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The newly opened Terminal B and Concourse at Sacramento International Airport was known as The Big Build, mostly due to the billion dollar price tag. Over the past four years, it has been the single biggest construction project in California. Designed by Fentress Architects in association with Corgan Associates, the new terminal dramatically improves the entire airport experience for travelers

A 56 foot long polygonal rabbit by artist Lawrence Argent leaps through the void towards a giant suitcase on the baggage level below. Though I must admit to conjuring up thoughts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s “death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth…” every time we walked by.

Light entering the terminal through the south facade screens casts an ever-moving variety of shadows throughout the day

How is it I’m always the last to know about these things?

Almost a year after the book was released, I discovered that one of my images was used on the cover of the 2011 Almanac of Architecture & Design.

The project shown was the new Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount Universtity in Los Angeles, designed by AECOM

To hear “We’ve been placed in a holding pattern” usually elicits a collective groan from passengers onboard any San Francisco bound flight. But depending on the day and of course your proximity to a window, this sometimes results in a wonderful display of color and form from below.

Located on the south-western edge of the University of California San Diego campus, the Keeling Apartments are the newest addition to the Revelle College Student Housing. Named after Charles David Keeling, a scientist famous for recording the progressive buildup of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, a precursor to the notion of Global Warming, the apartments were designed by Philadelphia architectural firm Kieren Timberlake and are in line for a Platinum LEED rating.

The sun shades, created from a recycled material protect the west and south facades from the Californian sun but keep open the amazing views out along the nearby Pacific Coast.

Walking around the apartment buildings, there are obvious references to the existing material palette used throughout the campus since the 1960’s. In particular, as we were framing up views at Keeling, one couldn’t help but recall the exquisite, poured-in-place concrete of Louis Khan’s nearby Salk Institute, beautifully photographed by Ezra Stoller in 1977.

In Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, Steinberg Architect’s Golden West College Learning Resource Center has opened. The light filled interior houses several classrooms, staff offices, a resource library and extensive tutorial facilities.