DOUBLY TRANSPARENT

Growing concern for occupant comfort and lower energy costs has led to a recent revolution in curtain wall design, primarily in Europe. Dynamic, double-skin walls that induce air movement between the layers of glass are replacing the static, sealed envelopes that have until recently characterized modern curtain walls.

The new generation of glass wall is an active component of the heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system, bringing air tempering installations from the hidden central core to the building perimeter.

TAIWAN ON TOP

The official opening of the Taipei 101 Tower in December 2004, makes it — for now — the world's tallest building. In the 20th century, competition for this title was largely waged in Chicago and New York, but it has recently migrated to Asia.

ANTARCTIC ARCHITECTURE

"It was a scene, terrible in its austerity, that can only be witnessed at that extremity of the globe; truly, a land of unsurpassed desolation." — Physicist Louis Bernacchi, 1899, aboard the Southern Cross, near Cape Adare, Antarctica.

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