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A Glass House within A Rhythmic Modular Frame

A bold series of steel frames marches the length of this house, and is intercepted by concrete stairs to an outdoor living platform.

Modular too is its entry – that takes you through an unusual equestrian height door (like in old Spanish enclosed Hacienda courtyards entered on hordseback) into a double height vestibule.

By Foursquare Builders, this Texas home has a style all its own.

The house successfully blends the busiest of antique oriental rugs with the scrupulous simplicity of utterly minimal glass and steel to contain a shelter in its woodland setting.

Some of the antique furnishings work less well in the minimal and modern design of the house, like this lamp.

But that is what makes the creation of architectural design so interesting.

Clients are all different, with different hopes and desires, and making all these very different dreams come true is the work of architecture.

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Transparent Dutch Hat like a Tent Roof Anchors a Holiday House

An intriguing Origami-like tent roof folds at an angle over a breezy vacation home that is nearly all outdoor “rooms.”

Cincopatasalgato Arquitectura designed the unusual house on the outskirts of the capital city of the Latin American country of El Salvadore.

Concrete steps take you up to a concrete deck that acts as a ground floor for the house.

The transparent material of the roof overhang is unknown.

A pool is set into this concrete deck, creating a true focal point in the dry mountainous setting.

Under the overhanging roof, every room is a boxy modular series of contained spaces, whether indoors or out.

The living room can be completely open air, with sliding glazing that opens fully.

A more fully glazed module is the master bedroom, offering views on three sides.

The giant overhang shades and cools the second-floor pool from midday through the long hot afternoons.

This pool is also the first to greet the morning sun on the concrete deck that houses a series of small green roofs.

Here the living room is seen above the outdoor dining pavilion.

The repetition of squares of green roof/blue pool/green roof echo the modular rooms above.

Viewed from anywhere, each room or outdoor space has its own little “box” to itself, reminiscent of Montreal’s Habitat 67 apartment complex.

An odd and memorable place.

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A Retro Little Townhouse in Sydney

There is a youthful energy to this cheerful townhouse in downtown Sydney.

You enter through a dining room with a feeling of a ’50s ice cream parlor.

The little pool is a friendly presence right in the kitchen.

A chipper little black spiral staircase supplies access straight up to a viewing roof.

A rooftop hangout, casually finished in weathered wood, offers a natural respite from its uber-urban milieu.

Even from the second floor living room, the view is opened out towards the coastline.

This means the townhouse does not feel confined, despite its narrow suburban lot.

The shiny and happy ’50s modern interior continues in a bright and sunny master bath upstairs.

Interesting stairs are custom shaped to wrap a curved inner wall.

The Sydney-based Australian architect Edward Szewczyk designed the beguilingly simple and cheerful house.