Among civic leaders here there is a strong sense that Poland will never fully recover from its 20th-century traumas until it recognizes its Jewish past, and the museum is seen as a major step. “Jewish memory is becoming part of Polish memory,” the chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich — NYT

John Hill’s book “A Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture” is filled with examples of the crazy new forms of the last decade, like Frank Gehry’s white wind-filled “sail” on the West Side Highway in Chelsea. [...]

And yet, the United States is in the middle of a great revival of traditional architecture — Georgian, neo-Classical, Arts and Crafts and so forth — that is almost absent from Mr. Hill’s stimulating and enjoyable work. So, what isn’t contemporary about traditional design? — nytimes.com

The American Academy in Rome yesterday announced the winners of the 117th annual Rome Prize Competition. Winners of the prestigious prize are provided with a fellowship that includes a stipend, a study or studio, and room and board for a period of six months to two years in Rome. — bustler.net

It seems to be big groundbreaking week for Danish firms right now: yesterday we reported about schmidt hammer lassen architects kicking off construction of their enormous International Criminal Court campus in The Hague, The Netherlands, and now we're also hearing of BIG breaking ground on the Marknagil Education Center—soon to become the biggest building on the Faroe Islands. — bustler.net

In our previous post, we published the three finalists of the international architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina, Kosovo—which ended without a clear first prize winner.

Following outstanding mosque design entry was submitted to us as a collaboration between Colombian firm Taller 301 and Dutch practice Land+Civilization Compositions (L+CC). — bustler.net

Kowloon Walled City, located not far from the former Kai Tak Airport, was a remarkable high-rise squatter camp that by the 1980s had 50,000 residents. A historical accident of colonial Hong Kong, it existed in a lawless vacuum until it became an embarrassment for Britain. This month marks the 20th anniversary of its demolition. — scmp.com

Over the last week, the architectural community has been all aflutter over the fate of the former American Folk Museum Building. A 12-year-old building that was opened just after 9/11, MoMA snatched it up for $23 million in 2011 and is planning to raze its critically acclaimed sculptural bronze facade. It's inevitable, the modern art juggernaut shrugs, because the floors of the adjacent buildings, plus the rest of MoMA uses lots of glass as its primary material rather than metal. — ny.curbed.com

Come to think of it, however, here’s another idea for the folk-art-museum building: maybe it should be used to display a small selection of MoMA’s extraordinary collection, so that people can experience some of its great works in a small-scaled space and have a tiny hint of the intimate, enticing museum that MoMA once was. — vanityfair.com

Can it be saved? A grassroots crusade to persuade MoMA not to tear down the architecturally significant 12-year-old American Folk Art Museum at 45 W. 53rd St. has erupted, igniting the passion of architects, designers, preservationists and ordinary citizens. — amny.com

Robert A. M. Stern, the dean of Yale’s Architecture School, said he declined to sign the petition because he objected to its use of the word “demand,” but that he backed it in principle. “It would be wonderful for the Pritzker committee to review the situation and to offer her the prize,” Mr. Stern said. “The nature of the collaboration was so intense on every level.” — nytimes.com

Architects and designers, responding to the news that the Museum of Modern Art intends to demolish a former museum, have some ideas for MoMA.Their concepts, some earnest and others tongue-in-cheek, are being compiled on a tumblr called #FolkMoMA, created to challenge MoMA’s assertion that the former American Folk Art Museum building is not compatible with its expansion plans. — blogs.wsj.com

Almost as soon as the news broke last week that the Museum of Modern Art planned to demolish the former American Folk Art Museum, a movement emerged to save it. Members of the design community—including the architects who designed the building—are registering their discontent with the decision. More than one petition is now circulating to rescue the Folk Art building as a result. — architectmagazine.com

When news broke this week that the Museum of Modern Art in New York intends on demolishing the former American Folk Art Museum building next door, a cry went up in the architectural and preservationist community. Now, a group of advocates is not only collecting protests to save the building, but also crowdsourcing design ideas for integrating the two adjacent museum structures. — nextcity.org

The jury of the international architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina, Kosovo has announced its verdict: no single first prize but two tied second prizes and one third prize were awarded. — bustler.net