Two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s homes, La Miniatura and The Ennis House, are up for sale in Southern California. Both of these textile-block homes prices have been cut considerably in hopes of enticing potential buyers. The Los Angeles Times writes “Having two languish on the market for so long is something of a mystery and raises questions about the region’s cultural heritage.”

Wright built all four of his textile-block homes, using concrete blocks, from 1923 to 1925.   In Wright’s own words he describes the concrete block as “the cheapest (and ugliest) thing in the building world. It lived mostly in the architectural gutter as an imitation of rock-faced stone. Why not see what could be done with that gutter rat? Steel rods cast inside the joints of the blocks themselves and the whole brought into some broad, practical scheme of general treatment, why would it not be fit for a new phase of our modern architecture? It might be permanent, noble beautiful.”

To read more about the plight of these homes please visit latimes.com.

Frank Lloyd Wright's La Miniatura

Frank Lloyd Wright's La Miniatura

Frank Lloyd Wright's La Miniatura

Frank Lloyd Wright's The Ennis House. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

Frank Lloyd Wright's The Ennis House, photo: (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Frank Lloyd Wright's The Ennis House Credit: Tim Street-Porter

We know from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing that China does things on a grand scale. And the World Expo in Shanghai is hoping to make China even more visible on the global front. The theme “Better City, Better Life” focuses on urban and environmental themes.This is the most extravagant and expensive world’s fair ever held in its 159 years.  The first world’s fair, Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, was in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London in 1851. The 1851 World’s Fair was said to have had an impact on the development of art and design education, tourism and international trade and relations.

Since its inception, the objective of world’s fairs has been to give everyday people the chance to explore the cultures, inventions and advancements of the outside world.

Expo 2010 is China’s first world’s fair and will be in Shanghai from May 1, 2010 to  October 31, 2010.  To learn more about the World’s Fair in Shanghai and the nearly 200 countries participating visit ShanghaiWorldsFair.com.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_Wsh3MUpk[/youtube]

Do you think the Shanghai World’s Fair will change how we build and design cities the way the fairs of the past have?

New York City is about to get a new addition to its skyline and the owner of the Empire State Building, Anthony Malkin, isn’t happy about it. The 15 Penn Plaza project has just been approved zoning and land use from the New York City Council for its 1,190- foot tower. The owner of the landmark Empire State Building called the new project an “assault on New York City and its iconography.” The plans for 15 Penn Plaza foresee a 67-story two blocks west of the Empire State Building. Although the Empire State Building will stand taller than the projected tower at 1,454-feet, the 86^th-floor observation deck will be lower.

“New York as a city has to grow,” said David Greenbaum, president of Vornado Realty Trust’s New York office, the developer of 15 Penn Plaza. Mayor Bloomberg who backed the new tower recently said that “Anybody that builds a building in New York City changes its skyline – we don’t have to run around to every other owner and apologize,” he said. “One guy owns a building, he’d like to have it be the only tall building – I’m sorry, that’s not the real world.”

The new New York Skyline featuring 15 Penn Plaza (center right)

The new building will be replacing the Hotel Pennsylvania, built in 1919 by the prominent Beaux-Arts architecture firm McKim, Mead & White. What do you think?

Italian manufacturer Lualdi will be working with renowned architects Dror Benshetrit, David Rockwell and Robert A.M. Stern to create the company’s first “American” collection of interior doors, which will be available in January 2011.

“Like the designers who created them, each of the doors in our first ‘American’ collection has a very distinct personality,” said Alberto Lualdi, the company’s president. “While they each explore materials and form in their own unique way, they share the attention to detail, quality, and forward-thinking design…”

Chambers Hotel entrance designed by David Rockwell

David Rockwell says “My obsession with doors comes from the fact that they really define the first impression of a space.”

We can’t wait to see Lualdi’s new “American” collection! What do you think?

Daniel Libeskind is a very polarizing figure in architecture. You either love his work or you hate it. His designs for the Freedom Towers at Ground Zero and the Denver Art Museum have caused quite a stir amongst critics. So when I came across an interesting clip on TED, a site dedicating to sharing interesting news in the field of Technology, Entertainment, Design my interests were peaked. During the 18 minute clip Libeskind describes his 17 words of architectural inspiration.

They are as follows, and in no specific order:

Unexpected, risky, memorable, communicative, optimism, raw, hand, inexplicable, expressive, space, pointed, real, democratic, emotional, complex, political and radical.

What do you think?

This past December an international competition was launched to redesign the 91 acre grounds for the Gateway Arch. Completed in 1965, this is the first design competition for the national memorial to Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and the American Westward expansion since 1947, when the original concept for the Arch was purposed.

The competition, sponsored by the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, started with 49 applicants and was narrowed down to 5 finalists. The finalist teams are Behnisch Team led by Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart, Germany and Los Angeles; PWP Landscape Architecture, Foster Plus Partners, Civitas, Berkeley, California; MVVA Team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, New York City; SOM, Hargreaves, BIG, Chicago; and Weiss/Manfredi, Architecture/Site Design/Urbanism, New York.  Their designs for the Gateway Arch International Design Competition were revealed on Monday and will on display at the Arch Lobby until September 24^th, when the winner will be announced. The project is scheduled to be completed October 28, 2015 on the 50^th anniversary of the completion of the Arch. The Park Service estimates that the cost of the project will be around $305 million.

Click here to see the designs of the 5 finalists.

World Architecture News  has put together a short clip of the designs, click here to watch the film on their site.

We have heard a lot about “woman-centric” builders in the last couple of months. The industry is trying to tap into the minds of female buyers in hopes of getting them to open up their purse strings. Even CNBC and The Wall Street Journal have both written articles about the surge of builders targeting the female market. According to Business Week, women make 83% of all consumer purchases.

Some of the features you would find in a “woman-centric” home include more flexible and spacious living areas, larger storage space (including walk-in closets and pantries) and custom details like crown molding and granite countertops. And of course, my personal favorite, sound proof walls to drown out the laundry machines.

Are these features “woman-centric” or something that you would find in any custom-built home today? And if female buyers are looking for these types of design features, what are the males looking for?

This Zero Net Energy Home built in the prestigious Timber Trail neighborhood is a wonderful mix of old world design and cutting edge technology. The home is a tribute to energy conservation. It utilizes solar, geothermal exchange, advanced building and insulating technology. The homeowner, Mr. Muller, refused to compromise on either aesthetics or energy conservation.

What happens when a group of architects and policy makers meet to discuss their city’s future? We recently found out the answer when we came across an article on Metropolis titled “Design + Policy= Fit Cities”. George Miller, president of the American Institute of Architects, opened the 5^th annual Fit City symposium at the Center for Architecture in New York City where he challenged “the crowd to rethink the planning, architecture, and design of our metropolis, with the goal of encouraging physical activity and healthy lifestyles.”

Miller recently said that, “The challenges of the 21^st century will not lend themselves to the old way of thinking. Design should not merely be thought of as a tool, but as a collaborative process that offers opportunities for all of us – client and the public, architect and engineer, elected officials and community organizers – to pull together to address the challenges of our time.”

We’ll have to wait and see the results and can only hope for a positive outcome. What do you think?

Margaret Russell new Editor-in-Chief at Architectural Digest

Margaret Russell, former Vice President, Editor-in-Chief of Brand Content of Elle Décor, has been named Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Digest. The announcement was made yesterday, August 5^th by Thomas J. Wallace, Editorial Director of Condé Nast, who publishes Architectural Digest. Her reign will begin September 7, 2010 and the headquarters of Architectural Digest, currently in California will be moved to New York City.

“Margaret Russell is a superb editor and a persuasive communicator,” said Mr. Wallace.  “Her success in publishing, print and digital, as well as her stature in the design community, assures the continuation of Architectural Digest as the world’s preeminent design publication.”

Ironically Ms. Russell began her career at Condé Nast as an Editorial Assistant at Glamour Magazine.

Architectural Digest is the considered one of the leading authorities on design and architecture and reaches more than 5 million affluent readers each month.

Trilogy Partner’s Michael Rath was recently featured in the May issue of Architectural Digest for a home he built for South Park’s Trey Parker.