Dwell November/December 2024

Generally, around here, we tend to look toward the future. We’re always asking: What can a home be? What should it be? What are the ideas, structures, forms, and flourishes that open up possibilities for better ways to live? This year, the planning for our annual American design issue coincided with a federal election, miring us in an exhausting present. The atmosphere as we finalized the issue saw the nation choking on cultural strife, political and social violence, and a normalization of suffocating hate—particularly against people of color, queer people, and women. It’s all set against a background of horrifying wars and large-scale weather disasters fueled by climate change. Staring at the glow of my various feeds, I’ve started to feel a little like burnt toast. The exhausting wash of…

Gregory Han Writer “Extra Credit,” p. 52 Gregory Han is a former designer who now writes about the field, but his deepest passion lies outside human-made objects. “You can’t be a great designer without looking at the ultimate design, which is nature,” he says. Han and his wife, Emily, recently published a mushroom-foraging guide (Mushroom Hunting: Forage for Fungi and Connect With the Earth) and have a similar book about trees in the works. For this issue, Dwell sent Han to the home of a fellow nature aficionado: 11-year-old Surya Sharma. The two (and Surya’s parents) chatted about native plants and how the family created a backyard ecological hot spot. Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Writer “You Can’t Go Home Again,” p. 60 While Julianne Escobedo Shepherd researched and wrote her upcoming…

“What an exquisite use of reclaimed materials. Not at all surprised that such a space has lent further inspiration to the artist!”Nicole Langlois on Dwell.com Re: “Rock and Roll: Mom, dad, and daughter design and build a mobile mosaic studio in a Colorado backyard.” September/October How mobile is it? The large panes of glass would rattle around quite a bit (and maybe break?) using a normal flatbed-trailer suspension. What sort of support is used to prevent breakage of materials during transportation on a bumpy road? Second, it is used in Colorado, a place with considerable weather extremes. What is being done for rainwater and snow? I don’t see any overhangs or water-egress systems. CHRYS KOMODIKIS, PAROS DESIGNS Reply: The design criteria were that it would need to be moved around…

Floor-to-ceiling is overwhelming to me, but going the plywood direction is way better than sad gray/white everything. @goodstink Better than all-white kitchens. @banaph Love it, conditionally. Using big-box ACX is just never a good look. Birch, maple, walnut from a local hardwood retailer all look great, raw or finished. @littleowlcabin Love it. I’m just worried about staining with spills. @patriciaarquette If a jar of tomato sauce accidentally gets flung across the room by a disgruntled spouse, what then? @misterfredomontes I’m curious how this wears over time, especially with water in the kitchen. @audiovisualg All ply changes color. It’s warm and the grains add interest. But seriously it works if the quality of craft is present. @j3ffday I like it, but it doesn’t wear well, so I wouldn’t advise my clients…

Since the early 20th century, gas stations in the United States have gone from novel to ubiquitous roadside icons. Emblems of Americana, they reflect the country’s ever-evolving terrain, reminding us of the increased mobility brought on by car culture and the ensuing influence on the zeitgeist and transformed landscape of suburban sprawl. Over the years, service station architecture has mirrored the ebb and flow of design trends and provided a canvas for technological innovations. Here, we map major landmarks in the history of U.S. gas stations and ponder their journey’s next leg. An Emblem Emerges The first “filling stations” of the early 1900s had just the basics: curbside gasoline pumps installed outside local businesses. This led to shed-type “drive-in” structures with wood or metal canopies and a sheltered area for…

We’re happy to report that the state of American design is strong—particularly when it’s viewed less as a monumental national style and more as a summation of unique, local movements. While social media has expanded access to independent makers, it has also had a homogenizing effect, creating a sense that the same aesthetics hold sway everywhere. In actuality, design all over the country still retains a connection to the traditions and innovations of its particular region. We asked experts from San Diego to San Juan to tell us what gives objects created around them a unique flavor. The result is a country’s worth of design, all with a distinct sense of place.…