A NEW HOME FOR PHOTO ARCHIVES

Last year, the American Academy in Rome moved its photographic archives — valuable period photographs of architecture, art, archeology, and landscape — to a newly renovated villa built in the early 1920s. Next week we'll look at the challenges for Abbate e Vigevano Architetti, the architects designing the villa's renovation: to create a delightful, daylit interior, to protect the delicate negatives from heat and humidity, and to design a minimalist model of sustainable architecture in balance with its context.

SHAPING WOOD

For a cabinetmaker, moving from two dimensions to three can be challenging. But getting the all those cuts in the right direction on the right face of the stock is not really as hard as it looks. The key is marking out carefully and working methodically, step by step. Next week master woodworker Lonnie Bird will demonstrate the steps for creating compound shapes in frame-and-panel construction.

HISTORIC DIVERSITY IN PRAGUE

Built on seven hills and intersected by a meandering river, Prague offers a stunning array of architecture. From the medieval Prague Castle across to the Zizkov TV Tower (pictured), from Romanesque and Gothic to cubism and functionalism, the Czech Republic capital is one of the few cities where so many diverse forms of architectural expression coexist comfortably. Next week ArchitectureWeek contributing editor Don Barker will show us how every era of the city’s history is reflected in its buildings.