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Homeowners and municipalities in Louisiana are encountering serious funding roadblocks as they continue to rebuild. The biggest obstacle is the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, which governs how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers aid programs. The Stafford Act is a well-intentioned 1988 law designed to reduce fraud. It requires local governments to advance federal money for infrastructure repairs. Although the act promises they’ll be reimbursed later through a “match-share” program, most municipalities are unable to afford the up-front costs. Many also criticize the law for requiring what they describe as complicated, inflexible worksheets that

New York governor Eliot Spitzer announced yesterday that the final $2 billion in disputed insurance claims over property at the World Trade Center have been resolved, clearing the way for more construction. The exact amount that seven insurers were to pay to Silverstein Properties, which leased the Twin Towers, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, had remained in dispute until the May 23 settlement. The nearly six-year delay had held up financing for Silverstein to construction Towers 2, 3, and 4 along the eastern portion of the World Trade Center site. The

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