A/E/C SYSTEMS TEAMS WITH PROJECT EXTRANETS

For years we've been told that fragmentation is one of the greatest problems in the architecture/ engineering/ construction industry—and that computer technology could solve it by giving us a common language and interchangeable data models.

ARCHITECTS TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT

The Internet is changing everything — including the practice of architecture. This strong message emerged from a recent conference: understanding technology, and the value of technology to the client, gives a design firm an important competitive advantage.

What technological changes are coming, and how soon, were the hot topics at the Architects Technology Summit, Release 3.0, held in Philadelphia on May 3. The summit was co-hosted by the CMD Group and The Greenway Group.

CHILDREN'S RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN FLORIDA

Designing a laboratory for children's medical research requires a sensitive juxtaposition of hard science with compassionate health care. In the new Children's Research Institute at the University of South Florida, the architecture firm Flad & Associates has succeeded in merging those two dissimilar ideas.

This $12 million facility provides 50,000 square feet of state-of-the-art biomedical research laboratories for studying endocrinology, molecular genetics, molecular cardiology, immunology, allergy/ immunology, cardiac transplant, and pediatric diabetes.

AIA CONVENTION PROBES LIVABILITY

The "City of Brotherly Love," home of the Liberty Bell, was the setting earlier this month for the annual convention of the American Institute of Architects. With its rich cultural and architectural history and its share of urban problems, Philadelphia was an appropriate setting for the AIA's theme of "New Century, New Vision: Livable Communities for America's Future." Architects from all over the U.S. gathered to hear experts promote their ideas for improving livability from political, social, and educational, as well as architectural points of view.

KOOLHAAS WINS PRITZKER PRIZE

In April, Rem Koolhaas, a 56-year-old architect from the Netherlands, was named the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate for the year 2000. The controversial yet critically acclaimed architect will receive the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in architecture in a ceremony in Jeruselem on May 29. At that time, Koolhaas will be presented with a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion. He is the 23rd Pritzker Laureate to be honored and the first from the Netherlands.