Cliff May (1909-1989), despite never becoming a registered architect, is said to be “the father of the California ranch house.” His homes during the 1940’s and 1950’s captured the essence of how earlier settlers lived under the California sun. He designed and built over 1000 custom houses beginning with his first at age 23.
In a …

UPDATE: Since our last feature slide show posted just two months ago we have learned of the death last night of Mr. Shulman. MHM celebrates his legacy in photographs and presents a small sample of his work in honor of more than 70 years of excellence. Thank you Mr. Shulman for helping us remember the …

The Penmar Project in Venice, California, is a new modern eco-friendly design by architect Magdalena Glen-Schieneman. Rather than the typical single family suburban modern design, this modern house iteration is instead a duplex in a decidedly urban beach setting.
Given the upkeep needed due to the location, Penmar was given a protective orange corrugated aluminum facade …

The international architectural firm RMJM is introducing a timely apartment design called MiLoft. The revolutionary claim by the firm is that MiLoft “uses body heat to keep occupants warm.” No doubt skepticism will follow, but MiLoft has already attracted a great deal of attention from politicians and housing organizers in the UK, and the concept …

From Taalman Koch Architecture comes itHouse, a simple systems-built pre-fabricated component house that can power itself off-grid.
The basic itHouse priced at $125 per square-foot consists of two bedrooms, one bath, plus a double courtyard to meld the indoor-outdoor experience. If you want to “make it your own,” there are optional packages and upgrades for kitchen, …

The award-winning architect behind EcoFabulous is Kanau (Kon) Uyeyama. Uyeyama has designed hundreds of structures during his long distinguished career. In EcoFabulous he has combined materials and practices used in previous work into one modern sustainable and affordable gem. “We put all our knowledge to the test and designed and built the EcoFabulous Home,” said …

On the Arizona campus of Taliesin West which houses the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture sits Mod.Fab, a student project led by faculty adviser Michael P. Johnson. The completed house is a testament to modern technology, the advancement of architectural schools, and the skill level of young architects today.
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Given a slower economy the phrase “do it yourself” will likely hit home to an increasing number of people in the coming months or years.
A self described “architist,” Mark Wilcox was motivated to design his own house not because of a slow economy, but because he couldn’t find a local architect willing to “push …

There are architects, and then there are architects who really seem to thoroughly enjoy being architects. A body of work by Olson Sundberg Kundid Allen suggest they fit into the latter category.
Last year the firm was recognized for two projects that brought unique challenges requiring unique solutions. In Rolling Huts architect Tom Kundig helped the …

Elena Bertinetto-Jensen is an interior designer who’s getting a lot of attention in New York and around the globe. Educated in Rome Bertinetto-Jensen has cooperated with numerous architectural studios in Italy before setting up her own business where she was commissioned to design several antique villas and houses across Europe.
Now, living in New York with …

Inhabit features the design work of Hybrid Seattle, a Seattle architectural and design firm who specializes in converting old shipping containers into modern modular housing.
Unico, the real estate company developing the containers as multifamily houses is expecting to complete the first community in 2010.
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LivingHomes is a small California company that beat everyone to the punch when their Ray Kappe designed LivingHome became the first Platinum level LEED house in 2007.
LivingHomes currently offers four designs each from two distinguished architects. Ray Kappe is an architect legend who has designed four upscale house designs for LivingHomes. KieranTimberlake is an award …

FlatPak is a menu-driven configurable prefabricated house that is modern, sustainable, and affordable to the masses.
It was featured in a recent MoMA exhibit entitled Home Delivery. You can read more about FlatPak in our story here.
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The German company Poggenpohl is the best known kitchen brand in the world, and has been designing kitchens longer than anyone on the planet has been alive. So we thought who better to help us look back at the early kitchen and see progress in the passage of time.
As you look at kitchens in …

The architecture firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in Seattle have won a 2008 Honor Award for Washington Architecture from the Seattle AIA. The honor is for Woodway Residence, a superbly modern transformation of an existing structure.
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Here are some modern bath and kitchen fixtures performing functions you never imagined - well that is unless you’re a fan of Alice In Wonderland.
Now we’ll never think of fixtures the same way again.
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Studio 804 is a sustainable build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
In a final semester students get practical hands on experience building a sustainable and affordable building.
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The KitHAUS aluminum construction system comes with duel insulated windows and doors finished interior walls, finished flooring and ceiling, and a data port and electrical connection box.
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The Loblolly concept pushed the idea of a modular house being designed and fabricated off-site, and then assembled on site. But the breakthrough was Loblolly’s integrated assembly design so that the house could be disassembled and redeployed without waste.
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HyBrid Seattle is a firm involved in a wide spectrum of housing solutions from site built homes to cargo containers.
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Novare’s new Viewpoint condo tower in Atlanta adds technology that enables a young buyer to customize their whole building environmental experience, not just a particular purchased condo.
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Tucker Bayou changes the common perception that modular houses consists of small affordable designs built by smaller architects and suitable only for urban infill.
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In selected European cities BOKLOK (an IKEA company) is building apartment homes that are both affordable and environmentally friendly. The company has built houses in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and more recently in Great Briton.
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Cellophane House is a five-story 1800 square-foot two bedroom, two bathroom concept dwelling commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Designed to be fabricated offsite and assembled almost literally anywhere, Cellophane House can operate off-grid.
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