“For our special 50th issue we asked 50 of the most influential architects, designers and thinkers to tell us what they believe in.”

“‘When a person is in a space with a 10-foot ceiling, they will tend to think more freely, more abstractly,’ said Meyers-Levy. ‘They might process more abstract connections between objects in a room, whereas a person in a room with an 8-foot ceiling will be more likely to focus on specifics.’” (Thanks kottke.org!)

This would probably be a useful reference for illustrators: “See how people live across the world! Explore the variety of lifestyles and cultural peculiarities! Normal Room shows you interior design and home furniture from all around the globe. Search our image database and explore the differences and similarities in architecture and home decoration between people in different countries.”

“An explosion of architectural little magazines in the 1960s and 1970s instigated a radical transformation in architectural culture with the architecture of the magazines acting as the site of innovation and debate. Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X - 197X takes stock of seventy little magazines from this period, which were published in over a dozen cities.” (Thanks Coudal Partners!)

“A project in collaboration between Jeannie Kim and Hunter Tura, The Architectural League of New York and 1000 designers and 1000 thinkers. We will produce a series of 1000 unique postcards, each depicting a single unpublished image from a relatively unknown designer, and we will send them to a selected group of 1000 influential architects, urbanists, academics, curators, journalists, and critics, who will have the opportunity to respond.”

“What’s an engineer’s worst nightmare? To realize that the supports he designed for a skyscraper like Citicorp Center are flawed–and hurricane season is approaching.” (Thanks noahbrier.com!)

“The Bank of Asia is a very famous building in Bangkok. It was made way back in 1985, and it’s robotic appearance is just a symbol of the modernization of banking. It also has the ability to transform into a mega-robot. So, if Godzilla ever decided to show his green face in the land of Bangkok, they would have to fight!”

“…architectural conjecture :: urban speculation :: landscape futures…”

“Yesterday I attended User Interfaces for Physical Spaces, a one-day workshop and field trip co-produced by MAYA Design and the IA Institute. The day was essentially an extended case study of the work MAYA did with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (the public library system, CLP), applying methods of user-centered design and information architecture to the design of physical spaces.”

“One of the big How Buildings Learn lessons is about the importance of maintenance. Two asides on the matter spotted in the last two editions of The Guardian. First up, in a profile on the brilliant Japanese architect Shigeru Ban: The idea of building with paper seems riddled with problems - it is flammable, vulnerable to water, weak and temporary, but Ban turns all these arguments upside down: ‘How long do you think concrete lasts? It has many problems and it’s very difficult to replace or fix. If a paper tube is damaged it can be replaced by a new one…’”

“The parking garage has become the dominant form of urban architecture… as a building type the rigid form and ingenious integration with the functions of the car, have made it one of the most modern and innovative building types in the city. This photographic series documents examples of the urban parking garage types.”

“As an architect and educator I am worry about the intellectual and pragmatic challenges that currently bedevil architectural practice and pedagogy. I perceive seven design fallacies that permeate professional practice and studio culture at many schools of architecture. Some are self-imposed and tractable; others are less easily addressed because they are externally drivenóby the media, technology, globalization and commodification. Some are more about making form, others about making things equitable and sustainable. All seven are deeply embedded in our psyches and changing them will not be easy; reform, however, will not only ensure the survival of architecture and urbanism but also invigorate them.”

“Back in November, Meg and I went to the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum to check out the Design Triennial. Of course, I meant to write more about what I saw, but never got around it. Yusuke Obuchi’s project popped into my head this morning, probably my favorite piece from the show. Obuchi’s Wave Garden is a prototype for an ocean-powered power plant. The motion of the ocean causes flexible tiles to bend, the mechanical stress of the bending generates electricity (via the piezoelectric effect), and the electricity is collected to run blenders for making Californians’ beloved smoothies. And that would be fantastic by itself, but if Californians wisely use energy during the week, the power plant becomes a floating public park on the weekends…”

“A Colorado developer has created a subdivision of single-family homes that resemble little factory buildings. The subdivision’s houses ó each of which sports a name like the ‘Cannery’ or the ‘Steam Plant’ ó come complete with industrial-style details like these metal awnings.”

“The days of dull, grey concrete could be about to end. A Hungarian architect has combined the worldís most popular building material with optical fiber from Schott to create a new type of concrete that transmits light. A wall made of ‘LitraCon’ allegedly has the strength of traditional concrete but thanks to an embedded array of glass fibers can display a view of the outside world, such as the silhouette of a tree, for example.”