Albert Speer's son helped design the architecture of the Beijing games. But the similarities with Berlin 1936 don't end there. Guardian | related

Murals have begun to appear on the security wall in the Shia district of Sadr City, Baghdad, as part of a multi-national $100,000 project to improve the area. Guardian

A road in the small Dutch town of Hengelo is to be paved with air-purifying concrete in a trial that could lead to a breakthrough in the fight against rising pollution, scientists said Wednesday. Physorg

For nearly half a century Henry Wood, a Boston architect has kept Clingstone — a faded, shingled and, yes, very rough 103-year-old mansion set on a rock in Narragansett Bay standing, through his own hard labor and that of others. He and a crew of family and friends who share his passion for the place’s “deep bohemian funk,” have dedicated their time and skills (plumbing and wiring experience are always particularly welcome) to keeping the place from slipping into the water forever.
NYT

Archinect member dml955i points out a neighbor dispute in Seattle. Apparently the neighbor of the Morrell Residence by E.Cobb Architects is not too happy with the design, so he posted a big sign calling out the "Jackass" of a neighbor who is wrecking his lake view.

Brazilian artist/designer Athos Bulcao passed away at the age of 90 this past Thursday at the Sarah Kubitschek Hospital in Brasilia, Brazil. Bulcão was best know for the architecturally-integrated interventions he produced in federal buildings of Brasilia, which were planned by Lucio Costas and designed by Oscar Niemeyer...

A German town’s decision to require solar-heating panels has thrown it into a vehement debate over the boundaries of ecological good citizenship. NYT

The Chicago Tribune explains what it takes to get a job as a volunteer docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, "one of the most respected volunteer programs in the world". Read

The glass facade of OMA's CCTV headquarters in Beijing has been completed – just in time for the opening of the Olympic Games. BD

SCI-Arc Gallery presents Voussoir Cloud, a site-specific installation by San Francisco based architecture and design practice IwamotoScott in collaboration with Buro Happold.
Opening reception: Friday, August 8, 7-9pm. Bustler Events

Robert Adam's design for Grafton Hall, which was recently approved by Chester City Council, will be built instead of Ushida Findlay's ultra-Modernist, competition-winning "starfish" scheme from 2001. Opening a debate about the meaning of "innovation".
AJ

Announced today, Dutch Mecanoo architecten, led by Francine Houben, have been selected to design the new £193 million Library of Birmingham. The new Library will be developed on a prime site on Centenary Square, and is scheduled to open in 2013 and promises to be the largest library in Europe. Bustler

Given the astounding expectations piled upon the National Stadium, I’m surprised it hasn’t collapsed under the strain. More than 90,000 spectators will stream through its gates on Friday for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games; billions are expected to watch the fireworks on television. At the center of it all is this dazzling stadium, which is said to embody everything from China’s muscle-flexing nationalism to a newfound cultural sophistication. NYT | Slideshow | Interactive Graphic | prev. 1|2|3

Studio 360 explores Beijing's new architecture.

The People's Republic of Houston?

The theft of thousands of dollars worth of construction equipment is halting a Habitat for Humanity project to house 62 low-income families in the San Fernando Valley. MercuryNews

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed Singapore’s largest ever residential development. The seven 36-storey residential towers and 12 villas will be built on a 78,000sq m site at Farrer Road, a prominent site within the city. BD

August 04 August 08 August 14 August 15

Ai Weiwei, Artistic Consultant for design, collaborated with the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in designing the Beijing National Stadium (Bird's Nest). The NYT Blogs interviews

Recent competition and award winners on Bustler:

Kasian Projects Win City of Calgary Awards
Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd. were honored with the the City of Calgary Awards.

10th Annual Vincent Scully Prize Awarded to Robert A.M. Stern
The National Building Museum chose Robert A.M. Stern as laureate of the Vincent Scully Prize.

Two Winners Selected for Australian Café Di Stasio Competition
Both, Davide Marchetti and SPF15+ emerged as winners of the Café Di Stasio competition.

Korean American Architect Kyu Sung Woo Named 2008 Ho-Am Laureate in the Arts
Kyu Sung Woo has been named winner of the 2008 Ho-Am Prize in the Arts.

Gold and Silver in Steel Olympics for University of Nottingham
Students from the University of Nottingham have won top prizes in the Corus Student Architecture Competition.

Congratulations!

Just Imagine...what life will be like in 2020?
Home sweet... jellyfish!
Architects share their vision of what homes of the future will look like.
Fancy living in a home shaped like a mushroom or an edible tree house?
CNN

TAGallery 021: City of Nodes is an online exhibit of new media projects that explore urban mapping. The collection of work from 2002-2008 examines the role of the archive, the body, surveillance and locative media in contemporary urban space. related blog post at Serial Consign

New(s)
Oh Really?
Back to the beginning? A return to the small scale.
Can I drink it?
Revolution and Modernization brought to you by the Art Market and Consumerism.

School Blog(s)
Starchitecture for Rent.
Thesis's; Good or Bad?

Discussion(s)
At the intersection of Professional and Personal Morality.
Extreme Engineering; Times Two.
An old thread reborn and newly discovered.

Features
Nine Plans.
A Global Profession?

Reformist sheikhs have spent the past decade using their wealth to snap up financial institutions and retail and leisure brands in an effort to transform the city-states they rule from one-camel towns into global business and tourism hubs. Now they want to use it to acquire something that is impossible to price and may, in fact, be impossible to buy at all: culture.

Abu Dhabi wants to partner with western art brands in Saadiyat island. “By bringing in partners, we can be quick; we can buy knowledge, expertise.” Design critics complain about the new 'cultural buildings, “architectural megalomania”. Frank Gehry calls it, "a cabinet of horrors”. Times Online

224 buildings from 43 countries have made it on to the first ever World Architecture Festival Awards shortlist.
See Bustler for images.

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone has launched a stinging attack on his successor Boris Johnson, accusing him of cost cutting and “hypocrisy” following BD’s revelation that he has axed the 100 Public Spaces programme. BD | prev.

China's role in Africa is becoming increasingly important and controversial. But as its profile has grown on the continent, so have concerns about Beijing's hands-off policy on internal affairs and human rights' issues, from Sudan to Zimbabwe. NPR investigates China's pivotal new role on the continent in this five-part series. Read + Listen

The highest-priced new apartment building in the history of New York isn’t a sleek, one-of-a-kind glass tower. It’s architect Robert A. M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West, an ingenious homage to the classic Candela-designed apartment buildings on Park and Fifth Avenues. From the marble-columned lobby to the wine cellar and pool, the author examines the art, as well as the limits, of Stern’s grand nostalgia. By Paul Goldberger for Vanity Fair