Four towers make their mark with inventive facades, innovative structural systems, and new strategies for defining public space—and they still meet the sky in graceful ways.

This special section, which also serves as Continuing Education, examines firms of varying sizes and the challenges—and opportunities—that they face today.

Innovative shading solutions not only provide protection but further architectural expression.

Architects rethink residential design strategies in the wake of last year's destructive California wildfires.

A Brutalist building in New York is reinvented as prime office space with a glossy new skin.

Architects tap the ancient technique of rammed earth, giving it renewed relevance.

School buildings can encourage children to be more physically active, helping develop their bodies and their brains.

Four new community gathering spaces raise the bar on acoustics.

On an island in New York, Cornell Tech opens a high-tech campus that marries education and entrepreneurship.

Five years after Sandy, two forthcoming projects in the Northeast offer models for other vulnerable regions.