ART URBANE

The contemporary art museum increasingly shares responsibility for the well-being of its parent city, supporting tourism and its consequent revenue, and galvanizing local redevelopment.

So the Figge, a new museum by British firm David Chipperfield Architects, on the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, not only envelopes its collections in a luminous and strictly orthogonal embrace, but it stands as a glowing emblem for the regeneration of Davenport's riverfront downtown.

IRELAND EYE

For a highway-side retail park in Galway, Ireland, Douglas Wallace Architects have designed an unusual and refreshing cinema. Views in and out of the building are key parts of the experience, and the theaters themselves are dramatic and artfully crafted, with special attention to detail. A glamorous theatricality reigns both inside and on the exterior facade. This is not your typical multiplex.

WHERE PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Blacksmithing is such a fundamental craft that in French, the familiar proverb, "practice makes perfect," takes the form, "c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron," or literally in English, "it's by forging that one becomes a blacksmith." — Editor

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