To combat the relentless move toward electronic technologies, many schools are integrating such analog technologies as pencils, pens, water colors, pastels, in addition to teaching the manipulation of the latest computer software. — metropolismag.com

An ambitious zero-energy retrofit proposal for a downtown Los Angeles federal building has just won the first prize of the 8th Annual Next Generation Design Competition, presented by Metropolis magazine in partnership with the General Services Administration. The brief of the competition's 2011 edition asked architects and planners to design a Zero Environmental Footprint for this 1,172,746 sqft, eight-story, 1960s energy-guzzling federal building, considering any scale of intervention. — bustler.net