Image courtesy ZAS Architects ZAS Architects Inc., a 50-person firm in Toronto, recently won a commission from Nakheel, one of Dubai’s largest developers, to design a $1.25 billion waterfront complex that will encompass 7.2 million square feet. Many of the world’s A-list architects have descended upon Dubai, as its desert sands are parted for ever more extravagant developments. But lesser known firms are showing up there as well. ZAS Architects Inc., a 50-person firm in Toronto, recently won a commission from Nakheel, one of the emirate’s largest developers, to design a $1.25 billion waterfront complex that will encompass 7.2 million

Rome’s tiny gas stations will soon pump a lot more than petroleum into the city’s transportation system. The Unione Petrolifica, an organization representing the interests of oil companies including Erg, Agip, and Total, has turned to local architects Marco Bevilaqua and Bianca Patroni-Griffi to transform the approximately 30 pit stops into centers that dispense bus tickets, listings and tickets for nearby cultural events, snacks—and, yes, gas. Images Courtesy Marco Bevilaqua / Bianca Patroni-Griffi The union of gas station owners in Rome is rebuilding these tiny pit stops, many of which were hastily constructed in the 1970s (top). Architects Marco Bevilaqua

Admirers of architect Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, located in Tokyo’s affluent Ginza district, have won a temporary reprieve—but they still have their work cut out for them to save the 1972-vintage condominium building, whose demolition was announced in April. The Capsule Tower is actually two buildings, one 11 stories and the other 13 stories, which are made of detachable modular units clustered around two spines. It is one of the only built examples of modular Metabolist architecture. Seibei Yamashita, director of the condo management board, is amenable to detaching some or all of the capsules so that they can

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has asked Renzo Piano to rework part of its expansion plans: gone is a glass-enclosed entry pavilion whose design was inspired by an Eames Case Study House; in is a corporate-sponsored entryway. The BP Grand Entrance, so named when the company made a $25-million gift to the museum, is an open-air gazebo supported by bright orange steel beams with a solar paneled roof and the British oil giant’s name emblazoned out front. Images Courtesy LACMA The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, seen from its Wilshire Boulevard elevation. Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Bazis International, a Kazakhstani developer, is turning a seedy, under-built commercial site at one of Toronto’s most prominent commercial intersections, Bloor and Yonge Streets, into an 80-story, mixed-use skyscraper. The $424-million project, called 1 Bloor, is being designed by Bazis’ in-house architecture team. Construction is set to begin this year and, upon completion in 2011, the tower will be one of the country’s tallest buildings. Images: Courtesy Bazis International Bazis International plans to build 1 Bloor, an 80-story, mixed-use skyscraper in Toronto that would be among Canada’s tallest (above). The tower will be located at the intersection of Bloor and

It doesn’t take much to envision what Louis I. Kahn’s memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt will look like if it is eventually finished. It occupies a triangular, 2.8-acre site at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City’s East River. Construction crews have already shaped the earth into the exact dimensions and contours that Kahn specified in 1973: a raised lawn, to be flanked by two groves of trees and granite steps, that gently slopes down and culminates in an open-air, granite-walled room overlooking the United Nations. These walls will bear quotes from the president’s powerful Four Freedoms

Photo: Courtesy CN Tower Last week, 1,330 newly installed LED fixtures were lit for the first time--making the CN Tower the world's tallest illuminated structure. Photo: Courtesy CN Tower The 1,815-foot-tall CN Tower in Toronto, at night, as it appeared for most of its 31-year history. The CN Tower has dominated Toronto’s skyline during daylight hours since it opened 31 years ago; at 1,815 feet, this communications spire is the world’s tallest freestanding structure. But at night, the dimly lit giant faded nearly to black. Not anymore. Last week, 1,330 LED fixtures created by Color Kinetics were illuminated for the