How to Be an Architecture Critic: In a recent Design Observer essay,...

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Art and Architecture: Performance art's leading lady, Marina Abramović,...

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CurbedWire: Casa.com Launches; Great Architecture Out East; Avatar

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Photo via The Kitchn

THE INTERNET—Please welcome to the dancefloor Casa.com, a new home site that sells cookware, bedding, small appliances, tabletop pieces, and more. Good news: they've got a 365-day return policy. [CurbedWire Inbox]

THE HAMPTONS—Some good architecture up for grabs out East: a Norman Jaffe-designed rental and a Bates Masi contemporary asking $895K. [Curbed Hamptons]

KISSIMMEE, FLA.—In order to differentiate itself from 2009 Oscar-winning James Cameron smash hit, builder Avatar has changed its name to AV Homes. Per the release, "Could it be the first time a company has had to change its name because of a blockbuster movie of the same name? Probably so." Then: "But the story does have a happy ending, as did the movie." [CurbedWire Inbox]

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Linkage: "Critical Dichotomies of Design," Australian Architecture; More!

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Chris March Talks About Architecture: UnBeige sits down with couture designer...

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The Architecture of Yore: What's now known pejoratively as the...

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Jagged Little Pills: The Chinese architecture firm Taranta Creations...

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On the Market: Embracing 1989's Architecture in SoMa

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, August 30, 2011, by Sally Kuchar On a quaint alley in SoMa, there's a cluster of loft condos that were designed by Casper Moll and built by Donald MacDonald. They are unusual, both in their exterior and interior layout. Let's take a look inside 49 Hallam, which is a 2-bed, 1-bath condo that's asking $535,000. The living room's tiny, but makes up for it in height. And hey, how about those windows? We count seven on the front wall alone. There's also skylights. Unfortunately, the listing does not include photos of the bedroom(s), bathroom or kitchen, but we do get a glimpse of the kitchen's upper cabinetry in one of the shots. Although small, but backyard has two entertaining spaces, including an area with a sofa and long drapery. There's 1-car assigned parking out front, and monthly HOA dues are a low $100.
· 49 Hallam [Redfin]

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Movie Stars: Sometimes movies feature architecture so spectacular...

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Linkage: Mobile Architecture; Don King Sells; Stephen Colbert's Head; More!

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Unique Architecture: Building with breeze? Yes, this guy...

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Building with breeze? Yes, this guy created the stunning Bahia House with breeze: "Combining the principles of contemporary design, traditional Bahian siting, and vernacular materials, Kogan produced a fantastically efficient house that seems to breathe with its environment." Cool, huh? [Architectural Record]

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Building Blocks: Lego Versions of Some of the World's Most Famous Architecture

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Green Architecture & Design: The Mission: Ballerinas and Fruit Trees Butt Heads Over Parking

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, April 13, 2011, by Philip Ferrato

Click on the image to enlarge

In a reinvention of the term NIMBY, we now have NIMPL, the acronym for Not In My Parking Lot. Or anywhere close. We've been looking at- and looking forward to- the Folsom/17th Street Park project for a while now, and this morning Socketsite alerted us that "someone" had filed an appeal to the Preliminary Mitigated Negative Declaration which would have allowed the project to move forward. That "someone" is Sean Dowdall, a board member and past president of ODC Dance Center half a block away from the park site and a resident of Pacific Heights. Along with stating that San Francisco is so impoverished that it can't take care of the parks it already has and without identifying his affiliation, Mr. Dowdall fires every cannon except LGBT rights in his appeal:

Elimination of more than half of the parking spaces alone, not to even consider the cumulative reduction of parking in the area due to other projects, will be detrimental to health care, arts, community outreach, businesses and employment in a low and moderate income neighborhood. As the Certificate of Determination states, people will initially circle for parking-and then ultimately give up without getting access to health care, arts and / or forcing businesses to reduce staff or close.

There's the unspoken issue of ODC patrons feeling unsafe in the neighborhood. May we recommend the 22 Fillmore?

The ODC has an impressive dance, rehearsal and pilates facility and apparently, they depend on having parking nearby to support their hundreds of annual classes and dance events. In fairness, ODC is a contributing organization and the lot is paid parking, not free. It's also a neighborhood bereft of parks and full of parking lots. Currently surplus property of the Public Utilities Commission and leased by UCSF, the site will be sold- presumably to a developer- if the city decides not to buy it.
· Parking Not Parks at 17th & Folsom [Socketsite]
· ODC Dance [ODC]
· 17th & Folsom Coverage [Curbed SF Archives]

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Vocab Lessons: Gaychitecture: Architecture Conceived For the Gay Community

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gay·chi·tec·ture: \ 'ga-k?-?tek-ch?r \ noun

Definition: Architecture conceived and built for the gay community. The term was originally coined in June 2009 by Seattle Weekly reporter Brian Miller, who used it to describe the state "when there's something about a building—or house or architectural icon—that pushes past the utilitarian, but isn't screamingly queer or kitschy."

Controversy: In true post-modern fashion, The Awl reclaimed and reassigned the word today, using it to describe BOOM, a new starchitect-studded gay-friendly desert community outside Palm Springs, Calif.

So which use is currect? The Awl's. It doesn't matter whether a particular building in "takes accepted design idioms then delivers them with an extra raised eyebrow of inflection," as Miller suggests: if it's in no way related to gays or conceived for the gay community—swank mixed-use development with a mist disco, hotel design, or anything else—it's not gaychitecture.

· Pour on the Pride: the 6 Gayest Buildings in Seattle [Seattle Weekly]
· The Future of Gaychitecture [The Awl]
· Gay-Friendly BOOM Brings the Mist Disco Back to Desert Life [Curbed National]
· First-Ever Gay-Branded Hospitality Decor Revealed [Curbed National]

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Awards: AIA Announces 2011 Honor Awards For Architecture

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, March 22, 2011, by Sarah Firshein

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has just announced this year's winners of the Institute Honor Awards for architecture, which "recognizes achievements for a broad range of architectural activity to elevate the general quality of architecture practice, establish a standard of excellence against which all architects can measure performance, and inform the public of the breadth and value of architecture practice."

AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Dallas / REX | OMA

The Barnard College Diana Center, NYC / Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism

Ford Assembly Building, Richmond, Calif. / Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects

Horizontal Skyscraper Vanke Center, Shenzhen, China / Steven Holl Architects

New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece / Bernard Tschumi Arhitects

North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, N.C./ Thomas Phifer and Partners

One Jackson Square, NYC / Kohn Pederson Fox Associates

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rooftop Garden / Jensen Architects

U.S. Land Port of Entry, Warroad, Minn. / Julie Snow Architects

University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Mich. / Allied Works Architecture

· 2011 AIA Institute Honor Award for Architecture [AIA]

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Linkage: Architecture in Greece; Knockoff Bookends; Sparkles; More!

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