A science project of unprecedented scale begins this month in the New Mexico desert, as a technology firm breaks ground for a model metropolis. Washington-based Pegasus Global Holdings will build a town replete with schools, parks and an airport.

But the intended residents are not people, but robots. — forumforthefuture.org

The general Idea from my interpretation was to produce a lightweight structure that uses minimal material yet uses technology to account for the lack of girth and material. - Rogelio Mercado — Rogelio Mercado

For a Middle East-based client he's not allowed to identify, Johnson worked on a project back in the late 2000s designing a building that would have been a mile-and-a-half tall, with 500 stories. Somewhat of a theoretical practice, the design team identified between 8 and 10 inventions that would have had to take place to build a building that tall. Not innovations, Johnson says, but inventions, as in completely new technologies and materials. — theatlanticcities.com

Artinfo spoke with Cathy Lang Ho curator of "Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good" the American Pavilion's inherently political theme at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale. 18x32 opined "Go reread The Society of the Spectacle, get back to me with a new headline.—ed." The link is to a wikipedia entry on Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

Using natural soil and sand, the Stone Spray can construct intricate solid structures at almost any location, even on vertical surfaces. The device was developed by architects Petr Novikov, Inder Shergill, and Anna Kulik as a research project to experiment with applying the concepts of digital manufacturing to construction work. — gizmag.com

Ai Weiwei: No. Beijing's greatest problem is that it never belongs to its people. Though it's a city of more than 10 million, people living here are like people living in a hotel. — Foreign Policy

Bustler.net posted a list of the 2012 Recipients of the AIA Small Project Awards. Reacting to the Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church; Springdale, AR by Marlon Blackwell Architect Orhan Ayyüce posted an image of Fire Station No. 4, Columbus, Indiana, 1967, by Venturi and Rauch asking "Do you think so too? As a student FS 4 was a big deal for me and still is."

In this excerpt from his new book, City: A Guidebook for the Urban Age, PD Smith explores the history of ‘invisible’ urban infrastructure, from the network of subterranean steam pipes synchronising Paris clocks in the 1870s to the ‘organism’ that is Seoul today. The next step: a city that talks back to its citizens? — australiandesignreview.com

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, are reporting development of a new transparent polymer solar cell (PSC), an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. — Nanoarchitecture.net

"Hammertone is created from a fabric of woven LED strips and paper squares, networked through a series of sensors which read the aural vibrations created by the artists - responding through light, shadow and geometry." — MocoLoco

The Sound of Buildings is an audio exploration of Melbourne’s most architecturally significant buildings. Available free as an interactive iPhone and iPad app, The Sound of Buildings provides listeners with a deeper level of understanding and context for the selected buildings, as well highlighting Melbourne’s diverse architecture and urban spaces through an exploration of cultural, monuments, government, residential, commercial, transport, education, health and sporting projects. — soundofbuildings.com

Gehry Technologies (GT), a company founded in 2002 by Gehry Partners’s research and development team, has announced a free preview period for their latest off-the-shelf product GTeam. The new cloud-based software described by Gehry as “Google Docs for 3D models” automatically translates files from AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, Google SketchUp, and other professional modeling software into a common format, which can then be easily accessed and shared online. — artinfo.com

Even by the generous standards of Kinect hacking, that’s mighty weird. — IDEAbuilder @ Youtube.com

Unveiling a new building in 99 degree weather with no air conditioning doesn't sound ideal - unless, that is, said building is the first one in NYC that can power itself. Dubbed the Delta, the self-sustaining residential property was opened to the press last night by green developers Voltaic Solaire, and the balmy conditions in the city just happened to be the perfect opportunity to showcase its smart design. — Inhabitat