Architect: Abalos and Herreros Madrid, Spain Project: Municipal Multi-Function Lounge Colmenarejo, Madrid, Spain All images courtesy of Phaidon Press

Attempting to identify the architects who are "setting the pace for the future," Phaidon Press asked 10 critics (an international group that included curators, academics, writers, and practicing architects) to each select the 10architects they felt were "producing the most exceptional work today." The result, 10X10, is a jumbo-size, heavily illustrated 468-page book that features the designs of firms both acclaimed and obscure. Metropolis asked the two American critics--Terry Riley, chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Aaron Betsky, curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art--to talk about two of their selections.

Terry Riley:
Architect: Abalos and Herreros Madrid, Spain Project: Municipal Multi-Function Lounge Colmenarejo, Madrid, Spain

Abalaos and Herreros exemplify a new generation of Spanish architects that has successfully melded a broader international awareness with the specificity of Iberian architectural culture--a culture heavily influenced by the patterns and the forms of an unusually strong and vibrant urban tradition. Their Municipal Multi-function Lounge is a perfect example. Like their earlier project in Simancas, the lounge is a reconception of the medieval hall, a large open space capable of being an omnibus urban space. The tectonics of theproject, however, are those of the well-informed global observer of the built environment; it's an essay in lightness and material expression.

Architect: Brad Cloepfil/Allied Works Architecture Portland, Oregon Project: Maryhill Overlook Goldendale, Washington

Brad Cloepfil's work bridges a number of gaps in current architectural culture. The Maryhill Overlook engages architecture and the landscape in an astoundingly provocative way. Alternately, the project frames distant panoramas,provides shelter, serves as a viewing platform, and acts as a metaphor for the desert landscape in eastern Oregon. As with all architects who have a real feel for the relationship between theory and practice, Cloepfil reminds usthrough his work that tectonics is first and foremost a visual phenomenon,to which function and technology are secondary. Furthermore, his natural tendency is to fulfill the potential of any theoretical project, to realize itin such a way as to test and perfect the building art.

Aaron Betsky:
Architect: Rob Wellington Quigley San Diego, California Project: San Diego Main Public Library San Diego, California

Rob Wellington Quigley is the master of Southern California ad hoc builders--of Southern California modernism, or of what I call Home Depot modernism.He uses the way we make buildings today--relying on stud construction andaffordable materials--to make buildings that are appropriate to the landscape in a way that is spectacular. The San Diego Main Public Library building,unfortunately, is not going to be built. It was an attempt to find out whata civic architecture would be for a place like San Diego, which has not seen many civic buildings since the beginning of the twentieth century. It is agreat open-air structure, almost completely open at the top, a great reading room.

Architect: Neutelings Riedjik Rotterdam, The Netherlands Project: Minnaert Building University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Neutelings Riedijk's forms originally look like nothing else you've ever seen before, but they make sense in the end. They have a strong contrast between light and dark, a sequence of spaces you experience over time, and great caves in the interiors of their buildings. The Minnaert Building has a greatcave inside. It has a blown-on concrete facade with no direct relationship to anything around it. It is an expression of the fact that it is a center for earth sciences, but it doesn't represent that as much as evoke it. In addition to the great hall, it has wonderful nooks for people to work in or hideout in. This is a building with an intricate set of public spaces.