Len Auerbach, FASTC Honored with USITT Distinguished Achievement Award in Architecture

ASTC: Founding member and Fellow of ASTC, S. Leonard Auerbach was honored with the 2026 Distinguished Achievement Award in Architecture by the United States Institute of Technology’s (USITT) Architecture Commission.

From Faster Tools to Fewer Steps: How AI Is Reframing Productivity in Architectural Practice

Architect Magazine: Architectural workflows are filled with translation layers: sketches rebuilt into models, models exported for visualization, and visuals revised to reflect design changes. Each step introduces friction and creates opportunities for errors or loss of design intent.

Houston Airport Switches on New 220-Foot LED Masterpiece

Sixteen:Nine: Thinking of airport experiences like the multimedia landscapes we know from travel hubs like Singapore or Orlando, there are really only two companies that come to mind: Moment Factory and Gentilhomme – both out of Canada. The latter of the two has now completed another stunning installation, a 220-foot (67-meter) cylinder LED display at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.

Austria Turns Electricity Pylons Into Massive Animal Sculptures

mymodernmet.com: If you’ve ever gone on a road trip, you’ve probably encountered towering power structures made of steel. Known as electricity pylons (or transmission towers), these typically latticed structures support high-voltage overhead power lines, helping transport electricity around.

DKGR to lead design of historic Crump Theatre renovation

www.archpaper.com: The Crump Theatre sits in a state of suspended animation. Its weathered jade green and cream facade gleams over 3rd Street, in downtown Columbus, Indiana, where “CRUMP” blazes vertically in bright yellow letters. The marquee, trimmed in bulbs, evokes a bygone era of vaudeville and golden-age cinema.

Are The Ordinary Bits Of Beauty Being Designed Out Of Our Lives?

Butts In the Seats: Tyler Cowen of the Marginal Revolution blog posted a short video meant as a preview of a long movie project discussing how we have eliminated ordinary beauty from our lives in the name of efficiency. Sheehan Quirke moves about London comparing ornate, though mass produced objects from the Victorian era like lamp posts, door fixtures, etc., arguing that design has moved toward simple functionality and abandoned offering beauty in every day objects.

Denver pizza restaurant transformed into modular gallery by 11 x 17

www.dezeen.com: Architecture studio 11 x 17 had to leave historic details intact when converting a restaurant in a mixed-use building in Denver, Colorado, into a gallery space for the Architectural League of New York.

BIOMIMICRY: HOW NATURE INFLUENCES INNOVATION

News | CFDA: The definition of biomimicry is the act of using nature as a model for human inventions. It is a technological-oriented approach focused on putting nature’s lessons into practice. To see nature as a model, study the model and use it as inspiration for designing and solving humans complex problems.

Behind the scenes at East London’s art-deco gem – The Troxy

www.ianvisits.co.uk: One of East London’s art-deco gems is being restored to its original glory as decades of clutter and mess are cleared away. This is the Troxy, built in the 1930s as a cinema, later an opera rehearsal site followed by two fat ladies as a bingo hall, and now being restored as a music and entertainment venue.

Documenting the End of a Theater – Capitol Theatre, Racine, WI

After the Final Curtain: In late December 2020, a representative of the Wisconsin Historical Society contacted me. They asked me if I was familiar with what was happening at the Capitol Theatre (Park) in Racine, Wisconsin. I had heard of it, but I didn’t know anything about its current state.

The Winners of the ASTC-USITT Challenge 2021 are…

ASTC: A team from the University of Virginia was awarded the top prize in the 2021 ASTC-USITT Venue Renovation Challenge competition on April 9th, 2021. The ASTC Edgar L. Lustig Award of $2,000 was presented to the University of Virginia team during a live YouTube video broadcast for their proposed renovation of the McIntire Amphitheater on the UVA campus. The theoretical project transformed a limited use outdoor amphitheater into a venue that can support a large variety of performing arts events along with additional functional support spaces.

Japan’s Sakura Hall Blooms with L-Acoustics

LightSoundJournal.com: The Kitakami Cultural Exchange Centre, affectionately known as Sakura Hall, is a community hub in the Iwate Prefecture of Japan. Since opening in 2003, its small, medium, and large-sized halls have welcomed performances by national groups and local independent artists. The centre also features rooms for arts and craft workshops, rehearsal rooms for ballet and dance, and a music room for musicians to practice after office hours.

Historic Cathedral Acoustically Replicated In Auditorium In Spain With d&b Soundscape

ProSoundWeb: The Almería (Spain) City Orchestra’s annual Christmas concert late last year needed to be presented in a different venue than usual due to the pandemic, with d&b Soundscape employed to help create the appropriate sonic environment for the production.

Studio Ghibli Theme Park Building Giant HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

Nerdist: It was way back in 2015 when we first learned that Studio Ghibli had plans for its very own theme park. That was basically a lifetime ago. Fortunately we won’t actually have to wait that long to visit. The amusement destination that will celebrate the beloved animation studio is moving along. And we mean that in more ways than one. The park has announced it is beginning construction on a giant recreation of the eponymous building from Howl’s Moving Castle.

Christie GS Series laser projectors illuminate new dome theater experience in Xiong’an New Area

InPark Magazine: Christie® GS Series 1DLP® laser projectors are delivering vivid and lifelike visuals in a new dome theater located in Xiong’an New Area, a self-sufficient and sustainable city in Hebei province developed by the government to prioritize “green development and environmental protection”.

How Much? The Grossly Larger Space

ASTC: When discussing building design with architects, developers, or real estate managers the Gross to Net ratio is a very important factor. That ratio is the Gross square foot area divided by the Net usable square foot area. The Gross is the area defined by the outside perimeter of the building. The Net is the area available to the users, in other words the area the developer can lease to others or the operator may use productively.

“Haunted” Theatres

After the Final Curtain: One superstition in the theatrical world is that every theater has a ghost because of this many of these buildings have traditions to appease the restless spirits. One common one is the use of a ghost light, which is a single light that is always on in the center of the stage. It’s said that this provides the spirits with the opportunity to perform on stage and keeps them from cursing the theater. In reality, the ghost light is there so that people will not trip and fall into the orchestra pit while walking across the darkened stage.

PART TWO - Building A New Gem at Auburn University: The Gogue Performing Arts Center

Wenger | J.R. Clancy: From the very beginning, the team at Auburn University knew the 85,000-square-foot space would require superior acoustics. This forward-thinking would ensure the Gogue Center’s 1,202-seat Woltosz Theatre could accommodate every type of performance, and that each experience would leave audiences wanting more.

Showing London in a new light

LightSoundJournal.com: As London emerges from the coronavirus crisis, its public spaces are in the spotlight. Preventing the spread of the virus will mean spending more time outdoors when meeting others as we head into autumn. This is a chance to review how London is lit and to enhance its attractiveness, making it an even more enjoyable place to be.

Is A Drop Ceiling The Acoustical Ceiling?

ProSoundWeb: Drop ceiling tiles are commonly found in commercial buildings, so it’s likely that in a professional audio career you will encounter them. They look decent, are cheap to install and maintain, and can cover lots of ugly utility such as wires, HVAC ducts, and sprinkler system piping.