Magazine

The International Living Building Institute’s Living Building Challenge could be described as extreme green; it “defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today.” BNIM’s Omega Center for Living is one of the first buildings...

As an addition to an existing church, STL's design for Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Chicago infuses tradition with a modern aesthetic. Most impressive is the wood ceiling, further activated by a tension rod structure. STL answered some questions about the recently completed...

A project for a centre for contemporary arts in Rome is now officially the best new building in the world. MAXXI, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Italy, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, UK, has won global architecture’s most coveted accolade of ‘World Building of the...

Architects John Beard and Dale Riser describe their designs as "uniquely Southern," modernist takes on the region's vernacular buildings. That quality is apparent in this house in Mississippi, a design in two parts that reads like it was built at one time for one family. The...

Designing a house for North America’s “Last Frontier” requires a certain amount of self-sufficiency, something Workshop A|D addressed in this green and energy efficient home in Anchorage. The architect answered some questions about the project.

Marking the trailhead of a Wildlife Refuge next to the Minnesota River, the new Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center constantly reinforces the natural beauty of its surroundings through strategically placed openings framing the landscape. Architects Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle...

As sustainability continues to take hold in the architectural profession, the most desirable projects enable designers to express green features, making them educational devices to the clients and users. Chicago firm Ross Barney Architects has done such a thing to great effect at the...

This eleven-story loft building stands out in its Philadelphia locale, not only for its height and articulated façade, but for the way it meets the sky and the ground; the former is capped by a cantilevered roof and the building is raised above the latter on angled pilotis. Winka...

Faculty, undergraduate, and graduate studens from four Virginia Tech colleges—Architecture and Urban Studies, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences—beat out 16 other teams in this year’s Solar Decathlon Europe, a 10-day competition held in June. Faculty...

In Istanbul, prisms of glass and mirrors form a kaleidoscopic geometry that reflects people’s movements with a distortion of gravity. Human activity is thus transformed into representation.

As if another excuse is needed to visit the “off-centered” Dogfish Head Brewery, the latest addition to their Delaware home is an angular addition in wood and glass fronted by a Steampunk Treehouse. Philadelphia’s DIGSAU answered some questions about their design for the...

Brick and wood overlap in the curves that give this Midwestern house its moniker. Kansas City’s Hufft Projects crafted these and other materials—in many cases doing the fabrication themselves—into an embracing, sustainable modern residence. The architects answered some...

Additions to existing buildings are faced with the difficulty of balancing historical respect with contemporary values and expression. Rarely is it pulled off as sensitively and carefully as the University of Pennsylvania’s new Music Building. Ann Beha Architects answered some questions...

Located in the "hidden canyon" of LA's Glassell Park neighborhood, the Hidden House by Standard embodies the best of that cities residential architecture. It recalls the houses of R.M. Schindler and other European expatriates who embraced the landscape with their expressions of...

Studio 804 is a design/build program directed by Dan Rockhill at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Planning in Lawrence, Kansas, in which fifth-year students design, develop and build an affordable house in the area. They answered some questions about their latest highly...

The house was conceived as a large stone mass, perforated in order to create different relationships between the inhabitants and the landscape. Each opening is unique and its form, location and proportion respond to this intention.

The design of industrial buildings is far-too-often relegated to engineers and contractors, but the occasional high-profile structure of the type includes an architect's involvement. Chicago's Murphy/Jahn have created a stunning example of such at the University of Chicago on the...

The desert metropolis of Phoenix is known for its insatiable thirst for land and water, an unsustainable trend in need of reconsideration. While small, this project by local architects WEDDLE GILMORE black rock studio could have a big impact towards reorienting how residents think about the...

Fougeron Architecture acknowledges the influence of chain bookstores in their design of the Ingleside Branch Library, surprising but appropriate at a time of flux in the use and design of libraries. The architects answered some questions about the recently completed library.

Friedhöfe sind keine alltägliche Bauaufgabe. Mit steigender Flächenknappheit wird diesem wichtigen Teil einer urbanen Kultur nun aber immer größere Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Es gilt, kontemplative Stimmungen auf immer engerem Raum zu evozieren. Reinhard Drexel zeigt, dass...

Once in a (great) while, Italy’s public institutions succeed in getting things done! After the slow passing of administrative time, Rome has received two new museum buildings that open the city to contemporary times: the MAXXI and the MACRO.

Urban living is usually not enough for people buying apartments in US downtowns, so developers pack their projects with amenities. In this striking L-shaped building in New Orleans, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple made these amenities the heart of the project and an integral part of the design’s...

Reusing shipping containers-those modular and affordable products of international trade-has become an architectural phenomenon in recent years. Mahiar Behrooz answered some questions about his design of an artist studio and viewing space on Long Island built from two containers.

The Frank Sinatra School for the Arts was founded in 2001 by singer Tony Bennett and his wife Susan Benedetto. Eight years later the school moved into its permanent home across from the Museum of the Moving Image. Susan T. Rodriguez of Polshek Partnership Architects answered some questions about...

San Francisco's Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects answered some questions about their Gallery House in the same city. The unique program, melding a residence and art gallery, presents itself publicly in a steel screen based on old algorithms and new technologies.

Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design contributed a striking addition to CSU's Northridge campus, making movement an integral part of the building's expression. The architects answered some question about their design of Chaparral Science Hall.

Citygarden is a new "urban oasis" in downtown St. Louis, on axis with that city's popular Gateway Arch. A hybrid between a sculpture garden, botanic garden and city park, the design was spearheaded by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, with two buildings designed by local...

San Francisco-based Anderson Anderson Architecture answered some questions about their unassuming but highly innovative modular, re-locatable child care facility for Harvard University.