Harry S Truman inherited a White House that was in horrendous shape. After the British nearly burnt it to the ground in 1814, the construction of 20th-century innovations—indoor plumbing, electricity, and heating ducts—had also taken its toll on the structure. The building was nearly 150 years old, and it showed its age. In November 1948, the building was in a near-condemnable state... So it had to be gutted. Completely. — nationaljournal.com

There's been a tug of war between aesthetically pleasing and safe when it comes to American embassies around the world.

Many embassies have been slammed as bunkers, bland cubes and lifeless compounds. Even the new Secretary of State John Kerry said just a few years ago, "We are building some of the ugliest embassies I've ever seen."

But the choice between gardens and gates isn't just academic for diplomats — it can affect the way they work. — npr.org

The Chinese Society for Community Organization produced the vertigo inducing series of photographs as part of a campaign to raise awareness for this type of living. It reminds us a lot of Skott Chandler’s House Watch series and Michael H. Rohde’s From Below, both giving us a unique perspective of the rooms we live in. The series also harkens back to the extremely cramped (and now demolished) Kowloon Walled City of Hong Kong’s past. In some ways, things haven’t changed. — visualnews.com

Daniel Libeskind, who has built a reputation working on historically and culturally sensitive projects such as the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the reconstruction of New York’s World Trade Center site, said beautiful architecture was no excuse for working with “morally questionable” clients.

“Even if they produce gleaming towers, if they are morally questionable, I’m not interested,” he said in the interview with The Architects’ Journal. — independent.co.uk

The London skyline has traditionally been a slow-moving beast. While cities in Asia or the United States throw up dozens of new buildings virtually overnight, the capital’s horizon evolves at a more sedate pace. That’s all changing. A clutch of thrilling new buildings is revamping the skyline and helping to fulfil the desperate demand for housing. It’s taking place all over the city, but particularly in a southern stretch between London Bridge and Lambeth. — telegraph.co.uk

Today, many Muslim societies like Pakistan are facing enormous challenges in terms of the built environment. At times construction-related activities are driven largely by economic forces with less consideration for their impact on common people and the environment. It is also observed that sometimes, buildings are constructed while copying from other contexts without considering the local context/culture. This process has posed critical challenges. — dawn.com

The British company that built the Shard skyscraper in London will manage the construction of the Kingdom tower in Saudi Arabia, which will be the world's tallest building when completed.

The Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal unveiled the plans, by American firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, 18 months ago as part of a new £13bn Kingdom City development on the Red Sea coast to the north of Jeddah. — guardian.co.uk

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the January ABI score was 54.2, up sharply from a mark of 51.2* in December. This score reflects a strong increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 63.2, much higher than the reading of 57.9 the previous month. — aia.org

Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” is the result. — nytimes.com

There is only so far the gap between the migrant workers and the local Shanghainese they serve can grow before the foundations of the city buckle — and only so many well-educated, English-speaking, computer-literate, world-traveling young people the city can welcome before they demand change. Modernity is about more than fast trains and tall buildings. Despite the authorities’ strict controls, some among Shanghai’s millions have surely figured this out. — Places Journal

Community activism that simply nibbles at the edges is not enough. Small-scale rebellions can raise consciousness and help bring needed improvements to cities, but what we really need is a revolution. — Dissent

In a damning indictment of the prevailing culture of her own profession, Dame Zaha Hadid, the world's leading female architect, says she has faced "more misogynist behaviour" in London than anywhere else in Europe and that things are not improving at all for women in architecture. — guardian.co.uk

As formerly boho environs of Brooklyn become unattainable due to creeping Manhattanization and seven-figure real estate prices, creative professionals of child-rearing age — the type of alt-culture-allegiant urbanites who once considered themselves too cool to ever leave the city — are starting to ponder the unthinkable: a move to the suburbs. — New York Times