March 2009 Table of Contents

Given the country's dire economic state, many pundits are predicting a shift from the conspicuous consumption of luxury products to more humble displays. Read more

As an undergraduate at Auburn University in 1994, Jonathan Tate, a white suburban kid from Huntsville, Ala., signed up for Rural Studio, where he helped to design one-of-a-kind “charity houses” on a shoestring budget. Read more

Issues with neighbors often arise during the design of a new multifamily building. Read more

Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects challenged convention with this residence in the Houses at Sagaponac development on Long Island, N.Y. Read more

The architect and the owner, a landscape architect, worked in tandem from day one of this project—and it shows. Read more

In the high-desert landscape of sagebrush, scorching winds, and boundless sky, a house needs to be “hard on the outside, soft on the inside—like a Tootsie Pop,” says Tom Kundig, FAIA. Read more

A dark, gated wall lends intrigue to this small house in the forest. Read more

Local barns and fishing shacks inspired the simple volumes and minimally pitched shed roofs of this residence on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Read more

Terry & Terry Architecture, Berkeley, Calif. Our jury appreciated the light-filled spaces in this house designed by Alex Terry, AIA, for his family. Read more

Gray Organschi Architecture, New Haven, Conn. Small buildings get attention because every detail is exposed, and there's a lot to admire on this accessory cottage in a meadow overlooking Long Island Sound. Read more

Rhotenberry Wellen Architects, Midland, Texas. Shipping container architecture is nothing new, but adapting the shells for living often undoes their built-in economy. Read more

The client for this San Francisco addition hoped to leave the original 1950s house as unaltered as possible. Read more

"Pedestrian suburban house turns into a little jewel.” That's the way our judges summed up this raised ranch makeover, and we could not have written a better headline. Read more

The renovation of this vintage mid-century home bears Bohlin Cywinski Jackson's hallmark moves: the choreographed passages, the connection to the land, and the sense both of exuberance and calm. Read more

A few judicious moves reclaimed this vintage Marcel Breuer home, whose design was based on a house he exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in 1949. Read more

Presented with a diverse collection of buildings, Barnes Vanze Architects restored the architecturally significant structures and inserted a glassed-in room to unify the house. Read more

Allison Ramsey Architects re-energized an abandoned downtown Charleston, S.C., lot with 34 housing units that our judges lauded as “wonderfully contextual.” Read more

Equinox Architecture, Culver City, Calif. Drawing inspiration from the eclecticism of Venice, Calif., Equinox Architecture designed Abbot Kinney Lofts as an antidote to the stark white contemporary boxes going up in the neighborhood. Read more

Despite their radical break with tradition, the three black cubes dotting this hillside received no negative feedback from their blue-collar neighbors. Read more

Shalom Baranes Associates, Washington, D.C. The site for this luxury condo building is in a re-emerging section of Washington, D.C., but its location—next to an operating service station and wedged between two converging traffic arteries—made it less than Read more

Design/build firm PLUMBOB LLC subdivided two vacant city lots and inserted these eight condos that blend contemporary interiors with energy-efficient, sustainable living. Read more

Despite tight constraints, Khoury & Vogt Architects designed this spacious, light-filled house with an efficient plan. Read more

The houses in this Arizona infill development didn't have anywhere to turn. Built on the back sections of deep lots, four of the six face private drives and the fences of nearby buildings. Read more

This Santa Barbara, Calif., infill project stands out for achieving LEED Platinum and doubling the area's typical density, but it also blends smoothly with the neighborhood's Sp Read more

David Baker, FAIA, LEED AP, and Kevin Wilcock, AIA, created a pedestrian-friendly main street through the middle of this affordable housing community—a move the judges applauded. Read more

Peikert Group Architects, Santa Barbara. Detlev Peikert, AIA, squeezed a long list of “must-haves” onto a tiny piece of land. Read more

Bonstra | Haresign Architects converted an abandoned public school building into 92 loft-style condos with two levels of underground parking. Read more

The judges praised the character and scale of this master-planned graduate student community on the edge of historic Westwood Village in Los Angeles. Read more

CO Architects, Los Angeles. Tasked with inserting new student housing among existing 1960s-era structures, CO Architects tucked this new residence hall to one side of the site and configured the building with three wings to create outdoor courtyard spaces Read more

On an urban site bisected by a major highway, RTKL saw an opportunity to display to tens of thousands of passersby what exactly happens in an art school. Read more

According to Stephen Muse, FAIA, the biggest challenge to designing a large house lies in balancing variety and consistency. Read more

The showstopping city views from this Manhattan pied-à-terre created a clear directive for architect Wayne Turett. Read more

The Miller|Hull Partnership, Seattle. Architect Bob Hull, FAIA, and his staff judiciously deployed wood detailing inside this Bellingham, Wash., home. Read more

This loft in San Francisco's Mission District was dark and cluttered before Joshua Aidlin, AIA, and his client got their hands on it. Read more

A dark, quiet, enigmatic shape in the woods, this building responds to a very simple program. Read more

Rather than remodel an old one-bedroom cottage as their main house, a Texas couple asked Andersson•Wise Architects to convert it into communal living space and to build this new tower for sleeping quarters adjacen Read more

After purchasing 27 acres of land in Upper Tract, W.V., Jeffery Broadhurst, AIA, thought long and hard about what to put there. He ultimately came up with a “shack” that may be a step up from camping but still has arc Read more

Tom Kundig, FAIA, likens his six Rolling Huts to “a little Thoreau hut on Walden Pond,” but Henry David Thoreau never had it so sweet. Read more

For his own home and kitchen, Jack Hawkins, AIA, LEED AP, “wanted to see how small we could live.” Read more

Joeb Moore, AIA, intended this white-and-stainless steel kitchen to both please and surprise. Read more

The owner of this penthouse pied-à-terre overlooking the Atlantic Ocean uses it primarily to entertain business colleagues. Read more

Lise de Vito and Jim Zack, AIA, lavished attention on the design of the skylight-topped staircase in their San Francisco townhouse. Read more

Architect Mark Jensen, AIA, took the goal of curb appeal seriously with this façade makeover. Read more

When Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans, it devastated the already deteriorating St. Bernard Housing Development. Fast-track plans to demolish and rebuild the area resulted in this design our judges calle Read more

The owners of this Cape Cod acreage want to take advantage of its ocean views and white sand beach without damaging the delicate dunes. Read more

Sun-drenched white walls, taut wood, and trim slate-gray floors are trademarks of David Salmela's Scandinavia-inspired architecture. Add a cobalt blue conference table and precise stacks of white project boxes, and you have his Duluth, Minn., workspace. Read more