Articles originally published 1997-2009 in the New Yorker, the New York Times and Metropolis magazine.
Includes index.

Introduction -- Buildings that matter : Good vibrations -- High-tech bibliophilia -- Unconventional -- Seductive skins -- Spiraling upward -- Situation terminal -- Out of the blocks -- Places and people : Bringing back Havana -- Casino royale -- Forbidden cities -- Many mansions -- The Eames team -- House proud -- Eminent domain -- Toddlin' town -- New York : A helluva town -- Dior's new house -- Busy buildings -- High-tech emporiums -- Miami vice -- West Side fixer-upper -- Center stage -- The incredible hulk -- Triangulation -- Home -- Towers of Babble -- Gehry-rigged -- New York becomes like America -- A new beginning -- Present and past : Shanghai surprise -- Why Washington slept here -- Athens on the interstate -- A royal defeat -- Down at the mall -- Requiem -- Museums : The politics of building -- The people's Getty -- When in Rome -- Beaubourg grows up -- The supreme court -- Art houses -- A delicate balance -- Artistic license -- Outside the box -- Molto Piano -- Mile high -- Lenses on the lawn -- Bowery dreams -- Hello Columbus -- Ways of living : A touch of crass -- Part perfect -- Glass is the new white rock -- Some assembly required -- Homes of the stars -- Green monster -- Disconnected urbanism -- The sameness of things.