Gary Comer Youth Center, Chicago

^Zol87- flickr/cc license
Wealthy philanthropist Gary Comer put $30 million into a building that would stop teen drug use and violence by building "self-discipline and confidence" for the youth in his hometown. Can an architect dream of anything better than this? The project started as a facility for the South Shore Drill Team. But together with architect John Ronan, he developed it into something much more involved.

The colorful lines and LED display on a tower overcomes the dreary industrial context. Because safety concerns prevented much glazing, the colors and decoration liven things up. It is secure yet inviting. Three levels of space are connected by interior windows, with a procession of transparencies that begins with extrusions of glass. A gymnasium ties everything together in the center.

Comer passed away soon after the building's completion in 2006.

More Info
More Info


^reallyboring- flickr/cc license

^Ricardo Phillips- flickr/cc license

^Zol87- flickr/cc license

^Zol87- flickr/cc license

^vinzcha- flickr/cc license

Main Railway Station LDZ, Linz

^noniq- flickr/cc license
Neumann & Steiner is considered the architect for the Landesdienstleistungszentrum in Linz, Austria, but the urban renewal bahnhof project has several regional and international architects that worked on portions of the project. The result is a rather hodge-podge structure with competing languages and a rather high cost (€18.4 million).

But this is appropriate for a transportation hub hauptbahnhof, it certainly speaks of speed and modernity. The variety of connections and space communicate what I consider the modern culture of Austria.

More Images , More Info , More Info (German)


^kawanet- flickr/cc license

^noniq- flickr/cc license

^Linzer- wikipedia/cc license

^- flickr/cc license

^außerirdische sind gesund- flickr/cc license

Euskalduna Jauregia, Bilbao Spain

^dalbera- flickr/cc license
The Congress and Concert Hall Euskalduna Jauregia opened in 1999. Designed by Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios, the building contains four auditoriums, two restaurants, meeting rooms, a theater, an exhibition hall, and an auditorium.

Similarly to Frank Gehry's project, this building emulates a ship. It's name comes from a ship-making business. The main auditorium emerges as if from a dam with a pond located on the east end. Two dozen metal trees illuminate the main entrance.

More Info , Post-occupancy evaluation


^losmininos- flickr/cc license

^josu.orbe- flickr/cc license

^josu.orbe- flickr/cc license

^dalbera- flickr/cc license

^dalbera- flickr/cc license

^dalbera- flickr/cc license

^dalbera- flickr/cc license

^misko13- flickr/cc license

Møller Centre, Churchill College Cambridge

Henning Larsen designed the Moller Center for Continuing Education at Churchill College. Striving for a purity of form, Larsen makes the functionality of the building evident, with residential, conference rooms, and Lounge bar.

Natural lighting is a theme of Larsen's work. Also typical is the glowing lantern that staples the whole project together. In it we see his "building within a building." The white pagoda adds an exhilarating aspect to the facility (completed in 1992), almost religious, in wonderfully simple yet articulate complex.

More Info
Also by Henning Larsen: Der Spiegel Headquarters, Copenhagen Opera House


^Myrmi- flickr/cc license

^dumbledad- flickr/cc license

Halle Tony Garnier, Lyon

^Pariis- wikipedia/public domain
The Halle Tony Garnier takes on an industrial structural form based on what was seen at the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris, which revolutionized architecture as a machine of function. In 1914 it started as a slaughterhouses for cattle, and in 1988 Reichen & Robert Associates turned it into a world-class concert hall.

Tony Garnier conceived the building as a concrete structure combined with a steel frame to hold large panes of glass in the ceilings and walls.

The slogan We like to live if art is a god for us kinda shows how Garnier's utopian theories influenced Lyon. He is largely responsible for zoning of functions, in­dus­try versus recreation and education, and for the reduction in the presence of law enforcement in hopes that people could rule themselves. This building is both monumental and working-class.

More Info


^Leandro's World Tour- flickr/cc license

^Leandro's World Tour- flickr/cc license

Vancouver Public Library, Canada

^keepitsurreal- flickr/cc license
Moshe Safdie designed this seven story rectangular box of library stacks connecting to an elliptical, day-lit public space. The exterior activities and connections between these spaces establish a fascinating atmosphere that reminds one of ancient Roman commerce and society.

This relationship becomes more complex as the adjoining Federal Government Office Tower comes into play. The $100 million project also established a vast roof-garden. What civic complex would be complete without a roof garden? Completed in 1995, Safdie pushed a mundane Post-modern structure into something truly interesting.

More Info and Images
Also by Moshe Safdie: Holocaust Museum


^masatoshi_- flickr/cc license

^Yos Wiranata- flickr/cc license

^sillygwailo- flickr/cc license

^jeff_w_brooktree- flickr/cc license

^The Real Darren Stone- flickr/cc license

City Council CH2, Melbourne Australia

^marco 2000- flickr/cc license
Mark Pierce designed this green, yet beautiful city council building for Melbourne, Australia. Concrete mass provides natural thermal mitigation as wooden panes characteristic for the outback home shields glazing. Portrusions on the west end catch the wind and drive it up through stack vents in the ceiling. These vents are celebrated in yellow on a green roof gathering space.

The green pours down the building's other end like a waterfall through window stacks. The building acts as a billboard for green practices and sets a natural setting for civic character.

More Info



^marco 2000- flickr/cc license

^talof2cities- flickr/cc license

^avlxyz- flickr/cc license

Citroën C42 Building, Paris France

^philos from Athens- flickr/cc license
Add Citroën to Mercedes Benz and BMW as companies who advertise their cars with flashy architecture. Located on Champs-Élysées, the building assumes an element of national economic pride. The company's chevron logo inspires the front facade, and gives opportunities for window displays and interior views.

An elevator sends visitors to the roof for views of Paris. Eight car displays stack atop each other to follow this movement, with natural light carefully integrating with display lights. Architect Manuelle Gautrand builds on the automobile's characteristic modern avant-garde in a structure whose only function is to display.

More Info


^axelouuu- flickr/cc license

^Roman Lashkin- flickr/cc license

^jacme31- flickr/cc license

^Lorkan- flickr/cc license

^Lorkan- flickr/cc license

Peninsula House, Victoria Australia

The St Andrews Beach House in Mornington Peninsula, Victoria is a second home that allows the client to unwind from a stressful week at the office. Kitchen and living spaces are separated from the private bedroom spaces with an outside space. Temperature is uncontrolled in order to bring the client back to natural rhythms. Transparent skins carefully filter sun and climate conditions.

Sean Godsell Architects explored the primitive outback settlement to find natural ways of heating/cooling, and a loose method for defining spaces inside and outside. It's modern yet built on historical precedent.

More Images and Info

Dutch Embassy, Berlin

^Kent Wang- flickr/cc license
The Netherlands Embassy in Berlin Germany began as a concept of civil function and "Dutch openness." A trajectory for functional space is carved out of cube, which establishes the site as a block in the city. Main public circulation spaces are emphasized and add a vibrancy. A diagonal axis cuts through the cube to afford views of the Fernsehturm, which activates an air duct system.

Completed in 2003, this project starts to heal the rationalism of OMA/ Rem Koolhaas with cultural values and political significance.

More Info and Images
Also by Rem Koolhaas: Casa da Música, IIT Student Building, CCTV Headquarters


^Kent Wang- flickr/cc license

^Kent Wang- flickr/cc license

^Kent Wang- flickr/cc license

^Lauren Manning- flickr/cc license

^Lauren Manning- flickr/cc license

^tom taylor- flickr/cc license

^tom taylor- flickr/cc license