Dwell February 2013

Creativity feeds on challenge. Obstacles force reconsideration, resulting in new, previously unexpressed ideas and actions. In design, the most successful projects emerge only after a quick succession of smart, lasting choices are made. For most, the first and most formidable concern is budget. Instead of suggesting that one substitute shoddy materials or compromise ideals, this issue pins its focus on innovative answers to architectural problems. We highlight an economy-of-scale development in Texas, present familial comingling in Mexico, and salute young parents taking the time to do it right in Wisconsin. Their various strategies make the most of available resources and site specifics, balancing well-placed splurges alongside winning bottom lines. While certainly it’s true that “affordable” is subjective, we believe good ideas can be realized at any price. In the pages…

@calebamundson: This may be the best issue of @dwell yet. Possibly because I’m studying arc. at K-State. #littlecabinsontheprairie. 5 TWEETS @jeromelimjr: I’m loving @dwell magazine. Looking at beautiful home decor & architecture gives me as much inspiration as art and fashion. @ziggyirie: Pretty cool design concept from the pages of this month’s @dwell magazine. Bookshelves in the shape of the USA! @BrentoRama: Looking through my latest @dwell magazine. Getting ideas on how to build. #storage. @scottdukes: Great little feature on #dodgerstadium in the current issue of @dwell magazine. @NathanMattise: Cool bit in @dwell, one designer turned an Airstream trailer into a green room for bands at @StubbsAustin. Enjoyed seeing our neighbors’ recent addition in the current issue (“Sun Screen,” October 2012). We followed the construction with interest every day as…

Mauricio Alejo At a young age, Mexico City native Mauricio Alejo was told to become an architect. He followed his heart and pursued creative writing instead. Now he works in photography: “The place where space and storytelling blend seamlessly,” he says. For this issue, he shot the vacation retreat featured in “Family Empire” (p. 78). Robert Landon Though he divides his time between New York and Rio de Janeiro, writer Robert Landon is now thinking the perpetual spring of Mexico’s Cocoyoc—the location of “Family Empire” (p. 78)—may just be the ideal way to split the difference. Landon has written about architecture and travel for Metropolis, Lonely Planet, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. Narayan Mahon Jurassic-size mosquitoes in the Muscoda, Wisconsin, woods surrounding the Stacked Cabin (“Short Stack,”…

Grupo Habita is known for its high-design Mexican hotels, but the firm’s new hostel Downtown Beds, near Mexico City’s main plaza, offers a radical sense of style for the budget traveler. Design-savvy jet-setters may already know Grupo Habita’s hotels like the Condesa DF in Mexico City and the Hôtel Americano in New York. But the new hostel Downtown Beds, half of a two-part project designed by architect Abraham Cherem in central Mexico City, has given the hospitality firm a chance to aim its considerable design acumen at a different end of the spectrum. And the result—a just-of-the-Zócalo hostel that you’d actually want to stay in—is a backpacker’s dream. Downtown Beds, which offers 78 sleeping spaces, some of which cost as little as $15 per night, opened in July, 2012. “We…

Still saving up for the George Nelson Swag Leg desk of your dreams? Until then, kit out your workspace with a well-priced accessory that packs a visual wallop for less than $150. Standard Magnets by Fort Standard for SCP $37 These curvy little numbers, sold in packs of six, are hand-turned out of solid oak and walnut and conceal mighty rare-earth magnets. scp.co.uk Toolbox by Arik Levy for Vitra $60 Levy’s plastic carryall is extraordinarily versatile: It can keep tabs on live–work necessities, from notepads to sewing kits. dwr.com Hum Pocket Notebook from Alder & Co. $18 There is something to be said for perfectly palm-size doodle pads with tear-out pages. Hint: The best ones are made in Japan. store.alderandcoshop.com Concrete Desk Set by Magnus Pettersen for Areaware $60 Show…

Building on a shoestring is no mean feat in Singapore, especially when your home calls for a multilayered facade. Chang Architects, however, were more than up to the challenge. Project: Framed House Architect: Chang Architects, changarch.com Location: Singapore, Republic of Singapore Bound by a tight budget and a lot located amid a block of terrace houses with heavy street traffic, Singaporean architect Chang Yong Ter of Chang Architects made the savviest move he could for his clients, a young family: He oriented the staggered series of “rectilinear open shells” that comprise the Framed House toward the charming public park that sits just beyond the home’s modest backyard. Singapore is a famously expensive place to build, especially in soft-soil areas where pilings must be constructed before driving the first nail. But…