COMING HOME TO STOCKHOLM

One hundred new apartments in downtown Stockholm may be a hint that urban living is slowly returning to the city's shopping and business district. Klara Zenit is a transformation — by the Swedish architecture firm Equator Stockholm — of a gloomy 1971 office monolith into a colorful block of apartments and shops. Klara Zenit was built during the cold war to stand up under aerial bombardment. The result is an oversized structure that supports new two-story apartments on the roof. Next week Daniel Golling will tell us more about these lively urban dwellings.

TAPPING BARCELONA'S WATERY HISTORY

In 19th-century Barcelona, textile industries drew heavily from the water table. Now that the factories are gone, the water level has risen again, creating filtration problems in some basements. Architects Mercedes Berengue and Miguel Roldan have exploited this surplus in a design that harnesses water and its thermal energy for building operations. Next week we'll take a look at their ingenious approach to environmental design.