Photo courtesy SCAD Heriberto J. Brito The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which has a notable track record in historic preservation, has picked a like-minded designer to head its architecture program. In June, architect Heriberto J. Brito became the dean of SCAD’s School of Building Arts, replacing Brian Wishne, who stepped down after two years. For his new job, Brito relocated from Miami, where he taught at Miami International University of Art and Design while running his 20-year-old practice, Brito LLC, which specializes in historic rehabs. That two-employee practice has relocated with him. Wishne, meanwhile, becomes chair of

July 12, 2010 As campuses prep for the fall semester, some top architecture schools are experiencing turnovers among their high-level staff. Deans and other administrators have stepped down, or announced plans to, at the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Maryland,  the Cooper Union, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), the University of Michigan, and the University of California, Berkeley. Ever year brings a changing of the guard at one school or another, so these recent departures don’t indicate the sky is falling. But, they do highlight a trend: Tenures, in general, are shortening, which may be the result

Photo courtesy Ennead Architects The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, in New York City, is one of the firm's recent projects. NAME CHANGES The firm has been renamed several times since its founding in 1963. James Stewart Polshek Architect (1963-70) James Stewart Polshek and Associates (1970-80) James Stewart Polshek and Partners (1980-94) Polshek and Partners (1994-98) Polshek Partnership (1998-2010) Related Links: New York Hall of Science Holland Performing Arts Center Univ. of Michigan Research Facility NYC Museum Undergoes $97 Million Makeover Polshek's News Museum Opens in D.C. Polshek Fuses Media and Architecture Polshek Partnership, which has been named for

As Haiti rebuilds after its cataclysmic earthquake, the government there has launched a first-of-its-kind design competition to help replace the country’s decimated housing stock. Photo © Google Maps Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. Related Links: Special Report: Rebuilding Haiti Design Experts Convene for Symposium Rural Haiti Project On June 17, the Republic of Haiti unveiled “Building Back Better Communities,” which invites architects and non-architects alike from around the globe to create homes for a 12-acre former sugar plantation on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Because the site was not affected by the quake and is city

A plan by Rafael Viñoly to transform New York’s former Domino sugar refinery into homes, offices, and shops has cleared a major regulatory hurdle, even if a few tweaks are required. Bitter Debate Brews Over Domino Sugar Plant On Monday, June 7, the city’s planning commission voted 13-0 to approve the $1.5 billion New Domino proposal, which calls for adding 2,200 apartments to a five-block esplanade in Brooklyn, near the Williamsburg Bridge. About a third of the apartments, or 660, would be affordable. While most of the old buildings now standing on the 11.2-acre site would be razed, Viñoly’s plan

While the bulk of the Haiti rebuilding effort has been focused on Port-au-Prince in the wake of the devastating January 12 earthquake, one architect-led nonprofit group is turning its attention to outlying areas. The Rural Haiti Project, a Brooklyn-based organization founded in 2006 by Herve Sabin, a Haitian-American designer, has conceived multi-purpose community centers for Jacmel and Camenette, towns in the southern half of the country. The buildings would primarily serve as schools but could offer separate spaces for Internet cafes and government meetings. They also would double as storm shelters. Sabin estimates that each shelter will cost $60,000 to

A controversial plan to use grazing animals to reverse the process by which grassland turns into desert has won the Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an annual competition focused on solving sweeping global problems. Photo courtesy BFI Allan Savory took home first prize for Operation Hope, a program in Zimbabwe. Related Links: Appalachia Scheme Wins Bucky Fuller Challenge Buckminster Fuller Challenge Launched Why Fuller Matters More Today Than Ever Before This afternoon, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., biologist Allan Savory took home first prize for Operation Hope, a program that proposes using cattle and other animals to revitalize fragile

Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA On May 18, President Obama named Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA, to head the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). He is the first architect to lead the agency since its creation in 1966. The 23-member organization advocates for historical structures threatened by federal construction projects. It can raise a red flag if, say, 19th-century row houses are threatened by the path of a new highway. Donaldson’s four-year term, which doesn’t require Congressional approval, officially begins this week, when he replaces John L. Nau III, a beer distributor and preservation advocate appointed by President Bush in 2001

As the efforts to rebuild Haiti after its devastating January 12 earthquake inch along, a medical clinic is headed to the island nation that can be set up quickly and opened straight away. Rebuilding Haiti. Editor’s Note: The original story did not credit Stack Design Build as a designer of the project. Also, Containers to Clinics has modified the number of units it plans to produce; it hopes to roll out 50 in the next 10 years, not 50,000 in the next 15 years as initially stated.