Dwell November/December 2017

Building something is never easy. When you start a project, whether it’s a renovation or a new build, the challenges are intense. Terrifying, even. The cost, the logistics, the time, and the sacrifices can cloud your judgment and dampen your ambition. Do not let them. The biggest mistake is believing that something daunting must be impossible, or—this is even worse—that you are not up to the task. Making an impact is not guaranteed. Mistakes are okay. If you’re hoping for admiration from others, try to let that go. Caring what others think is poison to the creative mind. Trust your gut, and please yourself first. Others may not like your style, your choices, your ideas. Who cares? Your project is not for them. It’s for you. There are many voices that will tell you…

• Last night I opened the May/June issue and reread your Editor’s Letter that begins, “Don’t waste time trying to have a perfect home.” I’ve devoted two years to a remodel. I’ve consulted with four architects and four designers, spent the cost of a new car doing it, and concluded that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince or princess. “Find and create your own moments of beauty” is very good advice. —Roger Magyar • Regarding the home in Sweden in the September/October issue, the contrast between stark and ornate is too jarring for me. It’s like sugar on mushrooms—the pairing is an amusing surprise, and lets you taste each more clearly, but dumping two extreme tastes together is unsettling and not deeply satisfying. —Tom O. •…

Smartly designed, small—not tiny— homes. The world desperately needs this. Linda Foss [Small houses are] exactly what Dwell needs. San Francisco is a case study in what happens when population growth exceeds housing supply. My obsession is to reconceptualize the humble trailer home as a modern, sophisticated design. Paul Bendorius I’d like to see more possibilities for adding energy systems to architectures in ways that add to appearance, rather than looking like tack-ons. John Jorgensen Since most of the U.S. housing supply is preexisting houses (in other words, most people don’t get to build a house from scratch but have to work with an older structure), I would like to see a lot more remodels in the magazine. I would prefer these stories to not be about gut renovations, but about…

Kamil Bialous Know Your Angles page 86 Vancouver photographer Kamil Bialous felt lost driving through Winnipeg, searching for the house he was sent to shoot for this issue. “It was a very stereotypical suburban neighborhood with lookalike homes finished in beige stucco and cream stone. I actually stopped to double-check I was on the correct street,” Bialous remembers. Eventually he found the angular, ultramodern house, an anomaly in the area. “I think it reflects the idea that, just because you enjoy a suburban life with your kids, it doesn’t mean you have to live in a cookie-cutter home,” he says. Bialous’s work has been featured in The Atlantic, Outside, Travel + Leisure, and Bon Appétit. Laura Mauk More Than Meets the Eye page 102 Design writer Laura Mauk was formerly an editor at Architectural Digest…

When their children moved out in 2015, Neusa Gheno, a retired schoolteacher, and her husband, José Vilmar, a former colonel in the administrative area of the military, embarked on a journey to build their dream home. Having lived for three decades in Curitiba, Brazil, the couple chose to relocate six hours west, to Pato Branco, a city that José had become enamored with during a short work stint there. To create a space that afforded views of both the city and nearby greenery, they turned to their daughter, architect Barbara Becker, for help. ‘It’s very common in Brazil to build out of concrete. We have a long history with it, as you can see in all the Niemeyer buildings. Barbara Becker, architect Situated on a sloped property that descends from the street,…

MADE IN AMERICA Domestic design is an important marker of culture. But it’s not easy to make beautiful things that last and are produced in America. We gathered some of our favorite U.S.-made items and asked their creators about the benefits and challenges of staying onshore. R & COMPANY, COPE, MISEWELL, BERNHARDT, REJUVENATION, IACOLI & MCALLISTER, THOS. MOSER, HEARTWORK, POTTERY BARN, AMUNEAL, PIGEON TOE CERAMICS, ROOM & BOARD, ALLIED MAKER, PENDLETON WOOLEN MILLS, BRUSH FACTORY, CHEMEX, ALI SANDIFER, ERIC TRINE STUDIO, FORT MAKERS, CGCERAMICS, MITCHELL GOLD + BOB WILLIAMS, DAVID WEEKS STUDIO, SAWKILLE, CLAM LAB, EASTVOLD 1 AURORA RAY FABRIC (2017) Cope Husband-and-wife design team Rachel and Nick Cope made a significant impact with their 2013 wall coverings company, Calico. Their brand-new eponymous line of textiles is made in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 2…