More than 150 cracks have been repaired, rainwater leaks have been sealed, and the 130-year-old Washington Monument is set to reopen Monday for the first time in nearly three years since an earthquake caused widespread damage.

The memorial honoring George Washington has been closed for about 33 months for engineers to conduct an extensive analysis and restoration of the 555-foot stone obelisk that was once the tallest structure in the world. — blogs.wsj.com

Neo-Classicism as a style made its real debut in the 1760s after several stillbirths...By the late 1770s, neo-Classicism had evolved into the graceful iteration we see in the Salon, and with its references to the classical world acquired a new and somewhat unanticipated meaning in the bargain: — NYT

A training barracks used by Roman gladiators and the 2,000-year-old mausoleum of the Emperor Augustus could be restored with money from the Saudi royal family, in the latest effort by Italy to secure funding for its crumbling cultural heritage.

In a deal brokered by Ignazio Marino, the mayor of Rome, the Saudi royals are to provide millions of euros to pay for the restoration of some of the capital's neglected monuments. — telegraph.co.uk

Since the Civil War, the majestic dome of the U.S. Capitol has symbolized the unity of the United States, despite the discord in the government it overlooks. [...]

But the dome has lately grown as fractured as the federal government, and Tuesday the Architect of the Capitol announced that a $59 million project to save it would begin next month. [...]

There are now hundreds of cracks and deficiencies, and water already has stained parts of the Capitol’s interior. — The Washington Post

The winners of the international 2013 Faith & Form/IFRAA Awards Program restored and remodeled religious spaces that can indeed be deemed worthy of praise.

Founded in 1978 and co-sponsored by Faith & Form Magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA), the annual awards program recognizes the best in architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces. — bustler.net

Nuremberg plans to spend up to 70 million euro restoring the sprawling complex used by Adolf Hitler for his mass rallies, as debate continues in Germany over what to do with Nazi-era architecture.

“This is a job of national importance, we cannot take it on alone,” said Ulrich Maly, the Social Democrat mayor of the Bavarian city, who added he would ask for federal funds to complete the project. — rt.com

Balance. For decades we’ve had an art culture that tries to wow us with too muchness — blockbusters, biennials, bank-breaking museum buildings no one needs — and that ends up delivering way too little. Could it be that the day of just enough is upon us, and that Yale’s just right museum is a bellwether? — NYT

The architects recognize that the armory as an exhibition space is a far cry from conventional “white cube” galleries, or what Mr. Herzog called “egocentric, architecturally driven museums.” But he said the spaces are likely to inspire artists, not limit them. “Artists have increasingly started to like strange places to put their art,” he said. “The specific conditions are unique and interesting and every artist is challenged to put his paintings or performances in such historic conditions.” — New York Times