra Stoller/Esto, Yossi Milo Gallery.

Sliding doors partition a cozy screening room, where the resident can enjoy films and television in the comfort of custom designed furniture.

SPAN Architecture recast this two-level space in New York City—previously a photography studio—as a loft-like residence that is rich in materials. A blackened steel staircase, executed by general contractor Richard Kaleta, leads to the private quarters on the duplex's second floor. The walkway is composed of custom etched glass, stretched across an open atrium to below.

An onyx "hearth" and a French limestone banquet form the perimeter of the warm living room. The carpet is from Tai Ping.

The polycarbonate interior is bounded by an exterior band of reclaimed white-cedar siding, open to the sky.

John Milich fabricated the slide in the freestanding treehouse.

World's Fair, New York State Pavilion by architect Philip Johnson, 1964.

Student's Pavilion Plan Silva began researching, gradually building a community around those with experience and knowledge of the Pavilion. He spoke to a couple in Cleveland that managed a roller rink that once was located on-site, the members of the New York State Pavilion Paint Project, working to restore the structure, and found out about the 1969 concert series, when bands such as The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Santana played under the Tent of Tomorrow. He even made the Pavilion part of his teaching curriculum—the middle school educator has his eighth graders design alternative uses for the pavilion in 2012.

It’s fitting that a man often called one of Finland’s greatest architects would cap his most successful decade of work with a structure that celebrated his country’s contributions to the world. Within the compact, four-story structure, photos of landscapes, people and products looked out over curvaceous, wood-slatted walls, a flowchart of Finnish industry capped off by airplane propellers spinning like fans from the ceiling.

Like a Murphy bed, the dining table tucks into the wall when not in use.

Envisioned by a partnership of STV, AECOM, and Santiago Calatrava, the winged World Trade Center Transportation Hub will connect subway and PATH trains in the humming Financial District.

Adrian Jones and Allison Silverman sit at their reclaimed wood dining table. Eco-mindedness is a matter-of-fact part of everyday life for the couple and the designer, Garrick Jones. “Sustainability comes from flexibility and planning for the long term,” Garrick says. “This is not a glammed-up loft.”

The house's L shape permits a considerable courtyard, and plenty of space for lounging behind the rain screen. The stairs sit at the intersection of the two volumes and lead down into the more social of the two: the dining room, living room, and music room.

Seagram Building, New York, New York (1958)With this sleek, black, glass structure of bronze, Travertine and pink granite, separated from the city streets by an expansive plaza, Mies van der Rohe created the reigning model for modernist skyscrapers in the mid-20th century.

Wrapped in Anne Sacks tile, the master bathroom is outfitted with fixtures by Kohler.

Envisioned as "an apartment within an apartment," the master suite is secluded from the rest of the home, accessible via the steel-and-glass catwalk. The owner's sanctuary features a built-in bed and credenza by City.