Link: Dean Cardasis
Visit: UMass Amherst

Pictures: National WWII Memorial website
Link: New York Times article

Link: Syndey Morning Herald

"WHEN JIM AND Charlene Geiszler step onto the upper-level porch of their Shoreline home, they can sink into rattan chairs and relax in complete privacy amid a woodland setting of Japanese maples, vine maples, bamboo, decorative grasses and ferns. A gurgling waterfall in one of two modest pools disguises the rumble from the outside world, including nearby Interstate 5."

Link: Seattle Times Magazine, Pacific Northwest
Photographs: © MIKE SIEGEL

Our design for the Village establishes an iconic landmark and proposes an innovative vision for a 21st century urban environment that will redefine contemporary urban living through its commitment to sustainability, connectivity and interdependence. It is our intent to transform Hunters Point into a revitalized “new territory” that will leave an important legacy, or gift, to the city, while also providing the new generative tissue, or architectural DNA, that will continue to stimulate and inspire the development of the Queens area.

With 43 acres of open space reserved for both urban and natural parkland, this development’s greens will create the largest urban waterfront park in New York City. By working carefully and deliberately to sculpt land and building forms into a coherent relationship with the existing urban fabric and naturally advantageous site conditions, we will create a vibrant new neighborhood that will become an important stimulus for creative and optimistic development of the adjacent urban areas for years to come.

Link: LA Times (via Archinect)

"It is not without the bitter taste of self-awareness, specifically about the overwhelmingly crass and commercial (and, indeed, downtrodden and dreary, bleakly suburban, and economically grim) nature of the content of this site, that we at NFA embark on our quest to document bad conversions. That said, it is perhaps best that we look at this phenomenon as a delightful yet sad part of our culture's clattering landscape: it is an amusing diversion, it is an economic gestalt, it is a crime of design, it is a confusion to the would-be consumer. Let us rejoice in bad conversions and seek to amuse ourselves with them wherever possible, taking utmost pains to observe the careful, hopeless touches of their renovation and their indelible flourishes of nonsense on our landscape. Embrace blight! We have no other hope."

How Retro Can You Go?

Fifties style is stalking the runways, and mid-century design is making its way into every room of the house. A look at the allure of America's favorite era

Say the words prefab housing and most people think of snap together bungalows and log cabin kits. But a new generation of architects is making prefab more fun.

With one little wrench, Ingvar Kamprad gave the world access to great design.

"When you can't go sideways, go up. That was part of the solution for Dave and Heidi Boone, remodeling a 1939 house snuggled onto Queen Anne Hill. With the potential for grand views and lots of design/construction savvy — he's an upper-end residential contractor who once considered being an architect — this project had a lot going for it."

Link: Pacific Northwest (Seattle Times)
Photograph: BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER

Link: Hyperkit visit Le Corbusier

More info about Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation: Great Buildings Online
Galinsky (including info on how to visit)