Walls are so underutilized, just sitting there holding up the ceiling, while the floor does all the work of supporting everything that we do. Jiminez Lai of the Bureau Spectactular designed the Phalanstery Module, where all surfaces can be occupied. He designed it for a hypothetical zero gravity environment, but it appears to work on earth as well. — treehugger.com

Brazilian real estate developer Gafisa decided to ask people directly, what they want in their new apartments? Launched last week, the Edifício Colaborativo (Collaborative Building) initiative transformed the company’s fan page on Facebook in a crowdsourcing platform, intended to harvest innovative ideas for a new building. As Fred Scharmen
said "Can't follow the portugese, but those are some awesome images!"

Talking to Lavasa’s developers, one hears a lot about “sustainability” and “bio-mimicry.” But as I walked around, I was struck by how unnatural the place felt—and not just because it’s still empty. Nothing about Lavasa’s architecture or design evokes India. Even that Italianate name, Lavasa, is artificial—a meaningless word produced by the U.S. branding firm Landor. — The Atlantic

Leading architects on both sides of the Atlantic hit out at the institute this week after American architect Richard Gage, part of the group Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, delivered a lecture at RIBA HQ on Monday night.

The venue was booked by fellow American and RIBA member Craig Phillip Kiner, an associate at Zaha Hadid Architects. — bdonline.co.uk

architects are already expanding their offerings beyond traditional building design to “supplemental services.” Eventually, architects may even become “creative consultants” to a wide range of industries, particularly given the drop-off in building work with the economic downturn. Business schools around the country are now promoting the benefits of “design-thinking” and architects may be uniquely positioned to “intuit, analyze, and solve problems in different ways.” — ASLA's The DIRT

Another small project completed by 3RW for the Nasjonale turistveger. This compact outhouse is located at the Hardangerfjord. The colored concrete adds a touch of frivolity and interest to passing cars. Exterior walls are slate, which is left rough on the interior. — bruteforcecollaborative.com

Gerry Judah’s paintings are a direct response to conflict across the globe, and the impact of that violence, whether it is the consequence of war or natural disaster. At the same time, he is fascinated by changing urban landscape, and his paintings explore the dynamic of construction and destruction. — acidolatte.blogspot.com

An excellent documentary about a spectacular but unfinished architectural project that strongly reflects the arc of the Cuban experience of the past 60 years. — The Hollywood Reporter

The Manufacturers Hanover Trust glass cube on Fifth Avenue is finance made transparent. Designed in 1954 by S.O.M. it was landmarked in 1997 implying that New York would forever have this jewel box to admire. And when a building is a glass box, achieving an unimaginable degree of transparency, the inside is as important to protect as the exterior. — Biber Architects

In both movies architecture is crucial to that campaign. The parts of each film set in the past — 1920s Paris & the small-town Texas of the 1950s — aren't just drowning in sepia. They have a certain recognizable and comforting architectural character, not just a look but a shape. They are walkable, low-rise and charmingly coherent. Their streets are cobblestoned or dotted with fallen leaves, their houses and apartments topped with broad, protective gables or perfect mansard roofs. — Christopher Hawthorne, LAT

For as long as I can remember, right back to when I was a teenager trying to piece together the story of architecture, the ziggurat at Eridu had been a presence in my life. I was haunted by the thought that somewhere in deepest Mesopotamia, today's southern Iraq, there lay, in ruins and largely hidden under sand, what might be the world's first monumental building: the mother of all architecture in the world's first metropolis. — Jonathan Glancey

The bulldozers wait for the trees and gardens, which, for a half century, matured. For the House, which, time has not touched. We prize the distant past,but if the immediate past is ripped away, there will be no distant past for the future. The continuity will be broken. Our heritage diminished. There is a hole in the fabric of History. - Ester McCoy — Smithsonian AAA