Provides an inside look at the work of celebrated architects and some of their most brilliant creations. Examines the saltworks of Arc-and-Senans built by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux in the late 18th century and the influence of this monumental factory on other architects. Looks at the Maison de Verre or the house of glass, designed by Pierre Chareau and completed in 1932, as an example of playful avant-garde architecture that was built around the top floor of an existing Paris building that the tenant refused to vacate. Discusses how the deconstructivist Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry and opened to the public in 1997, was incorporated into its environment in a dying industrial city. Describes how the self-educated engineer and architect Jean Prouvâe, known for his metal furniture, built a house for his own family in 1954 after the failure of his attempts to sell prefabricated, steel and aluminum houses to the French public. Examines the transparent cube of a multimedia library built in 2001 in northern Japan by architect Toyo Ito and its use of open and barrier-free space. Looks at the construction of the historic Abbey Church of Saint Foy as a prototype of a "pilgrim church" in the new style of the 11th century, now known as Romanesque.