New World Center

Frank Gehry's 2011 New World Center performing arts venue is an ambitious stab at the civic transcendence of blockbuster architecture, the building is a testament to the city's ability to reinvent itself after years of shaky real estate developments. In all respects, the Gehry campus is intended to be used as an everyday social arena, not simply gaped at. Visitors to the adjacent 21/2-acre park, designed by the renowned Dutch firm West 8, can watch rehearsals and symphony patrons through a six-story glass curtain wall, as well as concert broadcasts and video-art murals on a 7,000-square-foot projection wall. As Gehry explains, "The building is meant to be a seduction, a way to lure people in by blurring the distinction between the private and public realms."