Andrew Ferren traveled to Turkey on an architectural pilgrimage, to learn more about the work of a 16th-century architect and engineer named Sinan. VanillaBrice commented "The Sokollu Pasha Mosque is an incredible study of fitting an impressive religious building in a neighborhood setting. The scale and way he controlled the sloping site display his mastery."

The self supporting wooden sphere stands 15 meters tall, 35.2 meters long, and 14.4 meters wide. Units were built as ‘cartridges’ off-site and assembled into a self supporting grid. All wood is sustainably harvested. The timber strand beams and stained plywood skin is gridded with large windows throughout. Set to the solar south the structure is evenly daylit and illuminated by LED lighting at night. A separately supported floor is entered though an elevated bridge. — eVolo

Big names of the international architectural and design community recently gathered at Toronto's Thompson Hotel as AZURE Magazine revealed the winners of its second annual AZ Awards, the only international, multi-disciplinary design competition in Canada. Representing a global snapshot of the world of architecture and design, submissions were open to designers, architects, firms and manufacturers of all disciplines, as well as students in these fields. — bustler.net

It took Dubai more than five years to build the 828-meter Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building (for the moment, anyway). But Chinese architects and engineers reckon they need a mere 90 days to leave the Emiratis in the dust. At least, that's what they've claimed. — cnngo.com

Googie was used as a deragatory term almost from the start — born in Southern California and named for a West Hollywood coffee shop designed in 1949 by John Lautner, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Architecture critic Douglas Haskell was the first to use “Googie” to describe the architectural movement, after driving by the West Hollywood coffee shop and finally feeling like he had found a name for this style that was flourishing in the postwar era. — blogs.smithsonianmag.com

Zaha Hadid emerged this week as the favourite to buy the Design Museum in London after impressing with her plans to turn it into an architecture museum. — bdonline.co.uk

It has transformed the London skyline, but the giant Shard faced hostility all the way. Its Italian architect Renzo Piano meets Steve Rose on the eighth floor – and answers his critics — guardian.co.uk

The Marcel Breuer Digital Archive represents a collaborative effort headed by Syracuse University Library to digitize over 30,000 drawings, photographs, letters and other materials related to the career of Marcel Breuer, one of the most influential architects and furniture designers of the twentieth century. — breuer.syr.edu

“What we’re going for is a building that fits in and reflects the general character of the historic district, that expresses the period of the American Revolution but in a fresh new way for the 21st century,” Mr. Stern said. — NYT

This web documentary gathers the best of online resources about the famed Habitat 67 of Montreal's World Expo 67, mashes them up and tells the modern story of how this iconic piece of architecture remains relevant in today's urban debates. — youtube.com

Although as a preservation-minded fellow, he probably wouldn't suggest that the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house off Colorado Boulevard is a teardown: "Now is your chance to live in the cottage and oversee construction, or you can just move in, enjoy the charm, the seclusion, the views--and write that novel." — la.curbed.com

We are interested in connecting architecture with the social — The Architectural League

Almost twenty-five years to the day after Dominique de Menil and architect Renzo Piano celebrated the opening of the central museum building of the Menil Collection, Director Josef Helfenstein announced that the Board of Trustees has unanimously chosen the Los Angeles -based architecture firm Johnston Marklee to design the Menil Drawing Institute, the first major building project to be initiated under an ambitious plan for the institution’s future. — yourhoustonnews.com