Don't be confused if the issue of ARCHITECTURAL RECORD you're reading doesn't look like everyone else's. We created two covers this month—half of our readers are receiving one, and half the other—because two very different museums, both designed by Frank Gehry, are opening in October, and each has a compelling story about its design and construction. Maybe you're looking at the magazine with the highly anticipated Fondation Louis Vuitton museum in Paris on the cover—an amazing composition of huge curving glass canopies wrapped around a white-paneled structure, which looks both grounded and about to take flight. Or maybe you have the cover that shows an aerial view of the Biomuseo in Panama City, a small, plucky concrete building with a vibrant roof of brightly colored angled metal, designed for an institution devoted to the biodiversity of that tropical region. The Paris and Panama museums were each inspired by their settings, and each displays an ingenious use of unconventional forms that is a Gehry hallmark. But, yes, they differ vastly in ambition, construction, and budget (though no one is confirming what the elaborate and finely detailed Paris project actually cost). Both covers were beautifully shot by RECORD contributing photographer Iwan Baan.

Such architectural projects are a major component of city life (images of the Biomuseo became a branding logo for Panama before the museum was even finished). And in this issue we explore the rising popularity of urban living in America, and one of the biggest problems accompanying that trend: the affordable-housing crunch. Taking three in-demand cities as case studies—Boston, New Orleans, and Portland, Oregon—we explore the forces that are pushing up the population and accelerating rents, and report on some solutions that the public and private sectors are pursuing. Our Building Types Study this month details the designs of exemplary low-income and affordable-housing projects, focusing on those in cities with mild climates, where architects have made the most of indoor/outdoor space. We also look at market-rate and micro housing that could serve as prototypes for innovative solutions.