Over twenty architects, designers, philosophers and photographers across Sydney have participated in a series of creative conversations, which transform the image of this harbour city from generic postcard perfection to a set of multiplicitous, individual urban narratives. These are networks of surrender, whose ambition is not the cohesion of a finished, consumerable product, but the construction of new communities for creative work. — Gwangju-Design-Biennale_MEDIA-RELEASE.pdf

Richard Hamilton the British painter and printmaker and pioneering figure in Pop Art, died on Tuesday. Donna Sink, used it as a teachable moment noting "I *just* showed this collage to my students as an example of an experiential rendering of a non-specific space. RIP", referring to Richard Hamilton's 'Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?', which is often referred to as the first example of Pop Art.

While there is indeed real cause for anxiety, and new crises continue to emerge, the most pertinent stance young (and for that matter, established) designers can take is to translate the wealth of research emerging from design schools into further activist engagement and new research opportunities — and to advocate for that central role for designers in solving the profound dilemmas that define our time. — Places

“Just finished putting together all the designs for my meeting with Century Property for my new Paris Beach Club at Azure,” Paris Hilton excitedly share the great news to her million fans on Twitter. — zeibiz.com

In a movement propelled by environmental concern, nostalgia for a simpler life and a dollop of marketing savvy, developers are increasingly laying out their cul-de-sacs around organic farms, cattle ranches, vineyards and other agricultural ventures. — Wall Street Journal

The accelerating decline of suburban neighborhoods from Florida to California suggests that the contradictions of the system are finally catching up with it. The Great Recession is challenging not only the economics of homebuilding but also the essence of the suburban dream. Residential construction has slowed dramatically, and yet there remains a massive oversupply of single-family houses, especially on large lots. — places.designobserver.com

Richard Hamilton, a British painter and printmaker whose sly, trenchant take on consumer culture and advertising made him a pioneering figure in Pop Art, and who designed the cover of the Beatles’ “White Album,” died on Tuesday at his home near Oxford. He was 89. — NYT

It comes from speakers inside a 48-by-20-foot inflatable globe, pumped up against the High Line’s steel framework, like an exercise ball smushed under a coffee table. Peru bulges against the eastern wall; the Arctic and Antarctica peer around the edges; Algeria and Mauritania swell near the beltline. The installation is called Tight Spot, and it’s up for two weeks courtesy of the Pace Gallery. — nymag.com

In Holland, we have two words for design. One is vormgeving; in German formgeben. And the other word is ontwerpen; in German entwurf. In the Anglo-Saxon language there’s only one word for design, which is design. That is something you should work out. Vormgeving is more to make things look nice... While ontwerpe means, and the Anglo-saxon word, but its stronger, means engineering. — thatnewdesignsmell.net

In October 2010, Simon Norfolk began a series of new photographs in Afghanistan, which takes its cue from the work of nineteenth-century British photographer John Burke. Norfolk’s photographs reimagine or respond to Burke’s Afghan war scenes in the context of the contemporary conflict. Conceived as a collaborative project with Burke across time, this new body of work is presented alongside Burke’s original portfolios. — BLDG.BLOG

High joblessness and the weak economic recovery pushed the ranks of the poor in the U.S. to 46.2 million in 2010 -- the fourth straight increase and the largest number of people living in poverty since record-keeping began 52 years ago, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. — LA Times

It would be easy for me to raise a picket sign and as an architect say, ‘Down with this wall!’ — Fast Company

CLOG slows things down. Each issue explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now. Succinctly, on paper, away from the distractions and imperatives of the screen. — CLOG

Frank Lloyd Wright's only remaining hotel re-opened in Mason City, Iowa, a little more a century after the iconic, and often controversial, architect designed it. — boston.com