Of the Caesarstone counter, which extends to a built-in steel dining table with a detachable leaf, he says, “The total length is just over 16 feet, which gives it a really beautiful, sleek proportion.” Chairs are from IKEA.

Architect Brian Zulaikha.

To allude to the nearby ocean, the architects designed a seaweed patterned for the interior of the garage door (seen here raised). It successfully reads like a leather padded wall and makes “the cube” feel that much more customized.

Oman and his partner Andrej Gregoric had the cupboards, stairs, and bed all custom-made. The interior casework provides storage and adds warmth to the concrete walls.

In the living area of Daniel Rozensztroch’s Paris apartment, an Eames La Chaise and a butterfly chair complement a Moroccan Berber rug.

The home's exposed concrete skeleton, wrapped in oak, creates a warm, layered space for living. Oman split the floors by function, with common areas on the ground level, followed by the kids' rooms and then a third-floor suite for the parents.

See La Carmina's house tour in full at www.lacarmina.com/blo...

The facade of a house in Belgium consists of "knitted bricks." “In this part of Belgium, 90 percent of the houses are built with brick,” says architect Tom Verschueren. “It’s a classic material that we tried to use in House BVA in a totally different way.”

"La vouivre" is a wood hut enclosed by a magical, anaconda-sized green snake concieved and built by Zebra3.

Sleek Architect’s Home (Sydney, Australia) Providing a modern update to the predominantly Victorian style of surrounding suburban homes in Paddington, this urban home is bathed in natural light during the day and offers the respite of a Japanese garden on property.Listing at Architect's Own Central Sydney Home

One-Family Custom Housing: Olson Kundig Architects created this home in Washington's remote Methow Valley as four structures oriented around a central courtyard, each positioned to best enjoy the surrounding vistas in all four seasons.

Architect Tom Kundig’s assignment was simple enough: Build a tiny, Thoreau-like getaway for an Atlanta-based writer who owned ten acres on San Juan Island in Puget Sound. "The idea was not to clutter anybody’s thinking, especially a writer’s," he said. So he designed a 500-square-foot retreat that’s both womblike and open to its surroundings.

A custom table surrounded by NET’s Museo chairs and poplar stools provides a space for the Sarmiento Tovo boys, Manuel, 5, and Julián, 3, to play with the toys their mother makes.

With 5,000 square feet on the ground floor, the structure boasts two capacious exhibition spaces, which the couple use to show their own work, as well as rent out to others for private events.

The cantilevered sleeping loft posed a structural challenge. "The structure is simple, however we explored a number of options for supporting the cantilevered loft," Eerkes says. "But after comparing costs for large trusses versus a big glulam beam—including labor costs for construction of each—the simplicity of a two-foot glulam beam won out. The steel rod cross bracing provided lateral stability in the longitudinal direction."

Houldin, 10, curls up in the playroom nook which is directly under a side skylight that Pulltab added in order to make the interior rooms inhabitable, as per New York City building code. The custom millwork around the window seat is painted in Rainy Day by Fine Paints of Europe.

Anna Hoover, founder of the non-profit First Light Alaska, sought a "thought refuge, a room with a view to sit and contemplate future projects and reflect on recent travels and interactions, plenty of ‘headspace’—tall ceilings—and the ability to host other artists for studio time," she says. A longtime resident of the Pacific Northwest, Hoover was familiar with the work of Olson Kundig and contacted the Seattle-based firm to design her abode.

The simple yet spacious master bedroom opens up to a private terrace.

The stairs are partically hidden behind a slatted ash screen that supports steel bookshelves.

The original house was a single-story structure, not robust enough to carry a second floor. Fritz’s solution was to build an upper level that functions like a bridge, spanning the original structure without compromising it.

Both the front door and garage are accessible from street level. The floor is cantilevered out over a concrete pile foundation and garden far below.

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

Fritz explains, “The primary inspiration was Dutch International Style design. The clients have roots in Holland and it started out looking more De Stijl than it does now, but ultimately, they wanted something that drew as much from their present in Hawaii as their past in Europe.”

Sréphane Thidet conceived of "La belle étoile," a yellow, star-shaped shelter made of stainless steel and wood.

Erika: LA Liber Anicorum L.A. street art has had a couple of boosts of late: This week the city council voted to lift a decade-old ban on outdoor murals, and last month the Getty Research Institute created LA Liber Amicorum, a book that binds together 143 works on paper from more than 150 of Los Angeles's leading street artists. From the Getty: “The title and the spirit of the book were inspired by a 400-year-old manuscript in the Getty Research Institute's collections, a liber amicorum ("book of friends"), which was originally bound with blank leaves that multiple contributors then filled with illuminated coats of arms, watercolors, poetry, and calligraphy as mementos for the owner.” To view a gallery of all the images in LA Liber Amicorum, visit the Getty Conservation Institute page.

Architect’s private residence, Accra. Architect: Lokko Associates, 2005-06.