It was International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin's great dream to marry the aesthetic with the athletic—thus, every Olympics between 1912 and 1948 awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals to artists. There were five categories of individual competition: Architecture, painting, sculpture, literature, and music. — theatlantic.com

Though little known outside the art world, this surprisingly drab series of buildings is renowned by dealers and collectors as the premier place to stash their most valuable works. — nytimes.com

Its character is determined not just by the color and texture of the boulder itself but also by the detailing and proportions of the ramp. To experience the piece, you descend the ramp, you stand in the shadow of the rock and then you ascend. That trajectory is an architectural one; in fact, Heizer has been upfront that he takes cues in his work directly from architecture. — latimes.com

After a series of acclaimed installations around the world, Munro will be bringing his Fields of Light back to the project’s birthplace at Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the heart of the Australian red desert in 2013. The installation will be his largest to date, and it will be powered entirely by solar energy. — Inhabitat

This is an abandoned farm house that artist Heather Benning turned into a human-sized dollhouse (provided a human-sized dollhouse is just a regular house with no wall on one side). — geekologie.com

The U.S. Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, organized by the Institute for Urban Design on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will be devoted to the theme Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good. The exhibit features 124 urban interventions initiated by architects, designers, planners, artists, and everyday citizens that bring positive change to their neighborhoods and cities. — bustler.net

The project IlluminAction by UrbanoActivo, an open design collective from Puerto Rico, has been selected to represent the island in the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy this fall (August 29 – November 25). The selection was narrowed from 450 project submissions nationwide and will be presented as part of the Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good exhibition by The Institute for Urban Design. — bustler.net

In this one-off special the Culture Show goes behind-the-scenes to follow it from commission to completion, and discovers just how difficult it is to build a tower for the 21st century. — bbc.co.uk

After being takent to the precinct in Greenpoint, Takeshi used his one telephone call to contact, not a lawyer, but the office of Rafael Vinoly, as he was working on a project for them. But at 7AM, the only person around to answer the phone was a security guard. Takeshi proceeded to calmly dispense instructions for a project that was supposed to occur later that day. After jotting everything down, the guard – presumably confused and slightly bewildered – asked if Takeshi needed any help. — spoon-tamago.com

A cottage hanging off a seven-floor building at the University of California, San Diego opens to the public on June 7, 2012. Do Ho Suh created the artwork, called "Fallen Star" which sits on the roof of the university's engineering building, Jacobs Hall. The permanent installation is a three-quarter-sized version of a home in Providence, R.I., not far from where the artist studied painting. — abcnews.go.com

Ai Weiwei will not attend the opening tomorrow of his architectural debut in London. One of the most important artists in the world today, and certainly the most famous Chinese artist, Ai has been under “city arrest” in Beijing since last year, unable to leave the Chinese capital and under constant surveillance from the Communist Party regime. He is accused of tax avoidance but many suspect his treatment is in retaliation for his outspoken and frequent criticism of the Chinese government. — London Evening Standard

If you're in New York City these days, make sure to check out the exhibition Desired Sync: Global Crisis & Design ver.1.5. Organized by the Korean Cultural Service New York and presented by the Institute of Multidisciplinarity for Art, Architecture and Design (I:M), Desired Sync is the second of a series of exhibitions honorable selected from the official ‘2012 Call for Artists’ program organized by the Korean Cultural Service NY. — bustler.net

The artist intended it to be a display of his love for the city: white plastic bags stamped with the “I ♥ NY” logo lighted from within and glowing moonlike from lampposts and trees in Brooklyn and beyond. Almost immediately, the installation attracted attention, though probably not the kind the artist, Takeshi Miyakawa, expected. — nytimes.com

John Baldessari believes every young artist should know three things:
1. Talent is cheap
2. You have to be possessed which you can't will
3. Being in the right place in the right time — YouTube