#dwellarchives

Kukkapuro and his wife built the house with the intention of living in the studio so it would be “no problem for us to bring work home.” Near his standing desk are a few forays into pressed plywood and tube-metal construction, produced after the oil crisis of 1973 forced him to abandon fiberglass and plastics.

The 1968 house’s shape—a rounded triangle topped with a sweeping concrete roofline that suggests a helmet as it rises above huge banks of windows—lends itself totally to Kukkapuro’s philosophy. “It is a structure in waiting, prone to change as the landscape around it—not yet a form, rather a possibility,” he says. “It changes in harmony with the seasons and the moods of its inhabitants.”

Arba, the architecture firm founded by Jean-Baptiste Barache and Sihem Lamine, designed a 1,786-square-foot residence for Dominique Jacquot 45 minutes outside Paris. The house is her sanctuary from city life.

To combat the site’s steep, uneven grade, Boeschenstein staggered a series of ipe decks around the two main volumes of the house. Atticus joins his brother, Bodhi, on the zigzag decks.

A bridge spans the home’s steep site for street access.

Playing off the work of artist James Turrell, as well as the front porch scheme prevalent in the South, an outside living room of the Lewin House by Dencity is half covered and half open to the leaf canopy overhead. A pair of teak armchairs are clustered around a Laguna fire table from Restoration Hardware.

“Peter and I’ve got shockingly similar and far-reaching design inspirations. Our conversations would move easily from brutalism to driftwood to kachinas and then flow right back to something applicable to architecture. I can’t tell you how many times I will do that with a less-design-literate client and just get a blank stare!” —Architect Craig Steely

The pool feels as laterally finite as the house feels spacious—but the view goes up forever.

With a few small changes and regular maintenance, existing buildings are some of the most sustainable around.

During the 1950s and ’60s, Eichler built more than 11,000 architect-designed modern homes in California. Seth Krubiner, Simpatico’s founder, lived in one during his youth and remained smitten with its mixture of everyman affordability and mid-century cool.

Buckner and Roberts both expressed admiration for Jones’s thoughtful details—including the sloping glass, angled columns, and Wrightian light shelf.

To keep the project close to their $10,000 budget, the family looked for bargains whenever possible. The circular window was a misorder they snagged for 90 percent off from a local building supply store. The mahogany siding is a mix of Craigslist purchases and Dumpster finds.

When not in use as the headboard, the large redwood slab folds down to become a desk.

With a nod to the natural skew of the cliffs nearby, the roof creases inward on the edges, with folds called crickets. The design is twofold: The lower roof utilizes a number of super-integrated gutters and the upper roof collects rainwater.

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.”

It’s simple to make lasting changes to your home, wardrobe, and everyday life that are kind to the planet.

The entrance. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!