Slum tourism, or “poorism,” as some call it, is catching on. From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the townships of Johannesburg to the garbage dumps of Mexico, tourists are forsaking, at least for a while, beaches and museums for crowded, dirty — and in many ways surprising... View full entry
This week in the world of architecture… The family suffers a death in the family. Randall Stout’s Contemporary Arts Center is currently under construction in Ronoake, VA. Also, the fate of Jan Kaplicky’s design for the National Library in Prague is still under debate due to its... View full entry
Iranian-born Nader Khalili, architect, educator, and author, passed away at the age of 71 on Wednesday, March 5th. Khalili was known for his innovation into the Geltaftan Earth-and-Fire System known as Ceramic Houses and the Earthbag Construction technique called Super Adobe. He had been involved... View full entry
The NYT examines the plans for a massive (8,000 acres) new urbanist resort community near Loreto Bay, Baja Mexico. We read that... If the vision of the Mexican government and an American developer is realized, a decade from now Loreto Bay will include 6,000 homes, from small condos to... View full entry
Lebbeus Woods on Koolhaas in Dubai : Dubai is certainly the inevitable place for the realization of Koolhaas’ ideas. It is by now the capital of an economic and political New World Order. A city-state without income taxes, labor laws, or elections, it is ruled by a corporate oligarchy of... View full entry
Spain has become a byword for home-grown architects who have transformed cities - yet Italy lags far behind. Is politics to blame? Guardian View full entry
Spain has become a byword for home-grown architects who have transformed cities - yet Italy with 100,000 architects lags far behind. Is politics to blame asks Jonathan Glancey? View full entry
Xárene Eskandar recently penned an essay drawing connections between Constant's New Babylon, the SI project and the potential of live video. The text is part of the most recent issue of Vague Terrain, which explores the world of emerging VJ culture. View full entry
Well-crafted words complement well-drafted images. chronicle of higher education View full entry
UN Studio has won the international tender for the new office for the Dutch tax administration and student grant administration in the city of Groningen. Architectenweb (Dutch) > English translation View full entry
Marcel Breuer, one of the most remarkable yet underappreciated architects of the 20th century, brought an ambitious vision to Saint John's University when he was hired in 1953 to transform their campus. His 10 buildings here are considered some of the best of his career — and some of the... View full entry
It is our greatest monument, on a par with the pyramids. But soon it will be plagued by Tesco juggernauts. Why don't we care about Stonehenge? Jonathan Jones (of the Guardian) finds out View full entry
It's been exactly a year since Jan Kaplický's design won the competition for Prague's new National Library building on Letná hill. Within those 12 months, Czech lawmakers have managed to elect a new president, Canada and the United States have agreed to lift Czechs' visa... View full entry
Michael Wolf , a photographer, looks at apartments of Hong Kong. View full entry
Imaginary Forces ’ Peter Frankfurt Collaborates with Greg Lynn/FORM and Alex McDowell to create New City for MoMA... (photos and video after jump) The installation, which is part of MoMA's Design and the Elastic Mind show, represents a virtual world conceived by the architect, I.F... View full entry
