Magazine

Pro bono, which literally means "for the good," is increasingly seen in the world of architecture as a source of excellent design. Many firms accept pro bono commissions as a means of expanding their creativity, recruiting and retaining employees, and creating strong ties with a...

Reusing old buildings for new uses is one of the most environmentally responsible practices for architecture this century. A building need not be architecturally or culturally significant to be saved, and Congregation Or Hadash Synagogue in suburban Atlanta is a case in point. The setting...

A major gesture is not always needed. In further developing a campus that dates originally from the 1960s Dietmar Feichtinger shows that added value can be better achieved through restraint, carefully positioned cubes, and subtle facade rhythms than by the use of showy sculptural symbols.

Historic structures provide continuity with the past while providing canvases for contemporary interventions. In the restoration and expansion of an early-19th-century house in Lewes, Delaware, architect Robert M. Gurney echoed the three-story gable form of the original in the four...

Sugamo Shinkin Bank is a credit union that strives to provide first-rate hospitality to its customers in accordance with its motto: “We take pleasure in serving happy customers.” The unfortunate fact of the matter, however, is that most people feel more tension than joy when they walk...

What looks like a traditional, yet pint-sized house on Main Street in York, Alabama, turns out to be a transformable theater for the local residents, a public space where an abandoned house once stood. Artist Matthew Mazzotta's "Open House" taps into the country's housing...

The architects at Case Real turned a long-abandoned kominka, or traditional-style house, into a modern dormitory in this project on the island of Teshima in the Seto Inland Sea. The dormitory is used by the staff at Café Restaurant Il Vento, which itself was presented as a work of art by...

The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) started in 1961 as the West Bend Gallery of Fine Arts, focused on the collection and display of one local artist, Carl von Marr. Five decades and two name changes later (in between the institution was the West Bend Art Museum) MOWA has moved into...

Identity can be expressed in many ways, and for universities it is as varied as school colors, a sports mascot, Greek letter, and pride in the achievements of alumni. At Washington State University, identity comes across at the new Brelsford WSU Visitor Center, designd by Olson Kundig...

Utah is easily one of the most beautiful states in America, thanks to its diversity of natural features—from the Bonneville Salt Flats and Great Salt Lake to Canyonlands National Park and Rocky Mountains Basin. The latter provides the gorgeous setting for Adobe's campus in the Utah...

As concrete buildings in the United States from the 1960s and 70s are faced with either demolition or renovation, hopefully projects like the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston point the way to the latter. WORKac's small yet dramatic addition and renovation gives the museum a...

The small market town of Baumgartenberg in the Machland in Upper Austria is a fine example of maximum ambivalence: due to the economic price of land and the good transport connections to the conurbation around Linz a number of industries and businesses of considerable size have settled here, the...

In a recent Insight feature in our eMagazine we looked at a selection of "spaces for learning," specifically architecture schools around the world with distinctive buildings and environments. A...

Rhode Island, tucked between Connecticut and Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean, is easily the smallest state in the United States, with only 1,000 square miles of land. Its proximity to New York City makes it a desirable location for weekend houses, such as the Watch Hill House for a family...

Oklahoma sits atop some of the largest petroleum fields in the United States, so it's no surprise that the drilling and production of oil and natural gas is a major industry in the state. Kirkpatrick Oil is one of many companies making up the industry. Their headquarters is in Oklahoma...

architecten de vylder vinck taillieu have a solid body of work, which ranges from renovations of homes and single family houses to public and institutional buildings. The studio, made up by Jan De Vylder (1968), Inge Vinck (1973) and Jo Taillieu (1971), belongs to the new generation of...

Montreal’s Saucier + Perrotte Architects turn to roots, trunks and trees for a new pharmaceutical building on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver.

A chiller plant consists of myriad mechanical equipment situated behind an enclosure, meaning that the architecture can be just about anything. One example is Helmut Jahn's glassy enclosure (

bHAN EAST, the first international project by Kyoto-based interior design firm FHAMS, is a gourmet food shop in the Gangnam district of Seoul that offers Yamaya-brand mentaiko (spicy-salty marinated pollock or cod roe) along with a select assortment of other Japanese and Korean products....

Queens Library is one of the most popular public libraries in the world, with a circulation last year of close to 19 million items. The system comprises a central library in the Jamaica neighborhood and 62 branch libraries, reaching from Astoria in the north and Far Rockaway in the south....

Lake|Flato Architects calls their design of this Desert House in Sante Fe, New Mexico, a "modern hacienda," harking back to traditional estates in the desert Southwest and the creation of courtyards through multiple structures. The house further taps into the local...

When it came time to rebuild an aging elementary school gymnasium in the town of Taishi, Hyogo Prefecture, officials decided to add a space open to the general public as well. Akira Sakamoto of Akira Sakamoto Architect & Associates, the firm in charge of the project, says his team aimed to...

New Brunswick is a city of about 55,000 people that is home to Rutgers University and a smattering of medical facilities, which has resulted in the unofficial moniker "The Healthcare City." In fact, a few short blocks from the new 6-story office building at 104 Bayard...

The digitization of just about every aspect of life comes with the need to change our physical structures accordingly. Dartmouth College's new Digital Humanities program required a space of its own, prompting the school to consolidate related departments into a new building. The resulting...

After Omaha visual artist Kent Bellows died suddently in 2005 at the age of 56, his family set up a foundation to honor his art but also his mentorship of young artists. This resulted in the transformation of his studio of 16 years, at 33rd and Leavenworth south of Downtown, into a gallery...

David Salmela's modern interpretations of regional architecture in Minnesota have garnered the architect plenty of awards, respect within the profession, and a number of primarily residential commissions. An important design is the Clure Project in Duluth, four dark boxes that are at odds...

Eight years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still dealing with the destruction wrought on its neighborhoods, infrastructure, and buildings. This library and community center in the hard-hit Broadmoor neighborhood involved the demolition and reconstruction of the former, and the...

Geo Metria was designed by Mount Fuji Architects Studio, a Tokyo-based “creator’s collective” committed to developing quality living environments through architectural and other design work. The residence sits on a hillside where the plains of Odawara meet the mountains of...

Located on the banks of the Ohio River southwest of downtown Louisville, Riverbank Park is 70 acres envisioned by De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop in their master plan "as a new recreational venue for the community." The first component in the park's master...

adamo-faiden is an architecture studio that emerged from the ruins of the Argentinean corralito. After leaving the country and going to study and work in Europe, for Sebastián Adamo and Marcelo Faiden their return to post-crisis Argentina led to them reformulate their role as...

The Midway Plaisance—a one-mile-long green space laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the 1890s—splits the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus into the neo-Gothic spires and quadrangles to the north and the predominantly modern buildings to...

Coeur d'Alene is the largest city in Idaho's northern panhandle, located appropriately on the north shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene. On the banks of the Spokane River, just north of where it drains into the lake, is the Riverstone development, where this office building designed by...

Buildings housing architecture schools can have a large impact on the future architects studying inside them. The decision to renovate rather than build anew can instill students with respect for existing buildings as well as an appreciation for the juxtaposition between old and new. The...

Bookstores may be a dying breed, but they are integral to universities, where they provide more than just textbooks to students. But when a national chain runs the bookstore there is the risk of inserting a standard big-box into the context of the school and town. Thankfully for the...

Oak and Laurel Halls serve the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Leers Weinzapfel Associates carefully inserted the contextual yet contemporary buildings into the school's Storrs campus. Although separated from each other...

Theatre Aspen opened its new facilities last June, just in time for a summer of concerts in the city's beautiful Rio Grande Park. The new structure consists of a demountable black box theatre that is removed after the summer season and a permanent pavilion that houses the lobby,...