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GREEN TOP TEN - BUILDINGS FOR EDUCATION
In Newberg, Oregon, southwest of Portland, the first building has been built on a new 15-acre (6-hectare) campus for Portland Community College (PCC). The structure's distinctive forms provide a visual clue about the strategies — including passive cooling and extensive daylighting — that were used to achieve its goal of zero net energy use. Published 2012.0516
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DESIGN WITH ENTERPRISE
I wasn't always fascinated with architecture and design. I'm not an architect, but I have come to realize how important good design is as an ingredient to better human health and well-being. And how important business skills are to successful practice. Published 2012.0425
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AIA'S BEST NEW BUILDINGS FROM CHICAGO
A glass dome rises from a lawn on the University of Chicago campus. The ellipsoidal structure by Murphy/Jahn — a counterpoint in form and materials to the eclectic buildings around it — is a refined tip of the iceberg for the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library. Published 2011.1207
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AIA EDUCATION DESIGN AWARDS
When Canada's Royal Conservatory of Music set about expanding its midtown Toronto campus, a careful balancing act was required. The project combined construction of the new Telus Centre for Performance and Learning with the progressive restoration of historic McMaster Hall. The conservatory also sought to energize a new cultural district for the city in conjunction with major cultural facilities nearby, such as the Royal Ontario Museum and Gardiner Museum. Published 2011.1116
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AMERICAN LANDSCAPE AWARDS
When it originally opened in 1978, the Portland Transit Mall created a transit-focused corridor in downtown Portland, Oregon. For a distance of 11 blocks through the commercial core, a pair of one-way streets combined dedicated bus lanes and limited car traffic with wide brick sidewalks and an abundance of trees, benches, and shelters. But despite being an icon for progressive urban planning, the mall suffered deferred maintenance and deterioration over time. Published 2011.1102
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ENGINEERING GROUND ZERO ON PBS
The PBS series Nova premiered a powerful show on Wednesday, September 7, 2011, about the reconstruction work currently underway at the site of the World Trade Center disaster.
"Engineering Ground Zero" is now available as streaming video on the PBS web site. And it will be rebroadcast by many public television stations across the United States (check local listings). Published 2011.0907
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NOTES FROM MANHATTAN: HIGH LINE TO WTC
New York on the cusp of fall: the light has that very yellowy tint that only happens this time of year, and the air seems clear as crystal. A quick jaunt around Manhattan Island — literally one afternoon, just before the tenth anniversary of September 11th — reveals new, continuing, and still-becoming works of architecture. Published 2011.0907
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EZRA STOLLER
Many of the finest examples of Modern architecture from the late 1940s to the late 1970s were "made" by a master — not necessarily the architect, but the man who captured the essence of Modern architecture through the lens of his large-format camera: Ezra Stoller. Published 2011.0223
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NATIONAL AIA AWARDS
On a corner site in Manhattan, within the Greenwich Village Historic District, stands a new 11-story apartment building wrapped in ribbons of glass. The faceted, undulating facade creates a lively contemporary foil to the neighboring masonry structures while reflecting their facades and the greenery of Jackson Square Park.
Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, this building is one of 27 projects honored by the American Institute of Architects in its AIA Institute Honor Awards for 2011. Published 2011.0223
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RIPPLE EFFECT
Your first reaction to seeing Aqua Tower as it commands the Chicago skyline might be, "What happened to that skyscraper?" It looks as if some of its concrete floor fins might have been worn away over years of exposure. Or perhaps some kind of pervasive organism has taken over a sleek glass tower, crawling all over its facade — the Blob meets Howard Roark's Enright Building. Published 2011.0105
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