Rafael Viñoly at ArBITAT Architects

Often emphasizing structure, Rafael Viñoly has designed and built a portfolio of impressive projects throughout the world, including the winning the competition for the 1 Billion Dollar (US) Tokyo International Forum. Its soaring, heroic, wedge shaped atrium is a rare open space in such a dense city, all steel and ramps and glass. It was conceived and built during the last gasp of an unprecedented economic upturn, and still requires enough maintenance that at least all those busy window washers never felt the unfortunate and unprecedented economic downturn that soon followed.

Tokyo International Forum
(1996) Tokyo, Japan

The Tokyo International Forum is more than just a big, shiny expensive atrium that's right next to the Shinkansen tracks. There are theatres, exhibition halls, conference rooms, a gallery and a friendly JTB Travel Office in the basement.

Click here to go to the Tokyo International Forum site. Maps, seat layouts and event calendars are all available, in Japanese and (luckily) English

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
(2001) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The (mostly) good people of Philadelphia seemed to wait an eternity to get that concert hall on South Broad Street, what they ended up now seems to have been worth all that waiting. Two buildings inside a building, all under a glass arched greenhouse complete with rooftop trees and a pretty good view of South Broad Street.

Click here to go to the Kimmel Performing Arts site. Even if you decide that you don't need to see a performance, the atrium is (almost) always open and the roof garden is open between performances, just take the somewhat hidden passage on the left until you find the glass elevators

Princeton Football Stadium
(1998) Princeton, New Jersey, United States

Rafael Viñoly's new Princeton Stadium is right (about) where the old one was, but there are a few differences. The new stadium is surrounded by a clean, concrete ring that protects some structurally interesting upper grandstands.

Click here to go to the stadium part of the Princeton University internet site. If you've made it all the way to New Jersey and still haven't seen enough Vinoly, start walking downhill until you find the Institute for Integrative Genomics, the brick lab building with the cool sunscreen

Jazz at Lincoln Center
(2004) New York City, United States

Stuck right in the middle of David Childs shopping mall, supermarket, CNN studios, office tower, apartments and expensive hotel complex at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, Rafael Viñoly's small space has the best views, right down 59th Street and all across the park.

Click here to go to Jazz at Lincoln Center internet site. Technically Jazz at Lincoln Center isn't at Lincoln Center, an irrefutable fact that no one really seems all that concerned about