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With help from Buro Happold, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art unveils Michael Heizer’s 340-ton Levitated Mass. Michael Heizer, Levitated Mass, 2012 Los Angeles County Museum of Art Four decades after its conception, artist Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass is finally open to the public. A 21-foot boulder looming over a concrete trench, the installation allows visitors to walk beneath the massive, 340-ton rock. The boulder made a historic and much-chronicled trip through four counties over 11 days in March on its way to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from a quarry 60 miles east of the

Image courtesy EMC An iteration of Frank Gehry's design for the Eisenhower Memorial. Political stumbling blocks continue to slow progress on Frank Gehry’s proposed memorial to President Dwight Eisenhower. The House of Representatives is currently poised to withhold the $59.84 million in funding requested by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission (EMC) in February. The proposed budget released Tuesday for Interior and Environment Appropriations in fiscal year 2013 does not include a line item for the commission. This does not mean that the EMC has been defunded, or that it will cease to exist: It may receive funding when the bill is

This story original appeared on ENR.com

Photo courtesy Metro The L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority staff has recommended a master plan by UK-based Grimshaw Architects and local firm Gruen Associates. Los Angeles’ major transit hub, the historic Union Station, is one step closer to a massive expansion. Image courtesy Metro Grimshaw Architects and Gruen Associates' vision plan for L.A.'s Union Station and the surrounding area. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) staff has recommended UK-based Grimshaw Architects and local firm Gruen Associates to develop a master plan for the project. In April 2011, Metro acquired the station and 40 surrounding acres from a private developer for $75 million.

Photo © Sye Williams Yeekai Lim started a coffee company in 2009 due to a slowdown in architectural work. The recession and its aftermath have clearly taken a toll on the architecture profession. In May, during the AIA’s annual convention, Kermit Baker, the institute’s chief economist, reported that 60,000 payroll jobs had been lost at firms over the past four years, with 36,000 of them being designers and architects. Of that group, about a third have found work outside of architecture, according to surveys conducted by the AIA. Roughly 6,000 of these architects will likely quit the profession for good,

Photo courtesy Venice Architecture Biennale The Venice Architecture Biennale opens on August 29. “The emphasis of the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale will be on what we have in common,” explained British architect David Chipperfield, who is directing the main exhibition at this year’s Biennale, via satellite television to a group of press assembled in New York last month. “The ambition is to reassert the existence of an architectural culture made up not just of singular talents, but a rich continuity of diverse ideas united in a common history,” he said. Photo © Francesco Galli David Chipperfield Along those lines Chipperfield

Photo courtesy Wikipedia Architects should connect with their city leaders to enter a competition that calls for big ideas that “address serious social or economic problems” or “create efficiencies that make government work better, faster, and cheaper.” Michael Bloomberg, New York’s rich and resourceful mayor, has unveiled a competition that may give architects a chance to share their best ideas—and make money. Last week, the mayor announced a contest meant to improve civic life in the United States through ideas that “address serious social or economic problems” or “create efficiencies that make government work better, faster, and cheaper.” Judges will select winners

The noted urban planner is heading up the new Bond Design Center at the City College of New York. Photo courtesy CCNY Griffin is heading up the recently launched J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City.  Architect and urban planner Toni L. Griffin has introduced progressive ideas to mainstream planning over her 25-year career. Her test beds have included Detroit, where she has dealt with depopulation strategies, and Newark, where she worked to spur job growth. Earlier, she held positions with the District of Columbia and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, in addition to Skidmore, Owings

After a prolonged dry spell, high occupancy rates and increased revenue per room are helping resuscitate hospitality industry construction projects across the country. Source: McGraw-Hill Dodge Analytics Click the image above to view a full presentation of these stats [PDF].