MIES, MORE OR LESS

In New York this summer, Mies van der Rohe seems to be everywhere. The Museum of Modern Art's "Mies in Berlin" and the Whitney Museum of American Art's "Mies in America" each bookend the work of one of the most celebrated Modern architects. Together these exhibits trace a profile of a youth influenced by the ancient Greeks, who later creates his own standards of pristine, classical architecture. Is this an "architecture of humanism"? Or something very different? Next week join Michael J. Crosbie as he explores the exhibits and architecture.

THE STATE OF FM TECHNOLOGY

Computer-aided facility management (CAFM) has been around — and evolving quickly — for over 40 years. Even in the early days, software systems offered fairly sophisticated options for those few companies that could afford them. Today we are embarking on what may be the fifth generation of technology (high speed Internet and 'smart' assets) that will become commonplace within facility management. Next week CAFM expert Eric Teicholz will explain why understanding this evolution is important to facility managers for the effective practice of their professions.

A BUILDING AS A CONTEXTUAL MACHINE

As disciplines, urban design and architecture often seem to be at cross purposes. Urban design tends to concern itself with the collective, architecture with isolated buildings. In Dublin, architect Derek Tynan has created an instructive exception. The Printworks suggests how people can beneficially live and work in a quickly evolving city and offers an urbanism of collage and potent reciprocity. Next week we look at the first part of an essay by Raymund Ryan in which he explains this model for modern urban architecture.