Inserting a precisely detailed retreat for art into a high-rise building in the middle of bustling Hong Kong required some extraordinary measures. In a city like Hong Kong that's largely shaped by its density—where space is tight and often has to be improvised—you can wind up with surreal results.

Sometimes called “the city within a park,” Toronto is known for its ravine system–natural river valleys that create urban oases.

Like a pair of jugglers, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe approached the Integral House, in Toronto, as a balancing act—creating a building that seems to defy basic forces of architecture.