Introduction By Sam Lubell London's recent buildingsare some of the most vibrant in the world. From the daring shape-making of Norman Foster's 30 St. Mary Axe, more familiarly known as the Gherkin, to the cool, layered artistry of David Adjaye's Rivington Place, these projects are internationally admired and have played an important role in the city's conversion from an architectural backwater to a world capital of contemporary design. Economic growth, resurgent popular interest in architecture and design, heightened political and nonprofit support and funding, and London's relatively new status as Europe's creative and financial melting pot have all contributed to this radical shift. Taking advantage of this climate, a group of talented firms are creating unique, artful projects that derive inspiration from contemporary forms and technologies, the city's glorious urban chaos, its fascinating collision of history and modernity, and its palpable energy. They range in scale from tightly-fit house additions to skyline-altering towers. As recently as the 1980s and early 1990s, the architectural situation did not seem promising: government support was declining, development funds were low, and traditionalists were railing successfully against innovation. As architect Peter Barber confesses, "At cocktail parties, London architects were not proud to tell you what they did.

" But in the mid-1990s a perfect architectural storm began to brew. England's economy began to recover and then to thrive, spurring an unprecedented level of building and a phalanx of cranes to rise high above London's historic spires. Popular interest in, and acceptance of, innovative architecture reached new heights as sleekly designed consumer products gained cachet, as architecture began being covered in the mass mediabestowing celebrity status on architectsand as controversial buildings became popular conversation starters.