How does one explain the fascination with Peter Zumthor? It is not because of an architectural style.

During the 1970s, artists transformed light industrial buildings in New York City’s SoHo district into studios and residences.

History, if left forgotten, can fall perilously to the wayside. Such was the fate of the Washington, D.C. landmark Atlas Theater Cinema until a foundation sought to transform the former 1930’s movie house and adjoining vacant storefronts into a new, state-of-the-art 58,000-square-foot performing arts facility.

Though embedded in a mammoth, mixed-use development, the comparatively modest 50,590-square-foot Suntory Museum of Art confidently stands its ground.

For years, the Japanese have been infatuated with Manhattan real estate. Timeless and elegant, New York landmarks fronting gracious avenues are everything that the vast majority of Tokyo buildings are not.