The Smithsonian-affiliated National Museum for American Jewish History (NMAJH), the nation’s only museum documenting the Jewish-American experience, has assiduously expanded its collection from 40 objects, when it opened in 1976, to more than 20,000. In doing so, it has outgrown the meager 6,000 square feet of exhibition space in its current home, a half-block from the spot on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall where it is constructing a new 100,000-square-foot complex designed by Polshek Partnership. NMAJH hopes that when the $150 million space opens on July 4, 2010, it will be able to expand its programming and quintuple its attendance to 250,000

If there’s been a dominant storyline in the world of architecture practice this year, surely it’s been the rising level of mergers and acquisitions. Marking another chapter in the story, Atlanta-based Perkins + Will announced this week that it acquired the New York City firm Guenther 5 Architects. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Related Links: Perkins + Will Buys Rozeboom Miller What's Fueling the M&A trend? Growth. Top 150 Architecture Firms Robin Guenther, FAIA, founded the firm that eventually became Guenther 5 in 1991. Over the years it has grown into an 18-person office practice specializing in health

The Minnesota Department of Transportation yesterday awarded a $243-million contract for rebuilding the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis to a team including Flatiron Constructors, based in Longmont, Colorado, in joint venture with Seattle-based Manson Construction. Also on the team is Orlando-based Johnson Bros., in a support role, and Figg Bridge Engineers, of Tallahassee, Florida, as lead designer. The new highway span will replace one that collapsed on August 1, killing 13 people and injuring 100. Image: Courtesy Minneapolis Department of Transportation Community participants in a one-day design charette workshop scheduled for later this month will choose between two options for a

Betting shops in Great Britain got it nearly correct when they laid odds on the winner of this year’s Stirling Prize, an honor bestowed by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for the building deemed the year’s greatest contribution to British architecture. David Chipperfield Architects’ Museum of Modern Literature, in Marbach am Neckar, Germany, received the prize at a gala televised live on Saturday night. The architect had two buildings among the six semi-finalists, but its America’s Cup Building, in Valencia, Spain, was favored to win at 3-1 by the oddsmaker William Hill. Odds for the Museum of Modern

The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) officially opens its new building to the public today. Although it is the Michigan institution’s third home in its 83-year history, the wHY Architecture-designed building is the first intended specifically as an art museum. Photos: Courtesy Grand Rapids Art Museum The Grand Rapids Art Museum opens its new building, designed by wHY Architecture, to the public today. Due in part to its use of daylight, the building is aiming for LEED Gold or Platinum certification. GRAM is best known for its collection of 19th and 20th century American and European paintings and sculpture. Its

Athletes are no doubt excited about the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, but before the games begin at least one architect is crying foul. Whitefield McQueen Architects, of Melbourne, Australia, claims that the Chinese government’s design for the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, a “floating boathouse” with an undulating roof, resembles a scheme that it submitted for a design competition in 2005. Tim Whitefield has no proof that his design was intentionally stolen, but he finds the similarities suspicious—and disappointing. “We are a young firm, so it would have been a substantial opportunity for us. I am saddened by the experience.” Images:

Frank Lloyd Wright pushed the limitations of technology with his buildings, sometimes pushing past them and bequeathing problems to future stewards. Fallingwater, the Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. residence completed in 1939, required a major restoration in 2002. The house’s dramatic cantilevers had deflected dangerously with the main cantilever sagging an alarming seven inches. The restoration team, including structural engineer Robert Silman Associates (RSA) and architect WASA/Studio A were able to halt, but not correct, the deflection with post-tensioning cables—a solution as innovative as Wright’s design. Photo by Robert Johnson, Architectural Business Development, Quantapoint ' The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (top);

Transbay won’t rise as high as his Petronas Towers in Malaysia, but Cesar Pelli and his firm have won the rights to design what could become the tallest tower in San Francisco. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, teamed with developer Hines, were awarded exclusive negotiating rights yesterday to a choice site in downtown San Francisco owned by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA), which seeks to rebuild the aging Transbay Terminal facility next door. Image: Courtesy Transbay Joint Powers Authority, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, WRNS Studio, Hines Pelli Clarke Pelli and developer Hines’ scheme for the new Transbay Terminal and skyscraper

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) marks a milestone today with the opening of its first new structure in 80 years. Designed by Gluckman Mayner Architects, the new 184,000-square-foot Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building allows the encyclopedic institution to display 130,000 objects—more than half its total collection of paintings, sculpture, and photography—that had previously sat in storage. Photos: Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art Gluckman Mayner Architects transformed the 80-year-old Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company Building into the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s new Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, which opens today (top). The designers added a rectangular volume composed

Nearly 6,000 planning practitioners and scholars converged in Philadelphia last week for the 99th annual national conference of the American Planning Association (APA). A theme evident in many of the 300 seminars was how U.S. cities are grappling with what one presenter termed the “post-Federal” era: the current climate in which municipalities can no longer rely on federal monies but must instead secure philanthropic and corporate support to help resolve social and infrastructure problems. Green space, many speakers agreed, is a critical asset that cities may use to their benefit. Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy gave the conference’s keynote. He contended