ISRAEL’S SUPREME COURT

Israel’s modernist Supreme Court, with its clean lines and its mini-pyramid, seems to rise up from one of Jerusalem’s many hills. Designed by architects Ram Karmi and Ada Karmi-Melamede, it is a complex three-story building of limestone and other local materials. "Our building aspires to reflect the unique history of Jerusalem and its culture and endeavors to represent the basic values of law, justice, truth, and compassion," says Karmi-Melamede. Next week ArchitectureWeek contributing editor Lili Eylon will show us more of this serene yet accessible court complex.

VIDEOCONFERENCING ENVIRONMENTS

Whenever a new technology arrives that requires a specialized environment, architects must be educated in how to accommodate it. A good example of this is videoconferencing, for which several people or groups can "meet" in different locations but still be able to hear and see each other and to share work presented on computer screens. Each meeting location becomes, in effect, a broadcast studio, so once-simple conference rooms have now become much more complicated to design. Next week, John Gregory and Lisa Horan, of Audio Visual Innovations, Inc., will sort out some of the architectural considerations in designing for videoconferencing.

AIA/LONDON’S ANNUAL DESIGN AWARDS

In February, the London/UK chapter of the American Institute of Architects presented their 8th Annual Design Awards to professionals and students. One of the four winners was the firm of Zaha Hadid Architects for the Terminus and Car Park, in Strasbourg, France (pictured, photo by Helene Binet). Other top winners were Patel Taylor for the Thames Barrier Park, the Richard Rogers Partnership for 88 Wood Street, London, and Wilkinson Eyre for the Millennium Bridge, Gateshead. As she accepted her award, the ebullient Hadid said, "This is not the Royal Family of pragmatism." Next week ArchitectureWeek will explore what these projects offer, if not pragmatism.