...the city should reverse its approach, zoning neighborhoods like Midtown, Lower Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, by thinking first about the shape of public space instead of private development. — New York Times
For many Americans who bought more home than they could really afford in the giddy days before the crash, the big-house dream has become a nightmare in the ashes of foreclosure and regret.
So after all that, how does 84 square feet sound?
— New York Times
Superman has gotten a makeover — well, another makeover — two years ahead of turning 75 years old in 2013.
As the first and most widely known representative of the spandexed set, Superman remains the popular face of that uniquely American creation, the superhero.
But America has changed a lot since 1938. And as it did, that face changed, too.
— npr.org
Once again this December 1st the world's attention turns to the global issue of HIV/AIDS. Typically media coverage focuses on the role of education and redoubling efforts to prevent transmission among at-risk groups. However one aspect of the disease that has received less attention is the extent to which housing conditions affect both the risk of infection and the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS. — globalurbanist.com
It is not uncommon today for an architect to give a public lecture about a building and gloss over the parameters of its program or the specific needs of its users, speaking instead mostly about the building's site — its measure, tendencies, desires, structure, mythologies, meaning — as if the problem of architectural design was primarily one of site response. — Design Observer
Is there such thing as a building that is "sensitive" to landscape, or are they all various forms of aggression? View full entry
Is it a building filled with art with some people in it, or a building filled with people with some art in it? There needs to be enough social space to make people feel comfortable in what can be an austere environment, the white box. You shouldn’t feel like you need to be quiet in the public spaces. — New York Times
If you're in Miami Beach later this week to attend Art | Basel | Miami Beach, don't miss this exciting event: Volume 29, ‘The Urban Conspiracy’ launches on Friday, December 2, with a special event at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Join Printed Matter, Jeffrey Inaba, and guests to... View full entry
What is the function of gossip in architecture? Let’s face it, architects don’t openly criticize or debate each others work in public; they prefer to gossip within their chosen networks, aiding social bonding through subtle passive aggression. Gossip has always been around in... View full entry
The Tower of London and the Palace of Westminster could lose their status as world architectural wonders because of the damage being done by surrounding skyscrapers.
World heritage cultural organisation Unesco has warned that the Tower of London could be downgraded because of the negative impact of the [Renzo Piano-designed] Shard of Glass on its panorama.
— thisislondon.co.uk
In London's case the practicality of the architecture is a reaction to the economic rather than the political excesses of the recent past. The 2012 Games are shaping up, in fact, as one of the clearest signs yet that the architectural boom years of the last decade or so in the West have definitively ended. — latimes.com
Luxury 360 is the FT's new online hub for creative and commercial coverage of the luxury goods industry, with news, views and special reports. — FT
Photo: Louis Vuitton - Ad Campaign Just in time for holiday shopping and on your face money shot action, Financial Times launches its 'LUXURY 360' section, gazing through the global markets for lately thriving luxury goods industry. "Go f*ck yourselves if you haven't arrived losers, pardon me... View full entry
New York has turned large swaths of Broadway over to bikes, benches and cafes. Los Angeles is going all-in on a plan to turn its car-addicted populace into rail commuters. And Minneapolis, the frostiest city of the Frost Belt, is creating a sophisticated citywide bike trail system that has made it the No. 1 city in the country for bicycling. — salon.com
Russia is to build an ultra-modern city on a frozen island deep inside the Arctic Circle - in the Kremlin's latest move to back its claim to vast oil and gas reserves under the polar ice cap.
Named Umka, after a popular Soviet polar bear cub cartoon hero, the initial 5,000 residents will live under a vast dome to protect themselves from temperatures sinking below minus 30C in winter.
— dailymail.co.uk
What about revisiting the hardcore shapes of the avant-garde? It has been almost a century since the air was heavily saturated with the combustible gas of ideology. Almost a hundred years have passed since everything from film, through art and architecture, to urbanism was susceptible to the... View full entry
"It's amazing; people who aren't necessarily into art are excited about it because of the mechanics, the geology of it." - the owner of the quarry. — L.A. Times
Michael Heizer, who is partially responsible for the definition of "land art" said, "there is nothing there, yet it is still a sculpture" about his Double Negative, will be forever present in LACMA with his huge granite sculpture called "Levitated Mass" that weights 340 tons and measures... View full entry