In May, the public gets to view the latest experiment from Bill Massie, one of the country's most innovative architects. His "'08 house," a sculpturally enhanced version of a classic Modernist box, goes on display outside the Art Gallery at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Massie built the 2500 square foot, steel-framed home in sections inside an old spare parts factory in nearby Dearborn. Once transported to Cranbrook's green lawns, it took two days to bolt together.

Unlike standard construction, Massie put up the frame before drawing up further plans. "I held back designing things which weren't truly structural until I got to stand inside," he said. "I got to tune the space as if it were a piano or a violin."

Massie's signature sculptural elements include the concrete dimple in an otherwise straight roof and a large, all curved-wall bathroom. The shower has a window opening to the roof. This helps air flow through, cooling the house. "If you leave the window open when you go out and it pours, it doesn't matter because the rain goes straight into the shower," Massie says, extolling his design's combination of "sustainability and voyeurism."

Building the '08 in his own factory, Massie eliminated the client. Thus, it's design with no compromises. As for the house's future? "I'm looking for buyers so I can build the next one," says the architect. --DAVID HAY

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