WHAT IS THE CULTURE OF BUILDING?

With its curved metallic forms, the new Guggenheim Museum in Spain has been widely acclaimed by architecture critics as the unique and original product of a highly creative architect. Like nothing the city of Bilbao had ever seen before, it caused at least one critic to remark that the twentieth century, at its end, had finally produced a building worthy of the times.

THE GREENING OF CAD

Environmentally conscious, "green" design has gained a respectable following among those already inclined to see the world through emerald lenses. Everyone else is waiting to see if it's worth the trouble.

One barrier has been a lack of truly usable building energy simulation tools. To build these, software developers need to understand the design process through the eyes of nonengineers. However, a new survey uncovers subtleties in how design software is applied in practice.

MAYBECK RETURNS TO OREGON

Did you ever fantasize about doing an apprenticeship under one of the great master architects? Working with direct guidance from Frank Lloyd Wright or H. H. Richardson? Now that fantasy has become more realizable: the revered California architect Bernard Maybeck has recently returned to life and, surprisingly, returned to Oregon.