PUGH + SCARPA AIA FIRM AWARD 2010 It's not easy to pigeonhole Pugh + Scarpa Architects. And that's the way partners Gwynne Pugh, Larry Scarpa, and Angela Brooks like it. The buildings they create are dynamic, many with colorful, angular, patterned facades that exude a sense of whimsical energy. Even at its most eye-catching, the work is also decisively rooted in function and energy efficiency. The firm has also established a substantial portfolio of affordable housing projects. — Published 2010.0127
	AUTODESK UNIVERSITY 2009 At Autodesk University 2009, Autodesk CEO Carl Bass said he was encouraged by signs that the economy seems to be improving. He also acknowledged that Autodesk customers worldwide are being challenged to stay competitive. He suggested that this translates into being able to work more efficiently and being able to do more with less — an idea echoed in every presentation at AU 2009. — Published 2010.0113
	MAYA LIN - UNCHOP A TREE As we wait and listen around the world to hear what new increment of our collective fate will emerge from the final days of the Copenhagen climate conference, this new video piece by Maya Lin, itself an increment of her "What is Missing?" environmental memorial project, speaks deeply on the disaster of ongoing deforestation. — Published 2009.1216
	SOLAR DECATHLON 2009 In mid-October 2009, twenty teams of engineering and architecture students erected houses on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the biennial Solar Decathlon green building contest. After spending two years designing and building cutting-edge solar houses, the teams — mostly from North America — sought the designation of "most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient" for their structures. — Published 2009.1028
	PIANO IN CHICAGO Renzo Piano is known for his finely tuned designs, especially for a refined talent in dovetailing elegant new architecture with an existing context, playing on contextual strengths without duplicating the neighbors. He has achieved this feat once again at the Art Institute of Chicago, where a light-studded new museum wing by Piano opened in May 2009. The Art Institute's new addition is laudable in its intelligent siting, sensitive scale, urban presence, and manipulation of light. — Published 2009.0805
	ROPE-ACCESS SURVEYING "Wanted: Project architect/designer with varied experience in construction documents, detailing, and construction administration. Minimum 5 years CAD experience and familiarity with digital photography. Experience in mountain climbing desirable; athletic ability with no fear of heights is required." — Published 2009.0311
	BUILD BOSTON 2008 The 2008 Build Boston convention and trade show seemed, on the surface, to be its usual hustling, bustling, active marketplace of hundreds of educational workshops, dozens of receptions and affiliated conferences, and a convention floor full of product booths centered around the design and construction industry. — Published 2009.0128
	DELFT MEDIA LIBRARY Durability through transformation. That was the architects' vision for the DOK Library Concept Center in Delft, the Netherlands. The multimedia library occupies part of the overhauled Hoogovenpand, a 1970s mixed-use building facing a public square. Architects Liesbeth van der Pol of Dok architects (no relation) and Aat Vos of Aequo BV revitalized the gloomy building, creating the library space among existing commercial and residential functions. — Published 2009.0128
	DESIGNING FABRIC STRUCTURES The first step in designing a fabric structure is to create a form with sufficient pre-stress, or tension, to prevent it from fluttering like a flag or sail. Lightweight structures with minimal surfaces optimally should have double curvature — a surface that possesses a high-point (positive) curvature along one principal axis and a low-point (negative) curvature along the other principal axis. — Published 2008.0924
	HOUSE FOR SWEDEN The 70,000-square-foot (6,500-square-meter) building for the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., is set on a narrow peninsula at the confluence of Rock Creek and the Potomac River. Surrounded by water on three sides, the peninsula faces south and commands spectacular views up and down the Potomac. The prominent site called for an emblematic building through which the essence of Swedish culture, technology, design sensibility, and governance would be expressed. — Published 2008.0910

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