The gilded opulence of a Buenos Aires ballroom, the hidden tunnels beneath Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, and the cavernous innards of the biggest gasometers in Europe are some of the off-limits sites that can be glimpsed around the world this autumn, thanks to the growing phenomenon of the Open House weekend.

The initiative, which began in London in 1992 and celebrates its 22nd edition this week, has since spawned a global network of over 20 cities [...]. — theguardian.com

This weekend our team hosted a "soft opening" of the New Norris House to celebrate the completion of major construction. There is lots more to do and details to resolve, but this event was a welcomed termination of two semesters of work by design|build studio/seminar participants. — University of Tennessee (Samuel)

Most ills in this world (and we know there isn’t a shortage of them) require massive change on systematic and ideological levels. Indeed, it is a capacity—and many say, a responsibility—of design to address the many pressing problems facing the world today.

But is this the only role for design? Is design solely a form of crisis management and problem solving? Or can design also offer a different perspective on a problem, without having the aim of solving the problem entirely? — openhouse2011.com