KieranTimberlake The 613,000-square-foot embassy, set to break ground in 2013 and finish in 2017, will be the centerpiece of a 4.9-acre park site in Nine Elms, now comprised of warehouses and low-rise offices. Image courtesy KieranTimberlake/Studio AMD United States Embassy

Kohn Pedersen Fox This spiraling, supertall office tower in the heart of London's financial center has been under construction since 2008, but work is currently on hold. When complete, it will reach 941 feet and 64 stories. Overlapping rectangular glass panels on the exterior of the facade will give it a snakeskin appearance. Image courtesy Kohn Pedersen Fox The Pinnacle

Stanton Williams The renovation of King's Cross station (designed by John McAslan and Arup) will be capped off with a new public square to be completed by the end of 2013. The 1970s concourse extension will be demolished and replaced by 75,000 square feet of open space, with seating and an area for outdoor art exhibitions. Image courtesy Stanton Williams King's Cross Square

Dixon Jones Architects Squire and Partners Kim Wilkie Associates The 12.8-acre site near trendy Chelsea and Belgravia was built in the 1860s and decommissioned and sold in 2008 for $1.5 billion. The master plan, to be completed in phases over the next six years, envisions housing, retail, and green space. Image courtesy Chelsea Barracks Partnership Chelsea Barracks

Unknown With its iconic four chimneys, Battersea is ripe for regeneration. Real Estate Opportunities purchased it in 2006 and tapped Rafael Vi'oly to master plan the site, but the architect's future involvement is unclear. The station is up for sale again. At press time, the Chelsea Football Club was one of 15 to make a bid. Photo © Russ Anderson Battersea Power Station

Rafael Vi'oly Architects Dubbed the "Walkie Talkie" because of its top-heavy shape, this 39-story, 1.1 million-square-foot office tower is under construction, with completion expected in 2014. A sky garden will feature 360-degree views of the city. Image courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects 20 Fenchurch Street

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners This 47-story office tower looks like it might shave a block of parm quite well, hence its nickname: "The Cheese Grater." In fact, the wedge profile respects views of St. Paul's Cathedral. Image courtesy Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners 122 Leadenhall Street

The Elkhorn River Research Station could be mistaken for a rusting vestige of the steamboat days, left to disintegrate on the riverbank about 30 miles west of Omaha, like so many other industrial cast-offs.

Where there’s an architect, there are probably a few more—from the same gene pool. Architects beget architects, so it seems. Eliel Saarinen had Eero Saarinen. Two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s sons, Lloyd and John, became architects. Walter Gropius’s father was an architect. And if not begotten, then nearly so: Maya Lin’s architect aunt, Lin Huiyin, helped conduct the first comprehensive study of architecture in China. Charles Eames was the nephew of architect William Eames. Henry Smith-Miller, of Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects, could (and perhaps should) write a book about his family of architects, which stretches back, with baroque twists and