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“The development of an official style must be avoided. Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government, and not vice versa.” The words are those of Daniel Patrick Moynihan. They’re part of his famous "Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture" (1962), which helped inspire a revolution in government architecture. The revolution was the Design Excellence program in the General Services Administration (GSA—sorry, it’s hard to write about government without bogging in multisyllables). From 1994 to 2005, under the GSA’s chief architect, Ed Feiner, the program tried to choose the best architects in the country for the design of courthouses

An architectural language I find it increasingly hard to get very excited about these style battles, and I suspect a lot of people feel the same way. Thomas Gordon Smith spoke at the conference, and he sounded entirely sane. (As one nationally known architect said to me on the way out of the hall, “The dragon turns out not to be such a dragon.”) He presented Classicism as an architectural language of well-understood conventions, a language that can and should be used inventively. I’ve visited his school and liked the student work. Photography: © Scott Frances/Esto Richard Meier’s Phoenix courthouse

Toronto, Canada Gehry International Photo © Thomas Mayer Toronto native Frank Gehry Frank Gehry’s has seen his signature titanium-clad buildings rise throughout the world, but until recently, this Toronto native had never designed a single structure in Canada. In November 2008, his addition to the Art Gallery of Toronto opened to the public, only a few miles away from his grandmother’s former home. Since it’s inception in 1900, the AGO has expanded significantly, adding new wings and facades by a variety of architects. While planning his contribution, Gehry worked closely with Matthew Teitelbaum, director and CEO of the AGO, and

Toronto, Canada Gehry International Photo courtesy AGO Photographic Resources AGO director and CEO Matthew Teitelbaum Matthew Teitelbaum Clifford Pearson: What was your thinking at the start of this project? Matthew Teitelbaum: In the beginning, we had two main goals—to create some great new spaces for art and to fix some of the circulation problems we had. This was our seventh expansion so the museum had grown piece by piece by piece. As we started working with Frank, we developed more specific goals. We wanted to establish a clear destination for the art, so visitors can encounter it quickly and directly.

Toronto, Canada Gehry International Photo courtesy David Thomson The late media mogul, art collector, and patron Kenneth Thomson David Thomson Clifford Pearson: What was your relationship to your father and this project? David Thomson: My father and I were very close. We both pursued art. It was an extension of our relationship. Frank and my father really connected on this project. The intensity of feeling between them was remarkable and is reflected, I think, in the spaces Frank created for the art. This was the special outcome of this project. Frank’s relationship with my father allowed him to take more

During this year’s Salone del Mobile, held during mid-April in Milan, French-born designer Patrick Jouin sat down in the Kartell booth with RECORD to discuss his new chair design for the Italian plastic furnishings company. Image courtesy of Patrick Jouin Patrick Jouin Listen in as Jouin explains the technology that gives his new Thalya chair for Kartell new levels of strength while remaining lightweight, as well as why he became a designer, and what his firm is working on next. A former artistic director for fellow French designer Philippe Starck, Jouin opened his own studio in Paris in 1998. His

The Skirball Cultural Center opens a new children’s exhibit about Noah’s Ark this week. Although this Los Angeles institution is dedicated to exploring Jewish history and culture, the new 8,000-square-foot gallery explores themes common across humanity. Alan Maskin, a principal of the Seattle-based firm Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, led the design team that created the exhibit. Before becoming an architect, he had worked as an art teacher. Photo: © Grant Mudford. This slideshow contains images of the ark What meaning does the Noah’s ark story have for us today? Click here for Maskin’s 30-second answer. Architectural Record’s news editor,

JM: Tell me about the ark design. AM: We felt Jim Olson, who has 30 years experience designing residences with our firm, would be the perfect person to work on the residence for Noah and his animals. It’s designed in an abstraction sort of way: it’s pulled away from the walls, ceilings, and Jim and the team used different devices to make it feel like the ark is much larger. There’s different ways, with mirrors, that effects are created. It actually fools people: people walk in and they want to know how they can get to the galleries beyond. Photo:

JM: Having done this project, do you think you’d pursue another one like it? AM: We were drawn to this project because of the particularities: it was a very brave client who would be willing to experiment and try things that hadn’t been done before and they wanted to make a place that was unlike any other. I don’t know that we’re necessarily interested in redoing this project over and over again because I don’t think we could. This is a one of a kind place and experience for kids and families. But there are other types of projects that