A curvy futuristic $450M building meant to remake Seoul into a global design capital opened to the S. Korean public Friday after years of debate about its impact on a historic city precinct. And not everyone is happy with the outcome.

Designed by award-winning architect Zaha Hadid, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza is a stark contrast to its neighbourhood, which is better known in Seoul for its links to a royal dynasty that ruled for half a millennium and as home to one of the city’s oldest markets. — o.canada.com

I worry if the criteria of the Pritzker Prize ... architecture's... most prestigious prize ... are now also being diverted in the direction of political correctness .... — Patrik Schumacher

Once complete the tower will be the world’s tallest, beating current record holder the 828m-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Client Jeddah Economic Company has not yet confirmed the exact height of the tower, but has indicated it will be over 1km tall.

In December, contractor Saudi Bauer completed piling work for the tower, including sinking 270 piles up to a depth of 110m. — bdonline.co.uk

In a world where we are increasingly given the chance to customise our output, how do you orchestrate a planet where a Gangnam ringtone collides with the sound of a 1970s camera shutter from a smartphone, in a tube station resonating with Vivaldi to deter loitering, while the guy next to you shout-announces to some remotely interested party that he is "About to get on the tube! I said The! Tube! ... "? What is the future sound of cities? — theguardian.com

Williams joins artist and urban planner Theaster Gates and MacArthur Genius and architect Jeanne Gang, FAIA, as speakers who will deliver keynote addresses. ARCHITECT Live host Stephen Chung, AIA, and 2014 AIA President Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, will also give talks. And Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel may put in an appearance as well, but who ever knows with that guy. — architectmagazine.com

Rice University has picked the New York architectural firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro to design an opera theater scheduled to open in 2018.

The 600-seat theater will stand in what now is a parking lot between Alice Pratt Brown Hall, the home of Rice's Shepherd School of Music, and Rice Stadium. Besides serving the school's Opera Department, the theater will be used for chamber music concerts and other events, Rice said.

Charles Renfro, a 1989 Rice graduate, will be the lead architect. — chron.com

Yesterday, March 19, Horace Havemeyer III, Metropolis’s founding publisher passed away peacefully at his home in New York City. Death released him from the suffering brought on by complications from CIDP, a chronic neurological disorder that rendered him quadriplegic in mid-2011. He was 72. — metropolismag.com

This is not how most people think of Mr. Bloomberg, who recently stepped down after 12 years as mayor and who is the city’s richest resident. Under his leadership, New York became a land of wealth and plenty, at least for some – in Midtown Manhattan, glassy new high-rises contain the third homes of Russian billionaires; downtown, tourists order $38 steak frites at Balthazar and walk the High Line, an innovative park built with donations from the rich. — theglobeandmail.com

The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has demanded the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) from the international body, saying it is complicit in the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and other violations of international law. — theguardian.com

On April 19 there will be a groundbreaking near Southern Illinois University to celebrate the restoration and preservation of the world’s first geodesic dome home, originally built by Buckminster Fuller and his wife, Lady Anne, in 1960.

The ceremony at the Fuller Dome Home in Carbondale will be open to the public, free of charge, and will include a tour and the opportunity to view rare artifacts. — upi.com

Greece's cultural gems have become the focus of renewed protest on the streets of Athens following the cash-strapped government's announcement of plans to include prime properties around the Acropolis, and other landmark buildings, in its privatisation programme.

Furious opponents marched through the city centre at the weekend to denounce the "illegal sale" of the country's heritage. — theguardian.com

The lean urbanism concept, he says, is like a software patch, or a workaround – ultimately a guide or a tip sheet to navigate the complicated, and often very expensive, maze of working in the built environment in the U.S. “It’s about knowing that with certain building types, under a certain threshold, you don’t need an elevator. Or a sprinkler system. A lot of developers know that, and we want to daylight that. We want to present that thematically.” — theatlanticcities.com