HOUSE OF PLASTIC BY KENGO KUMA

Kengo Kuma is a star in a new generation of Japanese architects. His work is characterized by a delicate simplicity and minimalism, producing a wide range of ephemeral transparencies. The "Plastic House" features large areas of glazing on the ground floor, but most parts of the building were made of fiber-reinforced plastic in order to achieve the desired qualities of lightness and openness. Next week author Botond Bognar will introduce Kuma's work and describe this house of transparencies.

ACOUSTICS FOR HOME THEATERS

Thomas Carlyle said: "Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves." Although the 19th-century Scottish philosopher couldn't have predicted it, his wisdom also applies to modern-day home theaters. As technology has made it possible for homeowners to enjoy a theater-class audio experience, it's become important for their home theaters to be designed for silence as well as its opposite, so that music and sounds are heard as intended. Next week acoustician Christopher Klein will explain what goes into "sound conditioning" such spaces.