Unlike more traditional colleges, SCI-Arc, as it is known, has no lawn or central quad to accommodate graduation ceremonies and other big events. The school uses the parking lot for such gatherings, but it lacks amenities and charm, despite remarkable views of downtown skyscrapers.

Now an ambitious project is in the works to create what teachers and students believe will fill the need and become a landmark in a neighborhood that is morphing from gritty to artsy. — latimes.com

Federal officials this morning announced that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects has won the contract to build a $400 million Downtown courthouse.

“Today, the new federal courthouse is that much closer to becoming a reality for downtown Los Angeles,” said Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard in a prepared statement. The selection, she said, “means we are moving toward the groundbreaking of a critically needed facility that will resolve long-standing security and space issues.” — ladowntownnews.com

... he did design one house in the US, "where he was long banned because of his leftist political associations," according to an Architectural Digest story from 2005. The 1963 Strick House sits on Santa Monica's architecture-packed La Mesa Drive, and it was designed via post--Niemeyer never visited the site or met Joseph and Anne Strick, who commissioned the house (Joseph was a filmmaker best known for his adaptation of Ulysses and in fact divorced Anne before the house was even finished). — la.curbed.com

Taut concrete skin, structural glass, an escalator with nothing to hide, everything kinetic, a roof that rocks and rolls. Thom Mayne has given us the most exciting building in Dallas. Plastic cuckoo clocks, his wife Blythe, his dog Isis, his socks, his shoes, his Pritzker prize, the garden, the cereal, the coffee, showers you can see through, columns that could roll. This is where he lives. — fdluxe.dallasnews.com

A German architect charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a veteran firefighter last year will next appear in court Dec. 12, authorities say.

A judge ruled Wednesday that Gerhard Becker will face trial in the case. Prosecutors allege he negligently installed outdoor fireplaces at his Hollywood Hills home, a decision they say ultimately led to the death of firefighter Glenn Allen. — latimesblogs.latimes.com

In 2016, if all goes according to plan, Los Angeles will have a new architectural showpiece and yet another place of pilgrimage for movie buffs—the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Created by the organization thanked in Oscar acceptance speeches, and designed by Genoa-based architect Renzo Piano and Los Angeles–based architect Zoltan Pali, the museum is envisioned as a place to celebrate both the history and future of film, with galleries, screening rooms, and an interactive education center. — architecturaldigest.com

Some of L.A.’s best known architecture firms and artists have designed one-of-a-kind lamps to be auctioned Nov. 2 at a fund-raiser for the MAK Center in West Hollywood.

Among those who designed, produced and donated their work for the event, dubbed “Light My Way, Stranger”: Ball-Nogues Studio, Cory Buckner, Ehrlich Architects, Hodgetts & Fung, Eric Owen Moss, Barbara Bestor, Dewey Ambrosino, Liz Larner and Sam Durant. — latimes.com

The new buildings will be designed by Gary Handel Architects and Roschen Van Cleve Architects, but these renderings, like the rest of it, are conceptual. Landscape starchitect James Corner Field Operations (of New York's High Line and Santa Monica's Civic Center Parks) will design "extensive open space, street-level plazas, and enhanced pedestrian circulation encompassing approximately 25 percent of the entire site." — la.curbed.com

The winning design, easily the most ambitious of three finalists announced last month, calls for a repeating series of concrete arches that both refer to and exaggerate the Butler design as the bridge stretches from downtown Los Angeles on the west to Boyle Heights on the east, spanning the L.A. River and the 101 Freeway on its way. — latimes.com

The fairly rectangular structure, located just a few feet from the new light rail Expo Line’s elevated tracks in Culver City, gets most of its energy from photovoltaics—a 2,800 sq ft array sitting on top of a shaded parking canopy outside. But what makes it all work are the energy savings: It significantly reduces loads through several low-tech, high-tech, and even revolutionary techniques, most of which were developed with engineers at Buro Happold, whose LA offices are just down the street. — archpaper.com

In a city whose residents are accused of disdaining public space, the orbiter's tour led Angelenos to crowd sidewalks 10 or 12 deep as well as drawing thousands of people who live north of the 10 Freeway to boulevards south of it. It packed gas stations and strip-mall parking lots with crowds. — latimes.com

On a quiet street in Inglewood, twin 1940 homes by midcentury legend Rudolph M. Schindler have been renovated by owners intent on making the most of the two-bedroom, one-bath floor plans. The goal: Respect the historic architecture while updating the spaces for modern living. — latimes.com

League of Shadows, a pavilion concept by Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich of P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, recently emerged as winning entry from an architectural design competition at SCI-Arc. [...]

An exhibition documenting the SCI-Arc Graduation Pavilion Competition opens next Friday, October 19 at the SCI-Arc Library Gallery. — bustler.net

SCI-Arc invited faculty members Ramiro Diaz-Granados, Elena Manferdini, Marcelo Spina and Tom Wiscombe to submit design concepts for a 1,200-seat pavilion that would accommodate graduation ceremonies, lectures, symposia and outreach cultural events with the neighboring Arts District community. The winning entry, League of Shadows, designed by Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich of PATTERNS, fully exploits the fundamental aspect underlying the pavilion, its temporal use as an outdoor event space. — bustler.net