Designed in the late 1960s by one of the most inventive architects in American history, Paul Rudolph, the campus is a powerful, muscular pile of raw concrete. It’s an example of an architectural style that’s known, for better or worse, as Brutalism.

Now one of the major chunks of UMass Dartmouth is being transformed. That’s the Claire T. Carney Library, which is being renovated and enlarged — redesigned, really, in many ways — by a talented Boston architecture firm that calls itself designLAB. — bostonglobe.com

"In the late 1960s, designer Jens Risom sought an affordable vacation home for his family on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island. Now some 45 years later, the prefab cottage still exists to serve the needs of the growing Risom brood." dwell

McRae, together with Chris King, adjunct faculty member, taught the special studio course where an interdisciplinary team of nineteen students created the designs for the school. McRae attended the school’s grand opening in September along with Jeremy Mefford, a recent UT graduate in civil engineering who was in the class that worked on the school design. — utk.edu

At one time, the dorm housed as many as 40 or 50 prisoners packed together like sardines, according to Caperton. The plan is to convert the space into two or three one-bedroom apartments, which is a considerably more comfortable arrangement than the last residents of the building had. Caperton says that in the 1980s and '90s Lorton Prison had a reputation for being dangerously overcrowded. — wamu.org

Current market conditions for architecture and the near-term outlook for the construction industry in the US is a two-sided story, with forward-looking indicators showing steady improvement but serious concerns arising out of an impending ‘fiscal cliff’. — DesignBuild Source

The Herald was granted a first look at a mock-up of the facade on Thursday. It will be built brick by brick, rather than using a cheaper "brick curtain" method, which would have detracted from the fluid, undulating design, Professor Milbourne said.

It is due to be completed in mid-2014. Construction will be a "bespoke", at times slow process, said the managing director of Lend Lease's project management and construction business, Murray Coleman. — smh.com.au

The courtyard of the Palazzo Barbarano in Vicenza. A mulberry tree symbolizes the silk industry, once the source of much of the city’s wealth. — NYT

Earlier today, we had published the six proposals to reach stage 2 of the international competition for the design of the Helsinki Central Library. Here's now also another stage 1 entry we have received from Swiss/Japanese practice Kubota & Bachmann Architects in collaboration with Francisco Martinez. — bustler.net

Heart of the Metropolis, the international architectural competition for the design of the Helsinki Central Library today announced six proposals to move on to the competition's second stage. The selected finalists have now until February 2013 to further develop their proposals. The final winner will be announced in June 2013. — bustler.net

With a press conference held on the construction site today, the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli celebrates the ground-breaking for the new Porta Volta. The project comprises the 2’500 sqm Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, an 7’500 sqm Office Building and a generous 15’000 sqm Green Area. — herzogdemeuron.com

It is believed 70 per cent of the buildings in the UAE have some form of facade cladding that has a combustible thermo-plastic core between two sheets of aluminium. — thenational.ae