We present a system called CityEngine which is capable of modeling a complete city using a comparatively small set of statistical and geographical input data and is highly controllable by the user. — oldurbanist.blogspot.com
High joblessness and the weak economic recovery pushed the ranks of the poor in the U.S. to 46.2 million in 2010 -- the fourth straight increase and the largest number of people living in poverty since record-keeping began 52 years ago, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. — LA Times
Though the planned building has a futuristic gleam — Jobs told the council "it's a little like a spaceship landed" — in many ways it is a doggedly old-fashioned proposal, recalling the 1943 Pentagon building as well as much of the suburban corporate architecture of the 1960s and '70s. And though Apple has touted the new campus as green, its sprawling form and dependence on the car make a different argument. — latimes.com
Check this previous article for more information, images and comments from the community: Plans for new Apple HQ, by Norman Foster, officially released View full entry
The rise of housing followed the rise of a prosperous middle class driven by the Industrial Revolution, an event that helped to reshape architecture from the 18th century until now. — guardian.co.uk
Much of the debate involves modernist architecture's role in landmark settings of a traditional character. Preservation professionals often advocate modernist additions to these settings, while at the grass-roots level there is strong support for keeping the new work traditional. — online.wsj.com
The nice folks at Woodbury have sent along some photos of the recent exhibition WATERMARKS: Acqua Alta, Resiliency, and Precise Meanders. Enjoy. WATERMARKS: Acqua Alta, Resiliency, and Precise Meanders Exhibition | September 7th through September 11th, 2011 scenarios WUHO | 6518 Hollywood Blvd... View full entry
“We had to try to bring to the surface some sign of something that was absolutely invisible in Milan,” he continued. They didn’t want a traditional museum. Here “the content and the container coincide,” Mr. Morpurgo said. “You can’t put the Shoah in a museum under glass. It’s impossible.” — NYT
The NYT profiles the work of Milanese architects Guido Morpurgo and Annalisa de Curtis, who are working with a local foundation, to build a Memorial of the Shoah in Milan. The memorial will be located in the old depot under Milan's Central Station where Jews were put on trains bound for... View full entry
It would be easy for me to raise a picket sign and as an architect say, ‘Down with this wall!’ — Fast Company
"Border Wall as Infrastructure" a proposal by Ron Rael and a partner, Virginia San Fratello, was a finalist in the 2010 Working Public Architecture 2.0 Competition organized by UCLA's cityLAB. Mr. Rael is first to admit that his plan isn't likely to be implemented anytime soon. Until then... View full entry
CLOG slows things down. Each issue explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now. Succinctly, on paper, away from the distractions and imperatives of the screen. — CLOG
CLOG is a new publication that tries to address the problem of speed and deluge of content we experience in today's new media landscape. To continue the dialogue initiated in this issue, on October 7, 2011 Storefront for Art and Architecture will host CLOG and Bjarke Ingels as part of their... View full entry
I stuck to master plan — NYT
The architect Daniel Libeskind reflects on his Op-Ed from June 23, 2005, about his embattled master plan for rebuilding ground zero. He kind of alludes most important design decisions for the outcome was his. From the ashes of 9/11 rises Daniel Libeskind... What do you think? View full entry
News In the lead up to 9/11 Christopher Hawthorne wrote "The tall tower is architecture's most famous building type and also the one most clearly at odds with the profession's roots. Fundamentally, architecture is shelter, a concession that we're afraid to face the elements without... View full entry
Noted international architect Santiago Calatrava has informed Denver International Airport officials that he and his firm are halting their work on DIA's South Terminal Redevelopment Program and are withdrawing from the venture.
DIA officials said they intend to proceed with the project using designs already produced by the Spanish architect and his firm, Festina Lente.
— Denver Post
Calatrava is apparently quitting over the speculation that the city & county of Denver does not have enough cash to complete the project to the level of quality that is befitting his name and the reputation of his firm. View full entry
Professor Raymond Lifchez, Chair of the international Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence announces that the 2012 BERKELEY PRIZE launches on September 15, 2011. Each year the PRIZE, whose primary goal is to foster a larger awareness and understanding of the... View full entry
The National Mall has been loved to death. It is our country’s most visited national park, with more than 25 million annual visitors and 3,000 annual permitted events. This 700-acre park was not built to withstand this level of use and has not received adequate resources to be restored and maintained to a level befitting its role as an irreplaceable piece of our American fabric. — nationalmall.org
The Trust for the National Mall today launches the official National Mall Design Competition. The 36-week contest will solicit recommendations from across the country about how to best redesign three prominent National Mall sites: Union Square, the Washington Monument Grounds at Sylvan Theater... View full entry
No other place in the world has such a fantastic collection of underecognized and underappreciated vertical architecture as in Los Angeles. In a city of mostly low-density avenues and sprawling suburban tracts, no other street in L.A. contains as many of these Modernicus Erectus as Wilshire Boulevard. — Urban Operations
Since 2006, the annual pamphlet on skyscrapers is published as an ongoing research project by the office of Los Angeles architect John Southern, Urban Operations. This year's issue, "Wilshire Star Maps" is a limited edition of 100 prints and a digital edition you are... View full entry
