Architectural Digest

“Preserving a machiya takes a lot of effort. But we think keeping an existing structure for generations instead of tearing it down and rebuilding is much more sustainable.”—Yuki Shirato, homeowner in Kyoto As the editors of AD curated stories for this issue, themed around sustainability, we found that all the projects were, coincidentally, in some sense historic. Some homes were very old and had been sensitively renovated. Others were structures not intended for residential use but which had been cleverly repurposed, such as an industrial barge turned houseboat in Paris. Even the glorious Hudson Valley rose garden featured this month is part of a 120-acre estate that had previously been owned by a single family for five generations. Under the thoughtful stewardship of its current owners, the forested land is…

When Swedish Social Democrats began drafting plans for a welfare state at the end of the 1920s, it included an idea that still feels quite radical: Every Swede would have five weeks of vacation a year, and they could even apply for a government-supplied allotment, a.k.a., a vacation cottage. For the department store Nordiska Kompaniet, where Axel Einar Hjorth served as chief architect, this signaled opportunity. People would be needing new furniture. “Swedes were encouraged to live a healthy, athletic lifestyle, and, as a result, Sportstugemöbler, or sports furniture—pieces designed specifically for small vacation houses, cottages, or cabins—was born,” explains Kim Hostler, of the New York gallery Hostler Burrows, which specializes in Scandinavian design. She’s referring to the 1929 collection of rustic pine chairs, tables, and more that soon shipped…

Ross Cassidy and Jed Weisman come across a lot of extraordinary homes in their lines of work—Cassidy an AD100 star with celebrity clients on speed dial, Weisman a design-savvy real estate agent with listings across Los Angeles. So this couple knows a good house when they see one. Such was the case when they visited a quirky property for sale in the hills above West Hollywood, along what had once been just a dirt road. Built in the 1920s and later owned by decorator Craig Wright, the property was a palimpsest of bygone eras, its Spanish Colonial Revival shell containing the mark of many hands. “It had been reinvented so many times,” says Cassidy, charmed by its various anachronisms. “I knew we could write its next chapter.” History is an…

For the AD100 firm Pierce & Ward, the opportunity to create a collection for West Elm represented a gratifying full-circle moment. “When we started out, it was one of our go-to resources. That was when we’d have a modest budget to decorate a 6,000-square-foot house,” recalls Louisa Pierce. Her partner, Emily Ward, echoes the sentiment: “We relied on them for things that combined quality with good value. This was our chance to build on that legacy.” The 100-piece collection encompasses furniture, curtains, lighting, tabletop, accessories, wallpaper, and rugs. Dexterity—in style, materials, and application—is a hallmark of the group. “There’s a broad mix of genres and aesthetic sensibilities, much the same as we decorate our projects,” Pierce says. “Certain pieces have a lean, Japanese quality, and others feel like they were…

In 1927, fresh out of university and newly married, a young Charlotte Perriand moved into a former photography studio on a corner of Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Inspired by the materials and fabrication of automobiles, she clad furnishings, including her garret bar or bar sous le toit, in chrome or nickel, trying out an industrial aesthetic that would soon catch the eye of her mentor and collaborator, Le Corbusier. Within that avant-garde apartment, though, textiles added softness, whether the leather pillows adorning the sofa or the abstracted mountain motif of banquette upholstery. Now, in collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Perriand’s estate has revived these patterns (as well as others from an early sketchbook) in a new collection of pillows and blankets, launching this April during Milan’s Salone del Mobile fair. “Her…

When, in 14th-century China, people began to steep tea leaves—previously chewed or ground—in hot water, a new household essential was born: the teapot. Early examples in clay gave way over centuries to a wide array of expressions, among them the cylindrical silver forms of 17th-century England and the elaborate, 18th-century Delft treasures of the Netherlands. Now the Spanish luxury brand Loewe is building on that rich history, inviting 25 international artists, designers, and architects to create contemporary versions for an exhibition during Milan’s Salone del Mobile fair. Displayed at Palazzo Citterio from April 7 to 13, the results range from a copper-and-cobalt piece by British Pritzker Prize winner Sir David Chipperfield to a glazed, roughly hewn work by Lebanese American artist Simone Fattal, complete with a woven-leather handle. The Korean…