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Small Houses Make Good Neighbors

Dwell

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Sink Skirts • Do these fabric alternatives to cabinet doors add a touch of old-school charm or are they an unbecoming holdover from the cottagecore trend? Dwell readers and staff are pretty clear on their stance.

The American Dorm: From Institutional Bunk to Influencer Set Piece • The college dorm holds an unusually loaded space in American life. It’s a temporary home where students are expected to make the transition from childhood to independence, which means that colleges have long designed residence halls not only to house students but to shape them, encouraging social connections, building community, and, historically, providing a kind of moral education outside the classroom. Here, we unpack the deep ties between American college dorm design and student identity.

Modern World

There’s Something Ugly About Going to the Gym • If we’re so obsessed with our bodies, why don’t we care about the aesthetics of working out?

Tree House R&D • A mother-and-son team builds the first home in Australia that uses structural laminated bamboo.

You Can See Everything • A couple with a newborn on the way put the finishing touch on their multigenerational family home with a glass-wrapped, rooftop addition.

Learning From New York Tenements • The city’s historically maligned apartments remain a refuge for many and offer lessons for designers fighting the housing crisis.

DWELLINGS

Five Near Identical Floor Plans Five Unique Apartments • The residents of the Clinton Hill Co-ops in Brooklyn, New York, show what you can do with a little ingenuity in one of the nation’s most revered forms of small-space living.

Transient Joy • In Ahmedabad, India, a couple believe their co-living experiment is a template for the future.

WHERE THE MIND CAN WANDER • How three nature-facing artist residencies—a set of prefabs in a Uruguayan forest, a DIY cabin renovation in northern Norway, and a grassroots studio on an island near Seattle—give creatives permission to push past their own limits.

BUDGET BREAKDOWN • Over Budget, Overjoyed As an L.A. couple scaled a backyard office prefab system into a cabin in Yucca Valley, the costs tripled. It was worth it.

Sister, Sister • Ariel and Angel Su had different priorities for their 498-square-foot Taipei apartment. Designer Jennifer Hu of NNEE Studio’s challenge was to address both sets of desires.

Sourcing • The products, furniture, architects, designers, and builders featured in this issue.

One Last Thing • How a sassy—and kinda strange—little cake topper inspires designer Irene Chung to embrace the beauty of tension in her work.