Bare bones: Some residents are opting for unfinished homes

Exposed brick and cement has become mainstream, but some designers are pushing even further.

Roughly finished concrete walls and pillars, plywood frames, peeling plaster and crumbling bricks are the features of some new cutting-edge apartments, according to Dezeen. Some architects like Gus Wüstemann preserve a handful of the raw surfaces, framing it almost like art by finished walls. Others leave entire units devoid of any new interventions, aside from updated appliances.

Often, the approach seems to be used in postwar buildings after the properties undergo refurbishment. The trend seems to be sweeping across European cities predominantly with a few examples in Tokyo. [Dezeen]—Erin Hudson