START
The bus station in Hoofddorp, Holland, could easily pass for a giant packing peanut. Made of polystyrene blocks covered with a taut polyester skin, the 50,000-square-foot depot is the world's largest completely synthetic structure. The nontraditional materials cut costs by at least 50 percent, keeping the quirky project within a $1.1 million budget. Savings aside, it was a tough sell. One of its designers, Maurice Nio of NIO Architecten, explains: "A lot of energy went into proving that it would stand for 20 years, that it wouldn't burn, that it would hold football fans after a big win, that kids couldn't get on the roof, and that beer cans and snow would fall off."
START
hype list
Why Stock Options Still Rule
Grassroots Geeks for Governor
Ranking Privacy at Work
The Graffiti Early Warning System
Optical Alchemy
Your Guide to New York's Spycams
The Architecture Zoo
How Brown Gets Around
Foam Depot
Jargon Watch
The Robot Air Corps
Frosty the Painkiller
Darpa's Gambling Man
Wired l Tired l Expired
On the Record
