“How many works does an architect need to build to be valid? One,” said Steven Holl recently, referring to the late Lebbeus Woods's only permanent structure, Light Pavilion, which is embedded in (and juts out from) one of five towers that make up Holl's Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, China.

Based in New York City, Chan-li Lin has worked for Rafael Viñoly Architects for 22 years, focusing on large projects.

Situated on a skinny lot at the edge of downtown Santa Barbara, California, architect James Gauer’s 1,500-square-foot Brous-Scherer house is an anomaly in a town known for its code-enforced adherence to the Spanish Colonial style.

While Washingtonians haven’t exactly led the pack in their desire for modern residences, Robert Gurney, a D.C.-based architect, says that has dramatically changed since he began his practice in 1990.

Cleveland's three largest employers'Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals'sit just shy of East Cleveland, the most bombed-out part of town, where foreclosures and population decline have taken the highest toll.