Whether futuristic architect Jan Kaplický's octopus-shaped National Library ever gets built or not, its design has already provoked some disturbing imagery. Czech Business Weekly | Previously "A riled President Václav Klaus was moved to declare that he would even be willing to tie... View full entry
Fuel-Cell Bus, Personal Rapid Transit, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, Automated Metro, Shinkansen, Dualmode Transport, Automated Tolling, Automated Bus, Bullet Train and Taxi Reinvented. Get used to the new transportation age. BusinessWeek, product slideshow View full entry
The garden state may also be the most urbanized place in america, but it's natural land is valued more then any mcmansion or mall per a new study by the NJDEP... $49,200/acre of pine barren to $1.4 m/acre of sand dunes. oh, those urban highrises? zero, nada, zilch...NYtimesNew Jersey’s... View full entry
Rem demands an explanation from Lord Norman Foster as to why both of their plans for separate developments in Abu Dhabi appear similar in design: For example, why are both plans shaped like a square? And why do both plans deploy a street grid? At stake for OMA is the title of "Most Radical in the... View full entry
Archinect's man in Toronto, Mason White, was featured in the Globe and Mail on Friday, discussing how to fix "a neglected public space" in Toronto: "'We like the idea of taking something that is already happening and, instead of introducing something new, just turning up the volume of what is... View full entry
De Spiegal reports on objectophilia, the phenomenon of those who are sexually aroused by buildings, musical instruments and other inanimate objects. includes a profile of Sandy and her 'love' for the former Trade Towers. View full entry
This week's issue of the NYT Magazine is dedicated to Eco-tecture. Lots of good articles, including Ouroussoff's praise for european enviro leadership, a profile of the urban splendor that is Curitiba, the wiseman isolation of Glen Murcut and a massive spread on Shigeru Ban. For Ban, green or... View full entry
The process of installing 550 tons of Richard Serra's sculpture to the 2nd floor of the MoMA is a well-tuned noisy choregraphic scene of chains, cranes, and grunting worthy of art itself. | nytimes View full entry
The last 2 years have seen a significant increase in Modern projects on the chopping block. Brook Mason and Jason Kaufman look at Demolishing Modernism. View full entry
Mini review of much talked about event 'Evasions of Power', sponsored by The Slought Foundation. An excerpt; 'Associate professor at the University of California at San Diego Teddy Cruz suggested that architects must create the political organizations and economic opportunities that make public... View full entry
A coalition of 16 of the world’s biggest cities, five banks, one former president and companies and groups that modernize aging buildings on Wednesday pledged investments of billions of dollars to cut urban energy use and releases of heat-trapping gases linked to global warming... View full entry
“It is one of the city's signature attractions but government endorsed the tearing down 52 hectares of old "shikumen" houses in the neighhood years ago. Eventually only four hectares were kept and incorporated into the new-look Xintiandi, he said.” ShanghaiDaily | Shikumen housesZHENG... View full entry
Engineer wins cash prize for reducing the HVAC footprint with a building-integrated microclimate. “At the Equator, the sun creates what’s called a Hadley cell; the weather equalizes temperatures, rushing warmth to the polar regions. What I needed was a Hadley cell [for the house], and... View full entry
Slate's architecture critic Witold Rybczynksi reports on Seattle in another one of his "slideshow essays". He comments on downtown architecture in general, and the EMP, Seattle Public Library, and Olympic Sculpture Park in particular. He actually seems to like the library and park. A surprise... View full entry
Ouroussoff surveys Storefront's exhibit CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed. | nytimes View full entry