Table of Contents March 2010

Dialogue

• Green Play

  There were some interesting and fun ideas presented at the "Contemplating the Void" exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum.

   

Features

• 

  City on the Strip

  With CityCenter, its new megaproject featuring buildings by Norman Foster, Helmut Jahn, and other marquee names, MGM Mirage proposes a Las Vegas that's more urban, less ersatz.

   
• 

  Everything Must Go

  Chicago photographer Brian Ulrich has traveled the country documenting the fallout of the recession: scores of dead and dying retail establishments.

   
• 

  Meet the Geodesigner

  Long a favorite tool of planners, GIS technology holds exciting possibilities for architects, as well.

   

Buildings

• 

  Cooper Square Hotel

  The new tower, designed by Carlos Zapata Studio, is the newest building to help redefine this civic plaza on Manhattan's East Village.

   
• 

  The Wit

  This new Doubletree hotel in Chicago, designed by Koo and Associates, gives the normally humdrum chain a boutique aesthetic.

   
• 

  W Hotels

  A look at four new branches of the W Hotel have opened up in Hollywood, Atlanta, and the New York Area.

   

Business

Best Practices

• 

  Multiple Exposure

  Architects are redefining what it is they do for a living. But the liability issues can be as diverse as the services offered.

   

Entrepreneur

• 

  Think Locally, Act Globally

  The principals of Spacio | Design, a new firm in Fresno, Calif., make the leap from advocating for good local design to producing it.

   

Local Market

• 

  Jackson, Miss.

  Mississippi's only true urban center, Jackson has $1.5 billion in private projects and $400 million in public developments planned or under construction.

   

Technology

Detail

• 

  Burj Khalifa Curtain Wall

  For SOM, designing the cladding for the record-setting Burj Khalifa required simplifying technology and pushing its limits.

   

Ecology

• 

  Color Me Sustainable

  A smart palette in buildings can benefit the entire triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. So why does most sustainable architecture stick to a limited color range?

   

Products

• 

  VT Industries VT Powder Coat Doors

  VT Industries' VT Powder Coat doors have an impact- and scratch-resistant protective shell.

   
• 

  TGP Pilkington Profilit Hurricane Daylighting Glass

  TGP's Pilkington Profilit Hurricane impact channel glass accommodates daylighting designs in hurrican regions.

   
• 

  Advanced Glazings Solera+Nanogel

  Advanced Glazings' Solera+Nanogel is an insulation material that also diffuses light.

   
• 

  Sargent Manufacturing Co. Gramercy Series Levers

  Sargent Manufacturing Co.'s Gramercy Series levers are the latest addition to its Studio Collection.

   
• 

  Salto Systems AElement RFID Hotel Lock

  The AElement RFID hotel lock from Salto Systems grants end users hotel security control from the front desk.

   
• 

  Ply Gem Windows Mira Premium Series

  Ply Gem's Mira Premium Series windows are impact resistant and Energy Star rated.

   

Other Articles

• 

  Far More Than Skin Deep

  Taken from the recently published "Transmaterial 3," these five products demonstrate functional—as well as aesthetic—advances in architectural cladding.

   

Culture

Crit

• 

  A Plan for Haiti

  Published just days after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, "A Plan for Reconstruction" offers 11 actions that will assist the island nation.

   

Exhibits Books Etc.

• 

  'Urbanisms: Working With Doubt,' by Steven Holl

  A monograph/think piece by the noted architect says city design shouldn't follow rational formulas.

   
• 

  'Typeface,' a Documentary by Justine Nagan

  A film about the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, in Two Rivers, Wis.

   
• 

  'Landscapes of Quarantine,' Storefront for Art and Architecture

  Designers' responses to the spatial implications of quarantine. Through April 17.

   
• 

  'Gargoyles and Shadows: Gothic Architecture and 19th-Century Photography,' Victoria & Albert Museum

  Photographs of the U.K.'s Victorian age Gothic architecture revival. Through May 16.

   

Screen Grab

• 

  planetreuse.com

  When it comes to using reclaimed building materials in commercial projects, PlanetReuse speaks the language of architects and contractors.

   

Other Articles

• 

  Pop Rules

  Symposium and exhibits celebrate the legacy of the Yale Las Vegas studio and the work of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.

   

Past P/A

• 

  Vive Le Gehry

  The P/A Award-winning building that Frank Gehry designed survives under a new purpose and client.