In the early '90s Caracas dreamed of a shimmering downtown financial centre—now it's the tallest squat in the world — domusweb.it

Three winners and seven Honorable Mentions were recently announced for the 2011 Burnham Prize Competition “McCormick Place REDUX”. [...] The Jury awarded the First Prize to the proposal "(Toward) a Requiem" by Mohamed Sharif, Felix Monasakanian, Efren Soriano, and Teo Biocina from Los Angeles; the Second Prize to Srdan Nad from Ljubljana, Slovenia; and the Third Prize to PATH, Matt Hutchinson and Brandon Pace. — bustler.net

But it is no longer a work of Gaudí. It cannot overcome the central paradox, which is that Gaudí's architecture was organic, living and responsive, whereas posthumous simulation of his ideas makes them fixed and lifeless. The fusion, the melting, the integration of structure and ornament and the demented frenzy that drove Gaudí to do strange things with comatose turkeys and dead babies cannot be replicated. — Guardian

The French city of Dijon and Teletech International have chosen Rotterdam architects MVRDV to transform a disused Dijon Mustard laboratory completed in 2004 into an innovative call center with an education center, incubator and social program. Completion of the 6,000m2 refurbishment is planned for 2012. — bustler.net

Foster and Partner's carbon-neutral Masdar City is springing to life in Abu Dhabi, and Inhabitat recently had a chance to take a first-hand look inside this ambitious sustainable development! Just last Friday we checked out the city's first eco street fair and Organic Market -- a family affair complete with cotton candy, clowns, and princess fairies that also gave locals and visitors their first glimpse of some of the world’s most advanced architectural and cleantech developments. — Inhabitat

Many images from the compound reported to be the hideout of Osama bin Laden have surfaced. In addition to images of the compound, photos of portions of a helicopter have also been made available to us. — photoblog.msnbc.msn.com

Amsterdam-based NL Architects have recently won the competition for a new school building in Knokke-Heist, Belgium. The proposal "De Vonk" (The Spark) acts as a transition between the city's outer rim and the adjacent farmland. — bustler.net

Paris-based Explorations Architecture, together with engineering firms Flint & Neill and Arup Lighting have won the international competition to design the Negrellisteg crossing, a pedestrian bridge, over the Hauptbahnhof railways in downtown Zurich, Switzerland. The competition was held by the City of Zurich with 12 shortlisted teams. — bustler.net

April 2011 marks the completion of "Metropol Parasol", the Redevelopment of the Plaza de la Encarnacíon in Seville, Spain. Designed by Berlin-based J. MAYER H. architects, this project has already become the new landmark for Seville, a place of identification and to articulate Seville's role as one of the world´s most fascinating cultural destinations. — bustler.net

Boston-based research and design firm PRAUD have shared with us their competition entry for the Prime Minister's Official Residence of Korea. The proposal for this structure in Sejong Special Autonomous City right outside of Seoul was a collaboration with Sunghyun Architects, landscape architects were Lee Yoon-joo and Park Kyung-ui. The entry did not manage to win a prize, but we think it is worth sharing. — bustler.net

When the Vancouver Convention Centre was first completed we were totally blown away by its gorgeous (and huge!) green roof as well as its many green features. So we weren't surprised when the convention centre was recently recognized by the AIA landing its place among the Committee On The Environment's (COTE) Top Ten Green Projects. — Inhabitat

While the project is clearly a feat of engineering, architects couldn’t help but comment that it lacked a certain architectural flair. — bdonline.co.uk

An Iowa-based philanthropist and architecture aficionado has offered a $300 million reward to any city anywhere in the world that dares to hire someone other than Frank Gehry to design its gleaming new art museum. — WSJ

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has decided to spend $1 million in federal grants — money that had been avidly sought by residents of Skid Row — to instead help out San Francisco–based Gensler, a 2,800-employee giant that enjoyed $463 million in revenue last year. — laweekly.com