This book illustrates trends in contemporary living on the basis of around twenty projects carried out by leading architects and interior designers. The reports demonstrate that contemporary living nowadays calls for more than the harmonious integration of the latest designer furniture in a modern context. Whether it is a new building or a renovation project, all of these clients, architects and interior specialists have worked to create a fascinating mix of volumes and perspective, of light and atmosphere, of materials, texture, shapes and colours. These are not purely cerebral architectural bravura pieces, but homes whose owners take great pleasure every day in the space that has been created. There are many different examples of this kind of contemporary living: the modern atmosphere of a country estate with roots in the Seventeenth Century; the extraordinary metamorphosis of a distinctive long-fronted farmhouse; the serene, pure shapes of a modern home; the minimalist power of a glass-and-brick residential block; the perfect dimensions and colour harmony of some recently completed flats and apartments.