Image courtesy The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and BMW announced on Friday that they will collaborate for the next six years on a project called the BMW Guggenheim Lab, an initiative to conduct a vast research and development project that will engage the public and improve urban life. Details about the format of the Lab project and the expected results were slim. “The goal is to develop and create solutions for future cities,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, a member of the board of management from BMW Group, at a press conference held in the basement of the Guggenheim. While the project’s

Photo © Melissa Majchrzak / courtesy Gehry Partners Frank Gehry Frank Gehry added his name this week to a list of more than 150 art world luminaries who are supporting Israeli actors who refuse to perform in a West Bank Jewish settlement. He is the first architect to sign the letter of support, which is being circulated online by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a U.S. organization that promotes peace in the Middle East through equality for Israelis and Palestinians. The letter was published September 6. It has since been signed by actors Julianne Moore and Wallace Shawn, Pulitzer Prize-winning

Weeks after announcing plans to purchase ECO:LOGIC Engineering and Anshen + Allen, the Canadian mega-firm Stantec reported today that it has signed of letter of intent to buy Pennsylvania-based Burt Hill Architects. The acquisitions would mark the seventh, eighth, and ninth for Stantec this year. “We have the largest architecture firm in Canada, and we wanted to build something similar in the U.S.,” says Jay Averill, company spokesman. Burt Hill has more than 600 employees in 13 offices, including three offices overseas. As of now, all of Burt Hill’s locations will remain open, says Averill. With $88 million in revenue,

Photo courtesy Anshen + Allen Roger Swanson, CEO of Anshen + Allen Stantec, Canada’s largest architectural firm, announced on Aug. 26 that it has signed a letter of intent to purchase Anshen + Allen, a firm of roughly 200 employees with offices in San Francisco, Columbus, Boston, and London. Weeks earlier, Stantec announced it plans to acquire California-based ECO:LOGIC Engineering. If both sales go through, they will be Stantec’s seventh and eighth acquisitions in 2010, adding to the 70-plus companies it has purchased since 1997. The recent bids verify that Stantec is homing in on its goal, announced in 1998,