In the lecture series “Context and Collaboration” given by Paul Makovsky of Metropolis Magazine, Pullman and architect Jane Thompson of the Thompson Design Group, Nelson was described as rejecting the Howard Roark paradigm of the “hero architect” due to his socially conscious approach and his choice to work on interiors during the mid-20th century when furniture design was considered “feminine.” — yaledailynews.com

Some of L.A.’s best known architecture firms and artists have designed one-of-a-kind lamps to be auctioned Nov. 2 at a fund-raiser for the MAK Center in West Hollywood.

Among those who designed, produced and donated their work for the event, dubbed “Light My Way, Stranger”: Ball-Nogues Studio, Cory Buckner, Ehrlich Architects, Hodgetts & Fung, Eric Owen Moss, Barbara Bestor, Dewey Ambrosino, Liz Larner and Sam Durant. — latimes.com

One winner and two runners-up have today been announced at this year's edition of the James Dyson Awards, an international student design award running in 18 countries. The first prize went to the entry 'SafetyNet - Escape Rings' from the UK. The two runners-up were the design concepts 'The BETH Project' from the United States and 'Revival Vest' from New Zealand. — bustler.net

Illustrious modernist Richard Meier and multi-disciplinary creator Massimo Vignelli reflect on their respective crafts, city life, and enduring friendship in this mesmeric film by Johnnie Shand Kydd. — NOWNESS.com

For over a century, a simple dilemma has vexed architects. How to escape the formal monotony of a series of identical stacked plates, without losing the efficiency of the canonical high-rise formula? Through a series of astute formal moves, and by evoking empathy, Chinese architecture practice MAD has achieved a rare breakthrough. — domusweb.it

On November 20, Kazuyo Sejima, Shigeru Ban, Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, and six other renowned architects will launch the results of a project kept under wraps for months: a line of breed-specific dog houses commissioned by Muji design director Kenya Hara, who has also designed an abode (for the Toy Poodle). — archrecord.construction.com

These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place, or where concentration camps stood (like Jasenovac and Niš). They were designed by different sculptors (Dušan Džamonja, Vojin Bakić, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, to name a few) and architects (Bogdan Bogdanović, Gradimir Medaković…), conveying powerful visual impact to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. — feeldesain.com

The project, called Night Blooms, is the work of Wil Natzel, an architect with a taste for the eclectically romantic and for unusual materials.

“My larger approach to architecture is embedded in the history of architectural ornamentation,” he says, “As an alternative to a city filled with purely performative architecture” — being the boring walls, doors, stairs, pathways, and other bits that define the spaces we use. — wired.com

Richard Meier is managing partner of New York's Richard Meier & Partners Architects. His residential designs, starting with the Smith House in Darien Conn., in 1967, are known for their white surfaces, floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the landscape. He recently spoke to Marc Myers about his East Hampton farmhouse. — The Wall Street Journal

“They really don’t treat the water in this kind of eggshell kind of way that they do in the United States,” Mr. Chakrabarti said. “They reclaim the land, use dredging material, do a whole variety of things to reshape the shoreline, like we first did when we were New Amsterdam. The Dutch have unrivaled experience in dealing with flooding. They really know how to shape the water’s edge, and I think we really have to rethink the way we deal with the water’s edge, given what’s happened with Sandy.” — New York Observer

In mid-June, we published the first round finalists of the TEX-FAB APPLIED: Research through Fabrication competition, and today it was announced that the overall winner was the entry CAST THICKET by Christine Yogiaman and Ken Tracy. The jury, consisting of Nader Tehrani, Andrew Kudless, Branko Kolarevic, and Vlad Tenu, selected the winning project from the four finalists. CAST THICKET will now be built for the next TEX-FAB Event in Dallas next Spring, 2013. — bustler.net

“Working with paper forces me to be humble, since this medium has a character of its own that asks for cooperation,” Siliakus explains on her website. In the beginning, she worked by hand, using an X-acto knife and a bone folder to prototype each piece dozens of times. — fastcodesign.com