But an old friend, and a special commission, have gotten the architect to change his stripes. Mr. Meier has designed a black building.

At East 39th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan, developer Sheldon Solow will be unveiling a 42-story, 556-unit residential building. It will be Mr. Meier’s tallest in the city and his first since his trio of apartment towers on West Street were completed in 2004. — The Wall Street Journal

The grade-separated pedestrian systems built in the 20th century have a variety of names: skyways, skywalks, pedways, footbridges, the +15, and the Ville Souteraine. But they have one thing in common — they have radically altered the form and spatial logic of cities around the world. — Places Journal

Proponents of the material, called cross-laminated timber, or CLT, say it can be used to erect buildings that are just as strong and fire-resistant as those made from steel and concrete. Those qualities have helped excite the passions of architects and environmentalists, who think it could unlock a greener method for housing the world’s growing population, and timber producers, who hope to open a U.S. market for the value-added good. — Bloomberg

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) invited six contemporary architecture practices to create speculative responses to the UK’s housing crisis for the exhibition, At Home in Britain: Designing the House of Tomorrow.

Drawing on materials from the RIBA archives, the studios from the UK, France and the Netherlands produced designs that re-examine the familiar housing typologies of the cottage, terrace and flat. — thespaces.com

OMA’s design for the National Art Museum of China in 2011 was planned as a city, revolutionizing the way in which museum’s work today.
Like any city, circulation can be efficient and direct – for larger groups – or meandering and individual. The story of Chinese art can be told, or discovered. The main circulation of the city is based on a five-pointed star that leads from the multiple entry points on the periphery to the centre.- OMA on Instagram — instagram

Rem Koolhaas said Zaha Hadid Architects could survive the death of its founder if it feeds on her architectural DNA. [...]

“I think there is a model these days where fashion houses survive by working on the DNA of their founders,” he said.

“It is a model that is becoming more and more current and it could work in architecture too, I think.” — building.co.uk

As Herzog explains, piling some refined Swiss biscuits on the table in front of him to illustrate his point, an earlier design envisaged stacked-up glass cubes, but the material was too similar to the developers’ stuff. “We realised that in order to survive we have to strengthen it,” he says [..]

Yet the precedent of the original Tate Modern – also severe on the outside, lively inside – shows that a building doesn’t have to gurn and wheedle to be popular. — The Guardian

The University of Kentucky College of Design announces the appointment of Jeffrey Johnson, AIA, the new Director of the School of Architecture. Johnson joins the faculty from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University.

“In addition to his balance of practice and academia, Professor Johnson is a promising leader in the School and College because of his experimentation at a range of scales from interiors to urban design,” said Dean Mitzi Vernon. — University of Kentucky College of Design

Jim Williamson, an associate professor of architecture at Cornell University, has been named the new Dean of the Texas Tech University College of Architecture. Williamson will assume his new position on Aug.1.

Williamson, who earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture design at Texas Tech, has been at Cornell since 2001. — ttu.edu

School buildings in the UK are of such poor quality that children are underperforming and teachers are quitting the classroom, experts have warned.

A new study by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) found that one in five teachers have considered leaving their school as a result of stressful, overcrowded working environments caused by the poorly designed buildings they have to teach in. — independent.co.uk

Preparations are still running for various events around Daniel Libeskind's 70th birthday, among them the concert project "One Day in Life." Libeskind has designed the project for Frankfurt's Old Opera. A total of 75 concerts are to be given on May 21 and 22 at 18 different locations spread over the city of Frankfurt.

Libeskind's idea was to bring music to places where hitherto no music had been played, for example hospitals, public baths or hidden bunkers. — dw.com