Since July, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) has been working with an anonymous architectural firm to hash out a new concept for the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, and now, nearly five months later, the Performing Arts Center board has finally released the name of the lead architect: Brooklyn-based studio REX led by Joshua Prince-Ramus, a former protégé starchitect Rem Koolhaas. — 6sqft

When executives at Taco Bell found out that the Downey building that housed their first restaurant was at risk of being demolished, they ordered the store “to go.” The birthplace of the Mexican fast food chain, located on Firestone Boulevard, is up on rails and ready to roll. Founder Glen Bell built the mission style building in 1962 and on Thursday night at 10:30, store “Numero Uno” will begin the 45-mile ride to company headquarters in Irvine. — Los Angeles Magazine

Pedestrian crossings made up of fragments of famous works of avant-garde art have appeared in a residential area in the Russian city of Khimki, located just northwest of Moscow.

Fragments of the work of Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and Vasily Kandinsky feature on five pedestrian crossings in the “Gorod Naberezhniy” complex, chosen for their frequent use. Together with the zebra stripes, there are signs which provide information about the artwork and artist. — calvertjournal.com

The Milwaukee Art Museum is due to reopen on 24 November after a 14-month, $34m renovation that brings the institution back from the brink. When the museum made the unorthodox decision to begin planning an expansion at the height of the recession in 2009, mould flourished, floors buckled and ceilings leaked in the two buildings that housed the permanent collection. [...]

Roberts says: “People who know our museum will not believe that this is the same museum.” — theartnewspaper.com

The Ark Encounter is a full-sized replica of Noah’s Ark, as described in the book of Genesis. [...]

the actual ark will be 510 feet long ... 85 feet wide and more than 50 feet tall, and that's before you add the sail. It can house up to 10,000 people in a pinch, and when finished will be the largest wooden timber structure in the world. [...]

“People expect the quality of a Universal Studios and we’re going to give it to them.” — cincinnati.com

In Bangkok, where rents are quickly rising and young professionals often struggle to find places to live, architects created a simple tiny house that can easily pop up in a parking garage or inside one of the city's half-built abandoned buildings. [...]

Instead of solid walls, the structure has a lattice-like design that lets breezes pass through. "With the wall, we need as much ventilation as possible," she says. "It is always too hot, not cold." — fastcoexist.com

You're familiar with pretty much every phase of Julius Shulman's long career as an architectural photographer. You started following the globe-trotting Iwan Baan on Instagram way before he became a design-world celebrity. You can't recommend Ezra Stoller's black-and-white pictures of midcentury Manhattan highly enough.

But Wayne Thom? The name may draw a blank. — LA Times

[Sara Zewde] argues that while the traditional monument commemorates a singular event or individual by placing an object in a space that is a break from its surroundings, the 400-year practice of African enslavement demands a different approach.

“For Afro-descended people, you wake up every day with the legacy of slavery,” she says. “How do you deal with that spatially?”

One approach is to translate cultural practices into spatial ones. — Next City

New research finds that one night of sleep deprivation and six months on a high-fat diet could both impair insulin sensitivity to a similar degree, demonstrating the importance of a good night’s sleep on health. [...]

When the body becomes less sensitive to insulin ... it needs to produce more insulin to keep blood sugar stable. This may eventually lead to Type 2 diabetes, a disease where the body’s insulin response doesn’t work properly and there is too much sugar in the blood. — obesity.org

Earlier this week, the online street art community was abuzz about an article by Rafael Schacter for The Conversation, From dissident to decorative: why street art sold out and gentrified our cities. [...]

Basically, Schacter argues that street art isn’t rebellious anymore. Rather, that it’s most notable form is as a tool used by corporations to spur gentrification. Agree or disagree, the article is a must-read. — Vandalog

In suburbs, cities and rural areas, [big-box stores] can present a reuse and rehab conundrum, particularly as retailers become more sophisticated about controlling leases and redevelopment. [...]

With the big-box model, stores are rarely remodeled. [...]

A kind of “retail cannibalism” emerges, where companies compete for market share with ever-shinier facades that leave aging stores behind as the asphalt fades. — minnpost.com

Last month, Seth Pinsky, Executive Vice President at RXR Realty, shared a presentation regarding the development of the long-planned rehabilitation and conversion of Pier 57 aka “SuperPier.” According to him, the 450,000-square-foot development will invest $350 million of private capital to redevelop the structure, and in return create hundreds of jobs, generate millions of dollars of revenue for the Hudson River Park Trust, and create a new destination for New Yorkers and visitors alike. — 6sqft.com