Easy on the Eye

The charred cedar exterior gently basks in the Alaskan sun.

The Birch Pavilion sits atop a 14-by-26-foot platform composed of hemlock and pressure-treated timbers. Photo courtesy of Moskow Linn Architects.

Outside, the couple clad the house with a rain screen of 1.5-by-1.5-inch strips of spruce to create a “modern rustic barn.” The extra-deep sills of the first-floor window become a bench on the outside and a shelf on the inside.

A polychrome facade made of salvaged, 100-year-old barnwood gives this small, lofted cottage space its unique character. Its copper roof is also reclaimed, a lucky Craigslist find from a local remodel. Though the structure has a footprint of just 11' x 14', it provides a useful space to entertain, catch up on work, or relax.

This tree house in Sweden with a mirrored exterior by Tham and Videgård Arkitekter is just large enough to host two people.

Singing Concrete Tvisongur by Lukas Kuhne

Architect Bruno Despierre built a deck for outdoor activities from pine wood.

Rolling Huts by Olson Kundig There are a lot reasons to follow Olson Kundig on Instagram. One of them is their seminal Rolling Huts project.

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!

A shed provides storage for the owners’ tools as well as wood for the fireplace. It features the same aged pine finish as the main home.

Designed by Taliesin student Dave Frazee, the Miner's Shelter in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a 45-square-foot dwelling that responds to its harsh desert environment with a special metal cover that keeps it shaded at all times. Copyright Nathan Rist.

This one-man sauna in Germany is created by three architects at modulorbeat, Marc Günnewig, Jan Kampshoff, and Sebastian Gatz. They were inspired by the nature of the former factory site, which reflects the changing state of manufacturing in the region. “When we arrived, looking for a location, [we thought] it was so beautiful how the nature came back to the industrial site,” says Kampshoff. “We transformed it into a space with an urban quality.”

Radamés “Juni” Figueroa lived in his art project tree house, made from found materials, for two fortnights, as part of his artist residency at La Practica at Beta-Local. "The Practice" is an interdisciplinary program of research and production focusing on art, architecture, and design, with an emphasis on collaboration.

Beaverton, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, 2008