A little diversion from Vietnam...
I am pleased to see today that the French architect Jean Nouvel has been named the Pritzker Laureate in Architecture for 2008. This prize is the equivalent to the Nobel prizes applied to architecture.
He has produced modernist designs that are very tailored to sites and circumstances, along with structural flair. Here is an example from Lucerne (Luzern), Switzerland -- the KKL Culture and Convention Center, or Modern Art Museum.
When I took these photographs in 2003, I couldn't get over how knife-thin the edge of the cantilevered roof was.
The exterior enclosing walls or screens have the layers of material that I think is becoming the hallmark of a new architecture of the information age.