The cool, white, glass sheds that house the new Turner Contemporary in Margate, England are a surprising addition to this rough-and-tumble, seaside neighborhood, which is dotted with empty lots and abandoned buildings. In fact the building, a home for contemporary art exhibits and education programs, sits on the site of an old rooming house where the great eighteenth-century English landscape painter J. M. W. Turner once lived and worked. The new building, designed by English architect David Chipperfield, captures the delicate northern light and misty Margate seascapes so beloved by the painter with specially-oriented skylights and windows. While the structure was conceived in homage to ethereal views and lighting, it’s strong and seaworthy. It’s got high, broad galleries to properly show off large-scale contemporary painting and sculpture. And it’s protected with a concrete plinth and opaque glass panels that have been designed to resist corrosion, humidity, and even the occasional overpowering wave.