MUSEUM AT THE CROSSROADS

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has opened another venue in downtown San Diego, California, a city near the U.S. border with Mexico. The institution's second museum occupies a new building and a historic one-story train station. Next week writer Leigh Christy will explain how Gluckman Mayner Architects faced the challenge of representing the intersection of museums, countries, and railroad lines and of blending new and old (photo by Philipp Scholz Rittermann).

UNBUILDING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Depending on your generation, you may have been taught: “Waste not, want not." Yet thriftiness is only one incentive for deconstructing buildings for reuse. Decrepit structures may be the source of high-quality construction materials. More importantly, perhaps, reuse of building materials offers a direct and measurable way to reduce one’s negative effect on the planet. Next week, deconstructors Bob Falk and Brad Guy will explain how and why they pursue this environmentally constructive activity. (Photo by Barry Stup.)