VIRTUAL JERUSALEM: REBUILDING THE MILLENNIA

Jerusalem has been conquered many times throughout its long history. Today it is being "captured" peaceably in the form of a computer model. At the Jerusalem Center of Planning in Historic Cities, a team headed by Kobi Ariel is rebuilding Jerusalem street by street, building by building. They use Bentley Systems's MicroStation, designed for large-scale engineering, to model the city's Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, and neo-Moorish architecture. Eventually, the model will be used for documenting the city and its history as well as serving as context model for future construction. Israeli journalist Lili Eylon describes the process and the promise.

CELEBRATING THE AMERICAN FLEET

The Intrepid Sea, Air, Space Museum, by the New York architecture firm Suk Design was constructed in a brief nine months. Despite the challenges of building on the waterfront, it was completed this summer just in time to celebrate the Tall Ships 2000 visit to the northeastern seaboard. The new museum commemorates the United States Armed Forces and promotes public awareness of the history and future development of the sea, air, and space sciences. The museum is named for the aircraft carrier, the Intrepid, which served in the Philippines during World War II.

THE GLAMOROUS FASHION WORLD OF ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINES

Architecture magazines enthrall their viewers with graphic representations of new buildings. They capitalize on the idea of architecture as alluring object. However, there is a danger in looking at architecture as an artistic object produced for an aesthetic purpose. New buildings have cultural, political, and social characteristics. If architecture is represented visually, without critical analysis, there is a danger of neglecting other important factors such as user comfort, functionality, and cultural implications. Colleen O'Keefe's essay explores the danger of valuing image over substance.