Our longing for simplicity, clarity, and relaxation often leads us into nature. Hide and Seek showcases the most beautiful places for satisfying this longing. More and more people are yearning to live in harmony with nature. Yet they don't want to give up their homes in the city or make radical changes to their lives Instead, they are creating their very own retreats in nature. The furniture, decor, and feel of these highly individual structures offer their owners an exceptional, yet convenient way of escaping from their urban routines. The right concept is more important than a lot of space. The architecture and interior design are rustic, bucolic, and simple — dedicated to turning a small plot of land into a sanctuary for relaxation. Hide and Seek adds inspiring examples to the range of stunning getaways in nature presented in Rock the Shack, the bestselling predecessor to this book. Whether located in the forest, on the water, or in the mountains; whether light and minimalistic or dark and cozy, the featured retreats exemplify how to create locations that offer calm and balance in our hectic lives. The cabins, hideaways, and homes showcased here meld traditional architecture with modern living in fascinating and surprising ways. Although the individual solutions are very different from each other, all of them respect nature and focus on the essentials. Hide and Seek is a contemporary survey of contextual architecture and interior design that radiates inner strength It not only has the power to bring people in tune with their surroundings, but also with themselves.

New spaces for new learning — not just in kindergartens, schools, and universities. How well we learn is directly linked to where we learn. In our digital age, an enormous amount of information is easily accessible. Against this background and because lecture-style teaching is no longer popular, knowledge is inevitably passed on differently now than in previous times. Today, the spaces in which we learn in various phases and situations throughout our lives have to look differently than those in the past in order to meet our current educational needs. New spaces promote learning by inspiring us, providing us with helpful tools, and facilitating opportunities for productive cooperation and the exchange of ideas within groups. Learn for Life is a diverse collection of inspiring architecture and spaces that support progressive and collaborative models of acquiring knowledge. In addition to new interpretations of traditional places for learning including kindergartens, schools, universities, libraries, and educational centers, the book also features commercial buildings whose architectural innovation is redefining our understanding of what it means to develop professionally in offices, corporate headquarters, conference rooms, convention centers, and laboratories. Also included are more experimental projects such as flexible, informal, and temporary installations and exhibits that offer further perspectives on the rapidly evolving topic of how best to learn in the new millennium. The examples presented in Learn for Life also show how color, light, and the organization of space as well as playful elements and surprises can be used to support learning. In short, the work presented in this book makes clear that the creative use of architecture and interior design not only provides a new physical framework for acquiring knowledge, but also revitalizes and advances the process of learning as a whole.