[breischl]

You can do something similar with an appropriately sized & angled awning/overhang. eg the visitor center at Zion NP does that, along with a number of other clever things. PDF: https://www.nps.gov/zion/learn/nature/upload/DOE%20Brochure....

But for commercial buildings where they're trying to squeeze out every square foot of rentable space, and probably are not allowed to overhang their property lines, it's likely not an option.

[twawaaay]

The overhangs don't have to take away from rentable space. It is in effect just a sun shade sticking out of the house horizontally blocking the sun without blocking the view like a baseball cap.

I am looking to buy a property right now and I have resigned myself that if I want a nicely designed house I will probably have to do it myself.

A well designed house does not have to be more expensive, it is just engineering -- and engineering is about knowledge, experience and ability to use both to make tradeoffs for a better result.

The knowledge is there but very few seem to be making use of it. Everybody tries to squeeze a lot of new tech but forget about old lessons -- just like in software development...

[toast0]

It depends on your building rules. If you're in a zero lot line environment, you can't build an overhang that encroaches on the neighboring lot.

The overhang may also count as your footprint in case of any other setback rules.