Back in September, we told you about a competition to conceive a redesign of the MetLife Building. Earlier this week, the six finalists of the “Reimagine a New York City Icon” competition were announced. The competition, sponsored by Metals in Construction magazine and the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York, isn’t part of any actual process in the works to modify the Midtown office tower, but are fascinating ideas of what could be. Perhaps these ideas will be put into use at other buildings. — New York Yimby

The Art University Bournemouth’s new drawing studio, designed by alumnus Sir Peter Cook, is to be officially today by Zaha Hadid. It is the first purpose-built drawing studio to open in the UK for 100 years and is the renowned architect and founding member of radical collective Archigram’s first building in the country.

The curved studio has been designed to emphasise natural light [...] there is a large circular north-light and a rear clerestory, which provides softer light. — itsnicethat.com

The hub opens on Thursday, or at least a part of it is opening, including most of the main hall, or Oculus, as it’s called. And at first blush, Mr. Calatrava’s architecture can almost — almost — make you forget what an epic boondoggle the whole thing has been. That virgin view, standing inside the Oculus and gazing up, is a jaw-dropper. — The New York Times

The people of Geneva have narrowly rejected a controversial plan to extend and renovate the city’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire by the French architect Jean Nouvel. The “non” camp won the public vote on 28 February with 54%.  
 
Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris designed the planned extension, which was approved by Geneva’s municipal council last May, in collaboration with the local firms Architectures Jucker and DVK Architectes.[...]

The council must now launch a new competition for the museum. — theartnewspaper.com

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery wants to create a public space that could rival Canalside while expanding and remaking one of the city’s most recognizable institutions.

And gallery officials are looking to some of the most respected architects in the world to make it happen.

They have narrowed the list of potential architects for the gallery’s upcoming expansion project to five firms with experience building in challenging urban environments. — the Buffalo News

Google has been granted planning permission for an office in the King’s Cross area of central London.

The 180,000-square-foot building, which is to be known as “S2”, will be designed by UK firm Mossessian Architecture. [...]

It will be based near the site of the firm’s defunct Google Glass store and DeepMind, its artificial intelligence start-up. [...]

The property is expected to be completed by 2017 “at the earliest”. — globalconstructionreview.com

Bank Tower owners OUE Limited announced today a new addition to the Skyspace observation deck tourist attraction that's guaranteed to give it that "thrill factor": a 36-foot long glass slide that will allow brave souls to slide from the 70th floor to the 69th along the outside of the building.

Called the Skyslide, the chute will be made of clear glass four inches thick [and] sit about 1,000 feet above the ground — la.curbed.com

Last week Port Authority decided not to hold an opening ceremony for Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub (followed by their sudden flip flop), citing the fact that it was six years delayed and that final construction costs came in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected. But it’s hardly the only public project to face delays and skyrocketing costs. In fact, it’s not even close to being the worst of the lot that are draining tax payer dollars. — 6sqft.com

3 Sutton Place, a planned 950-foot-tall, 68-story Manhattan condo tower, won’t be materializing along the East River. After defaulting on $128.8 million in loans from lender Gamma Real Estate, developer Bauhouse Group‘s site at 426-432 East 58th Street will face foreclosure sale February 29th.

The site currently houses three contiguous five-story apartment buildings, which Bauhouse purchased to make way for the massive Foster + Partners-designed midtown skyscraper project. — BuzzBuzzHome

The utilitarian décor is in keeping with Bourgeois’s pragmatic nature...She was always interested in architectural spaces, and the rooms of 347 West 20th Street can be compared to her other artistic creations — NYT

Escalating their battle to stamp out an unprecedented spread of street encampments, city officials have begun seizing tiny houses from homeless people living on freeway overpasses in South Los Angeles.

Three of the gaily painted wooden houses, which come with solar-powered lights and American flags, were confiscated earlier this month and seven more are planned for impound Thursday, a Bureau of Sanitation spokeswoman said. — The Los Angeles Times