NEW WOOD WORK Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,— no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground,— my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,— all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. — Published 2011.1102
	LEED FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS The Empire State Building made headlines recently for achieving LEED Gold certification following a major green retrofit project that will reduce the skyscraper's energy consumption by more than 38 percent. The building's electric chiller plant was rebuilt, electric meters were installed at the tenant level, and all 6,514 window units were removed, refurbished to improve their energy efficiency, and reinstalled. — Published 2011.1012
	TUNING A BUILDING AT KIERANTIMBERLAKE At KieranTimberlake, we frequently conduct postoccupancy building monitoring to verify the performance of our buildings. Preproject monitoring services are used to diagnose and treat existing buildings. A monitoring program preceded renovation work at Yale University's Sage Bowers Hall, a 1920s-era classroom and office building. The study compared existing uninsulated construction with mock-ups that added new insulation and energy-efficient window assemblies. — Published 2011.0928
	NOTES FROM MANHATTAN: HIGH LINE TO WTC New York on the cusp of fall: the light has that very yellowy tint that only happens this time of year, and the air seems clear as crystal. A quick jaunt around Manhattan Island — literally one afternoon, just before the tenth anniversary of September 11th — reveals new, continuing, and still-becoming works of architecture. — Published 2011.0907
	POSTCARD FROM AN ESTUARY Dear ArchitectureWeek, Houseboats, by and large, do their best to recreate the quotidian comforts of the standard dwelling in compact, waterborne form. Any greater sea-living aspirations are often left to the overreaching desires, and budgets, of the yachting set. — Published 2011.0914
	PREDOCK'S CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS "You never know, even if you think you do, where you're going." —Antoine Predock The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is intended to be an educational museum of ideas rather than objects, where we can "explore the subject of human rights, with special but not exclusive reference to Canada," according to the museum's web site. — Published 2011.0803
	UP ON THE ROOF More than half of all the single-family homes in the United States were built in the last three decades of the 20th century, and it is estimated that half again of the current total number of dwellings — about 80 million — will need to be built in the next three decades of the 21st century. — Published 2011.0727
	LIGHTING WITH STEVEN HOLL Architect Steven Holl spoke about his approach to architectural lighting in a conversation with Hervé Descottes of the lighting design firm L'Observatoire International, which frequently collaborates with Holl's firm. —Editor Hervé Descottes: How do architecture and space make use of light? — Published 2011.0713
	HOW TO WRITE A HISTORIC STRUCTURE REPORT One could say — at least in a generic sense — that any report written about a historic structure could be considered a historic structure report. The term, however, has evolved over time, taking on a very specific and far more limited meaning. Here we take the reader through the typical structure and content of a Historic Structure Report (HSR) and, in doing so, demonstrate what makes the HSR distinct from other documents and important in its own right. — Published 2011.0518
	GARDEN MEANING Let us put an end to the endless disputes between those who think that "anything goes" (what the French call bouillon de culture: a sort of "culture medium" or "broth") and those who are unconditional supporters of a single, unique "good taste." — Published 2011.0413

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