Is Randall Stout's star on the rise?

It seems so. The Los Angeles-based architect, who designed the planned new Art Museum of Western Virginia, has just been picked as architect for the future Art Gallery of Alberta, Canada.

Stout's design for the project won an international competition that included such luminaries as Zaha Hadid, winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architects in 2004.

Anyone familiar with Stout's Roanoke design will recognize his touch in the Edmonton project. The gallery expansion, to cost $41 million in U.S. dollars, features curving stainless steel roofs, zinc-clad walls and lots of glass -- all also prominent in the Roanoke plan. The design, which will double the size of the art gallery, also makes use of environmentally friendly design elements such as daylighting and water-based heating and cooling systems, which Stout incorporated into his Roanoke museum as well.

"That was a big win for us," Stout said last week. "We're really excited about it."

Meanwhile, in case anyone was wondering what Washington Post architecture writer Benjamin Forgey really thinks of Stout's Roanoke design, following his mostly positive review Sept. 25-- well, you can stop wondering.

"I really think the world of it," Forgey said in a recent telephone conversation. "My feeling is, it's going to be a very beautiful building."

Forgey, who writes a column called "Cityscape" for the Post, rejects criticism that the design is too much in the style of Stout's former boss, superstar architect Frank Gehry.

"Frank Gehry would never have done a prow like that," said Forgey, referring to the Roanoke museum's soaring glass entryway. He also praised Stout's plans for the museum interior, in which a naturally lighted foyer leads to artificially lighted gallery spaces and then back to daylight at the opposite end. He said the interior shows an understanding of the work of Hadid, while Stout's allusions to nature recall the work of New Mexico architect Antoine Predock. "I think Randall's his own man," Forgey said.

The contrast between Stout's ultra-modern design and the circa-1900 buildings on the same block didn't bother Forgey. "I think they fit rather snugly in there," said Forgey of the old buildings. "They should feel protected by that thing. They'll be little stars in their own right."

Forgey did criticize the museum for removing an IMAX theater from its plans late in the design process without giving Stout an opportunity to redesign the whole building accordingly. He called the IMAX matter "a fiasco." Museum executive director Georganne Bingham disagreed, noting that the IMAX space is being redrawn to include expanded gallery space upstairs and a "flexible space" below for lectures and movies. "It's opening up lots of opportunities for us," she said.

She also said Forgey's article has focused national attention on Roanoke. "Everybody is watching this museum."

Museum officials hope to begin construction of the new museum this fall.

More free tickets!

Opera Roanoke, which has been handing out free tickets to students for this season's productions, is doing it again for "Appalachian Christmas" with old-time music great Mike Seeger on Dec. 4. For information call 982-2742. But hurry -- the 200 freebies are going fast, said opera operations director Susan Tapp.

"Flood of '85"

The History Museum of Western Virginia will spotlight the famous flood via photographs and news documentaries through Dec. 30. The exhibit includes photos by Tommy Firebaugh and two video documentaries by WDBJ (Channel 7). The history museum is located at Center in the Square, whose first floor was submerged in the flood. 342-5770; www.history-museum.org.