It has been a busy season in the world of architecture, from new libraries to new landscapes.Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin joins us to discuss the opening of Northerly Island’s new nature park and the cutting edge design of the newChinatown library. He'll also update us on the status of a global search for architects competing to work on the Obama Presidential Center.

Northerly Island's nature preserve was offically opened last Fridaywith a dedication ceremony that included Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Dick Durbin, along with members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Chicago Park District. The park includes approximately 43 acres on the southern portion of the 91-acre peninsula that was formerly occupied by the Meigs Field airstrip until 2003.

In a recent column, Kamin wrote this of the new Northerly Island nature park:

Designed by landscape architects SmithGroup JJR with Studio Gang Architects, and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the new Northerly Island parkland will offer a taste of the habitats, from ponds to marshes to prairies to savannas, that existed before development overran the Chicago area.

That sounds like an eco-Disneyland, but the park has the ring of authenticity — and the feel of the urban wild — even though its landscape is man-made.

The hills don’t just provide relief from Chicago’s pancake-flat landscape. They block noise from the drive and screen out nearby Burnham Harbor.

Below: Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other officials attend a dedication ceremony for Northerly Island Park.