During its 20 years of designing, renovating, and building houses mostly in Southern California, Marmol Radziner + Associates has soaked up a rich tradition of Modernism and interpreted it in a series of projects that engage nature as an instrument of architecture.

In a densely inhabited country like the Netherlands, it is not easy to find a secluded spot for a private residence.

A tidy package with a porous wrapping, N House is a set of three nesting boxes that span the scales of city and domicile.

On the Costa del Azahar, 135 miles southwest of Barcelona, the Modernist summer house has a distinguished pedigree all its own.

As you approach Thomas Phifer and Partners’ house in upstate New York, the long, steep climb up a winding country road ends not with a dramatic structure, nor a sweeping panorama; its denouement is merely a prelude to the multifaceted spatial sequence to come.