Good morning, architects. Populous continues its efforts to dominate global sports design with the announcement of its fourth World Cup stadium in Russia. The new stadium for Rostov-on-Don, Russia, is one of twelve venues that will host 2018 FIFA World Cup matches. According to Evolo, the stadium will be built to host 45,000 fans during World Cup events and scale down to a 25,000-seat stadium for future uses. Rostov-on-Don is perhaps best known as the setting for Quiet Flows the Don, the Nobel Prize–winning 1965 novel by Mikhail Sholokhov. But given its placement on an increasingly prosperous river trade route that connects five different seas, it could see more and better work from global architecture firms—business that normally flows into Moscow but few other places in Russia.
YALIES. For the Hartford Courant, Susan Dunne writes a long and thoughtful examination of the renovated and expanded galleries at the Yale University Art Gallery. Ennead Architects worked to "integrate the museum's contiguous buildings into a more easily flowing viewing experience, to restore the open plan, and to correct longstanding problems in the museum's infrastructure," Dunne writes. For the renovation, Ennead made significant changes to buildings designed by Peter Bonnett Wight (in 1866), Edgerton Swartwout (1928), and Louis Kahn (1953).
MORE MEMORIES. The Gawker-owned sci-fi brand io9 posted an Oscar Niemeyer appreciation by George Dvorsky that focuses on the influence the architect had on science fiction and fantasy. Anyone remember Krull? That movie has Niemeyer's name written all over it. There is almost no other reason anyone should remember Krull.
ARCHITECT/MULE. The Associated Press reports that architect Eugenio Velazquez, an architect and dual Mexican–U.S. citizen best known for his work in Tijuana, will serve 6 months in prison for attempting to smuggle 13 pounds of cocaine across the border. There is no continuing education credit for serving time.
...AND REMAINDERS. Virginia firms BeeryRio and Moseley Architects merge... German architect Anna Heringer hurt in Bangladesh riots... Architect Mark Miller, AIA, rethinking Grand Rapids, Mich.
