From our ballooning skyline to our shrinking studio apartments, boom-time San Francisco is an orgy of cutting-edge design. But is there a method to the madness? We surveyed scores of local architects, designers, and artisans to find out. Here, 24 principles that are driving Bay Area design. October 2015, San Francisco magazine.

A 1920s-era home takes inspiration from Mexico, Spain, Morocco, and Edward Sharpe. September 2015, San Francisco magazine.

When your workplace includes a bar, a resident chef, a gym, and a jam room, overtime becomes desirable. August 2015, San Francisco magazine.

A historic home gets sliced open with Swiss precision. July 2015, San Francisco magazine.

A Potrero Hill relic gets a makeover in neon and glitter. July 2015, San Francisco magazine.

Gussying up a drab bachelor pad on a rowdy stretch of Market Street. July 2015, San Francisco magazine.

A handful of local builders make their mark in the Outer-Outer-Outer Sunset: Kauai. October 2014, San Francisco magazine.

A New York barn becomes a Sonoma recording studio. October 2014, San Francisco magazine.

A 12-foot snowfall is no match for this Austrian-inspired concrete fortress—sauna included. January 2015, San Francisco magazine.

Nesting—Pacino-style—on an overhauled Berkeley houseboat. January 2015, San Francisco magazine.

A peninsula renovation takes cues from Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, and Dora the Explorer. October, 2013, San Francisco magazine.

Warming up an all-white Edwardian with accents from Portugal, Morocco, and Pakistan. May 2015, San Francisco magazine.

A gutted Noe Valley Victorian ditches the frills. January 2014, San Francisco magazine.

A private yoga studio topped by a tapestry of succulents. October 2013, San Francisco magazine.

A modernist Marin home with an inside-out perspective. April 2014, San Francisco magazine.

The owners of this modernist farmhouse grow vegetables, tend orchards—and swim laps. July 2014, San Francisco magazine.

The office as ping pong hall has become passé. How local design firms are reinventing the way we work. December 2013, San Francisco magazine.

Florid gingerbread houses are taking a monochrome turn. July 2014, San Francisco magazine.

A home embedded in a Marin hillside. April 2013, San Francisco magazine.

Would you believe this puzzlelike condo is in the Inner Richmond? October 2013, San Francisco magazine.

Skate-ramp cladding swathes a pop-top house in Potrero Hill. January 2013, San Francisco magazine.

A hilltop house designed from the outside in. July 2013, San Francisco magazine.

A controversial Russian Hill overlook. January 2014, San Francisco magazine.

Three zero-energy homes as design-savvy as they are eco-friendly. April 2013, San Francisco magazine.

A secreted Peninsula shed takes cues from temples, churches, mosques—and a dairy barn. January 2014, San Francisco magazine.

A modesty-free Noe Valley designer prefers bathing in the bedroom. July 2013, San Francisco magazine.

A '30s fishing shack gets a design-savvy upgrade. October 2014, San Francisco magazine.

San Francisco's first skywalk is 12 feet long—and scares the hell out of houseguests. April 2014, San Francisco magazine.

At home with a design ascetic. October 2013, San Francisco magazine.