POSTCARD FROM STUTTGART Dear ArchitectureWeek, When I first arrived at the Akademie Schloss Solitude near Stuttgart, Germany, I was struck by a flamboyant baroque and rococo construction. From a tree-lined avenue, one sees the cream-cake-like layering of arches and ornament of the Solitude Palace, commissioned by Herzog Karl Eugen between 1763 and 1767. Today, 30 artists and architects are in residence at the academy. — Published 2005.0525
	SWISS ARCHITECTURAL SUMMER Strange figures have appeared in Switzerland this summer. A rusty cube rises over 100 feet (30 meters) out of Lake Murten. Three giant saucers hover over the shoreline of Lake Neuchâtel, and another blurry shape is at lake's end. In the so-called Three-Lakes region, the four cities of Biel, Neuchâtel, Murten, and Yverdon have been connected into a network of sites and temporary structures this summer for Switzerland's sixth national exhibition that will run through October 20, 2002. — Published 2002.0814
	FINNISH VARIATIONS Contemporary Helsinki is anything but a sleepy small town as one might know it from the films of Aki Kaurismaki. Even though today's inhabitants don't lack any of the charm of the Leningrad Cowboys, the economic boom propelled by communication technology has altered the scene: entire areas of the city are renewed, rebuilt, re-invented. — Published 2001.0627
	THE GLAMOUR OF SIMPLICITY: AMERICAN MODERNISM Book Review: Modernism Rediscovered, by Pierluigi Serraino and Julius Shulman. Taschen Books, 2000, ISBN 3-8228-6415-3. — Published 2001.0221
	MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN CUBA Book Review: The Havana Guide: Modern Architecture 1925-65, by Eduardo Luis Rodriguez. Princeton Architectural Press, 2000, ISBN 1-56898-210-0. Cuba is not made only of sandy beaches and Spanish colonial buildings but has astounding works of modern architecture to present (and to preserve). If the recent movie, "The Buena Vista Social Club" didn't make it clear, this newly published guide to architecture in Havana from 1925 to 1965 surely will. — Published 2000.1220

Sabine von Fischer