This Week in Architecture

Butterfly House, Thailand

Inexpensive, sustainable, architecture is more than a fad: It's a necessity in many countries. The Wall Street Journal addresses this issue in a review of the book Design Like You Give a Damn: Building From the Ground Up by Architecture for Humanity.  Check out the Butterfly Houses in Thailand. Cool in every sense of the word.

We've always known that the World Trade Center would rise again.  The only question was "how high?" On Monday, April 30, a steel column placed atop the exoskeleton of 1 World Trade Center made it New York's tallest building at 1271 feet.  The skyscraper is still a work in progress. The column is meant to support the 100th floor of the completed building. This New York Times article gives the whole story along with some good quotes from architect David Childs.  If you want to learn more about the plans World Trade Center, New York's Skyscraper Museum maintains and excellent page on their website. 

Coney Island Carousel

While we're on the subject of New York, the city has also been selected as the site of the 2012 Partners in Preservation Program.  Jointly sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express, this program will award a total $3 million in preservation funds to a few lucky sites in the city.  The catch?  The public gets to choose the sites via online voting.  This year, 40 places are in the running, among them the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the Coney Island B&B Carousel, and the former home of jazz great Louis Armstrong, now a museum devoted to Armstrong and his music, located on 107th St. in Corona, Queens. To find out how you can vote visit the Partners in Preservation website and follow the steps to register.  You can vote up to once a day until the contest closes on May 21.


Photo Credits: Architecture for Humanity
                       New York City Economic Development Corp.