A public architecture school that for decades struggled with a chronic lack of funding has walked away with a historically large gift.  On April 2, the School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape at the City College of New York received a $25 million donation from Bernard Spitzer, a well-known city real-estate developer. Spitzer, who graduated from City College in 1943 with an engineering degree, also is the father of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned last year in the wake of a prostitution scandal. Photo courtesy City College The School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape at

The Architectural Billings Index (ABI) rose to 43.7 in March, up from 35.3 in February. It’s the first time the score has landed above 40 since last September. The inquiries score, which in February was 49.5, climbed to 56.6. Graph courtesy AIA The index, one of the profession’s leading economic indicators, reflects a nine- to 12-month lag time between architectural billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects produces the index based on surveys sent to architecture firms. A score above 50 indicates an increase in billings, and below 50, a decrease. In January, the billings score dipped to

Photo © Craig Mitchelldyer for Architectural Record After getting laid off, Ben Straus started selling homemade ice cream to help pay the bills. In 2006, after Ben Straus earned an architecture degree from Carnegie Mellon University, he foresaw a long career of designing offices, hospitals, and university buildings. Instead, after being laid off in January from Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects in Portland, Oregon, Straus finds himself selling $6 pints of homemade ice cream out of his kitchen for Presidential Sweets, his new business. (Sample flavor: Vanillard Fillmore.) Still, even though Straus, 25, doesn’t expect to land a comparable architecture job

On April 14 Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (AAHC), announced the selection of Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup to design the museum’s freestanding building on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C. The winning team, comprising The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates, Davis Brody Bond, and SmithGroup, was part of shortlist of six teams announced on January 29. The finalists’ proposals for the museum design were unveiled at the Smithsonian Institution Building, also known in Washington as the Castle, on March 27. Images courtesy Smithsonian / Imaging Atelier A team comprising The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates,

Next week, scores of U.S. architects will head West for the AIA’s 2009 convention, which takes place from April 30 to May 2 in San Francisco, at the Moscone Center. While diversity is the theme of this year’s event, the economy also will be a key topic. To best serve its members, the AIA has added seminars and services devoted to business and career survival. There are now 15 workshops specifically related to the economy. (See list here.) “Remaining topically nimble is hard,” explains conference chair Patricia Benton Oliver, FAIA, but the educational sessions are the primary reason architects attend

Since it was planted in the landfill of Boston’s Back Bay district in the 1970s, I.M. Pei and Henry N. Cobb’s John Hancock Tower (1976) has been an emblem of spectacular but problematic commercial architecture. Excavation for the tower cracked the masonry of H.H. Richardson’s neighboring Trinity Church, faulty curtain walls rained glass onto surrounding streets, and the building swayed excessively. Photo © Tomtheman5/courtesy Wikipedia The Hancock Tower was sold in a foreclosure auction in late March for $660 million. The previous owners paid $1.3 billion in 2006. Now, it’s a ready symbol of today’s vertiginous commercial real estate market. The

In the firmament of U.S. presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower may not be known for his star power. But the Washington, D.C., memorial planned for the 34th commander-in-chief will enjoy the talents of a marquee-name architect: Frank Gehry. Image courtesy GSA The $110 million project is set for completion in 2014. On March 31, after six months of sifting through 44 entries, the commission assigned to the job of creating the memorial announced it picked Gehry, a Pritzker winner, to design the four-acre site, which is located a block south of the National Mall. The $110 million project, which is part

The official exhibition from the U.S. pavilion at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale has arrived in the States—and it’s proving to be more relevant than ever. Although it was originally intended to serve as a showcase of American design for a foreign audience, this time the exhibition is being presented as an example, and even a call to arms, for those at home.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Green Building Initiative (GBI), which administers the Green Globes building rating system, and have signed a memorandum of understanding that expresses their intent to work in concert to promote green building. Chris McEntee, AIA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, praised GBI’s “engagement in life-cycle assessment and promotion of post-construction third-party review.” Included in the memorandum, announced in March, is a pledge to collaborate on educational programs that address life cycle assessment, Green Globes New Construction, and Green Globes Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings. First released in Canada in January 2002,

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Green Building Initiative (GBI), which administers the Green Globes building rating system, and have signed a memorandum of understanding that expresses their intent to work in concert to promote green building. Chris McEntee, AIA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, praised GBI’s “engagement in life-cycle assessment and promotion of post-construction third-party review.” Included in the memorandum, announced in March, is a pledge to collaborate on educational programs that address life cycle assessment, Green Globes New Construction, and Green Globes Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings. First released in Canada in January 2002,