Kazuyuki Ishihara's Garage Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show

When you've won gold medals four years running at the foremost flower show in the world, you're entitled to take some risks, which is exactly what Japanese landscape artist Kazuyuki Ishihara did with his Senri-Sentei Garage Garden. The bizarre idea of a carpark/garden amalgam paid off when Ishihara presented the lush result at London's Chelsea Flower Show last week, earning him yet another gold medal in the Artisan Gardens category.

Designed for an antique car enthusiast, the Senri-Sentei Garage Garden is a two-tier structure covered in verdant plantings that are meant to complement the vehicle inside. While the ground floor offers essential parking space, the rooftop provides room for a family to relax.

[found via Spoon & Tamago]

Maison Kitsuné's New Daikanyama Boutique & Capsule Collection

[all photos courtesy of Maison Kitsuné]

Maison Kitsuné has settled into its third Japanese outpost, a striking boutique spread across 1,500 square feet and two levels in Tokyo's trendy Daikanyama District. Housing both men's and women's ready-to-wear collections, the wooden post-and-beam construction is a modern take on traditional Japanese design.

The architecture draws inspiration from Tokyo's iconic Hotel Okura, considered to be the height of 1960s Japanese modernist design, ensconced in natural wood and dramatically backlit with a concealed bamboo forest. The checkered wooden floor of the entryway pays homage to the hotel's lobby.

Abstract Architectural Photography by Nick Frank

Nick Frank is a an award-winning creative director and diversified photographer, but it's his Instragram—single minded and just 91 shots deep—that's got me head over heels for the German. Filled with architectural photos that are more about shape and form than any building as a whole, the photos range from minimalist studies in black and white to vibrant technicolor dreams. Take a look...

Vote for the Boston Society of Architects People's Choice Award

from top: Boston Public Library, East Boston Branch [photo by Robert Benson] / Field Elementary School [photo by David Lena] / Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Addition [photo by Nic Lehoux] / Temple Beth Elohim [photo by Bruce T. Martin Photography]

With my hometown of Boston being one of the most historic cities in the United States, it's easy to overlook its modern treasures. But leave it to the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) to shine a light on the area's most innovative structures, highlighting magnificent modern buildings among a sea of brownstones.

The BSA awards the Harleston Parker Medal each year to a building or structure deemed "most beautiful" by a jury of 10 architectural practitioners, designers, journalists and civic thought leaders. And, this year, the public is invited to participate, with a People's Choice Award survey hosted by Boston magazine. Take a closer look at each of the four finalists below.

Surrealist 'City Portraits' of Tel Aviv by Victor Enrich

Since we're talking surrealism, how about a look back at City Portraits by architectural photographer Victor Enrich? Shot between 2006 and 2012, Enrich's photographic manipulations give an unwieldy spin to buildings around the world, with many located in my very own city of Tel Aviv, where the Spanish-born artist was living for some time.

Known mostly for its Bauhaus-style architecture, Enrich has given Tel Aviv's skyline a Dali-esque quality that's hard to resist.

The Well-Appointed Catwalk's Top 5 Posts of 2015

Another year down! Thanks to all of you who have read, commented and otherwise shown some love to The Well-Appointed Catwalk throughout 2015. The posts that have been most popular this year have proven that your tastes are just as varied as mine when it comes to design. From couture to kitchen islands, here are the top 5 most-read from 2015 (excluding giveaways, of course). Catch up in case you missed a few, and let me know what you'd like to see more of in the new year. I do this all for you, after all!

1. Every Final Look from Spring 2015 Couture Week

Spring 2015 Couture Week has come to an end, and what a week it was. Shaking of the confines of commercial viability, designers save their most imaginative (and often outlandish) creations for these biannual couture shows. And the most dramatic look, of course, is usually saved for last.
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Caterpillar House and Butterfly House by Feldman Architecture

Butterfly House [photos by Joe Fletcher Photography]

It hasn't rained here in Tel Aviv since sometime around March. Seriously, not a drop. It's not a drought; it's just how things work in this part of the world. But in California, where droughts are now the norm, water preservation has become a key feature in architecture, and two homes on the Saint Lucia Preserve in Carmel have done an exquisite job of addressing the problem.

Completed by Feldman Architecture in 2011 and 2012, respectively, the Caterpillar House and the Butterfly House are two representations of the same species—both custom-built, sustainable homes that harmonize with their natural and biodiverse surroundings. The homes are two of just 300 built on the preserve, which spans 20,000 acres.

Let's work backwards from the Butterfly House's three separate pavilions. Topped by expressive roofs, the design is inspired by butterflies alighting on a meadow.

WTF?! Moment: A Tiny Heirloom Home

Because sometimes design is so absurd, so out there, that there's nothing to say but WTF?!

Don't worry about fitting our chairs on the tiny porch, babe! We can drink our pour overs on this pile of dead leaves. 
[all photos via Tiny House Swoon]

I love the blog Tiny House Swoon. I really do, because there is indeed beauty in less. But, sometimes, there are also moments of complete ridiculousness. Moments like this one, when the builders of a tiny "Heirloom Home" in Oregon seemingly hire hipster models to pose for a photo shoot because no one could actually live like this!

So, keeping in mind that it's all in good fun, let's take a look at this itty-bitty house and the madly-in-love wood nymphs who supposedly inhabit it.

Back to School Week: 10 Whimsical School Buildings Around the World

photos © David Romero-Uzeda [via ArchDaily]

Whether heading back to back to pre-K or grad school this week, there's no classroom that couldn't be improved by bubble gum pink Pantone chairs and cave-like sculpted walls... not to mention splash pools, indoor slides and hanging gardens. Fortunately, some whimsically minded architects and interior designers have done just that.

Santorini's Perivolas Hotel by Costis Psychas

[all photos via archilovers]

Living halfway around the world leaves me feeling nostalgic for quintessential New England summers: lobster rolls, lighthouses, Nantucket red. Hummus and high-rises don't quite measure up, but I am discovering the upsides to a Mediterranean summer. For one, my toes no longer go numb when I step into the ocean, and destinations like Santorini are almost as easy to reach as Martha's Vineyard.

Greece has always been high on my list of dream vacations, and now that the economic hullabaloo seems to have quieted down, I'm hoping to spend a few days in Santorini with the hubs come September. Not that I'm lacking for fabulous sea views in Tel Aviv, but there's a serenity that only a vacation can provide, and Santorini's Perivolas Hotel by architect Costis Psychas has it in spades.

Rainbow Architecture & Interiors ... Because #LoveWins

from top: Shanghai's Rainbow Chapel by Coordination Asia [via Design Milk] / Miami International Airport's "Harmonic Convergence" by Christopher Janney [via Top Design Magazine] / Moo Headquarters, London [via Mashable]

With the 4th of July approaching—my first as a dual Israeli/American citizen—I have never felt more proud of the USA. The Supreme Court accomplished something beautiful last week, and the Americans that I know have been showing their support regardless of political affiliation. So how to celebrate? With lots and lots of rainbows! Because #lovewins.

Barcelona Photo Diary

One benefit of having moved to Tel Aviv is being a hop, skip and a jump away from Europe. As I mentioned before, I took advantage a couple weekends back with a quick trip to Barcelona, a destination that's always been at the top of my must-see list for its bevy of surrealist buildings by Antoni Gaudi and its Catalonian tapas spots. With my expectations set high, the food was a disappointment, but the architecture—and the culture of great design that permeates the city—was not. Take a look...

Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel by Ranni Ziss and Rechter Architects

all photos by Itay Sikolski [via Menorah Group and Wallpaper]

Now that I feel fully settled in our Tel Aviv apartment, let the adventures begin! Last weekend, it was a trip to the darling northern town of Rosh Pina, but I've got my eye on Zichron Ya'akov next, if only for a chance to stay at the stunning Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel.

Israel does many things well (food, beaches, nightlife), but luxury travel is not one of them. Nevertheless, a number of beautifully designed boutique hotels have been popping up in the last few years, mostly in the cosmopolitan hub of Tel Aviv. The Elma, though, is more than an hour's drive north of the city, a place where romantic yet rustic B&Bs rule and a high-end arts hotel is a welcome surprise.

MINDCRAFT15 at Milan Design Week

[all exhibition photos by MINDCRAFT/Julie Herring]

The Danes are clearly no slouches when it comes to design. (I mean, they practically invented mid-century modern.) So, it's no surprise they took home a "Special Mention" from the Milano Design Awards last week. Recognized this year for a fabulous combination of individual works and exhibition architecture, MINDCRAFT annually shows off the best off Danish craft and design during Milan Design Week.

Curated by the Danish-Italian design duo GamFratesi, MINDCRAFT15 was set at Milan's Chiostro Minore di San Simpliciano, where a 500-square-meter mirrored floor was installed to reflect both the contemporary design on display and the historic architecture of the old cloister.

'Midnight Modern' by Tom Blachford Debuts at Palm Springs Modernism Week

all photos by Tom Blachford

Set against the backdrop of Palm Springs Modernism Week, Australian photographer Tom Blachford is presenting Midnight Modern this Friday, a moody series shot over three separate trips to the California desert town. While the 10th annual Modernism Week celebrates Palm Springs' bevy of midcentury architectural gems by day, Blachford's images explore the relationship between the forms of the houses, the surrounding mountains and the moonlight.

Laverstoke Mill by Thomas Heatherwick + 'Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio'

[images courtesy of Bombay Sapphire]

Located on the site of a once-abandoned paper mill, Bombay Sapphire's distillery and visitor center at Laverstoke Mill is the latest project completed by Thomas Heatherwick and his London design studio. The restoration is just one of many projects to be included in Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio.

Running at UCLA's Hammer Museum from February 20 through May 24, Provocations will be the first U.S. exhibition of Heatherwick's work. Through prototypes, large-scale models, objects, photographs and video, the exhibit will include Heatherwick's redesign of London's double decker buses, his molded "Spun" chairs, the U.K. Pavillion at the 2010 World Expo and a contemporary art museum created inside a grain silo among others.

Ramat HaSharon House 13 by Pitsou Kedem Architects

photos by Amit Geron [via Pitsou Kedem Architects]

Archilovers, one of my favorite sites for inspiration, has come out with its list of top 20 architecture projects submitted in 2014. While each building chosen is truly swoon-worthy, there's just one that so happens to be located in my new homeland: Ramat HaSharon House 13.