MIRACLE WORKERS IN "TALIESIN SOUTH"

Rural Alabama is the setting for a remarkable experience in the lives of Auburn University architecture students. Under the direction of MacArthur Award-winning architect and professor Samuel Mockbee, second- and third-year students design and build houses and community structures for Hale County residents. They often rely on salvaged materials but never compromise on design imagination.

WORKING WITH CHI ENERGY IN OUR COMMUNITIES

Feng Shui has been much in the news lately. Architects and their clients are enthusiastic about incorporating ancient principles of environmental energy into their buildings. The Chinese concept of chi, or life-force energy, is also at play at an urban scale, as architect Tom Bender illustrates in his new book, Building with the Breath of Life. Examples from diverse cities around the world help us recognize the presence of chi as it "gives form to our dreams."

HAMMERS, NAILS, AND LASER LEVELS

International Hardware Week came Chicago this month in conjunction with the National Hardware Show and the Building Products Exposition. Purported to be the largest event of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, this trade show draws construction industry professionals from over 90 countries. ArchitectureWeek correspondent Michael Bordenaro will report his discoveries, including high-tech versions of traditional tools.