GRAND TETON VISITOR CENTER

Early in the design process of the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson made several key design decisions that were critical to the success of the project.

PIANO IN CHICAGO

Renzo Piano is known for his finely tuned designs, especially for a refined talent in dovetailing elegant new architecture with an existing context, playing on contextual strengths without duplicating the neighbors.

He has achieved this feat once again at the Art Institute of Chicago, where a light-studded new museum wing by Piano opened in May 2009. The Art Institute's new addition is laudable in its intelligent siting, sensitive scale, urban presence, and manipulation of light.

SEATTLE LOFTS

At the edge of the Pike Street and Pine Street corridor in downtown Seattle is a public transit-oriented neighborhood populated by mixed-use developments. The 40-by-80-foot (12.2-by-24.4-meter) site for the 1310 E. Union Lofts was an infill (midblock) plot, smaller than a typical single-family residential lot in Seattle.

MAGIC BLUE BOX

A giant blue cuboid has sprung up in Copenhagen, Denmark. This striking scaffolding box wrapped in translucent blue fabric is the new Copenhagen Concert Hall.

During the day, the building's blue skin largely conceals the faceted forms within, with peeled-back areas on the sides of the steel-framed box showing that the outside wrapping is more than just an imposing blue billboard. From the right angle, visitors can see vague outlines of the building forms beneath the translucent textile.

More Architecture and Design

Library : more Contemporary Design and Architect Articles

Design Last Week

Design Department Archive