It was, on the whole, a quiet year for architecture, the lack of widespread construction activity reflecting the lingering impact of the 2008 financial crisis. But there were still new buildings to celebrate, along with rare victories for historic preservationists and an even rarer accolade for Chicago architect Jeanne Gang. — featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

If bookmakers put odds on architecture, they surely would have made Chicago architect Jeanne Gang one of the favorites to win the big design competition to remake the public spaces of Navy Pier. [...]

But when Navy Pier officials winnowed 11 semifinalist teams to a list of five finalists last week, Gang, surprisingly, lost out. And she wasn't the only high-profile name who didn't make the cut. — chicagotribune.com

The five teams, which include a mix of architects, urban designers, landscape and other designers, are headed by the firms AECOM, Aedas Architects, James Corner Field Operations, and the Xavier Vendrell Studio, the only team headed by a Chicagoan. The fifth team, known as !melk, includes the large firm HOK. — featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

DeStefano Partners becoming units that, respectively, will focus on domestic, international projects — chicagotribune.com

Hoping to lure top talent to remake Navy Pier, pier officials on Thursday began an international search for a team of architects and other designers who will re-imagine the pier's outdoor public spaces as part of a broader revamp of the facility. — featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

Chicago is a city marked by waves of experimentation and a history of innovation, the genesis of architectural movements and the inspiration for such icons as Wright, Burnham, and van der Rohe. It is not just a city of historical landmarks in search of preservation, but a hub for daring thinkers looking to enter the discussion of today's built environment. This event is one foray into that conversation. — tedx25thward.com

The stately Georgian home where actor Macaulay Culkin outwitted a pair of bumbling thieves in the 1990 hit film "Home Alone" is for sale for $2.4 million. John and Cynthia Abendshien, the owners of the four-bedroom, red brick home north of Chicago, said they are ready to downsize, now that their daughter -- who became Culkin's playmate -- during the six-month long shoot is grown up. — msnbc.msn.com

Three winners and seven Honorable Mentions were recently announced for the 2011 Burnham Prize Competition “McCormick Place REDUX”. [...] The Jury awarded the First Prize to the proposal "(Toward) a Requiem" by Mohamed Sharif, Felix Monasakanian, Efren Soriano, and Teo Biocina from Los Angeles; the Second Prize to Srdan Nad from Ljubljana, Slovenia; and the Third Prize to PATH, Matt Hutchinson and Brandon Pace. — bustler.net