The American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and the New York City Buildings Department are thrilled to announce the launch of urbanSHED, an international design competition that challenges the global design community to rethink the current sidewalk shed standard and create a prototype worthy of today’s New York City. Details on this exciting competition are in the press release pasted below, and the website is now live: urbanSHED.

The Mountain is wonderful example of success that showcases creativity, innovation, and long-term thinking. Perhaps now more than ever, the ULI Awards for Excellence program reminds us of the key difference that responsible design and development can make in terms of longevity and overall community sustainability.

When Peter Aaron was in Chicago recently, he made a series of exciting images of the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago and of the city’s Millennium Park. Aaron, who was awarded an AIA Collaborative Achievement Award, created images that capture the luminous quality of natural light, Renzo Piano’s trademark. Peter’s images locate the Art Institute in relation to the landscape, the park, the city and the lake. The adjacent garden was designed by Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel. In Millennium Park, the Cloud Gate is by Anish Kapoor; the Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the bandshell, pavilion and bridge by Frank Gehry. The new museum building and the park are well known, have been often photographed and frequently published. You are surely familiar with the structures and the spaces…but they never looked as energetic and lively as in Peter Aaron’s images. I hope you’ll take a look: esto flickr slideshow to see a slide show of these recent photographs.