Year in Architecture 2012: A Study in Grace

Interconnections of learning and living are the key to the flexibility of the new 15,500 square foot Commons at the Richard J. Daley Library, University of Illinois at Chicago. CREDITS: David Woodhouse Architects, architect; photo, Christopher Barrett.

A grey limestone exterior mixed with iron-spot brick on the American Bureau of Shipping Information Commons at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay, achieves a building skin that is distinctive and contextual. CREDITS: Perry Dean Rogers l Partners Architects, architect; photo, Richard Mandelkorn Photography.

There is nothing square about the Cube at the William E. Morgan Library, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. The 24-hour study space has tons of glass for a panorama of campus views. CREDITS: Studiotrope Design Collective, architect; photo, John Eisele, Colorado State University.

More all-day, all-night study occurs at the two-story Center for Science & Social Science Information, Yale University, New Haven, CT, with group study rooms and a sunken courtyard in a space that combines the operations of three formerly separate units. CREDITS: Apicella & Bunton LLC, architect; photo, Carl Kaufman © Yale University.

The Steelcase LearnLab™ at the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, is a technology-enhanced active learning classroom that incorporates multiple learning styles in a single setting. CREDITS: Mark R. Beebe, Moody Nolan, RQAW Corp., McGee Designhouse, architects; photo, Mark S. Simons, Office of Marketing and Media, Purdue University.