Plans, light and materials.

Painters have always wanted north light. A note on why steady daylight makes a room calmer to live in, and how architects design for it.

A floor plan tells you far more than room sizes. How to read the drawing for daylight, circulation, storage and the way a home will actually be lived in.

Courtyards are one of architecture’s oldest ideas: a private piece of sky in the middle of a home. Why they’re coming back on tight city plots.

Some materials look their best on the day they’re installed. Others get better for a century. A short guide to choosing the second kind.