One of the country’s leading architectural historians, [Professor Stanford] Anderson joined the faculty in 1963 for an extraordinary career at MIT that spanned more than 50 years. But Anderson’s profound contributions as an author and intellectual, his colleagues say, are matched by his influence on MIT and how he formed the department’s shape and stature today. — MIT News

One can now find the place where many South Londoners took refuge during World War II. The tunnels at Clapham, now open to the public for the first time, once catered for over 8,000 people.

After lying dormant for 70 years, the tunnels and beds left untouched have been reopened. — Architect's Newspaper

After 21 years away, the NFL is coming back to Los Angeles. The winner after months of waiting and a busy day of voting and discussion among the NFL team owners in Houston was St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke [...]. The exciting twist is that the San Diego Chargers have the option to join the Rams in their huge, shiny stadium—which is poised to be the NFL's biggest and most expensive venue, with a price tag well over $2 billion. (It'd be the priciest sports venue in the nation's history, too.) — la.curbed.com

This case study looks at the origins of, and factors that led to, the “death” of the best-known humanitarian architecture organization in the world.

However, it will also reveal that AFH is regenerating via its worldwide network of chapters, which it had begun developing around 2004, and which gathered more formally under the name Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network upon AFH’s closure. — nonprofitquarterly.org

L.A. has always been a place of experimentation, but now it appears to be in an architectural arms race, a competition to build the tallest, shiniest, and weirdest buildings. Adding to some Angelenos’ trepidation is how many of the projects popping up around the city are museums—built to last for 40 years or more, which is an eternity in a city known for knocking things down. — LA Magazine

Mumbai’s gigantic slums are one of the city’s most prominent—and problematic—features. Dharavi, located in the heart of Mumbai, is home to upwards of 1.5 million people, giving it the distinction of being one of the largest slums in all of Asia. [...] it will also be home to what organizers are calling the first slum museum. [...]

The museum itself will be a small, flexible mobile structure, which will make it easy for it to be pulled through the slum’s streets on a bike or small vehicle. — smithsonianmag.com

Unlike Lego bricks, which are plastic, Tsumiki pieces are made of Japanese cedar (and manufactured using wood certified by the Forest Stewardship). And unlike the brick-shaped Lego blocks, each Tsumiki block is shaped like an inverted “V.” Triangular notches in the legs let the Tsumiki blocks wedge together, making them versatile like Lego bricks, albeit not as sturdy; some of the assembly models shown in Kuma’s Tsumiki brochure look about as solid as a house of cards. — wired.com

According to celebrity gossip juggernaut TMZ, the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles is soon to go up for sale and the owner — Playboy Enterprises and not Hugh Hefner — hopes for a brazenly quixotic and international publicity assuring sale price “somewhere north of $200 million.”

[...] should someone sign on the dotted line they will be required to accept a lifetime tenancy by Mister Hefner, now 89 years old and married since 2012 to 29-year-old former Playmate of the Month Crystal Harris. — variety.com

Holidaymakers may soon be able to experience life under the sea by booking a stay at a futuristic hotel on the ocean floor.

The Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel has received USA Patent and Trademark approval as the world's first underwater hotel - with Egypt, Malaysia, Hawaii and the Bahamas revealed as some of the designers' preferred locations.

Guests would be treated to a one-of-a-kind panoramic view of sea life at a staggering 28ft (8.5 metres) below the surface. — Daily Mail

Mall of America’s ability to so zealously suppress the December 23 [Black Lives Matter] protest there highlights how, in a nation where more and more public life takes place in privatized spaces, the ability to exercise First Amendment rights has become increasingly contingent...

Legal arguments that free political speech should be allowed at malls center around the idea that the shopping center has replaced the town square as a place where opinions can be heard and exchanged. — the Intercept

A group of six amateur artists living in the heart of Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, host to nearly 80,000 Syrians, has worked together to recreate famous landmarks, which once stood proudly in the western Asian country, in dedication to its long and rich history. [...]

“There are lots of kids living here who have never seen Syria or who have no memory of it. They know more about Jordan than about their own country.” — Newsweek

Whereas residents were once all long-term tenants, in the 35 years since Margaret Thatcher encouraged people to buy – and therefore sell – their council flats and houses, the population of places like this has become ever more transient.

In particular, homes that were once council properties are now often owned by buy-to-let landlords who rent them out on a short-term basis. — The Guardian