FACADES BY FRONT

Focusing on conceptually and technologically sophisticated facades, the consulting practice Front has had considerable influence on high-profile projects despite its small size. Bruce Nichol, a partner and cofounder of Front, talks with Jon Dreyfous, Elite Kedan, and Craig Mutter about his experience working with Renzo Piano on the New York Times Building in New York City, and with Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) on the China Central Television Headquarters (CCTV) and the Seattle Public Library. — Editor

MAKI'S MIT MEDIA LAB

For an academic unit that produces such forward-thinking projects as electronic ink, humanoid robots, and a digital opera, one might expect an edgy, geometrically wild building by Zaha Hadid or Coop Himmelb(l)au. But for the new building for the MIT Media Lab, Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki designed a serene example of classic modernism — a glass-and-steel form wrapped in an elegant aluminum screen.

FOSTER'S NEW OPERA

The extroverted Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House by Norman Foster has sprung up in Dallas, Texas, across the street from the internally dynamic Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre by REX and OMA.

BEHNISCH DOUBLE-WALL FACADE

The twelve-story Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, located at the University of Toronto's St. George campus, is a high-performance building that achieves impressive levels of energy efficiency and — with airy, light-filled spaces throughout — attention to occupant comfort. The building responds intelligently to its climate and orientation with an enclosure system that presents an open face to the campus and adapts to changing environmental conditions. At the same time, it strikes a balance between automated and individually controlled devices.

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