When it comes to weather, March is usually in like a lion and out like a lamb—and when it comes to architectural firms’ billings, the month is typically all lion, showing strong gains. But not this March, according to the American Institute of Architects’ Architectural Billings Index, which tracked only a partial rise in activity over February. The ABI grew just 0.1 point, to 52.6 (any score above 50, though, indicates growth). March’s modest increase could indicate that the market was catching its breath after a stronger showing than usual earlier in the year. Another indicator that activity remains healthy

When the Biblioteca José Vasconcelos opened last May, the Alberto Kalach-designed campus was hailed as a cultural gem for Mexico City—and, at 500,000 square feet, it became the largest public library in Latin America. But one year later, the $100 million complex has shut its doors amid water leaks, flooding, and political scandal. Photos: © Jennifer Szymaszek Government officials closed the library in March after its unfinished water filtration system began leaking, causing damage to elevators, marble floors, and walls. Then, just one month later, construction nearby caused a pipe to burst that flooded the library’s bookstore, a separate building

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) named three recipients of the 2007 AIA/HUD Secretary’s Housing and Community Design Awards. This awards program, created by the AIA Center for Communities by Design and the AIA Housing Committee in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, showcases the best housing in three categories. This year’s winning projects are: El Carillo Housing Authority, designed by Cearnal Andrulaitis for the City of Santa Barbara Housing Authority, which was recognized for excellence in affordable housing; Salishan Neighborhood Revitalization, designed by Torti Gallas & Partners for the Tacoma Housing Authority, which was recognized

One of the most popular exhibits at the American Institute of Architects’ national convention in San Antonio earlier this month was a photo display of the top 150 buildings in America. The AIA generated this list by surveying a panel of architects for their thoughts. It then gave the list to members of the general public, whose votes determined the top 150. Some conventioneers had heard about the poll before seeing the display in San Antonio. For others, however, it was a surprise. Architectural Record’s news editor, James Murdock, interviewed conventioneers for their thoughts about the buildings. For a complete

  Photo: Courtesy Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects Denis G. Kuhn, FAIA, a respected preservationist architect, passed away on May 10. He suffered a heart attack while touring a project site in the Dominican Republic. He was 65 years old. Kuhn, a principal partner in Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects (EE&K), based in New York City, practiced architecture for more than 35 years. He specialized in restoring abandoned historic buildings, including the Alexander Hamilton Custom House, an elegant Beaux-Arts structure in Manhattan designed by Cass Gilbert. The refurbished building reopened as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian

The U.K.’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office today unveiled a shortlist of architects who could be tapped to design the British Pavilion for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Officials selected six teams from a field of 47 entries; the winner will be announced in September. The finalists are: Avery Associates Architects with Adams Kara Taylor, Fulcrum, and Event Communication Draw Architects with Arup, DCM Studio, and Graven Image Heatherwick Studio with Adams Kara Taylor, Atelier Ten, and Casson Mann John McAslan + Partners with Arup and Wordsearch Marks Barfield Architects with Price & Myers, Arup, and Imaginatio Zaha Hadid Architects with

Editor’s note: You may read the news digest below or listen to it, plus other news headlines from ArchiecturalRecord.com, as a podcast by clicking this link. Click the play button to begin | Click here to download A 300-pound chunk of marble plunged 54 stories to the ground from Canada’s tallest building, First Canadian Place, during a windstorm on Tuesday; no one was hurt. Crews are investigating which components that secured the facade panels failed, the Globe and Mail reported on May 17. Some observers, though, contend that marble was a poor choice for cladding so tall a tower, the

Can fixing energy-wasting buildings stave off global instability? Former president Bill Clinton thinks so. In the biggest project his foundation has taken on since securing a supply of cheap generic AIDS drugs for third world countries, Clinton has brokered a $5 billion effort to finance the retrofit of old buildings in 16 cities around the world. The project, which Clinton announced at a climate conference in Manhattan yesterday, creates a financing and labor pool to replace energy-hogging light fixtures, as well as install better building insulation and more efficient HVAC systems. ABN Amro, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and UBS

What is the future of our cities and what role will architects and urban designers play in it? The 2007 International Architectural Biennale of Rotterdam (IABR), which runs from May 24 to September 2, seeks to answer these questions through a series of exhibitions that explore the theme of “Power: Producing the Contemporary City.” This year’s IABR, the third such event, is being curated by the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, a renowned post-doctoral program for architects and city planners. Vedran Mimica, who heads the Berlage curatorial team, explains that his group wants the IABR to serve “the new generation of