These patios illustrate how outdoor spaces that are integrated with the property’s architecture elevate the overall design. The sharp angles and intricate geometries of the structures are echoed in swathes of grass in the yard and jaunty pavers of the hardscaping. From the gardens to the deck furniture, they’re all places we’d love to lounge.
Above: San Diego-based firm Grounded uses strong rectilinear blocks to border the house, separating it from the lawn.
This mid-century modern house was designed in 1960 by American architect Edward Killingsworth. Rectangular pavers spaced closely together are a walkway and bridge over a flooded courtyard.
Rees Roberts + Partners nestled wood decking slats into gravel for the approach, leading towards the home and water beyond on the property of this Baja home.
Austin, Texas-based landscape design firm D•CRAIN uses steel in many of their projects. Here, it acts as a retaining wall for a level change between gravel and grass.
Ten Eyck Landscape Architecture created a contemporary take on the age-old courtyard, with a steel pergola over the patio for this house on a small hill, shaded by a forest of  cedar elm and Mexican plum trees.
Landscape architect Andrea Cochran, who works out of San Francisco, has a knack for making cement slabs look absolutely inviting. Here, strict geometry is at work, with square pavers punctuated with gravel-surrounded trees.
Melbourne-based Taylor. Cullity. Lethlean. views their work as the poetic expression of the Australian landscape, which we completely understand. This patch of gravel yard surrounded by greens, complete with a bench, is clearly a contemplative resting place.
Hocker Design Group, based in Dallas, Texas, uses a more carefree approach in this design, with more naturally-shaped pavers scattered along a straight cut path.
The L.A.-based landscape architects of SQLA Inc. also melds more natural elements with a contemporary home. The structural elements of the patio walls are hard and straight, while the grasses and boulders are more wild.
Peerutin Architects designed this Cape Town house to frame the views of Table Mountain. To be sure the focus stayed on the stunning natural landscape, the elements around the house are kept simple.
Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects designed this glass house and side patio in the confines of Hiroshima’s urban landscape; notice the glass skyscraper to the right.
Dutch garden and landscape architecture firm Rodenburg Tuinen create magnificent plant-filled areas, as well as interesting hardscapes. Here, vertical plantings soften an expanse of brick, while terraced trenches line up with the stairs. The wood decking provides a more welcoming surface on which to relax.