In 2004, when Santiago Calatrava unveiled his plans for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, an 800,000-square-foot complex knitting together underground train lines, he explained his vision at a press conference by sketching an image of a bird taking flight.

Photo © Luckenbach/Ziegelman Architects Michigan-based Luckenbach/Ziegelman Architects is showing a six-room home made of prefabricated steel. Photo © Luckenbach/Ziegelman Architects Michigan-based Luckenbach/Ziegelman Architects is showing a six-room home made of prefabricated steel. Related Links: Special Report: Rebuilding Haiti Haiti Housing Designs to be Unveiled This MonthHaiti Design Expo Postponed Due to Upcoming Election Haitian Government Launches Housing Design Competition A government-sponsored expo that aims to offer feasible housing ideas for earthquake-ravaged Haiti is now under way on a former sugar plantation just north of Port-au-Prince. On three acres in the rural village of Zoranger, 60 prototypes for affordable, single-family homes

While the economy has stabilized in some regards, architects are still suffering. Just when it seemed that the architecture industry might be pulling out of its tailspin, some key economic indicators are suggesting that a recovery might take longer than expected. Related Links :Karlsberger Shuttered Top 250 Firms: Titans Maintain Lead While Industry Suffers Downward Slide for ABI Recession & Recovery The Architecture Billings Index, a measure of the industry’s health compiled by the American Institute of Architects, has dipped below 50 for three consecutive months, posting scores of 47.6 (April), 47.2 (May), and 46.3 (June). Those dips came after

Image courtesy Carlos Zapata Studio and EE&K, a Perkins Eastman company In Ho Chi Minh City, Carlos Zapata Studio and EE&K (now owned by Perkins Eastman) are working on a 7.5 million-square-foot development dubbed Ma Lang Center. It might have been unthinkable as a place to do business just a few decades ago, when half of the country was at war with the United States. It doesn’t have the resources of China, its booming neighbor to the north. And its communist government might not appeal to citizens from capitalist nations.  But quietly, Vietnam has in recent years become a hot

Image courtesy Cuningham Group Completed in 2009, the 1,240-acre Alpensia resort features 1,000 hotel rooms and facilities for winter sports, including a 15,000-seat ski jump stadium. Related Links: Beijing: 2008 Olympics London Zooming Toward 2012 Games Longevity Key to Vancouver Stadium Design Turin Basks in Post-Olympics Glow The decision this month to award Pyeonchang, South Korea the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics has put a spotlight on the U.S.-based architecture firm Cuningham Group. In 2004, the Minneapolis firm, which has an office in Seoul, was hired by a South Korean government agency to design a resort for a

Perkins + Will, the global design firm, has sold its Connecticut office to two of its principals. Related Links: Perkins + Will Expands Again Perkins + Will Adds Guenther 5 Merger Mania Special Coverage: Practice Matters Stevanie Demko and Kathyann Cowles bought the Glastonbury office, near Hartford, in March, say sources close to Perkins + Will. The two designers have renamed the firm Id3A and have reportedly kept many of Perkins + Will’s clients in the area. Id3A has also retained most of the office's employees, which numbered around a dozen earlier this year, according to sources. Terms of the

Finally, some good news for the hard-hit design profession: Firms are hiring again. Photo courtesy Wikipedia/Library of Congress A 1940s firm seems to be awaiting the postwar building boom, much as today’s architects hope construction will be on the rise following the recent recession. As the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers approaches — the event that delivered the knockout punch to an already reeling U.S. economy — a trend is emerging that may have once seemed unthinkable. Firms are hiring again. To be fair, staff levels are not at their prerecession highs, as new employees are being

New York City’s American Folk Art Museum, designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects and completed in 2001, has been sold to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) next door.

Image courtesy Arup One of the firm’s current projects in China is Ding He Tower in Shenzhen. Despite a diminished head count at its London-based headquarters, the global engineering firm Arup has opened overseas architecture offices for the first time in its 65-year history. Related Links: U.K. Budget Cuts Could Spur Layoffs at ArupCecil Balmond Leaves Arup to Start His Own Firm Arup Developing Green City in China The three new offices, which debuted in early April, are located in China, in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Each employs about 15 architects and 12 engineers, many of them

A slow, painstaking recovery effort continues in the Tohoku region of Japan, which was ravaged on March 11 by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a 30-foot tsunami. Many architects are eager to help, whether that means raising money, lending design services, or mobilizing damage assessment teams. Photo courtesy John Pawson London-based architect John Pawson has created a white ribbon marked with a red circle, akin to Japan’s flag. Virtual versions of the ribbon are available on Pawson’s website for a suggested donation of £1. Related Links: Special Report: Rebuilding Japan Humanitarian Design Coverage On March 30, architect Hisaya Sugiyama, head of