After many years of struggling against professional and political apathy in the United States, energy conservation and sustainability ideals may be finally receiving the attention they deserve. In the past four years, acceptance of environmental values has been reflected in the growing numbers of projects nominated the "Top Ten Green Projects" awards program of the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment (COTE). Architects, their clients, and the general public are increasingly appreciating environmentally sensitive architecture for both its economic and ethical importance.
LIVABLE PLACES PROJECT
The problem of homelessness in the United States remains intractable. A growing population, rising housing prices, and an uneasy economy all contribute to a scarcity of housing affordable for working class Americans. For decades, inner-city conditions of poverty, crime, and under-funded schools have encouraged those who can afford to leave to escape to the sprawling suburbs while the city centers have grown increasingly unlivable.
NEUTRA HOUSE IN PALM SPRINGS DESTROYED
Preservationists and admirers of modern architecture were angered to learn of the surprise demolition last month of the Samuel and Luella Maslon House. This house in Rancho Mirage, California, designed in 1962 by Richard Neutra, was a celebrated residential works by the modernist master.
The new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Rotenberg of Hopkins, Minnesota, had recently purchased the property for $2.45 million. They had the building destroyed within 30 days of taking possession.
GLENN MURCUTT PRITZKER PRIZE
Australian architect Glenn Murcutt has been awarded the 26th annual Pritzker Prize. He is internationally known for environmentally sensitive modernist houses that respond to their climate and surroundings in the vast Australian landscape.