A TRAIN RUNS THROUGH IT

A 530-foot- (162-meter-) long stainless steel tube sits directly above the roof of a new building on the campus of Illinois Institute of Technology. The tube and the student center below it are the work of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. As commuter trains speed overhead, the tube muffles the noise for occupants below. Next week ArchitectureWeek contributing editor Michael J. Crosbie takes us on a tour of this architectural novelty.

A CROSSROADS OF DIGITAL DISCOURSE

Every October, about 100 architectural academics from around the world get together to share ideas and research results in the field of computer-aided design. Members of ACADIA speculate on what might be possible in future design computing and how they might guide that development. This year, for example, Andrew Maher of RMIT presented a project that tested the use of parametric models in a collaboration between architects and engineers. Next week ArchitectureWeek managing editor B.J. Novitski reports on this and a few other ACADIA projects.