Richard Meier is managing partner of New York's Richard Meier & Partners Architects. His residential designs, starting with the Smith House in Darien Conn., in 1967, are known for their white surfaces, floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the landscape. He recently spoke to Marc Myers about his East Hampton farmhouse. — The Wall Street Journal

The easiest part of a harried three days came Friday around noon, when we met to settle on the cover. A photograph taken by Iwan Baan on Wednesday night, showing the Island of Manhattan, half aglow and half in dark, was the clear choice, for the way it fit with the bigger story we have tried to tell here about a powerful city rendered powerless. — nymag.com

Carlos Acosta's plan to inject life into the island's hidebound ballet scene by refurbishing Havana's crumbling dance school and turning it into an international center for culture and dance has ignited controversy for daring to reimagine the original architect's vision.

Acosta was visibly frustrated by the flap over what he views as a way to give something back as he prepares to retire from London's Royal Ballet after a celebrated career. — npr.org

No, this isn’t a beautiful or ingratiating building, but it’s technologically smart, with an underground turntable for trucks that may sound eye-rollingly dull but makes traffic engineers like the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, swoon...SHoP has also spared Brooklyn another retro stadium. — NYT

In the terms of the story, we wanted to distill experience to a shape, a volume, instead of a literal space-type (“castle” or “gingerbread house,” etc.) We chose this path in part because the structure of the story wasn’t accessible, the events were scattered, random and untethered to a place. So we had to find the rope, make the place, invent a story-space outside the tale itself. — Places Journal

"If exercise and everyday activity is the mantra, how do you, through design, get people to exercise? ... There is a direct relation between the built environment and people's lifestyles."

History has proved it. Architecture played a major role in defeating infectious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries by designing better buildings, streets, clean-water systems and parks. — usatoday.com

I realize that Sandy will prob cause billions in damage to the eastern seaboard, and the lost work will not be great for the GDP, but perhaps the resulting building boom will provide the boost the economy needs? — archinect.com

One of the most fascinating things we at MONU recently experienced during a trip to Brasilia had nothing to do with its famous Oscar Niemeyer monuments or the city itself, but with the context surrounding the city.

(Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, November 2012) — http://www.monu-magazine.com/submit.htm

On Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel came down on Northwestern University's side in its battle to raze the old Prentice Women's Hospital, a building that preservationists want to save.

Is that the last chapter in the story?

Some architects hope not. — blogs.suntimes.com

eMotion researches the museum-going experience experimentally.
At the heart of the project is the investigation of the psychogeographical
effect of the museum on the museum visitor. — NYT

Problems...will continue to plague Mumbai as long as the government continues to pretend to put all its faith into a thoroughly planned city-wide manifesto that is ultimately tossed aside... In rethinking the grandiose nature of the Development Plan, perhaps the government can engage in smaller scale implementations and allow new regulations and ideas to...move beyond its paper urbanity. — The Global Urbanist

Oyster Creek, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Atlantic City, generates 630 megawatts (MW), or enough electricity to power 600,000 households. Situated about a mile inland from the brackish inlet of the Atlantic Ocean known as Barnegat Bay, it shares the same design as Japan's tsunami-crippled coastal nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi. — news.nationalgeographic.com

In one of the most challenging periods to be a young architect, this year’s Young Architect of the Year shortlist demonstrates that it is still possible to make great work if you are energetic in seeking out opportunities. — Building Design Magazine

According to police, the famed boardwalk's north end is collapsing.This is happening while wave heights 100 miles off the coast of New Jersey are likely to hit 30 feet or more. — newjerseynewsroom.com