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August 8, 2012 Glass buildings kill millions of birds each year when the animals crash into windows. By studying how birds interact with buildings, architects and ornithologists are trying to create special features designed to keep birds alive.

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August 4, 2012 Thanks to one trailblazing industrialist, more than 60 of Columbus' buildings — including schools, churches and even a jail — were designed by a veritable who's who of modern masters. As one local tour guide puts it, "We don't build anything that isn't attractive."

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June 15, 2012 For the first time in history, more than half the world's population lives in cities. What draws people to them? What changes when people live closer together? Investigating the future of our urban zones, and what cities offer toward a sustainable future.

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May 30, 2012 Using recycled materials is increasingly common in building construction. But some architects are taking the green movement a step further, creating entire homes and businesses from discarded shipping containers. They call it cargotecture.

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April 18, 2012 Originally built as a tourist attraction for the 1962 World's Fair, the Needle's design was inspired by an abstract sculpture of a dancer. As the city celebrates the structure's golden anniversary, the Jetsons-era tower is getting a fresh coat of paint to return to its original glow. "You still kind of believe in that future," says one fan.

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March 5, 2012 What happens when you turn convention on its head and look a the world from a totally different perspective? It's an exercise in opening the mind by turning expectations upside down.

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February 27, 2012 For the first time, the Pritzker Prize has been awarded to an architect based in China. Wang Shu, 49, is interested in preservation, working slowly and tradition — ideals that are often at odds with today's booming China.

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February 25, 2012 Athenaeums are social libraries, cornerstones of a community where you don't just borrow books — you can visit cherished antiquities, hold talks, attend parties and even bring your dog. In Providence, R.I., the "Ath" is a 19th-century library with the soul of a 21st-century rave party.

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February 24, 2012 The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial isn't the only monument in Washington, D.C., that's grappled with how to make a correction. At the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, more than 100 names have been misspelled. So far, 62 have been re-engraved.

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