Several factors contributed to the library’s decision: a study that showed the cost of renovating the 42d Street building to be more than expected (the project had originally been estimated at about $300 million); a change in city government; and input from the public, several trustees said. (Four lawsuits have been filed against the project.) — nytimes.com

Yet uniqueness is the goal of city branding, which during the past few years has grown into a global industry connected to tourism and the media-sports-and-entertainment complex. Originally a promotional scheme meant to lure new residents, city branding is now a slogan tied to a public relations campaign to make the places where we live into “destinations”. As always with branding, image is everything. — theguardian.com

Brazil’s burgeoning middle class have an important place in the country’s slums. This finding is part of a survey released by the newly created Instituto Data Favela which established that, in 2013, 65% of the country’s slum-dwellers belonged to the middle class. In 2003, this proportion was 33%. [...]

“But we are not only interested in the middle class,” he argues, “We want to benefit all community residents through sustainable and comprehensive development, achieved through economic avenues.” — thisbigcity.net

That's because, as the economists Richard Koo and Masaya Sasaki show in a report, 15 years after being built the average house is worth nothing. [...] "It's not environmentally sustainable but also not financially sustainable. People work very hard to pay off a mortgage that's ultimately worth zero."

[...] It has also produced a huge number of architects, who are kept busy by buyers wanting a new house that reflects their lifestyle. — theguardian.com

Six years ago, Los Angeles politicians imposed new limits on the size of new and renovated houses, promising to rein in what they called "homes on steroids" dwarfing blocks of smaller buildings.

But as the housing market rebounds and construction picks up, many homeowners complain that "mansionization" has revved up — reigniting long-standing policy battles and sometimes bitter fence fights over the face and feel of L.A.'s neighborhoods. — latimes.com

Architect Richard Meier's new residential building will feature his signature jutting planes and surfaces carved from white steel and glass. The 37 apartments, starting at about $2 million, are 73% sold even though ground won't be broken until June. The project, named Vitrvm, and the buzz surrounding it, is what you might expect from the designer of L.A.'s Getty Center except for one thing: It is in Bogotá, Colombia. — The Wall Street Journal

A key element of his success is that for much of his career, he hasn't been doing the work alone: In a field that often relegates women to the background, the Fuksas firm is a shared enterprise, run in tandem with Doriana Fuksas, his wife since 1981. "Maybe we're complementary," says Doriana (née Mandrelli). "We love the same things, the same feelings and moods—just in a different way. I'm much more pop; he's more classic." — online.wsj.com

Affordable housing is on New York City’s mind. A critical mass of civic organizations, academic institutions, city agencies, advocacy groups, and others are pondering the essential and perennial issue of how to ensure that the city becomes affordable for the extraordinarily diverse population that makes it work. [...]

At the same time, a decades-old strategy to maintain housing affordability is finding a groundswell of support from an increasingly diverse group of stakeholders. — urbanomnibus.net

Election day means Gujarat is closed for business—except in Gift City.

Officially known as Gujarat Information Finance Tech City (hence, Gift), construction equipment is everywhere and dust is in the air. [...]

This is the type of development that Narendra Modi supporters hope will be a microcosm for the rest of India should he become prime minister. [...] Here’s a (very stylized) artist rendition of what the area will look look, according to the government brochure. — qz.com

He merely wanted to immortalize the most iconic of Berkeley’s icons—the Sather Tower campanile—in a Lego kit.

“A couple of months ago I started fooling around with Legos and I made a couple of mock-ups of the Campanile,” he recalls. “I knew that Lego has a suggestion site—if you submit a proposal and it gets 10,000 votes, they’ll consider making a kit. I thought it would be very cool if they included the Berkeley Campanile in their architecture series.” — alumni.berkeley.edu

Zaha Hadid says it's not her job to pay attention to how many migrant workers die in the construction of her World Cup stadium. We asked four top architects--Bjarke Ingels, Liz Diller, Clive Wilkinson, and Curtis Fentress--how morality fits into the process of accepting or rejecting a commission. — fastcodesign.com

The South African city is World Design Capital 2014, yet residents of Khayelitsha township live in cramped, unhygienic conditions. The need for long-promised urban reform is urgent. [...]

“Cape Town is a paradise for the minority, but I could hope for a city where everyone has access to the same opportunities that I have,” says Wolff. “Mandela may have postponed revolution – but for how much longer is the question.” — theguardian.com