Cities need to grapple with complex ideas to prepare for the next superstorm. A New York City worker clears a sewer drain in Lower Manhattan after Superstorm Sandy. Two large buildings stand about a quarter mile apart in Red Hook, on the Brooklyn waterfront. One is a 19th-century brick warehouse handsomely renovated to house apartments and Fairway Market, a much-beloved gourmet grocery; the other is the local outpost of IKEA in a sprawling yellow-and-blue shed whose ground floor is mostly parking. The storm surge from Superstorm Sandy wrecked Fairway, which will take months to rebuild. IKEA, by contrast, with its

Photo courtesy Carlos Zapata Studio Carlos Zapata’s design for a 12,000-seat soccer stadium in Cité Soleil, Haiti. Carlos Zapata, who designed Chicago’s Soldier Field football stadium with Benjamin Wood in 2003, has just unveiled his design for a pro bono stadium in Cité Soleil, Haiti. The 12,000-seat soccer stadium will include an attached school and sports complex in a phased development. The project, dubbed Phoenix Stadium, will be used by underprivileged youth—and eventually a new professional team seeded, in part, by the best of them—in what is considered to be Haiti’s poorest and most dangerous slum. It is being spearheaded

The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations chose 11 very different firms from among 88 applicants to design new embassies, consulates, and diplomatic buildings. Nine others were chosen for renovation and rehabilitation projects. Image © Alan Silverman, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill The street entry of the U.S. consolate in Guangzhou, China, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It is scheduled to open in May. The U.S. Department of State has named the architects selected to compete for commissions in its new Design Excellence program. The Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), under the direction of Lydia Muniz, chose 11 very different

A small number of large projects drive historical trends in the sports-construction market. Source: McGraw-Hill Dodge Analytics Click the image above to view a full presentation of these stats [PDF].

Photo courtesy SCAD A student in the Savannah College of Art and Design's Interactive Design and Game Development department. Students from the game department are collaborating with architecture students to design an video game that will simulate working in an architecture firm. Let’s face it: Architect: The Video Game doesn’t sound quite as sexy as Grand Theft Auto or Mass Effect. But faculty members at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) are hoping that an interactive approach to teaching professional practice will engage architecture students in a subject that is often met with little enthusiasm. They’ve just won

Photo © Alan Weintraub/arcaidimages.com Niemeyer's design for the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Oscar Niemeyer died in Rio de Janeiro on December 5th, just ten days shy of his 105th birthday. One of the last living links to the founding generation of Modernist architects, Niemeyer indelibly shaped Brazil’s architectural identity, immortalized in the monumental government buildings he created for the new capital, Brasília. He became a household name there, if not a national hero. Fittingly, Niemeyer’s casket lay in state at the presidential palace, which he designed, before a funeral worthy of a political leader. Photo

While the crowds at Design Miami sipped oceans of champagne, there was talk of other bubbles, including the real estate mania that has condo developers learning Portuguese. The Design District, itself frothy with Prada and Louis Vuitton, was also home to the Inflatable Villa, an iconic (and possibly Ionic) installation by designer Luis Pons. The blow-up villa made its debut at the 2005 fair, as a symbol of exuberance. This time it appeared on a Design District construction site, seemingly impaled on rusty rebar, where it was deflated and reinflated daily—Pons' commentary on real estate booms and busts. "It's the

An egg-shaped beach bar pavilion by Los Carpinteros may have been the most popular art intervention at this year's the Art Basel Miami Beach. A wood-slat egg-shaped pavilion on the beach just steps from the Atlantic may be the most popular art intervention of the Art Basel Miami fair, which closes this Sunday. Commissioned for the fair by Absolut Vodka's "Art Bureau," the lantern-like pavilion comes with an orchestra that plays specially-commissioned music by Joan Valent outside until 11 P.M. Inside is a vodka bar, where bartenders wave martini shakers to the beat of the music. The open-air structure literally

The renowned Brazilian architect passed away 10 days shy of his 105th birthday. Click the image below to revisit some of his best known work. National Congress of Brazil. Brasilia, Brazil