The Palace at Versailles has announced that Olafur Eliasson will display his artworks at the palace and its gardens this year. The Icelandic-Danish artist's exhibition will be on view from June through October, following the well-received installations of contemporary art at the baroque symbol of absolute monarchy by Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, and French artist Xavier Veilhan... — artnet.com

Sweden intends to expel as many as 80,000 refugees and migrants who arrived in 2015 and whose applications for asylum have been rejected.

[...]

Sweden, which is home to 9.8 million people, is one of the European Union countries that has taken in the largest number of refugees in relation to its population. Sweden received more than 160,000 asylum seekers last year, and about 55 of those are expected to be given asylum. — Al Jazeera

For almost a decade, transit ridership has declined across Southern California despite enormous and costly efforts by top transportation officials to entice people out of their cars and onto buses and trains.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the region's largest carrier, lost more than 10% of its boardings from 2006 to 2015, a decline that appears to be accelerating. — LA Times

Now, after more than five flush years, oil prices are in a prolonged slump, the flow of workers has reversed [...] But Williston believes it can build something more enduring. [...]

The city used its newfound wealth to build a $70-million high school, a $68-million recreation center, and new water and sewer systems. It renovated Main Street and created a city position for someone to write parking tickets. Highways have been widened, and an airport is under development. — latimes.com

After staging [a 48-hr long continuous VR experience], [Thorsten] Wiedemann is convinced that “long period VR trips” are possible, and that current technology is sufficient for such purposes. The only problem was when he had a panic attack after the 25th hour, when he was pretty close to giving up.

“I had no physical problems, no burning eyes, killing headaches or nausea,” Wiedemann says. “The path to the future is now prepared..." — the Creators Project

The hamburger stand is part of southern California’s rich tradition of roadside architecture. These buildings are typically 100 square-foot boxes, with an outdoor window to order and pick up food. Next to the structures are rudimentary dining areas, often consisting of no more than a plastic tarp and a few fold-up chairs and tables [...]

The hipsterfication of LA’s hamburger stands may... prove the final chapter in the saga of these half-century-old structures. — The Guardian

New York City once set the standard for subsidized housing. The city started out building and maintaining tens of thousands of apartments for working families, sponsoring job training and social programs. It ran a budget surplus. [...] Now the Village is like a gated playground for runaway wealth. Subsidized apartments all across town are converting to market-rate rentals and condos faster than City Hall can build affordable units or preserve old ones. — nytimes.com

"Small houses can tell big stories," read the apt white words on the pamphlet's blue cover.

The shotgun house's Ocean Park neighborhood had once been full of such modest dwellings. It was a working-class place — home to carpenters and painters and people who washed other people's laundry.

But that kind of history most often is erased over time, as little houses make way for bigger ones. Ordinary people often don't chronicle their lives — and when they leave, their stories do too. — LA Times

Is there no architecture that can bare its soul without simultaneously crushing you with its ego, that stirs, moves, troubles, provokes, inspires? [...]

A glimmer of an alternative is suggested by Mavericks: Breaking the Mould of British Architecture, an installation opening next week [...]

The installation is designed by the architect Alex Scott-Whitby, previously best known for proposing that the spires of City of London churches be adapted to make creative workspaces. — theguardian.com

The biggest names impacting New York’s skyline come together to discuss the projects that now epitomize the city, the ever-evolving real estate market and what’s next for New York’s neighborhoods. — 92Y

LHB has become one of the nation’s first design firms to incorporate virtual reality, or VR, across the sweep of its in-house teams [...]

“With VR, you can inhabit the space in full scale...You get a far more physical sense of what that space is going to be.” [...]

Virtual reality also has potential to be “the great equalizer,” LHB’s Fischer noted. A middle-school maintenance worker can put on a VR headset and notice design flaws that might go unnoticed by project managers. — startribune.com