The March issue of IA&B acknowledges the phenomenon of skin, structure and thus the creation of space that has become an important element in communicating not only the big idea, but also the creation of volumes using fluid planes. We interpret "cool" as the ability to capture the mood through colour and animate the space by dynamic forms. We present this issue with a fresh set of ideas, which we define as 'cool' because they there are new, innovative and exciting.

PRODUCTS
Innovative products from across the world.

SPECIAL FOCUS - Cool Controls-Skin, Structure and Space

Morphing the Surface
ECDM through its design of the RATP Bus Centre in Thiais, Paris, portrays its practical and reflective approach to architecture.

Wrapping Spaces with the Skin
3XN reinterprets the classic Danish roots through its design of the new Randers Museum of Art.

Flexible Flaps
To design a building with the skin as the prime mediator between the inside and the outside life, Shigeru Ban uses a blend of traditional Japanese ideas.

Freedom of Expression
The New Museum by Japanese architectural practice SANAA moulds the building's exterior skin to make a statement both visually and metaphorically.

Controlling the Green
R & Sie takes the design of a 'green' façade to new heights in 'Lost in Paris'.

Pushing the Envelope
Beijing-based MAD Ltd. builds on its quickly acquired reputation to resolve conventional typologies with refined design strategies that harness advanced technology.

Architecture with a Global Conscience
Two recent institutional responses from the portfolio of Ashok B Lall Architects rebalance the needs of good design, user comfort, consumption and economics with an acute awareness of our environmental/global resources.

Surface Impressions
Three sample projects by Ofis arhitekti showcase a variation of surface treatments where simple morphing of the skin allows strong visual impressions and subtle impact on the planning.

Tailoring Form
Linking architecture and fashion with the concept of 'creating an envelope for protection'

Re-Interpreting the Facade
A review of four projects by London-based Heatherwick Studios to understand the different manifestations of 'skins' in the architectural vocabulary.

De-Materialised
An architecture of virtual materiality, bringing together human and environment through new media technology.

Morphology and future technologies of the building envelop
An overview of the historic nature of the building envelope and how it has changed over time with respect to requirement, functionality, design and construction technology

Book review
Old Delhi-New York: Personal Views.


POST EVENT
Instant Cities: Landscape, Infrastructure and Urban Form
ISOLA's 5th Annual Conference in Delhi focused on the nature and crisis of an increasingly emergent development phenomenon - the Instant City