NEW BRITISH SCIENCE CENTER CELEBRATES LIFE

The new International Centre for Life, in Newcastle upon Tyne, opened this past summer. Designed by British architects, Terry Farrell & Partners, it is seen as the flagship millennium project exploring genetic science in the United Kingdom. Three buildings join on a regenerated site that had experienced a long history of medical, military, and industrial functions. The new buildings bring together a unique confluence of research, education, entertainment, and ethics. From London, writer Don Barker explains the program behind the new complex and the architect's use of color and form.

RESTORING LADY LIBERTY

One of the most recognized symbols in the world, the Statue of Liberty in Upper New York Bay, underwent restoration in 1986, 100 years after its completion by French sculptor August Bartholdi and architect/engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. While the statue's restoration was monumental in size, complexity, and visibility, the technical, design, access/egress, and deadline issues were similar to those on many historic building projects. The work of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects and their consultants is documented in a new book, Historic Preservation: Project Planning & Estimating, published by R.S. Means Company, Inc.

AIA ANNOUNCES TOP HONORS

On November 30, The American Institute of Architects announced three winners of its highest honors. The 2001 Gold Medal was awarded to Michael Graves, FAIA. This is given annually to an individual whose "significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." Recipient of the 2001 AIA Architecture Firm Award was the Des Moines, Iowa firm, Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture. And Lee G. Copeland, FAIA, an urban designer and dean at the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning, was named 2001 recipient of the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. (Shown at left: Kautz Plaza, University of Iowa, by Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture, photo by Farshid Assassi/Assassi Productions.)