Looking at a photograph of the waterfall that provides a launching point for the Combs Point Residence he designed for a lakefront in New York, Peter Bohlin says, “There’s nowhere else quite like it in the world.”

Ask anyone who has ever fallen in love with a piece of land and they will say that it is, in fact, a place unlike any other in the world. And Bohlin, Principal in Charge at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, designs with that distinctiveness in mind. Bohlin says, “Our work is always noted for thinking and feeling how a place is. It is intellectual and well reasoned but also takes into account that we are emotional beings.“

Without a doubt, including sustainable values in corporate identity and branding can increase demand, but embracing and executing these values is a whole other game. We talked with Sara Rothholz Weiner of the Minneapolis architectural firm Cuningham Group, which is responsible for leading the design team for Nilan Johnson Lewis, P.A. This Minneapolis law firm sought to discover how sustainability practices can be implemented by professional office space in a way that is effective and entirely comprehensive. Weiner provided us with insight on how sustainable integrity can be both genuine and positively beautiful.

An Un-Welcome Addition to NYC's Skyline

The Empire State Building is an emblem for New York City and has dominated the Midtown Manhattan skyline for 80 years. Following 9/11, it reclaimed the status of the city's tallest building, but soon it may have some close competition. Developer Vornado Realty Trust is financing the construction of a $3 billion tower designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects that will rise 1,216'-0" (370.6 m) -- only 34'-0" (10.4 m) shorter than the Empire State Building. The new 15 Penn Plaza tower will be located only two blocks away, on the site of the historic Hotel Pennsylvania near Penn Station. While some citizens and officials believe that New York is a perpetually evolving city and should welcome new additions, others balk at the prospect of the bulky new tower.

Many older homes have brick masonry fireplaces that can date a room. Short of removing the brick, what can you do to create a more modern look? One common method is to give the fireplace a new coat of paint. Join our host, Jeff Wilson, and guest Joe Grywalski, of JNG Painting, for a tutorial on painting a brick masonry fireplace.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) includes Levees on its 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, giving them a D–. The category of "Levees" covers major flood control works. However, what about the water that causes the flooding that levees protect against? Throughout drainage basins comprising thousands of square miles, stormwater runoff makes its way downstream. Obviously some systems convey that stormwater and even control it. ASCE says nothing about these storm sewer systems, but they form a vital part of America's infrastructure.

Your eyes sweep across the panorama. Rolling hills are bursting with colorful wildflowers of vivid orange, yellow, and purple. A Bay Checkerspot butterfly dances by in the flickering light reflected by what looks like a pond but is in fact a skylight of Renzo Piano’s California Academy of Sciences building. Piano worked with Academy scientists and a team of California professionals, including Stantec Architecture from San Francisco, to revitalize the California Academy of Sciences building, located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

In this second addition of “ROI-Driven Products," we take a look at insulation, which is a big part of a building’s envelope. When insulation is installed correctly, it provides the necessary R-value to meet the thermal demands of the region and the comfort demands of the building’s occupants. With energy prices on the rise, building envelopes have come under more and more scrutiny. Homeowners and business owners alike are now seeing the need to improve the building envelope and increase its overall efficiency.

Repositioning and Replacing a Wax Ring

If you have noticed water damage near the base of your toilet, chances are your toilet’s wax ring has failed. Although toilet leaks have several common causes, only a bad wax ring will require the removal and resetting of the toilet. When this problem occurs you could call a plumber or you could arm yourself with a little know-how and fix the leaking toilet yourself. To complete the job you will need towels, a flathead screwdriver, a crescent wrench, gloves, a putty knife, and a hacksaw.

It seems totally appropriate that the Mesilla Valley in Southern New Mexico is the site of one of the world’s most exciting feats of modern human exploration. Ever since the 1500s when Spanish Conquistadors scouted this beautiful valley along the Rio Grande River, this enchanted territory has seen travelers, traders, and tourists pass through its hostile reaches in search of better lives and new horizons. In the past, the Mesilla Valley was a place to pass through along the historic Camino Real for travelers on the trade route from Mexico City to Santa Fe. In the future, however, it will be an exciting destination, with the development of Spaceport America, the world’s first private spaceport.

The winning competition entry that Foster + Partners provided to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority makes no reference to the innate femininity of the firm’s design for Virgin Galactic’s Terminal and Hangar Facility at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. My response to this intuitively sensual design, however, was an immediate attraction to the curvaceous feminine symbology of the Terminal building.

It’s official: architects are in love with bamboo. A tree-hugging designer’s dream, bamboo is an eco-friendly, versatile, and durable material. More importantly, bamboo is the fastest growing perennial on the planet, making it symbolically a perfect choice for a city like Madrid, with its ever growing population and, subsequently, its enormous need for public housing. Located in the Carabanchel district, a “regeneration area” on the outskirts of Madrid, Carabanchel Social Housing is a state-subsidized, five-story residential project with 100 units, covered with bamboo louvres. (The structure itself is not made of bamboo, but bamboo is very prominent in the primary architectural statement it makes, due to the louvers.) Foreign Office Architects (FOA) credit Farshid Moussavi, Alejandro Zaera Polo, and others at FOA for Carabanchel Social Housing’s innovative design, which merges an environmentally conscious model with the social urbanization needs of the 21st century. One of the largest social housing projects in Europe, it was completed in late 2007.

Construction of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, located in Bentonville, Arkansas, has come far, far enough that the completion schedule has been finalized. Opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum has been set for November 11, 2011: the end of a long process is finally in sight. Construction began in 2006 and has progressed steadily. The project is complex, the site is challenging, and the buildings themselves have unusual features.