Just before the debut of a summer-long installation in New York, architect David Benjamin announced that Autodesk has acquired his research-focused firm. The Living's installation, Hy-Fi, in the courtyard at MoMA/P.S.1 in Queens, New York. The smell is distinctive—not offensive, but definitely farm-like. “I think it smells like hay,” says architect David Benjamin looking up at the three conjoined brick towers rising above the courtyard at MoMA/P.S.1, the Museum of Modern Art-administered contemporary art space in Queens, New York. Benjamin made his olfactory observation last week at an opening event for Hy-Fi, a temporary installation designed by his firm, The

Many plans for reviving the neglected centers of America's small and medium-size cities involve building new museums, restaurants, and hotels to bring life to deserted sidewalks, but the architects and hoteliers behind the 21c Museum Hotel group found a winning formula in combining all three in one venue.

Rem Koolhaas and a team of researchers make a case for architecture’s essentials. The entrance to Elements of Architecture in the main pavilion in Venice’s Giardini. When Rem Koolhaas announced what the theme for the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale would be, he went with a characteristic provocation. Fundamentals would forgo the typical, temperature-taking displays of contemporary architecture and focus on historical exhibitions. The Biennale, which began previews yesterday and opens to the public on Saturday, hinges on two major shows: Monditalia, a long-form survey of Italian culture (more on that in a later post), and Elements of Architecture, a show

Photo: © Jeremy Bittermann The Van Alen Institute is offering a notable list of "design experiences" in its current benefit auction, which runs through May 23rd. One item is a motorcycle tour of Oregon wine country led by Brad Cloepfil, whose firm designed a tasting room for the Sokol Blosser winery (above). Benefit auctions for cultural institutions often entice prospective patrons with unique items or events—say, a drawing or a one-on-one exhibition tour. But for its current online auction, the Van Alen institute, a New York City-based nonprofit that promotes public architecture, has assembled an unusually savvy list of 30

The Czech artist discusses her installation “The Architecture of Sleep” at the Frieze Art Fair. Performers precariously snooze in artist Eva Kotátková's installation The Architecture of Sleep at the Frieze New York art fair last weekend. The annual Frieze New York art fair took place last weekend, and as usual, conditions inside the quarter-mile-long tent that houses the event felt a bit overstimulating. Inside the brightly lit belly of the temporary structure, a snaking white form designed by Brooklyn firm SO–IL, visitors bounced among 190 booths where dealers presented work in eye-catching installations arranged to command maximum attention from collectors.

Istallation view of Binet's work on view in Ammann//Gallery's booth at Collective 2. The second edition of the Collective design fair takes place this weekend in Manhattan. This year, the fair—founded by architect Steven Learner—has set up shop in the atrium at the McKim, Mead & White-designed Farley Post Office in Manhattan and added 19 additional galleries to its roster. One of the newcomers, German dealer Gabrielle Ammann, is offering work by Zaha Hadid, Wolfs + Jung, Satyendra Pakhalé, and several others—including an impressive table by Studio Nucleo—but among the highlights of her booth are 10 prints by architectural photographer

The organizers of the U.S. pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale plan to reckon with the legacy of modernism by putting it into practice. Image © Naho Kubota / courtesy Leong Leong Ever the champion of far-reaching concepts, this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale director Rem Koolhaas has taken the unusual step of not only determining a theme for the main exhibitions but also asking each of the 65 independently organized national pavilions to follow his lead. Under the umbrella title Fundamentals, the architect has planned a three-part show that will include a section presenting a taxonomy of basic building