The Contemporary Jewish Museum

This guide to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco starts with the building's earlier life as a 1906 electrical substation that helped power the city back on after the earthquake and fires. It follows architect Daniel Libeskind's later redesign, which folds a tilted blue steel form onto the original brick, and traces the Hebrew wordplay he built into its shape, its staircases, and a chamber called the Yud. Look for how the numbers keep repeating as you move through the building, from the staircase underfoot to the diamond-shaped windows overhead.