CANADA
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Its neighbors to the south may dismiss Toronto as a sleepy town, but Canada's largest city is home to some of North America's most exciting new architectural additions. In 2007, New York City-based Daniel Libeskind unveiled his jagged, jewel-like entryway to the staid neo-Romanesque facade of the Royal Ontario Museum. And now, the latest of the design vanguard to come to town is no outsider but a prodigal son. Local boy Frank Gehry has renovated and expanded Toronto's principal fine arts museum. What's most remarkable about Gehry's first hometown commission, for those familiar with his metal-clad blockbusters, is how discreet it is. Instead of tearing down the august 1918 Beaux Arts building, Gehry wove stairs, ramps, and catwalks through the original structure. Exposed wooden beams recall the hull of a ship, while the swelling glass facade imitates wind-filled sails. Inside, these undulating windows frame the surrounding Victorian residences, near Chinatown and the shopping drag of Yonge Street. Outside, the panes are fun house mirrors, reflecting the bric-a-brac. "The idea here was to engage the city," Gehry has said. "When you go to the gallery, you're always looking back at it" (416-979-6648; ago.net).

CHINA
Linked Hybrid, Beijing
Beijing's most innovative new residential project—dubbed Linked Hybrid by its architect, New York-based Steven Holl—connects eight 22-story towers at their upper floors with pedestrian bridges, some of which have views of the Forbidden City, two miles away. The 2.4-million-square-foot complex is also linked to the surrounding city, thanks to shops, restaurants, a movie theater, and a central park, all open to the public. (Travelers who'd like to linger may one day be able to check into a planned outpost of Hyatt's new Andaz hotel brand.) Critics point out that despite the openness of the design, the prices of the 720 apartments are prohibitively expensive for all but the rich, and the development does nothing to alleviate the city's worsening social divisions. It does, however, tackle China's growing environmental concerns: Built on the site of a former factory, Linked Hybrid taps into more than six hundred geothermal wells some three hundred feet belowground to help heat and cool the air, uses a water-recycling system for the toilets, is clad in recycled aluminum, and has bamboo-covered floors. "We are making the largest green community in the history of Beijing," says Holl. "This sets an example for many kinds of urban development" (stevenholl.com).

QATAR
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
With its cloud-piercing towers and artificial islands visible from space, Dubai steals the show when it comes to construction, but while its building boom is grinding to a halt, other gulf cities are taking center stage. The latest project of note: Doha's Museum of Islamic Art, an institution devoted to the faith's centuries-old role in fostering science and culture. Here, Chinese-born, New York-based I. M. Pei meshes ancient and modern forms. "Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something," Pei says. "I don't want to forget the beginning. Architecture has to have roots." On a man-made islet accessible by a short bridge, Pei's museum and adjacent educational center do just that. Constructed of French Chamesson stone, which is durable enough to withstand both sun and seawater, the complex has a heft that suggests permanence. The stack of geometric shapes is informed by eighth-century Tunisian fortresses, a ninth-century Egyptian mosque, and Spain's Alhambra, as well as by the monumental works of Louis Kahn. Inside, galleries house centuries-old astrolabes, calligraphic scrolls, ornate silk tapestries, Spanish columns carved with Islamic motifs—objects that are equally timeless (974-422-4444; mia.org.qa).