"Most buildings are terrible. They're unhealthy, and they're bad for the soul." Fred Stitt, director of the San Francisco Institute of Architecture, didn't mince words as he officiated over "Ecological Design: The Unstoppable Wave." The conference, held in Oakland, California in August 2003, aimed at improving architecture through a better understanding of its relationship to the natural environment.
WOOD DESIGN AWARDS 2003
As unsustainable logging practices have depleted forests worldwide, and industrialized structural systems have developed, heavy-timber structures have largely disappeared from the vocabulary of contemporary architecture. But this hasn't dampened the appeal of wood as a building material. Instead, it has changed the way we design with wood and focused architectural commentary on factors like economy of use and elegance in spare detailing.
BATON ROUGE ROSE AWARDS 2003
When the Baton Rouge, Louisiana chapter of the AIA selected their annual design award recipients in September 2003 , they chose a variety of commercial and institutional projects — from a futuristic planetarium to a minimalist sanctuary — that represent the cultural diversity of this historic city in the American South.
RECONSTRUCTION COMPLICATIONS CONTINUE
When architect Daniel Libeskind was chosen in February 2003 to redesign New York's World Trade Center site, it appeared to be an irrevocable decision about the fate of "Ground Zero." But controversies have persisted, and what finally gets built may be very different from Libeskind's original design vision.