How about a staircase made using skateboard decks as steps, eh? These lead down to the basement of the Roarockit Skateboard Company's school, and I. Must. Have. Them.

A Rice Building Workshop Project: Extra Small House - 500 sq ft modern shotgun house built by Rice University students for $25,000 to serve as prototype housing in Houston, Texas. I'll take it.

Permanent Camping is a 10x10x20ft 'tower' in the Australian bush, clad in corrugated copper (protection from the elements), with 3 folding sides (for shade and security), a sleeping loft, kitchen, outhouse and rainwater tank. Very cool.

Devanthéry and Lamunière Architectes converted a classic alpine barn-stable into a summer cabin. Located in Val d’Hérens, Evolène, Switzerland, and you just know that view is stunning...

Gregory Farmhouse, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, CA, 1926-1929. Designed by William Wurster, it is widely regarded as THE prototypical ranch house.

The form of this 1700-square-foot house by John Donkin derives from three specific client requirements: a garden, a visitors' apartment, and a strong street presence. Done!

Voyages Longitude 131, at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, is a resort featuring a cluster of 15 luxurious solar-powered tent cabins overlooking Uluru (Ayers Rock). What a setting!

John Wardle Architects' Surf Coast House, sitting above the dunes at Anglesea in Victoria, AU, is a reinterpretation of the 'rude' beach shacks of days gone by.

The Shack at Hinkle Farm, updated with new images. You know you want one...

A house on a narrow lot, with narrow courts, wide open walls and rope sun screens. Beautiful. Designed by Isay Weinfeld and located in São Paulo, Brazil.

Casa Camino Los Palquis, by Francisco Carrió Arquitecto, is a lovely wood, glass and stone house perched way up in the Andean foothills outside of Santiago, Chile.

This lovely modern house on the island of Kythira, designed by RC TECH, is directly influenced by the local vernacular and mostly local materials were used in construction.

The Marfa 10 x 10 Lightbox is a minimal dwelling retreat consisting of a mere 320 sq. ft. All it needs now is a stock water tank for a pool. Designed by Candid Rogers Architect.

This floating sauna is soon to be installed at the Fakriken Furillen, an amazing hotel created at the site of an abandoned limestone quarry on Sweden's largest island, Gotland. And it's right on the beach, facing the Baltic Sea. Awesome.

Rectangle of Light, by Jun Igarashi Architects, is "an exercise in introversion", or, a light-filled cave.

The artist Lucas Kuys is selling his tiny floating retreat, made from driftwood and the roof a grocery van, for £60,000 (ouch!), but I found plans to build a very similar one, for a lot less money.

This cool house designed by E - M.R.A.K. is built of dry-stacked, rough-cut lumber, held together only by its construction weight to make it completely adaptable. Basically, it's just a (very nice looking) pile of wood.

This excellent floor pattern was put together with remnant pieces of linoleum left over from a range of projects. Very cool pattern and smart waste use. Above the parts are laid loose for a test fit.

The Joshua Tree, designed by the Italian firm Hangar Prefab, is described as a 'mountain refuge', and has a steel skin and wooden interior. Gorgeous.

Yakisugi House is another brilliant project by Professor Terunobu Fujimori, who also did Takasugi-an ('Too High Teahouse), posted here previously by me.

Designed by Pulltab Design as a space for both reading and entertaining, the East Village Penthouse is part of a larger private residence located on the top floor of an early 1900’s Manhattan walkup.

The parents of a lucky Parisian kid hired H²O architectes to create a private space for him in a disused garden shed in the backyard. The interior is all birch ply, on three levels, with dedicated areas for sleeping, living/study, and a bathroom.

Anyone for living in a Möbius strip? The Klein Bottle House by McBride Charles Ryan Architects, located in Rye, Australia, is just about the last word in rad houses...

Jan Korbes’ Garbage Architecture in The Netherlands focuses on: “objects interiors research and workshops based on recovered waste materials”. One example is a set of stairs made from woods reclaimed from an old castle.

The brothers Stankey have finally completed their 'Rustic Reuse Cabin', built from 2 shipping containers and located on their family property in northern Minnesota. And it only cost 15 grand. Awesome.

Arkitekhus is a firm building and selling houses designed by some well-known Swedish architects - Thomas Sandell, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Gert Wingårdh, and Tham & Videgård Hansson. Gorgeous stuff.

These really cool 'hanging box stairs' by Blencowe-Levine are part of a roof studio addition to a home in Battersea.

Hotel Aire de Bardenas is located near a national park and biosphere reserve on the plains of Navarre, Spain.

Italian designer Dum Dum Arredamente's home is La Casa Nella Cisterna, a converted ancient water tower. How cool is that?

The Archipelago House by Tham and Videgård Hansson Arkitekter is located in the outer Stockholm archipelago. It's zig-zag shape creates a series of outside spaces sheltered from the strong sea winds. Awesome.

Learn mosaics from the masters: take a workshop at the Orsoni Glass Foundry in Venice and stay in the fabulous restored Domus Orsoni while you're at it. Workshops are 3 days, 1 week and two weeks. I'm going!

The Marcel Breuer-designed Wolfson Trailer House. Located in Dutchess County, NY, this iconic house has a fabulous artist's studio by Tip Dorsel.

The structure of the Upcher House by Bates Masi is an adjustable cantilevering rack system normally used in lumberyards. Located in East Hampton, the house only cost $228,000 to build. Two stories, with a loft and a catwalk that's outta sight!

Onigiri House, by NKS Architects, was designed and built for an elderly couple in the Japanese countryside. The 'quasi-triangle' tube shaped house is built entirely of cedar normally used for ship scaffolding. And I totally want to live there.

Hansen Living introduces three new eco-friendly solid wood kitchen designs by architect Knut Knapper. Handcrafted, warm, all-natural modernism at its best.

This cabin in Normandy by Lode Architects looks ordinary enough from the outside, but the inside is something else.

ARCHIZOOM presents: Julius Shulman Photographe, "A Life for Architecture", an exhibition at the Frankfurt Museum of Architecture.
February 21 - April 4, 2008.

JaG's House by MATADOR atelier d'architecture is stunning in it's minimalist simplicity and beauty.

Green Roof Workshop was designed by Harrison Architects for an amateur cabinetmaker and his wife to house his workshop and the couple's prize vintage Mercedes. I love those polycarbonate clerestory windows...

Julie Martin has started a new company called Martin House-To-Go with the goal of making an affordable tiny house that can easily be moved from place to place on a trailer.

The beautiful green-roofed Hof Country Residence is located in the Skakafjördur Fjord of Iceland, less than 100km from the Arctic Circle. Designed by Studio Granda Architects. Just look at that countryside!

The Cape Schank House in Victoria, AU, has an internal water tank that cools the ambient air temperature of the living room during summer, supplies rain water to the house and garden, and structurally carries the roof load.

Three works by architect/teacher Sami Rintala: Boxhome, Hotel Kirkenes and Floating Sauna (shown).

Haus 9x9, designed by Titus Bernhard Architekten and located in Bavaria, is a fascinating stone house built using gabions (rubble-filled wire baskets).

Verana, a fabulous resort located in a remote area on the Mexican Pacific coast, recently completed their V Houses, inspired by Jo Scheer’s Treehouse ‘Hooches’. I want me a hooch!

zecc architekten converted a disused water tower into an amazing minimalist home. Shown is one of the bedrooms up top.