The American Institute of Architecture has chosen its top buildings of the year to honor.

A total of 23 buildings and plans will receive the 2015 Institute Honor Awards, which recognizes extraordinary work in architecture, interior architecture, and urban design.

Featured here are 19 of the 23 buildings and designs from the architecture and interior architecture catagories, chosen by a jury of the nation's top architects.

The original Cambridge Public Library is a Romanesque masterpiece designed in 1889, but its size wasn't adequate for its 2,000 daily visitors. The solution was a beautiful new 76,000-square-foot glass building seamless attached to the original structure, creating a huge, open, and inviting space open to all. (William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.)

The Beats By Dre headquarters in Culver City, California was designed especially to be warm and inviting, as well as facilitate contact between the 650 employee's different departments. Skylights, bright and airy spaces, warm woods, and walls panted blue and red help accomplish this goal. (Bestor Architecture)

The Danish National Maritime Museum was housed in the the Kronberg Castle in Elsinore (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), but was evicted so the interior could be renovated. It moved into a dry dock next door, forming a multi-tiered design with gentle sloping paths. (BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group)

Sometimes you need to change your name to make it as a star in Hollywood or the music business.

When Michael Keaton accepted his best actor Golden Globe for "Birdman," he told the crowd his birth name was actually Michael Douglas.

The 63-year-old actor changed his name early in his career to avoid confusion with the actor of the same name and TV host Mike Douglas. It's believed he chose Keaton because of comedian Buster Keaton. 

Plenty of today's biggest stars don't go by their birth names — Reese Witherspoon, Mila Kunis, and Natalie Portman. 

However, you probably aren't familiar with how they ended up with their current monikers.

Mila Kunis — Milena Markovna Kunis

At the age of seven, Milena Markovna Kunis and her family moved from Ukraine to Los Angeles, Calif.

Mila's mother, Elvira, and father, Mark, soon enrolled her in acting classes and allowed Mila to shorten her name when she started booking her first roles on "Days of our Lives,""7th Heaven," and playing a young Angelina Jolie in "Gia."

Joaquin Phoenix — Joaquin Rafael Bottom/Leaf Phoenix

Joaquin Rafael Bottom is the third of five children, all with equally interesting names, including River (1970–1993), Rain (1973), Liberty (1976), Summer, and a half-sister Jodean.

After Joaquin's parents, John Lee and Arlyn Bottom, married in 1969, the couple joined the religious cult the Children of God and traveled around South America. But they soon became disenchanted with the cult and moved back to the U.S. in 1978, where they changed their last name to "Phoenix" to symbolize "new beginning."

Around this same time, a young Joaquin began calling himself "Leaf," desiring to have a similar nature-related name like his siblings. In a past Jay Leno interview, Joaquin said he had originally called himself "Antleaf" as a child.

Leaf would become the name he would use as a child actor until, at age 15, he changed it back to Joaquin.

Reese Witherspoon — Laura Jeanne

The Oscar nominee traded her first and middle name in for her mother's maiden name, "Reese."

Picking a job is personal, and there isn't one "best job" that would suit everyone.

Still, our list of 100 outstanding occupations exemplifies what makes working worthwhile: good pay, manageable work-life balance and good job prospects.

Before you send out your first application, check out which jobs top our list for 2015.

1. Dentist

Median Salary: $146,340 
Unemployment Rate: 0.9% 
Expected Job Openings: 23,300 

The best dentists deftly balance patient care with turning a profit — what good is the most nurturing dentist in town if he or she never sees any patients? But before getting to that stage, they endure rigorous technical and practical training in a competitive dental program. 

2. Nurse Practitioner

Median Salary: $92,670 
Unemployment Rate: 0.7%
Expected Job Openings: 37,100 

It's a nurse practitioner's array of capabilities, coupled with the fact he or she can work independently of physicians when treating patients, that makes this No. 2 job an attractive career choice. 

3. Software Developer

Median Salary: $92,660 
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Expected Job Openings: 139,900 

Software developers could work on the applications side, designing software, or on the systems side, building operating systems. 

All eyes will be on Davos, Switzerland, this week as thousands of world executives and government leaders come together for the World Economic Forum. 

While the ski resort town is probably most famous for hosting this annual meeting, it's known for many other things during the rest of the year. 

At 1,560 metres (5,100 feet), Davos claims to be to the "highest altitude town in Europe."*

*The fact is debated. For example, Livigno in Italy (1,860 metres) and Saint-Véran in France (2,090 metres) are both higher than Davos.

Davos is home to the highest brewery in Europe. Biervision Monstein bills itself as "the last beerstop before heaven."

Around 11,000 people live in Davos year-round. However, there are roughly 28,000 guest beds that can be commercially rented out, either in hotels or holiday apartments.

For years, it has been expensive for Americans to visit Europe because of the strength of the euro.

But the currency has just fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, meaning a European vacation is suddenly within reach for more thrifty travelers.

We've come up with the ultimate bucket list of travel destinations in countries that are on the euro.

From biking along the canals of Amsterdam to tasting Chianti in Tuscany, here are 35 things you should do in Europe now that the euro is crashing.

Julie Zeveloff, Megan Willett, Jennifer Polland, and Eliza McKelvey contributed to this post.

Marvel at the Moorish architecture and tranquil gardens of the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.

Stroll along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, in the south of France.

Dance to house music at an underground nightclub in Berlin, like Tresor.

Science shows us the new discoveries that change the world along with the amazing natural phenomena that have amazed humanity for thousands of years.

In 2014 we saw auroras transform the sky, massive snow storms, rivers that look like they're full of blood, and tiny beautiful creatures.

When Nebraska firefighters put out a blaze on Jan. 3, the water they sprayed froze against this building.

Source: Here's An Incredible Picture Of Sun Shining Through The Windows Of A Building After It Caught Fire

This nature shot from London's Richmond Park, titled “Stag Deer Bellowing,” by Prashant Meswani, was an honorable mention in National Geographic's 2014 photo contest.

Source: Here Are The Winners Of The 2014 National Geographic Photo Contest

Photographer Jimmy Nelson published a book called "Before They Pass Away" showing the vanishing tribes of the world. Here are three Kazakh men using eagles to hunt.

Source: 12 Epic Photos Of The World's Disappearing Tribes 

Kym Gold, the cofounder of True Religion Jeans, is selling her gorgeous Malibu mansion for $26.5 million.

Even though it's only one story, the Mediterranean-style home is huge with 6,600 square feet of indoor living space and 67,500 square feet of outdoor living space.

The five-bedroom home sits on 1 1/2 acres of land and has water and coastline ocean views. It also has an organic garden, tennis court, gym, and a heated pool.

Cormac O'Herlihy and Amy Alcini with Sotheby's Real Estate has the listing.

Welcome to the Malibu home of Kym Gold, the cofounder of True Religion Jeans.

The stunning property is on sale for $26.5 million.

The home sits on 1 1/2 acres of land and has a gorgeous gate welcoming guests into the home.

We recently stopped by SurveyMonkey, a Palo Alto startup that lets people create free, customizable surveys.

SurveyMonkey celebrated the official opening of its new office on Friday by letting employees autograph the sign that will hang outside its building.

SurveyMonkey may be turning 15 this year, but the bar, games, and group activities show its employees know how to have fun.

SurveyMonkey's HQ is hard to recognize from the street because the large signs aren't up yet.

SurveyMonkey's logo will be hung outside soon. Monkeys, as employees are called, posed with it while it was still in the lobby.

The first thing you'll see upstairs is a game room. Pool, ping pong, and foosball are some of the games monkeys play at work.

Although the college quad first became associated with academia on the campuses of Oxford and Cambridge, most of America's great universities now feature a central space surrounded by residence halls and classrooms.

Many of these collegiate spaces appear on the US National Register of Historic Places and are considered among the most iconic examples of American architecture and design.

We've compiled a list of some of the most beautiful and iconic examples of American campus quads:

Harvard University — Harvard Yard

Harvard Yard is the oldest part of Harvard's campus, and the buildings surrounding it include freshman residence halls and some of the school's main libraries.

University of Alabama — The Quad

The Quad at the center of UA's campus once hosted football games, but now might be best known as the home of Denny Chimes, a 115-foot tower. 

Cornell University — Arts Quad

Cornell's Arts Quad is the academic home of the Arts and Sciences college, and is watched over by two statues of the university's founders, Ezra Cornell and A.D. White.

University of Virginia — The Lawn

The Lawn at UVA was designed by school founder Thomas Jefferson, and the Rotunda at the north-end of the quad was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

University of Missouri — Francis Quadrangle

Mizzou's Francis Quadrangle — known on campus as The Quad — features two of the school's most recognizable structures, Jesse Hall and The Columns.

Yale University — Branford Courtyard

The courtyard of Yale's Branford residential college is considered by many — including, reportedly, poet Robert Frost — to be one of the most beautiful spaces of any college in America.

University of Washington — The Quad

The UW Quad is known for the scenic cherry trees that bloom in the springtime, bringing a beautiful light pink overtone to campus.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Killian Court

The center of MIT's Killian Court is the Great Dome, which is surrounded by marble buildings engraved with the names of prominent thinkers and philosophers.

University of Pennsylvania — The Quad

The UPenn Quad hosts the majority of freshman residence halls and is the most desirable place to live your first year on campus.

University of Maryland — McKeldin Mall

UMD's McKeldin Mall is flanked on either end by the school's main library and a statue of its mascot — Testudo — a diamondback terrapin turtle.

Stanford University — Main Quad

The Main Quad is home to the Stanford Memorial Church, considered to be the earliest nondenominational church on the West Coast.

University of Wisconsin–Madison — Bascom Hill

Bascom Hill is actually a drumlin — literally a "small hill"— that was likely formed by a glacier 20,000 years ago.

University of Michigan — The Diag

The Diag — known for the diagonal walkways that cut through the square — is a central meeting place at UMich.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Main Quad

The UIUC Main Quad houses Foellinger Auditorium, a concert space and lecture hall that can seat over 1,500 students.

University of Texas at Austin — South Lawn

High above the UT South Lawn stands The Tower, a 30-floor structure that is one of the most recognizable buildings on campus.

Southern Methodist University — Main Quad

A hundred years old this year, SMU's Dallas Hall is named in recognition to the city that houses the university and is modeled on UVA's Georgian-inspired architecture.

SEE ALSO: The 20 Most Fun Colleges In America

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Here's one tip to remember when choosing a college major: Passion should always trump paycheck.

That's especially important to keep in mind if you're interested in working with children, since college majors like elementary education and child development have some of the lowest starting salaries.

Payscale, the creator of the world's largest compensation database, recently looked at the starting pay for millions of professionals and sorted the results by college major to find who earns the least right out of school.

1. Early Childhood Education

Median starting pay: $29,700

Median mid-career pay: $38,000

% change from starting to mid-career: +27.9%

2. Child and Family Studies

Median starting pay: $31,200

Median mid-career pay: $38,600

% change from starting to mid-career: +23.7%

3. Culinary Arts

Median starting pay: $31,900

Median mid-career pay: $50,800

% change from starting to mid-career: +59.2%

With over a million apps out there and more launching every day, it can be tough to keep track of them all.

Luckily, we've collected the best apps of the past month so you can find something new to try out.

From time-saving productivity apps like Workflow to fun little games for passing the time like Bloks, you're bound to find something you like.

If you like Dots, Threes, or Tetris, you'll love Bloks.

Bloks is a simple and addicting little game that's great for passing time. The goal is to match four blocks of the same color in either a row or column by tapping and dragging individual blocks to switch their position.

Price: Free (iOS)

Nintype lets you type more than 100 words per minute.

Nintype is a keyboard app that combines swipes and double taps (for double letters) to make typing on your phone faster and easier, though you can always type normally if you'd like. There's also shortcuts for punctuation, emojis, saved texts, and hashtags.

Price: $4.99 (iOS)

Cloe is a concierge service that calls itself "Siri's smarter sister."

A mixture of Siri, Ethan, and Cha-Cha, Cloe comes in handy if you're looking for an answer powered by an actual human being. There's no literal app, instead you can simply text Cloe like you would a friend and ask her to help you find everything from a first-date spot to a place to board your dog.

Price: Free (sign up for wait list here)

Job interviews are nerve-wracking — but nerves are no excuse for the odd behaviors some hiring managers have seen from candidates in the hot seat.   

In a new survey from CareerBuilder, which was conducted online within the US by Harris Poll among 2,192 human resource and hiring managers, employers were asked to share the most memorable or unusual mistakes candidates made during the interview process. 

Scroll down to see the strange interview behavior.

The candidate kept repositioning and fidgeting with his duffel bag, which turned out to have a dog inside.

The candidate brought about 50 ink pens to the interview and proceeded to spread them out on the table.

The candidate sat in a yoga pose during the interview.

Dig Inn, a 10-restaurant chain based in New York City, is already a hit with healthy eaters. You're bound to see crowds lined up to get salads, sandwiches, and market plates from here any given day of the week.

With an average check of $10 and a focus on produce sourced from local farms, the chain aims to make simple, high-quality food available at an affordable price. 

The brand has just announced a $15 million Series C funding round led by Wexford Capital. Monogram Capital Partners, Riverwood Capital founder Michael Marks, and Law360 founder Magnus Hoglund also contributed to the round.

Dig Inn had previously raised $6.5 million in earlier rounds of funding.

We caught up with Dig Inn founder and CEO Adam Eskin at the chain's newest restaurant in New York City. 

Dig Inn wasn't always known by its current name. In 2011, Eskin, a former private equity associate at Wexford Capital, officially started rebranding what was then called the Pump Energy Food, a five-store eatery that catered to a bodybuilding crowd. Eskin changed the name to Dig Inn and completely revamped the menu to focus on fresh, locally sourced produce.

We visited Dig Inn's 10th and newest location, which opened in the Nomad neighborhood of Manhattan in November. Eskin says the chain plans to use the funding to open five new restaurants and hopes to eventually expand to new markets.

Eskin says Boston will most likely be home to Dig Inn's first restaurant outside of New York City. "I think we just want to be measured and responsible with how we think about sites and locations," he said. "As we find sites that work, along with the folks trained in a position to run those restaurants, we’ll open them."

JCPenney is bringing back its catalog after five years.

The brand hopes that mailing out a catalog will attract customers to the home store. 

JCPenney enjoyed a heyday in the 1990s, when it was the top catalog retailer in the U.S. 

Since then, it's closed stores and laid off workers to focus on the online business. 

These images, compiled by user Wishbook on Flickr, show the retailer in its prime. 

Before the Internet and freely-available pornography, many teens learned about sex from the lingerie section of catalogs.

This outdated camera was cutting-edge technology back in 1990.

Gold was cheap, so it was the standard jewelry back then.

Many New Yorkers who lived through the '70s and '80s in the city would rather not relive the "bad old days" of record crime and a subway system suffering from disrepair.

But it's also important not to forget.

Artifacts like this video of the New York City Subway shot in 1986, remind us of the dirt, neglect, and graffiti that pervaded the system. 

Unseen in the video, but still prevalent in the system, was crime. It skyrocketed during the '70s and '80s. According to Gothamist, over 250 felonies were reported weekly in the system.

These crime stats correlate with the ridership statistics, which also took a nosedive during the two decades. From 1977 through 1986, 327 million people swore off the subway.

Efforts made toward the end of the 1980s combating the "broken window effect" substantially improved the system. Trains found with graffiti are immediately taken out of service and ridership has substantially improved, hitting all-time highs last year.

Today, the stations are still pretty dirty, but at least the trains are clean:

Check out the the full video below.

SEE ALSO: Here's How They Build New York City's Famous Subway Cars

DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider on Facebook!

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A Manhattan home with a two-car garage and pool has hit the market for $29 million, according to Curbed New York.

With an elevator, dressing room with 15 closets, and 10,000 square feet of space, this home is truly worth the price.

Plus, you know a home is beautiful when not even bizarre, virtually staged furniture can ruin the listing photos.

J. Roger Erickson of Sotheby's Real Estate has the listing.

The townhouse, located at 107 East 61st Street, is smack dab in the heart of New York City's Upper East Side. Because parking is hard to come by in NYC, it even has a two-car garage.

Inside, the house has 10,000 square feet of living space.

The home's chef's kitchen is filled with the latest appliances as well as a skylight and full island with stools.

Ever wonder how creative geniuses had time to do it all? Well, turns out many of them stuck to strictly mapped out schedule. 

Based on data from Mason Currey’s “Daily Rituals,” RJ Andrews created an infographic that shows how some of the world’s greatest minds made time to work on their creative projects every day. 

It also offers a glimpse into the slightly odd things they would do to help their creative flow (Hugo would start the day by taking a public ice bath and Beethoven always made sure his coffee had exactly sixty beans per cup). 

Check out the disciplined regimens below. 

SEE ALSO: 12 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast

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Each day was mapped out onto a 24 hour cycle.

Colors mark major categories of activity, such as work, sleep, and making ends meet.

Climate change will have many devastating effects related to changes in weather patterns, but the greatest damage will be caused by rising sea levels — and nowhere is poised to suffer from this more than inhabited islands that will soon be underwater.

Global sea levels have risen by about 20 centimeters since 1870, and according to models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, they could rise by another meter or more by the end of the century.

"No one better understands the grave risks posed by climate change than [Small Island Developing States]," said Baron Waqa, president of the Republic of Nauvu and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit in New York City. "Climate change and sea level rise are already threatening our viability and even our existence as sovereign nations."

The world's 52 island nations — home to an estimated 62 million people — are slowly being swept away by sea-level rise.

Source: United Nations Environment Programme

Depending on regional influences, like nearby melting glaciers, ocean currents, and even tectonic activity, sea-level rise can happen at different rates in different areas. The UN reports that sea-level rise on these islands is up to four times the global average, and it's already driving inhabitants away from their homes.

Source: United Nations Environment Programme 

This map shows the average annual sea-level rise for various Pacific islands between 1992 and 2010. You can see how variable these measurements are: The increase is 2.6 millimeters off the coast of Kiribati, but is nearly 17 mm in Micronesia.

Source: Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology

These days the automotive industry is truly global. As a result, it's increasingly difficult to categorically define a car as "made in America."

 Is a Chinese-built Chevy a American car?

How about a Volkswagen from Tennessee?

For those looking for a car made here in the good ole' U. S. of A, Consumer Reports has put together a list of the 10 American-built cars that performed the best in the magazine's tests.

"For this list, we focused on the vehicles that scored highest in our road tests that are built in the USA—meaning assembled in the lower 48 states," Consumer Reports senior editor Gordon Hard wrote.  "Further, we emphasized choices that use domestic engines and transmissions."

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

Assembly location: Bowling Green, Kentucky

Why it's on the list: The latest generation of America's most famous sports car is fastest and most refined version to date. Consumer Reports praised the Vette for its ability to deliver "ferocious acceleration, precise handling, and excellent braking, all for thousands less than such high-performance competitors as the Porsche 911." 

The magazine notes that the Corvette Stingray's 7-speed manual gearbox is actually assembled in Mexico. However, the model's available eight-speed GM-design automatic is made in Toledo, Ohio.

Chevrolet Traverse

Assembly location: Delta Township/Lansing, Michigan

Why it's on the list: The magazine praised the 8-seat SUV for its agile handling and secure driving dynamics. Consumer Reports notes that not only was the Traverse assembled in Michigan, the SUV's V6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission are also Michigan-built.

Toyota Highlander

Assembly location: Princeton, Indiana

Why it's on the list: Consumer Reports lauded the Toyota for being able to seat up to eight passengers and prasied its responsive handling, steady ride, and comfortable interior. The magazine noted that the Indiana-assembled Highlander comes with a West Virginia-built V6 engine.

It's hard to imagine how someone could blow through millions of dollars.

But it happens a lot.

From Michael Jackson to Francis Ford Coppola, we rounded up riches-to-rags stories, featuring high-profile people who managed to lose their fortunes (and sometimes get them back again).

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye's estate has an estimated net worth of $5 million.

Back in 1976, the Motown legend's divorce from his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye, led him to file for bankruptcy. In order to cover the $600,000 Gaye owed his wife in alimony payments, the singer gave Anna the rights to his album "Here, My Dear."

The singer's financial troubles — along with drug addiction — followed him for the rest of his life, even though he continued to record albums and perform. He even moved to Europe in 1981 to avoid dealing with the IRS. Gaye was killed in 1984 when his own father shot him after a heated argument. 

Kim Basinger

When Kim Basinger filed for bankruptcy in 1993, the actress had a net worth of $5.4 million.

Her reason for filing for bankruptcy was backing out of filming the movie "Boxing Helena." Main Line Pictures sued her to the tune of $8.1 million for breach of contract. In a new trial three years later, Basinger settled for $3.8 million.

Basinger has since appeared in multiple films, including "8 Mile" and "Cellular," and she signed a contract with IMG Models — at 60 years old. As of last year, she had an estimated net worth of $36 million.

Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf currently has an estimated net worth of $25 million, a far cry from where he was decades earlier.

The singer filed for bankruptcy in the '80s after Jim Steinman — who wrote many of Meat Loaf's songs — filed a lawsuit against Meat Loaf. This came just after the not-so-succesful release of Meat Loaf's album "Dead Ringer."

The singer's last hit album was released in 1993. He has since acted in movies (including "Fight Club"), released the TV series "VH1 Storytellers," and published an autobiography.