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
	AIA/ALA LIBRARY AWARDS In León, Mexico, a white stone-and-glass-clad structure expresses monumental solidity while maintaining indoor-outdoor connectivity. A three-story pergola of white-painted steel covers a plaza and rooftop terrace, adding a rhythmic lightness to the composition. This is the new library designed by Pei Partnership Architects for the state of Guanajuato. — Published 2009.0408
	TOKYO SWATCH BY SHIGERU BAN The new Swatch flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza district immediately stands out from the surrounding high-end fashion boutiques on this densely packed street. There is no doorway, no visible sign, and no glass storefront. Instead, a towering four-story void in the streetscape seems to signify a civic-scale entry. — Published 2009.0218
	DELFT MEDIA LIBRARY Durability through transformation. That was the architects' vision for the DOK Library Concept Center in Delft, the Netherlands. The multimedia library occupies part of the overhauled Hoogovenpand, a 1970s mixed-use building facing a public square. Architects Liesbeth van der Pol of Dok architects (no relation) and Aat Vos of Aequo BV revitalized the gloomy building, creating the library space among existing commercial and residential functions. — Published 2009.0128
	CHICAGO AIA AWARDS 2008 For a Chicago house they call Case Study 1875, the architects collaborated with engineers and fabricators to develop a skin thermally isolated from the structure, allowing an experience of indoor-outdoor connection without great loss of heat during the cold Illinois winters. — Published 2008.1203
	CATHEDRAL OF LIGHT The soaring Cathedral of Christ the Light designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has transformed an old retail and commercial district in Oakland, California, into a vital sacred and civic gathering place. The all-new 224,000-square-foot (20,800-square-meter) complex for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland brims with amenities, including a public plaza and garden, health clinic, conference center, gift shop, and cafe, as well as clergy living quarters. — Published 2008.1105
	SMALL PACKAGES One of the principal tactics that underlies the work of Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis is the inverting of the value of constraints, by recasting the limitations of a project as the trigger for design invention. By maneuvering imaginatively within operational boundaries, the latent potentials of the project can be teased out of the very restrictions that would seem to weigh it down. — Published 2008.1022
	OSLO OPERA The new Oslo Opera House is a monumental architectural statement for Norway, providing a glamorous new home for the National Opera and Ballet and a striking public plaza overlooking the Oslofjord. Instantly shedding opera's snooty, high-art image, the new building by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta slopes down from the roof to the water's edge. The gleaming-white marble threshold between land and water welcomes hundreds of people on a sunny day. — Published 2008.1008
	ART IN BEIJING With Beijing hosting the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Chinese government has sought, like a typical Olympic host, to make a statement about the country's progress. In China's case, this has included some ambitious and high-profile architecture projects, such as Herzog & de Meuron's spectacular bird's-nest-like National Stadium. — Published 2008.0716
	YOUNG VIC RENEWAL The redesigned Young Vic Theatre by London architects Haworth Tompkins is more than just the extension and renovation of a local theater in Lambeth, South London. It is a radical, minimally designed new facility that celebrates the history of the place and highlights the ambitions of the local arts community. — Published 2008.0709

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