Maurice Cox grew up in Brooklyn, a borough whose name has since become a global shorthand for gentrification. An urban designer, architectural educator, and former mayor of the City of Charlottesville, VA, in 2015 Cox became head of the planning department of Detroit, where he hopes to prevent the forces that have reshaped his childhood home from taking over the Motor City. [...] Cox is using design to catalyze growth that’s incremental and closely in line with the city’s strong sense of self. — Urban Omnibus

A 56-storey tower called The Diamond is set to join the growing cluster of skyscrapers in the City of London and will be the financial district’s third-tallest building when completed.

The planned 263.4m tower at 100 Leadenhall Street will rank behind 1 Undershaft at 290m, nicknamed the Trellis, where work is yet to start, and 22 Bishopsgate, the reworked Pinnacle at 278m, which is under construction. — The Guardian

Progress on the second highest tower in the Hudson Yards mega-development has reached a milestone. 35 Hudson Yards has officially topped out at 1,009 feet. Now that it has reached that height, it is the ninth tallest structure in New York City and 19th tallest in the United States. Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group are responsible for the development. Next door, 30 Hudson Yards is tantalizingly close to topping out, but the milestone has not yet officially occurred. — New York YIMBY

The long-awaited vision for the 2.2-acre site along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, unveiled in the first community meeting for the project, is toned down a bit from the 2,000-foot-tall Spire plan that stirred emotions but never advanced beyond a 76-foot-deep foundation hole. The design, by One World Trade Center architect David Childs, includes a south tower rising 1,100 feet and an 850-foot north tower. — Chicago Tribune

Next fall, Indiana University announced Monday, the building will house the university’s new master of architecture program, serving as an outpost of the flagship Bloomington campus 36 miles to the west. But this will be no ordinary outpost.

Columbus, a small-town architectural mecca, boasts buildings by such renowned architects as Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Chicago’s Harry Weese. — Chicago Tribune

Earlier today, news broke that the De Blasio administration has hashed out a deal with JPMorgan Chase to demolish its existing headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, and replace the structure with a shiny new 70-story building. The deal was negotiated in the wake of the Midtown East rezoning, which loosened zoning regulations for the area in exchange for developers providing street-level and infrastructure improvements. — Curbed New York

The John Hancock Center is getting a name change, nearly a decade after another of Chicago’s most beloved skyscrapers — the Sears Tower — switched identities and caused a civic uproar.

Owners of the 100-story John Hancock Center said the building’s namesake, the insurance company that built the tower almost five decades ago, asked that its name and logos throughout the building’s interior be removed immediately. — Chicago Tribune

The $600-million project, called 1111 Sunset, would include high-rise condominium and apartment towers, town houses, shops, restaurants and two acres of public open space designed by James Corner Field Operations, the landscape architect behind New York’s High Line elevated park. [...]

The 98-room boutique hotel is to be designed by Kengo Kuma. It would be the major Los Angeles project for the high-profile Japanese architect known for melding his structures to their natural surroundings. — Los Angeles Times

Two acclaimed design firms – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and James Corner Field Operations – are coming together to transform a 5.5-acre site along Sunset Boulevard into a mixed-use project focused on innovative design, open space and community. The project site is located on the northwest edge of Downtown Los Angeles, within a mile of Bunker Hill, Dodger Stadium and Echo Park Lake. — 1111sunsetblvd.com

A Korean-born architect on Wednesday sued a major architecture firm over the design of Manhattan's One World Trade Center, claiming that the building bears a "striking similarity" to a tower he designed in 1999 while in graduate school.

Jeehoon Park accused Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of falsely claiming design credit for the 104-story One World Trade Center, whose 1,776-foot (541 m) height including the spire makes it the Western Hemisphere's tallest building. — Reuters

[Hearn's] venture also controls rights to the building's name, which has remained unchanged since John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. developed it [...] Hearn has been in talks with companies interested in putting their name on the skyscraper since the structure's namesake no longer pays for that right. "We've had interest in it, but have not made a deal yet," Hearn said. That process could be resumed by a new owner. — Chicago Tribune