ART-SITES OF PARIS

In and around Paris during the last decades of the 20th century, there was an enormous push toward urban renewal. Designed in revolt against the highrise office and housing blocks constructed during the 1960s and 70s, "new city" projects were conceived as environments for the 21st century. Next week travel writer Sidra Stich will show us some of these buildings, including inventive housing by the firm Architecture Studio (pictured).

GAUDÍ'S UNIVERSE ON SHOW IN BARCELONA

In celebration of the Year of Gaudí, the Center of Contemporary Culture in Barcelona and the Queen Sophia Museum in Madrid have brought together an impressive array of materials for the exhibit "Gaudí´s Universe." Included in the displays are examples of the master's unbuilt work, like the Church of the Güell Estate. Next week writer Rachel Grossman will describe this and other objects in the exhibit.

REFORMING DOMES

Throughout history, people have figured out how to build structurally efficient domes from masonry, wood, even ice. But the form is still under development. One architect in California is designing domes — for both residential and commercial applications — built by spraying concrete onto the interior surface of large, inflated, house-sized balloons. Next week Jonathan Zimmerman will describe how this works and explain the benefits of the construction system.