When artist Vera Scekic and her computer-programmer husband Robert Osborne built their transparent light-filled solar-powered home, they shocked the neighbors by building a house you can see through, right through to Lake Michigan.
But their aesthetic was influenced by her playful paintings that evoke biotic forms. She wanted a white house that is sensitive to the somewhat offbeat palette of her paintings: oranges, yellows, olives…and white. Lots of it.

“We wanted a house with some levity,” she told the New York Times.
The Architectural firm Johnsen Schmaling Architects was …

With the collapse of the housing market, you may be considering how tiny of a space you could live in, instead.
Rather than shoulder that giant mortgage, why not try something completely different. A tiny house that you could pay for and be done with.

Could you squeeze into a shed? I think I could. I’d rather enjoy living in this beautifully made cottage from Susanne, Sven and Frederick Asa of add-a-room.

Well, maybe that is a bit tiny! But the whole idea of the add-a-room is that …

To create this sustainable housing for downtown Cambridge, Homeowner’s Rehab Inc hired Mostue & Associates Architects and held multiple “green meetings” to develop a Sustainability Charter for Trolley Square.

The 40 affordable residential units and 2,800 square feet of commercial and community space, an underground garage, and 14,000 square feet of open space are designed to bring an infusion of energy and foot traffic for the many locally-owned businesses along this stretch of Massachusetts Avenue.

Originally the roof was not designed for solar, because funding came late. It had …

The garden of a lyrical, subtle house from Bijou Jain of Studio Mumbai is a key player in this design. It appears to walk right through the house. A quiet craftsmanship is evident throughout the Belavali House, set in a lush mango orchard in tropical India.

Every detail you see has been created by Jain’s artisanal team. Even the brass door hinges are handcrafted.

Brass and teak throughout soften and contrast to the silky smooth concrete, hand-polished to an deep, purplish, greenish, iridescent luster that defies a color …

The ISEAMI institute – Institute of Sustainability, Ecology, Art, Mind and Investigation – is a simple and gorgeous eco structure designed by Robles Arquitectos and sited in the OSA peninsula of Cost Rica.
Sited far away from everything in the jungle – it is of necessity, entirely off the grid. Local jobs are few and the natural environment must be protected. This structure is intended as a teaching opportunity for sustainable tropical design.

Power comes from a solar system on the roof. It is perfectly oriented to have the optimum …

Here’s a rustic 21st century eco holiday home that offers a chance to recharge in a magical setting. Imagine driving in at night to this welcoming solar and stone cottage set in the forests of Brittany.

The Brittany Groundhouse is available for rentals from owner-builders Daren Howarth and Adi Nortje at certain times of the year. Simultaneously ancient and modern, the house takes from the past and suggests a more sustainable future.

Step outside to see the sun drum up the power to run the electrical needs of …

Sited within a huge reservoir in Caceres, Spain, on a peninsula that seems as if it was created just for this building,  is a space created by Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia for athletes in training, in a tranquil, landscaped setting.

A minimal raised ring design provides just over 2,000 square feet of interior space in peaceful harmony with its surroundings. The  low impact new Sports Research Centre is an Emerging Architecture Awards winner. The continuous ring shape is a familiar shape for athletes who train and compete in …

A peaceful water mirror forms part of the roof of the Grid House by Forte, Gimenes & Marcondes Ferraz Architects, and it echoes a larger body of water at the end of the site.

But most of the roof is a green roof.

The house is suspended above ground, designed for a humid part of Brazil.

It is designed on a grid. Some of the grid’s modules are closed environments, and other ones are totally empty frames… for now.

Because of the empty spaces, the trees from the garden below …

Eco luxury. The term seems contradictory. But sustainable architectural design is about not wasting your resources on a home designed to be thrown away. Alpine 2002 is designed with longevity and permanence in mind, to build a home that will be enjoyed for each of the next 250 years.
At 5,160 square feet and $3.5 million, it is not for everybody. But for the few, for the next few centuries, here’s how to design a home that pampers with the real luxury of permanent …

One of the loveliest sustainable designs shortlisted for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards in Architecture is this two-storey weekend retreat by Bijoy Jain of  Studio Mumbai Architects,  in the form of a pair of buildings in the cool coastal shade of a coconut plantation overlooking the sea.

The functions of the house are split into two buildings. Here the view from the drawing room across to the dining room, just a short refreshing swim away.

Named for the palm tree that built it, louvres around the entire …