The Residencia is a hotel for staff and guests at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile. Located in an extremely remote and desolate section of the Atacama desert, the Residencia was designed by the German architecture firm Auer + Weber as a sanctuary in an environment that has never supported life. The L-shaped building was dug into the ground as if to conceal its presence, presenting profoundly different faces depending on the approach. — vimeo.com

Dear Mr. Ayyuce,

I have read your article regarding the destruction of the Lautner Concannon residence and would like to set the record straight. Prior to my purchase and demolition of the Concannon Residence, I had extensive discussions with John Lautner regarding his feelings about the home. He was 100% in favor of the demolition of the Concannon Residence... — archinect.com

This video documents the construction of the Masonic Amphitheatre in Clifton Forge, VA. The project was designed and built by 16 students from Virginia Tech's design/buildLAB, helmed by Keith and Marie Zawistowski. The video was put together by photographer Jeff Goldeberg of Esto. — archinect.com

Ai Weiwei has never set foot inside the [Bird's Nest].

He told NPR that the stadium has become entirely divorced from ordinary people.

"We love this building, but we don't like the content they have put in, the kind of propaganda. They dissociated this building [from] citizens' celebration or happiness, [it's] not integrated with the city's life," Ai said. "So I told them I will never go to this building." — npr.org

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel and Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua today launched the adAPT NYC Competition, a pilot program to develop a new housing model for the City’s growing small-household population. adAPT NYC seeks to create additional choices within New York City’s housing market to accommodate the city’s changing demographics. — NYC.gov

In the final tendering procedure for the New Bauhaus Museum in Weimar, Germany, the highly minimalistic design concept by Berlin-based architect Heike Hanada with Benedict Tonon was today selected as the winning entry. Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the host of the international architectural competition for this prestigious project, had invited the four competition finalists to partially rework the initial designs.

The New Bauhaus Museum is scheduled to open in 2015. — bustler.net

The creation of architect Harold J. Bissner Jr., the dome house has been sitting atop a 150-foot conical hill of volcanic fragments since 1968 and is now for sale, at $750,000. The 1,800-square-foot home—guarded by two caretakers whose faces have been sculpted by desertic whim—and its adjoining 60 acres belong to Huell Howser, the host of California’s Gold, the travel show for PBS affiliate KCET that highlights places of interest in California, often along remote paths. — vegasseven.com

HandsumCa$hMoneyYo commented "Norman Foster seems like a really odd fit for this project. He's a wealthy corporatist architect from northern Europe...taking on an abandoned arts academy in a communist state in the tropics, hmm. What could possibly go wrong, yo?"

...Sandra Burga, the project’s client and coordinator, gave an introduction on the scope of the design project, discussed her background in Peru, t... and the project directives to be accomplished within the time period for the design charette and the duration of the project (projected to be completed around 2014, 2015)... 'provide sustainable, innovative, and transformational development to various areas in need, building structures, in which people live, work, learn, heal, and gather…' — UrbDeZine

Soon after the September 2010 theft, leaders of the Unitarian Universalist church and the restoration foundation assembled a team of architects, Wright scholars and others to help design precise replicas of the letters and determine how to attach them to the structure.

After extensive research, replicas were crafted and installed in May. As shiny as experts believe the originals looked when the church was dedicated in 1909, the new letters look brighter than the stolen ones... — featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

The canopy can look like a lot of architecture for such a small project, but that’s partly its value: to put Cazucá on the map and create a de facto town square beside the school (made of shipping containers, serving a population in which a quarter of the children are malnourished, I was told by the school’s principal). Now children play soccer under the canopy and clean up the square every day, and there’s a vegetable garden with tomatoes and herbs. — nytimes.com

The 9th Emirates Glass LEAF Awards for architectural excellence have revealed its 2012 shortlist of entries. [...] The final category winners will be announced in London this September. — bustler.net

The tower, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, will contain offices, exclusive residences, a luxury hotel, restaurants and a viewing gallery across 72 floors which can be occupied.

There are a further 15 levels which make up the 'spire' - six of which have the potential to be used, with another nine exposed to the elements.

The 1,016ft skyscraper was inaugurated by the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Qatar, Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, and The Duke of York. — dailymail.co.uk

A UK friend is writing "a little book" on architectural losers. Such a British idea. He's collecting the under-talented and the under-appreciated, the beaverers-away in an unappreciated style. To which my predictable response is: how many volumes can you run to? How, from the myriad, will you choose? — theage.com.au