What goes on at the World Economic Forum in Davos? I wondered myself what goes on besides an appearance by Bono. I stumbled upon a great presentation given by a former professor of mine (Marc Angelil) Dean of the Architecture department at the ETHZ in Zurich.  How much of our urban environment is driven and created by the real-estate industry? What are the dominant urban models for the largest growing segments of our population? Have a look:

WK Interact at Subliminal Projects this weekend. Check it out.

Architect Peter Zumthor is the recipient for the 2009 Pritzker Prize.  Zumthor’s body of work is sublime and modest; almost the opposite of what has been on the international media stage for the last decade.

The Pritzker Laureate title is one of the most prestigious in Architecture often called the Nobel Prize of Architecture. Created in 1979 by the Priztker family to “honor a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. →

I finally caught up with an old friend of mine Andy Nunez. When he’s not busy with his band the Starlight Mints, Andy with his wife and bandmate Marion run Norman Oklahoma’s independent music and performance venue, the Opolis.  →

Artist Krzysztof Wodiczko‘s work with his MIT research group the Interrogative Design Group at MIT’s Center for Visual Studies focuses  on the use of media and technology to present and elevate awareness of social and cultural conditions.  His projections on buildings often draw out and visualize the political backdrop of architecture. Check out the amazing projection on what looks like a small version of Boullée’s design for a Cenotaph for Newton. →

A fire has consumed one of the towers in the Rem Koolhaas designed CCTV mixed-use complex in Beijing. The main CCTV tower was untouched. →

A friend of mine sent me these great vintage videos of James Wines office SITE and their Best Products Co. Showrooms designs and seminal big box retail projects of the 70′s and 80s’. Wines was a proponent of surrealist humor in a suburban context -SITE was an acronym for Sculpture →

OMA wins the competition for the Taipei Performing Arts Center with a design that is reminiscent of their earlier work . The design, led by OMA partners Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, was selected from over 135 entries from 24 countries by an international jury. →

Architect Jan Kaplický died yesterday in Prague.  His innovative firm Future Systems was truly visionary; Their explorations of new forms, materials, and technologies predated many of the current trends in architecture by a long shot.  →

Architect Sir Norman Foster and Aston Martin have won the competition for the new Routemaster bus to service London.  →