Celluloid Architecture

The most exciting happening of National Architecture Week in 2012 may be the Architecture and Design Film Festival in Chicago on April 12-16. Thirty-three films will showcase the works of several famous architects, including....

Elvis and Architecture

Let's not think about how old Elvis Presley would be if he were still alive. Born on January 8, 1935, the legendary rock star is immortalized every year with celebrations and tours of his favorite haunts:

• Graceland. Elvis's home in Memphis, Tennessee is a souped-up Colonial Revival with startling decor.
• Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway. The Palm Springs, California house where Elvis and Priscilla stayed after their wedding is a masterpiece of mid-20th century modernism.

Learn More:

• Elvis Presley Birthday Celebrations
• Architecture in Tennessee
• Architecture in Palm Springs, California

^{Rock 'n Roll star Elvis Presley is buried at Graceland, his estate in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Mario Tama/Gettty Images}

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Summer Birthday Quiz

Happy Birthday, Central Park. On this day in 1853, the great city park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted opened in New York City. Take a break, sit on a bench, and muse on our summer birthday quiz. Can you name these famous architects, who all have birthdays next week?

1. Born on July 23, this Japanese architect designed a sports complex for the 1992 summer Olympic games in Barcelona.
2. Also born on July 23, this British architect designed the new 3 World Trade Center.
3. Born on July 25, this Portugese architect won the Pritzker Prize in 2011.
4. Also born on July 25, this 2002 Pritzker winner has practiced architecture according to the Aboriginal proverb, to "touch the earth lightly."

Answers...

Happy Birthday William Morris

The great designer William Morris is famous for saying "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." Today he's best known for his wallpaper and fabric designs, but William Morris was also an architect, painter, poet, and political activist. Morris was born on March 24, 1834.

^{Photo: Detail of The Woodpecker tapestry designed by William Morris. The complete tapestry has a border and inscription. The tapestry was woven by William Knight and William Sleath. It was shown at the Arts & Crafts Society Exhibition in 1888. Planet Art / Wikimedia Commons}

Happy Birthday Philip Webb

Philip Webb, often called the father of the Arts & Crafts movement, was born on January 12 in 1831. Along with William Morris, Webb designed furniture, wallpaper, tapestries, and stained glass. But he was most famous for comfortable, unpretentious country homes like the famous Red House he designed for William Morris.

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Living on and in Earth

Builders can be engaged in extremely "dirty" jobs. By using Compressed Earth Blocks—CEBs are actually made of "dirt"—builders are creating houses that are energy-efficient, bio-friendly, and amazingly strong. Jim Hallock led us through the process for our photo tour, How to Build an Earth Block Home.

Today, April 22, 2012, is International Earth Day, and a good time to remember that dirt isn't a dirty word.

^{Photo ©Jackie Craven}

The Cost Overrun Games Olympic Style

Way back in 2009 we were talking about cost overruns for the 2012 Olympic games. The price to build the Olympic Stadium in London was soaring faster than Europe's economy was sinking.

Come to find out, Olympic Games are always over budget. For the past 50 years, overruns have averaged 179 percent. Oxford University researcher and cost overrun expert Bent Flyvbjerg studied Olympic budgets from 1960 to 2012 and found that London's 101 percent budget increase is in line with the Beijing, Barcelona and Montreal games. But overall, the London Games are expected to be the most expensive in history.

Are cost estimates ever right?

Big Stadiums:

• Top Olympic Venues of 2012
• Great Stadiums and Arenas
• Cost of 2012 Olympic Stadium Nearly Doubles (The Guardian, February 5, 2009)

Your Own Building Projects:

• How Much Will Your New Home Cost?
• How to Build Your House on a Budget

^{Source: "London Olympics on track to be 'most costly Games ever,'" University of Oxford website (OxWeb), June 25, 2012 [accessed July 22, 2012]. Press photo of Olympic Stadium ©London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), London 2012.}