Modern architects are obsessed with bringing the outside in, but they usually settle for illusion (great big glass walls are, after all, still walls). Japan's Shigeru Ban settles for nothing. The two-layer facade on his Metal Shutter Houses, a condo building planned for New York's Chelsea district, will let residents become one with the city. Each of the nine duplex apartments is covered by a shimmering scrim of powder-coated steel slats — echoing the security gates on almost every New York storefront — that rolls up and out of sight at the touch of a button. Occupants can then contemplate the urban wilds through floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall glass. Of course, that's still a barrier, so the 20-foot-tall windows pivot up and away, turning the living room into a massive terrace. Want a cross breeze? The back windows open as well. This is the first US project for Ban, who made his name constructing entire buildings out of paper. Accordingly, the undulating ceiling in Metal Shutter's lobby is made of paper tubes. And you'll need plenty of your own paper to score one of these homes: Though the building won't be finished until fall 2008, units are already on sale — starting at around $3 million.
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