(Photo: From left: Courtesy of Pavarini McGovern; courtesy of Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects)

27. Urban Glass House
300 Spring Street
Philip Johnson’s finale isn’t his best work, but it’s still far better than you might expect directly across from a Holland Tunnel ventilation shaft. Transparency in an urban setting is double-edged, so the building’s windows are darkened, giving it the appearance of a high-end audio component. The area’s quick transition to fine living has made for a competitive climate in residential architecture. Generally a pleasing exchange.

(Photo: From left: Courtesy of Jean Nouvel (2) )

28. 40 Mercer Street
At Grand Street
This is the best sort of metamorphosis: from a parking lot to a work of genuine architecture by Jean Nouvel. The frame updates Soho’s cast-iron context, and the red- and blue-tinted windows cast a slightly sacramental glow.

(Photo: From left: Arquitectonica; Norman McGrath)

29. Westin Hotel
270 West 43rd Street
Rising on a site that desperately needed a jolt of personality, Arquitectonica’s hotel is what the French might call a jolie-laide, an ugly beauty—a dandy wearing too many plaids— and a nod to the theater district’s tradition of outlandishness. When the time comes to tear it down, watch the preservationists mobilize to hold on to some old-time eccentricity.