NEW "GLASS ZEPPELIN" IN BRITAIN

The design for "Cellular Operations" in Swindon features a great bulbous glass extension blossoming out of a Miesian box and supported on slim steel tubular columns. Architect Richard Hywel Evans has designed a column-free space for this call center and headquarters of a telecommunications company. He wanted to create a relaxing environment that would delight the eye, retain staff, and save energy.

TIPS FOR INSULATING CONCRETE SLABS

Are you building houses that leak heat out through the ground? As part of today's increased energy awareness, builders are looking at perimeter slab insulation as an important technique for counteracting such heat loss. With help from documents from U.S. national laboratories, we'll look at several installation methods that meet new energy codes while protecting the insulation from moisture and termites.

A TOWN IN MORAVIA: HISTORIC AND MODERN

In the heart of Europe, Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, is proud of its architectural reminders of the past, many of which are being revitalized today. These include distinctive buildings of the 1920s and 30s and the early modernist Tugendhadt Villa by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Some of their influence is now appearing in a new 21st century technological park. Next week regular contributor Lili Eylon explains how her home town is emerging from a century of turbulence and tyranny.