A federal commission is accepting entries for a competition to design a Washington, D.C. monument honoring Dwight D. Eisenhower, the United States' 34th president. For a four-acre site just south of the Mall divided by Maryland Avenue S.W., and near many Cabinet agencies that Eisenhower had a hand in creating, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission seeks proposals that emphasize open spaces with little in the way of actual buildings or statuary. Indeed, one of the only requirements is a canopy to protect against rain, plus 2,500 square feet of enclosed space for a bookshop, bathrooms, and ranger station, though

To design the first new residential colleges at Yale University since 1963, the Ivy League school has turned within its own ranks.  Class of 1965 alumni Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA, who also is the current dean of the Yale School of Architecture, was selected for the job, university officials announced today. His New York-based firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, is known for its expertise in the design of buildings that honor stylistic precedent, particularly in academic settings. The two buildings Stern is designing for Yale will add 460,000 square feet of space to the New Haven, Connecticut, campus, which has

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge, a new annual design competition created to honor the late architect-inventor-ecologist who would have celebrated his 113th birthday this Saturday, has a winner. John Todd, a Cape Cod-based scientist and environmental planner who met Bucky nearly 30 years ago, has taken home the blue ribbon for his “Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia,” an economic plan that calls for cleaning up and replanting 1.5 million acres of land from Ohio to Alabama that coal producers have strip-mined. The Buckminster Fuller Institute, a Brooklyn-based research group, sponsored the contest and announced the

Photo courtesy GSA President Bush recently tapped James A. Williams to head the GSA, which oversees 352 million square feet worth of space across the nation. His appointment still requires Senate confirmation. The General Services Administration, best known to many architects as the nation’s landlord, may soon have a new leader, after its former chief resigned nine weeks ago in a cloud of scandal. On June 25, President Bush tapped James A. Williams to head the federal agency, which oversees 352 million square feet worth of space across the nation. The GSA’s Public Buildings Service department manages 8,619 government-owned facilities,

Attribute it to empty-nest syndrome, falling crime rates, or rising gas prices: suburbanites are downsizing to apartments and condos located near theaters and cafes on walkable downtown blocks in San Diego, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and other cities nationwide. Photos courtesy Target Corporation In urban settings, big-box retailers are building slimmer stores with multiple levels, which can put off customers used to shopping with carts. Architects for Target faced that problem with its store in Glendale, California, which at three stories is the chain’s tallest (above). Their solution was to reconfigure the escalator banks. There are still traditional sets of moving stairs

Even Frank Gehry projects don’t seem to be immune to the current economic downturn. Atlantic Yards, a 22-acre, 8-million-square-foot mixed-use New York City project that’s been mired in controversy from day one, is now scaling back its signature building, Miss Brooklyn, from 620 to 511 feet in height. Along with the downsizing comes a change in function: originally, the tower was to feature condos and offices, but the new design calls for just 650,000 square feet of commercial space. As such, developer Forest City Ratner Companies is also renaming it, from Miss Brooklyn, for the borough it will sit in,

Many high school students aspiring to be architects are heading into this year’s summer vacation with a fundamentally new learning experience under their belts, one that recognizes that the profession is as much about landscaping and room circulation as drawing lines. This holistic approach comes courtesy of the Architecture Handbook, from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, a 462-page primer that debuted last August and has quickly caught fire in schools across the country. By April, 71 schools in 34 states, plus 10 community colleges, were using it, says Lynn Osmond, foundation president, with the list expected to grow in the fall.

In the firmament of U.S. presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower may not be known for his star power. But the Washington, D.C., memorial planned for the 34th commander-in-chief will enjoy the talents of a marquee-name architect: Frank Gehry. Image courtesy GSA The $110 million project is set for completion in 2014. On March 31, after six months of sifting through 44 entries, the commission assigned to the job of creating the memorial announced it picked Gehry, a Pritzker winner, to design the four-acre site, which is located a block south of the National Mall. The $110 million project, which is part

The New York Public Library is choosing an architect to revamp portions of its main branch on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.