Completed in 2003, the new Salt Lake City Central Library is one of the finest examples of civic architecture around. It was designed by Moshe Sofdie and has a rooftop garden that is accessed by a climbing wall. Phenomena views of the city and surrounding mountains. What I really like however, is the fact that you can get coffee in the lobby. And not just the swill you get from Starbucks, but locally roasted coffee from the Salt Lake Roasting Company. I have yet to find better coffee. SLC is not known for great architecture, but there is the occasional gem. You can learn a bit more about the building in my "travelogue" section under Salt Lake City.

Check out Mr. safdies's website at http://www.msafdie.com/.

Click here to get more info on the building and the SLC library system itself.

Often overlooked in the shadow of the Denver Art Museum Addition is a smaller museum with a smaller budget. The Museum of Contemporary Art is slated to open in October of 2007. While the materiality of the structure has deviated slightly from the original concept, it promises to be wonderful building. I had the opportunely to listen to the architect David Adjaye speak during the competition to design this building and I think he brings a certain sensitivity to the artist that many architects may lack. It is shooting for a gold LEED rating, though I am uncertain if they were able to attain that.

More from the museum website here.

More on David Adjaye at http://www.adjaye.com .

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While I don't really have a favorite architect, Renzo Piano would be very close.

Archiplanet.org appears to be an offshoot of Wikipeedia. Lots of good info on specific buildings and architects.

Greatbuildings.com is a wonderful site with information on countless works of architecture, You can search by building, architect or region.

Vitruvio.ch is similar to Greatbuildings.com. Search based on architect, region, etc.

Architecture Week is an online periodical...Very cool.

Snohetta is a very innovative firm based in Oslo with offices in New York. I like the fact that they will take on the very small as well as very large projects.

Glenn Murcutt is a phenomenal Australian architect. Alas, no website. This Wikipedia page will have to do.

Akropolis.net is a very well laid out informational site on architecture.

Enrique Norten of TEN Architectos. World class architecture from Mexico

Santiago Calatrava is a world renown Spanish architect. He also a very cool flash site.

UNESCO UNESCO World Heritage website. Amazing historical and architectural sites all over the world.

Rick Joy - This Tucson based architect finally has a website, though it appears to be down at the moment.

Before Libeskind, there was Coop-Himmelblau. Talk about plane crash architecture.

A & A is an online data base of art and architecture projects developed by the Courtauld Institute of Art.

USGBC The US Green Building Council. They are responsible for LEED and the LEED rating system. While the system is not perfect, it does raise awareness. A Good green building resource.

Sustainable Resource Guide A sustainable design resource guide.

The Urban Land Institute is a non profit organization made up of professionals from both the private, public and educational sectors of the real estate and development industry. Created in 1936, the focus of the organization is the responsible use of land. The Myth & Fact series of publications is particularly useful in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of certain types of land planing.

Mixed Income Housing - Myth & Fact

Environmental Development- Myth & Fact

Higher Density Development - Myth & Fact

Smart Growth - Myth & Fact

Urban Infill Housing Myth & Fact

A good list of links related to responsible land use is provided by the Kansas Urban Water Quality Protection Initiative

The DOE has a data base of energy efficient buildings is available here. It evaluates the performance of 96 buildings based on numerous environmental criteria.

NREL is the National Renewable Energy Laboratory based in Denver. They sponsor research for companies trying to develop green technology.

Sustainable Sources Another link with great builder and designer resources.

The Solar Decathlon is an event sponsored by the DOE. Every other year 20 schools from around the country compete to develop a small scale, but fully functional home built on the National Mall in DC. Homes are judged on environmental and design criteria. The University of Colorado won the last two events.

Ecosustainable Links More links to sustainable sites than you could possibly visit. A very exhaustive list.

Wikipedia provides a very comprehensive definition of what constitutes sustainable architecture.

William McDonough - As with Glenn Murcutt, one of the original promoters of the practical use of green design.

The EERE software directory. A directory of the most up to date software to aid in sustainable design.

BEES software. Analysis the environmental life cycle of building materials.

Transpired Solar Collectors - A very cost effective and architectural way to essentially preheat air as it enters a building. More information at evironmental-expert.com

Green roofs are becoming more and more cost effective. Controlling runoff and reducing the heat island effect, their main drawback is that people are afraid of them. Greenroofs.com & Greenroofs.org are fairly comprehensive sources on the subject.

http://www.aerotecture.com - Wind turbines. a good alternative to windmills.

Energy Star a rating given by the EPA for products that meet certain energy saving requirements. Sort of the Good Housekeeping seal for energy efficiency.

Architecture 2030 - An organization working towards the goal of carbon neutral buildings by the year 2030.

Sun Chart Program - A free web based program developed by the University of Oregon to calculate sun charts for any given location

A couple of handy sun angle calculators are available here and here. Critical to green design