Ideas for Life: Exceptional Architecture Leads the Way

Here is the best idea for life: Choose to be extraordinary.

In an urban apartment, a warren of ceramic brick walls and vinyl flooring is replaced with a sunny open plan.

Hendrik Van Keppel and Taylor Green’s industrial furnishings—used for many of the Case Study Houses—set an enduring standard for modern furniture fit for interiors and exteriors.

The Pritzker Prize–winning Chilean architect reflects on innovation, social responsibility, and the limits of control.

Giant shutters open and close a rural Pennsylvania residence, tempering light and heat.

In fits and bursts, the evolution of the smart home continues.

At one of the last American glass factories of its kind, everything is made in-house—from the tools to the electricity.

With a monochromatic makeover, a pair of designers revive a common Brooklyn brownstone apartment.

A laser-cut metal pergola anchors a tranquil garden near Los Angeles.

Using his Miami Beach home as a laboratory, professor and designer Nick Gelpi tests a material that recasts concrete’s tough image.

Nature informs every aspect of a Northern California residence.

A new home replenishes Quebec’s vanishing stock of farmhouses.

A photographic celebration of a small U.S. city and its design legacy.

A rookie designer, a veteran builder, and an artist eschew the traditional and join forces to create a singular residence in northern New Mexico.

When two equestrians resettle, a sagging water tower is part of the bargain.

In Santa Monica, a couple go all in on a prefab home that’s flexible and accessible and unabashedly part of their neighborhood.

A derelict New Delhi residence gets a second chance at life—becoming a unique place where children will learn, create, and grow.