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"Ten Daring New Buildings Around the World\nWhether a reimagined form or an entirely new structure, these great triumphs of contemporary architecture are sure to surprise, seduce, and inspire\nBaku, Azerbaijan\n\n Zaha Hadid Architects, 2012\n\nA seemingly continuous curve, this performance-and-exhibition venue emerges fluidly from its surrounding plaza, melding architecture and cityscape. Nodding to Islamic calligraphy and decorative motifs, the center is a bold contrast to Baku's prevailing hard-edged Soviet aesthetic. Glass-fiber-reinforced panels of concrete and polyester clad the building's exterior\u2014its undulating shape a feat of engineering, with structural supports embedded into the fa\u00E7ade allowing for column-free expanses inside. Sinuous surfaces are carried throughout the one-million-plus square feet of interior space, including a 1,000-seat auditorium lined in ribbonlike stretches of oak.\nFogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador\n\n Saunders Architecture, 2013\n\nA standout in an extraordinary setting, this waterfront structure is the latest project by architect Todd Saunders to grace the remote isle, off the coast of Newfoundland. The Norway-based talent previously completed a series of cabin studios for a local artist-residency program, and this inn\u2014opened in June\u2014echoes the spare vernacular-inspired style of those acclaimed buildings, albeit on a considerably larger scale. Totaling some 43,000 square feet, the hotel features a dynamic arrangement of geometric volumes, each sheathed in painted spruce boards. (There are 29 guest rooms as well as a restaurant and a spa.) Elevated on steel stilts above the rocky terrain, the edifice hugs the coastline, affording every room sweeping views of sea and sky.\nAmsterdam\n\n Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos with Van Hoogevest Architecten and Wilmotte &amp;amp; Associates, 2013\n\nOriginally designed by Pierre Cuypers in 1885, this vast and venerable institution reopened in April after a full decade of work to rejuvenate its brick-and-stone building and adapt it to 21st-century needs. Collaborating with Van Hoogevest Architecten (specialists in historic interventions) and designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the firm Cruz y Ortiz oversaw a meticulous restoration of the interiors, including the 19th-century rooms that house masterworks of the Dutch Golden Age. Most dramatically, Cruz y Ortiz reworked two glass-top courtyards\u2014removing galleries that had been added over the years\u2014and lowered the spaces several feet to connect them via an underground passageway. Outfitted with stunning nested light fixtures, the linked atriums (one is shown) now serve as the soaring entrance hall, complete with a caf\u00E9 and shop.\nAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates\n\n Aedas, 2013\n\nStanding 25 stories tall, these twin cylindrical structures ingeniously marry local customs with technical innovation. (The complex serves as the headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, an arm of the government.) Embellishing the glass-and-steel buildings are second skins inspired by mashrabiya, the latticework window coverings often seen in Arabic architecture. Unlike the traditional carved-wood screens, however, these automatically react to the sun\u2014their modular panels of Teflon-coated mesh opening and closing to reduce solar gain and energy consumption while creating shifting geometric motifs.\nMarseille, France\n\n Foster + Partners, 2013\n\nComposed of a bladelike canopy and slender support columns, this steel pavilion was an instant sensation upon its completion last March. The key to the folly's success is scintillatingly simple: Its highly polished underside reflects the bustling crowds below and the glistening harbor nearby, captivating passersby as well as the groups who flock to the historic plaza for outdoor performances and other events. Measuring 150 feet long by 72 feet wide by 20 feet high, the structure proves that a little bit of architectural alchemy can have a major impact on an urban environment.\nMonterrey, Mexico\n\n Tadao Ando Architect &amp;amp; Associates, 2013\n\nLike so many of the Pritzker Prize\u2013winning Japanese architect's impressive buildings, this new center at the University of Monterrey in Mexico combines a monolithic monumentality with a stark, poetic grace. Housing classrooms, studios, and meeting spaces, the sparely fenestrated concrete, cement, and steel edifice spans 223,000 square feet over six stories. A triangular void carved from its middle produces a dramatically angled canopy above an entrance and allows the building to straddle a path that leads into the heart of the campus (earning the structure its nickname, the Gate of Creation). It's a daring bit of formmaking, merging beauty and brawn to bold effect.\nKastrup, Denmark\n\n 3XN, 2013\n\nDenmark's new national aquarium, located just outside Copenhagen, is both a spectacular showcase for marine life and an homage to the sea. The 105,000-square-foot structure's five wings extend in a wavelike formation from a circular lobby. Diamond-shaped aluminum shingles clad the fa\u00E7ade, resulting in a striking interplay of light and shadow that changes throughout the day. That imagery is in turn mirrored in the surrounding reflecting pools, which hint at the dazzling display tanks (and 450 underwater species) that await inside.\nChristchurch, New Zealand\n\n Shigeru Ban Architects, 2013\n\nWhen a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand in February 2011, it ravaged the seaside city of Christchurch, killing 185 people, among them nearly 30 visitors from Japan. To honor the losses suffered by both countries, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban crafted this house of worship\u2014a temporary replacement for a nearby 19th-century Anglican cathedral that had been severely damaged. Named for the massive paper tubes that line its steeply pitched polycarbonate-clad roof, the 8,300-square-foot structure is supported by a base of eight steel shipping containers. Using repurposed and locally sourced materials minimized the project's environmental impact. Over the entrance, triangles of stained glass form a brilliant graphic pattern, a symbol of hope arising from the devastation.\nMiami\n\n Herzog &amp;amp; de Meuron, 2013\n\nThis waterfront museum stole the show when it debuted in December during the city's annual extravaganza of art fairs and events. Designed by the Swiss duo of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron with careful consideration for the subtropical locale, the three-story structure rests on an elevated platform to protect the building from flooding and features broad overhangs that shield its terraces and galleries from the sun. Suspended from the teak-and-concrete brise-soleil is a network of sculptural columns, each a vertical garden conceived by Patrick Blanc. The museum's floor-to-ceiling windows, meanwhile, lend a sense of indoor-outdoor harmony to the concrete-walled exhibition rooms, allowing for views of Biscayne Bay and Miami. The building is a model of intelligent, understated elegance amid a fast-changing skyline.\nBerlin\n\n Speech Tchoban &amp;amp; Kuznetsov, 2013\n\nComprising asymmetrical volumes stacked askew, this arresting edifice was devised by architects Sergey Kuznetsov and Sergei Tchoban as an exhibition space for the latter's wide-ranging collection of architectural drawings and ephemera. The 5,360-square-foot museum\u2014opened in June and also home to traveling shows\u2014boasts a unique fa\u00E7ade of molded-concrete emblazoned with a series of fine lines and swooping curves, which were lifted from historic sketches, then enlarged and repeated. Crowned with a glass-box space for offices, the museum is a dynamic, exquisitely conceived monument to the esteemed\u2014and diminishing\u2014art of design draftsmanship."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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