David Childs (photo by Marc Scrivo)From the September issue: David Childs is chairman emeritus and consulting design partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He’s designed the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, Worldwide Plaza and the New York Mercantile Exchange. He also worked on the National Mall master plan and Constitution Gardens in Washington, D.C. Childs has served as the chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal agency charged with overseeing development projects in the nation’s capital, and as the chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, both Presidential appointments. But he is perhaps most known for designing the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center, which is slated to be topped off in 2012. Click here for the complete Q & A. [more]

Daniel Libeskind, architect of the World Trade Center master plan, received the Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architect’s New York chapter last night — its most prestigious distinction. AIA said in a statement that Libeskind’s “buildings address the cultural context of their communities while inspiring new understanding of the importance of design to go beyond the expected.” Libeskind, who founded Studio Libeskind, follows in the footsteps of past Medal of Honor recipients like David Childs, who was bestowed the honor last year, and other big names like Toshiko Mori, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Louis Skidmore. – Sarabeth Sanders

From left: Frank Gehry, Bruce Ratner and 8 Spruce Street

Ever notice that many of the most successful skyscraper architects are short in stature? Slate’s Witold Rybczynski rattles off several examples of starchitects who always seem to be shorter than the developers they’re posing next to: I.M. Pei, Robert A.M. Stern, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster. Daniel Libeskind, he said, is 5 feet 4 inches. In the 1920s, designers Raymond Hood, of 30 Rock, Ely Jacques Kahn, of 2 Park Avenue, and Ralph Walker, of 1 Wall Street, were apparently often referred to as the “Three Little Napoleons of Architecture.” As Rybcynski puts it, “it’s hard not to see a psychological compulsion at work when short people design tall…buildings.” [Slate] [more]

Gluck and 2 Rector Street

Developer Laurence Gluck is facing a $110 million foreclosure suit at 2
Rector Street from Bank of America, about a year after losing one of
his largest te [more]

Richard Meier, the 75-year-old starchitect known for his Modernist, glass-walled designs, didn’t mince words when speaking with the New York Times about Daniel Libeskind’s master plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. Libeskind, a former student of Meier’s, competed against a team that included Meier, Steven Holl, Charlie Gwathmey and Peter Eisenman for the contract. “Look, I love Danny. But I’m not happy with the whole master plan,” Meier said. “The individual buildings, I think, may be O.K., but I just don’t think it’s as much of a public place as I would have liked to have seen.” Meanwhile, Meier said he believes sales have been picking up at the struggling condo he designed on Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, On Prospect Park. [NYT]

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Despite negative public sentiment surrounding the World Trade Center construction project, head architect Daniel Libeskind told the New York Times that he’s optimistic about the progress his team has made. Libeskind, of the eponymous firm, said that coordinating the numerous players in the project, including the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and private investors, has been the biggest impediment to the development’s progress. [more]

Since 9/11, I have been mistaken rather regularly for a terrorist. These misunderstandings — and I assure you they are misunderstandings — occur not in airports, but on the streets of Manhattan. There I am, standing in front of some dull and innocuous building, taking video footage of it in order to aid my memory so that I can write articles like this one. More often than not, some concerned citizen starts observing my actions with a greater than ordinary interest. People are still uneasy seeing someone videotape, or even look, at any building above street level, because maybe the person — in this case, me — is casing the joint in order to bomb it at some later date. Who could blame them, when the building in question could have no other possible attraction to anyone with a recording device? And it is true enough that all too many new developments in Manhattan live up — really down — to that cynical appraisal. more

255 East 74th Street

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Renowned architect Daniel Libeskind has ventured into the prefabricated
home market with his latest project, a 5,500-square-foot villa that can
be shipped and assembled anywhere in the world. The four-bedroom,
four-bathroom villa will cost between $2.8 million and $4.2 million,
depending on where it is being shipped. The home includes a solar
thermal system, a basement sauna and an aluminum- and zinc-decorated
exterior. Buyers can choose between two interior styles, an angular one
with white floors and a version with gentler lighting. The villa also
includes a stainless steel staircase and a wine cellar. The design is
expected to go on the market this summer. [more]