I. M. Pei caused a stir when he built a pyramid at the Louvre in the 1980s; another pyramid caused a similar stir in Philadelphia during the same decade.

Architects and builders are now designing Zen gardens, meditation rooms, yoga studios and private chapels for their highest-end clients. But domestic shrines are simply the equivalent of exercise equipment: aids to help us stumble into moments of transcendence.

Architectural Digest presumes that its readers want to stay au courant with hedge fund managers and Hollywood celebrities. But what about those of us who might have a different reference group for our home decorating fantasies?

From Louis Sullivan to Frank Lloyd Wright, some of the world's most creative modern architects never went to architecture school, and some never went to college. They got the hang of good design on the job by watching pros do it— and then they did it, their way.

Imagine my surprise upon finding that FDR's hideaway— where the president hosted the British royal couple in 1939— shared much in common with my own middle-class childhood Philadelphia home.

What have our starchitects done for the common man? Very little. But the recent recognition of Toyo Ito suggests that the tide may yet turn.

Many of Frank Furness's quirky Victorian buildings have vanished, like the Victorian age itself. But his benign influence persists in the life of great American cities, especially Philadelphia.

This crowd-pleasing show celebrates the sometimes-unsung heroes of the film industry: the costume designers. It's the equivalent of light summer reading, fast-paced and fun.

Three architects appeared at Penn recently to talk up their design for the Barnes Foundation's new museum on the Parkway. The event, overlooked by the media, took special care to ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room. It also raised a new question: Why abandon a building designed by Paul Cret for a project by Tod Williams, Billie Tsien and Laurie Olin?

Most famous architects impose their grand visions upon nature. Malcolm Wells, by contrast, subordinated his ego to nature.