Our friends at PAR — or Platform for Architecture + Research — were announced as the 2014 recipient of the Presidential Emerging Practice Award from the AIA Los Angeles. In a constantly evolving setting like the City of Angels, the award is the highest honor that the AIA|LA Presidential Board presents to an emerging architecture firm in recognition of consistently creating innovative work. It also highlights individuals who take leadership roles in advancing the architectural profession. — bustler.net

Adjaye himself is weary of people obsessing over his being black in a profession which, in Europe and the United States, is very white. Which is not to say that he regards his heritage is unimportant. "I can't win with this one," he says. "Everyone has a view on it. I am an architect first of all, whose background is complex. I use the continent of Africa as a background, But I also grew up in London." — theguardian.com

In the past decade we have seen an explosion of honors and awards for the most innovative and forward thinking solutions. Yet no one recognizes the projects that have caused harm to the environment - designs that are helping shorten our existence on this planet. This is why we created the DEAD prize. Let's recognize the bad, honor the failures and hopefully do something to rectify these designs against humanity. — The Dead Prize

This year's Venice Architecture Biennale, an international showcase of trends and research, showcases the work of a number of Princeton faculty and students. It marks the greatest number of invitations Princeton has received to participate in the Biennale, reflecting the University's strength in pioneering research.

"Much like other art biennales, its purpose is to present the current panorama of the discipline," said Alejandro Zaera-Polo, dean of Princeton's School of Architecture. — princeton.edu

“I’m not the architect to make a shape,” he told me firmly. “My designs are always problem solving.” Rafael Viñoly, who worked on a team with Ban in 2002 to propose a design for the new World Trade Center—they made it to the final round—says, “This is a guy that still thinks architecture is about building, the mechanical part of building and what the building does. Architecture is not writing or talking, it’s building buildings.” — newyorker.com

Frank Gehry once said that if we didn’t have starchitects, architects (and architecture) wouldn’t be in the media at all. But this kind of coverage, even when positive, we don’t need. It perpetuates a Howard Roarkian image that makes most of us architects cringe — not the least because of the uber-capitalist, Ayn Rand alignment — and also deflates a more productive optimism within the profession that sees these arrogant acts as old school. — mobile.nytimes.com

Next Saturday at 5 p.m., after a week of member previews, the 35-year-old Aspen Art Museum in Colorado will open the doors of its new building to the public and then keep them open for a 24-hour celebration.

There is much to celebrate. The four-story building is the first American museum designed by the innovative Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. — nytimes.com

Sharif El-Gamal, CEO of real estate developer Soho Properties, announced today that his company acquired 49-51 Park Place from Consolidated Edison for $10.7 million. He also revealed that none other than Pritzker Prize-winning starchitect Jean Nouvel will be designing the site’s three-story Islam museum and prayer space. — 6sqft

Migrant workers building the first stadium for Qatar's 2022 World Cup have been earning as little as 45p [≈75¢] an hour, the Guardian can reveal [...] More than 100 workers from some of the world's poorest countries are labouring in ferocious desert heat on the 40,000-seat al-Wakrah stadium, which has been designed by the British architect Zaha Hadid [..] — The Guardian