MCGILL UNIVERSITY CYBERTHÈQUE For decades, the lower level of the Redpath Library Building at McGill University languished as a drab, dimly lit, compartmentalized box within which books and students were stowed. That changed when the Montreal school revamped some of that standard institutional library space into the Cyberthèque — an open, stylish, technology-centered learning space that has become one of the university's most popular study areas. — Published 2009.0923
	CHURCH OF BOOKS Though surely not as great a source of significant contemporary architecture as cultural institutions, places of worship — in one form or another — continue to generate invention and cutting-edge design. The reuse of places of religion for other purposes sometimes poses the problem of deconsecration, with the reticence some users may have when asked to dine or party in a former church. — Published 2009.0916
	POSTCARD FROM MAPLE GROVE Dear ArchitectureWeek, Inside and outside, this building comes across initially as nice, but seemingly a bit buttoned down, handsome yet perhaps a bit conventional in affect. — Published 2009.0805
	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. — Published 2009.0805
	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. — Published 2009.0722
	PELLI'S PLATINUM VISIONAIRE At first glance, the glossy new 35-story condominium tower slicing into the lower Manhattan skyline doesn't stand out as a beacon of sustainable design. Its sleek form — an extruded curving wedge accented with red terra cotta bands — looks more Ferrari than Prius. And the structure's granite base and travertine lobby walls are elements not usually associated with green building. — Published 2009.0610
	ROTTERDAM PERISCOPE Willem Jan Neutelings of Neutelings Riedijk Architects spoke with Emiliano Gandolfi, a correspondent for The Plan magazine, about the Dutch firm's design approach as exemplified in the Shipping and Transport College in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. — Editor Emiliano Gandolfi: Part of the gradual revitalization of the port of Rotterdam, the Shipping and Transport College is the ultimate "urban icon," not at all what one would expect of a school building. How did it come about? — Published 2009.0520
	GREEN SYNAGOGUE When the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, Illinois, set out to build a new synagogue, they found the goal of achieving LEED Platinum certification arising naturally from the spiritual context. "The Torah teaches us that the earth does not belong to us, that we are but stewards of God's creation," says Rabbi Brant Rosen. "Building the most sustainable facility possible was for us a religious act." — Published 2009.0415
	MULTI-ELEPHANT HOUSING BY FOSTER The Copenhagen Zoo's new Elephant House by Foster + Partners emerges gently from the surrounding park grounds, its two leaf-patterned glass domes topping walls of pink-hued concrete. At once playful and serious, transparent and solid, this modern menagerie provides both high-quality living conditions for the animals inside and an exciting and interactive visitor experience. — Published 2009.0401
	PICTOU LANDING HEALTH CENTER The new medical clinic and community center in the Pictou Landing First Nation in Nova Scotia recalls a longhouse, the traditional winter lodge of the Mi'kmaq. Sustainably harvested spruce poles, six to eight inches (15 to 20 centimeters) in diameter, are bent and lashed together at the tops. Like a giant wooden model of a whale's ribcage, clad with rows of oversized spruce shingles, the peaked frame is an adaptation of traditional Native bent-wood construction. — Published 2009.0114

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