Completed in 2010 in Irapuato, a city in the south-central region of Mexico's Guanajuato state, Procter & Gamble's (P&G) Planta Milenio illustrates the potential gains of rethinking the architecture of today's factories. While the design, by architects Davis Brody Bond with engineering designer and project manager Arup, is rooted in the company's industrial process, it balances utilitarian goals with those that have emerged in the global economy—environmental sustainability, worker retention, and productivity. “They wanted as much flexibility as possible,” says Davis Brody Bond partner Christopher K. Grabé. The design team held workshops with P&G employees to understand the manufacturing process.

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