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Photos © Mamoru Ishiguro Hoberman recently completed his first building with an adaptive skin. Polycarbonate operable shutters shield the interior of the 15-story tower in Tokyo. Related Links: Chuck Hoberman Wants Buildings to Change ArchRecord Interview: Chuck Hoberman Planners, Designers Mull Implications of Digital Surfaces “Transformable design” is the term that Chuck Hoberman uses to describe the focus of his multidisciplinary practice, Hoberman Associates. The 19-year-old New York City-based firm fuses sculpture, engineering, and product design to create objects with the ability to change size and shape. It is perhaps best known for the Hoberman Sphere, which relies on a

How do you guide museum visitors through the unseen world of sound? That was the dilemma faced by the designers and builders of the new $125-million Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, scheduled to open this spring. Images courtesy Musical Instrument Museum The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix contains 190,000 square feet of exhibition and performance space. Featuring both historic and contemporary instruments from around the globe, the museum aims to help visitors better understand musical expression in different cultures and in various aspects of life. Bob Ulrich, former CEO of the Target Corp., is the museum’s founder and chairman; the

Dubai has made headlines in recent weeks for its financial woes, and many are saying this once-booming desert metropolis has gone bust. But the emirate does have something to celebrate: The Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is due to officially open on January 4. Photo courtesy SOM The Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, is due to officially open on January 4. Related Links: World's Tallest Buildings Reconsidered Burj Dubai Breaks Record, and Keeps Going Dazzling Skyscrapers In a Desert City, a Skyline Grows Ever Higher As Economy Sank, Skyscrapers Soared Precisely how many feet this superlative tower rises

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has changed the way it measures building height. Announced on November 17, the Chicago-based organization now includes below-grade, open-air pedestrian entrances in its calculations; previously, measurements were made from the sidewalk outside the main entrance. CTBUH also eliminated a “height to roof” category due to increased use of spires, parapets, and other features. Graph courtesy CTBUH Related Links: Now Introducing the Burj Dubai At Least 50 Tall Buildings Now on Hold As Economy Sank, Skyscrapers Soared Higher The modifications have prompted a slight change in the ranking of the world’s 10

Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden discusses her ambitious blueprint for America’s largest city. Photo © NYC Department of City Planning Amanda Burden Now that New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg is remaining in office for a third term, presumably the agenda set out by Amanda Burden, director of the Department of City Planning and chair of the planning commission, will stay its course. Appointed head of city planning in 2002, and a planning commissioner since 1990, Burden approaches the future from a position of perceptible strength. In October she was named the 2009 laureate for the J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries

Photo courtesy Merzproject Joe Herzog, AIA, co-founded Merzproject in 2004. One of the country’s oldest architecture firms has teamed with one of its youngest, betting on expansion while other practices scale back. In early December, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, which was founded by H.H. Richardson in 1874, acquired Merzproject of Phoenix, Arizona, which formed in 2004. The young firm, which will remain in Phoenix with its two principals intact, will also retain its name, with a slight twist; it will now be known as “Merzproject, a studio of Shepley Bulfinch.” In 2008, Shepley Bulfinch reportedly earned $36.6 million in

A tectonic shift took place among winners at this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF), as projects from developing countries accounted for a significantly larger percent of the honors than they had in the past.

Photo © 2009 Philip Greenberg The Wright restaurant opened this month as part of the Guggenheim’s 50th anniversary celebration. The 1,600-sqaure-foot eatery was designed by Andre Kikoski Architect. Related Links: Wright Exhibition Opens at the Guggenheim A Fitting Tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright Guggenheim Restoration Has the Wright Stuff Looking to join such acclaimed museum dining rooms as The Modern at The Museum of Modern Art, and Terzo Piano, atop the Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago, The Wright is the latest destination restaurant with a legacy of art and architecture. Adjacent to the soaring rotunda of Frank

Look up from your cellphone and your pixelated field of vision stretches to the skyline. Electronic signs are everywhere, from billboards to taxis, and now buildings are becoming digital canvasses. Some are festooned with digital signs, some integrate lights and media to define space and add ornamentation, some combine those approaches. But with that expanded design palette, and the theoretical discussions about the relationship between media and architecture, comes the need to parse complex legalese, since digital facades potentially fall under regulations and ordinances governing signage and lighting. Photo © Bayer AG (top); Christian Richters (above) (Top) Pictured is Bayer's