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Encompassing a mere square mile of area, the City of London exemplifies a dense urban fabric. Commercial real-estate developers have typically responded to crowded conditions by reaching skyward: two of London's three tallest buildings'the KPF-designed Heron Tower and Renzo Piano's Shard, both completed in 2010'are within this downtown core. The opening of One New Change that same year demonstrates that not every contemporary icon requires a place in the skyline. Located directly across from St. Paul's Cathedral (itself a onetime record holder in building height), Jean Nouvel's mixed-use complex comprises 560,000 square feet on only six floors. The low-slung arrangement

By 2009, the independent, nonpartisan Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) was well on its way to fulfilling its vision to be the world's leading think tank on the global economy, global security, the environment and energy, and global development. Founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, cofounders of the Waterloo, Ontario'based wireless-technology firm Research in Motion (now BlackBerry), and strategically located in the province's Technology Triangle, CIGI had experienced rapid growth in its research programs, and had recently partnered with the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University to launch the Balsillie School of International Affairs. In

In the rarefied world of Swarovski crystal there is a new jewel'the Daniel Swarovski Corporation headquarters. Situated on the tranquil eastern shore of Lake Zurich, in M'nnedorf, Switzerland, the new building, designed by D'sseldorf-based Ingenhoven Architects, is as beautiful a work environment as one could imagine. For 118 years, since Daniel Swarovski invented the precision-cutting machine that revolutionized the crystal-glass industry, the company has grown to manufacture decorative products that are irresistible to such iconic fashion houses as Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior, making Swarovski a tony household name. Fast forward to 2010, when the $2 billion'plus company charged Ingenhoven

Designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the Manufacturers Hanover Trust building's glass curtain wall and luminous interiors communicated a new transparency for financial institutions when completed in 1954. But the building that attracted 15,000 visitors on its opening day made less auspicious headlines in October 2010 when exiting tenants removed its site-specific Harry Bertoia sculptural screen and mobile. The change was just the latest in a long list of modifications that diminished 510 Fifth Avenue's original design. Flanked by two popular retail corridors'the established Flagship Row between 49th and 59th Streets and the Bryant Park area

Los Angeles, California The Getty wrangles a herd of exhibitions on postwar architecture and design. Photo © Ed Ruscha/J. Paul Getty Museum In a keynote address at the University of Southern California in 1940, Frank Lloyd Wright dismissed the built environment of Los Angeles as amounting to little more than a “dish of tripe.” But even without the notable houses he'd built there himself, the city's unfolding architectural saga was already more complex and, in some respects, more appealing than a dollop of offal. And over the next half-century, L.A.'s rapid evolution would produce enough fare–both loathsome and savory–to merit

Fogo Island Todd Saunders Photo By Iwan Baan Canadian-born, Norway-based architect Todd Saunders returned to Newfoundland to design a 29-room inn on tiny Fogo Island. His client, the nonprofit Shorefast Foundation, employs local craftspeople and workers to establish a new economic base for an “outport” community once dependent on fishing and shipbuilding. The inn combines green-design strategies and vernacular forms to create a dramatic retreat that makes a profound connection to a rugged place.

Mariinsky II Diamond Schmitt Architects St. Petersburg, Russia After a decade of hotly contested design and construction, conductor Valery Gergiev's opera house thrills audiences amid ongoing discord. Photo by Tim Griffith Almost any route through St. Petersburg leads among florid palazzos, their pastel plumage reflected in quiet canals. Founded almost exactly 300 years ago, the city's core is pretty much complete, so it's surprising that one new architectural extravaganza, the 2,000-seat Mariinsky II opera house by Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects, should be so ostentatiously neutral (RECORD, April 2013, page 21). On first encounter you notice only its stolid bulk, that