CANADIAN CONTEMPORARY

Canadian architecture has always eschewed the dominance of formalism for more complex and integrated solutions reflecting its humanist concerns. The strong social-democratic trend of governmental supervision and community control in Canada influences architecture through a complex framework of programming, design guidelines, zoning by-laws, and building codes, within which designers must operate. Such a system is unlikely to allow stylistic concerns to override programmatic ones.

STAL TRE HUS

An American caricature of a ski chalet has an A-frame roof, enough timber to build a dozen houses, and a trophy elk head over a stone fireplace. Defying this stereotype is the "Stal Tre Hus" by architect Joel Sherman, principal of JLS Design. With a name meaning "steel tree house" in Norwegian, this house features a flat roof, a steel structure, and neither elk head nor traditional fireplace.

SWISS AMBASSADOR’S RESIDENCE

The most unusual buildings in the U.S. capital city are often those erected by foreign governments for their embassies. Some are insipid interpretations of a country's architectural traditions. Others are inspired efforts to combine the best of a country's past architecture with cutting-edge trends.

MAYNE COURTHOUSE

The new Federal Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon by Thom Mayne and his Los Angeles firm Morphosis, is in some ways an outstanding building for this small city. Mayne certainly delivers a strong dose of visual excitement, but the depth of art in this architecture is more open to question.

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