In late September, the University of Chicago broke ground on a $42 million addition to its Regenstein Library. Designed by Chicago’s Murphy/Jahn, it is not a wing, per se, but rather a bunker of books topped by a glass dome. Images courtesy Murphy/Jahn Murphy/Jahn have designed a new wing for the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library, a Walter Netsch–designed Brutalist work that anchors the predominantly Gothic campus. In 2005, the university commissioned Murphy/Jahn to design an addition to the Regenstein, a Walter Netsch–designed Brutalist work that anchors this predominantly Gothic campus. Although Netsch had created expansion plans for the five-story

This Friday, November 14, the City of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and its partners DekaBank and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, will announce the winner of the 2008 International Highrise Award at a ceremony in Frankfurt.

After two open comment periods on LEED 2009, formerly known as LEED V3, the new comprehensive standard has been revised and put to a vote. The first comment period opened up in March 2008, and due to the high volume of community response, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) implemented a second comment period in late March. After sifting through over 7,000 suggestions, as well as eight years of market and user responses, the USGBC posted the final revisions to the standard. Member balloting opened on Oct. 14, 2008, and will close at 5 PM EST on Friday, November 14.

Julie Bargmann Stephen Burks Douglas Garofalo, AIA J. Meejin Yoon Andrew Zago, AIA Images courtesy USA (except Bargmann: Photo @ Stephanie Gross) Today, the United States Artists (USA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding the arts, announced the 50 recipients of its 2008 fellowships. Five individuals were selected in the architecture and design category; other categories include crafts and traditional arts, dance, literature, music, theater arts, and visual arts. Each winner receives a $50,000 grant with no strings attached. USA has awarded the grants for three years. The Los Angeles-based organization was founded in 2005 with $20 million in seed

Not even architectural gems like Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House (1946) in Palm Springs, California, are immune to today’s recessionary climate. Photo ' Scott Mayoral/courtesy Crosby Doe Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House was re-listed for sale after its $19 million purchase earlier this year fell through. After five weeks on the market, there are still no takers. The house was re-listed for sale on September 29 after its purchase earlier this year fell through. The sleek, iconic home sold for a cool $19 million in May during Christie’s Postwar and Contemporary Art auction held in New York, but the deal unraveled for

Democrats rejoiced at Sen. Barack Obama’s resounding win on Nov. 4 in the presidential race and the party’s strong gains in the House and Senate. But as the cheers from the victory celebration start to fade, Obama’s focus will shift to assembling a Cabinet and setting legislative and regulatory priorities. As that transition begins, it is clear that the troubled national economy and growing federal deficit will loom over new initiatives that the new administration and new Congress hope to launch. Voters showed support for infrastructure. The Bond Buyer, a municipal finance publication, reports that 85% of ballot initiatives passed,

Today, the software provider Bentley Systems released a long-awaited, new version of its entire suite of infrastructure analysis and design products, now dubbed V8i. The release is the culmination of 15 years of acquisitions, integration and development, according to Greg Bentley, CEO. Code-named “Athens” through the many years of planning, the company says V8i represents a $1 billion, internally-financed investment that positions it to take advantage of an anticipated surge of public and public/private infrastructure work. Infrastructure development and rehabilitation is about the only bright spot on the economic horizon, so Bentley feels this is an opportune time to launch.

Santiago Calatrava’s planned Chicago Spire has earned its share of nicknames, among them “The Drill Bit” and “The Twizzler.”

Image © Cook+Fox; courtesy dbox for Cook+Fox National Geographic Television is featuring the Bank of America Tower (top image, right of center) in an upcoming show. Designed by Cook + Fox, the tower will be New York City's second tallest skyscraper. New York’s second tallest skyscraper is getting its own television show, at least for one evening. On Thursday, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, National Geographic Television will air a one-hour documentary about The Bank of America Tower, a 54-story glass-and-steel high-rise designed by Cook + Fox that is nearing completion in Midtown Manhattan. At about 1,200 feet (the building

Colliding tectonic plates, deep canyons, craggy overhangs, and other heroic topographic features are often evoked in the architecture of Morphosis, the Los Angeles-based firm. But the architects’ first project in China, Giant Group Pharmaceutical Campus, has allowed them to push that exploration even further, says Morphosis principal Thom Mayne. “In China, you can do things formally you just can’t do in the U.S.—aggressive, uncompromised, out-there ideas.” Image courtesy Morphosis The architects wanted to create a “lifted landscape” where the enormous building connects seamlessly with the 3.2-hectare site. Sited on 3.2 hectares in Shanghai’s western outskirts, Giant’s new corporate headquarters, slated