This brief history of BIM ("the software that has disrupted traditional methods of representation and collaboration in architecture") comes to us thanks to our friend at the Architecture Research Lab, Michael S Bergin.

Despite petitions and pending lawsuits against the project, the St. Petersburg City Council declared last night that Michael Maltzan Architecture's $50 million re-design of the city pier will go on.

The project, known as "The Lens," has hit speed-bumps due to local dissidents, who have been vocally wary of the new Pier's price-tag/design and have called for a voter referendum. However, the architects have been sensitive to the process; since first winning the competition in January (beating out both BIG and West 8), the firm has taken part in local workshops in order to get community input, making some significant changes to the original design.

After receiving local criticism that the Pier include more things "to do" and more shading, the firm has adjusted the design to include two restaurants, shaded balconies, and - in order to improve access - a road that can support service vehicles and a tram. Most noticeably, the plan for an underwater reef garden, the signature feature which gave the project its name, has had to be scratched: scientists have determined that a reef garden would be unrealistic with Tampa Bay's dark water.

Last night's 7-1 vote determined that the project will now receive funding in smaller, pre-approved increments in order to safeguard against potential legal complications. However, no mater the outcome, the closure and the demolition of the current St. Petersburg Pier will take place between May and August 2013; if all goes to plan for Michael Maltzan Architecture, "The Lens" will open in summer 2015.

See updated Renderings for "The Lens," and a really cool video, after the break...

+ 9

Although the amount may be nowhere near a MacArthur "genius grant," the $50,000 Prizes awarded by United States Artists are given on the same, awesome premise: no strings attached.

This year's 50 recipients included visual artists, dancers, musicians - and 4 architect/designers. Check out the lucky 4, after the break...

Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who represents the Arcadia district in Arizona, has said he will ask for a delay of today's Council vote, which could potentially give Landmark status to the David Wright House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950s for his son David.

According to USA Today, DiCiccio will ask for a delay until January. City staff will also ask for a delay until Dec. 19, since they claim that the public was insufficiently notified of the meeting. The delay, which DiCiccio wants in order to start fundraising efforts, would be in the house's best-interest: in Arizona, Landmark Designation only safeguards from demolition for three years, and the developers have expressed their intention to "to knock [the house] down” once that time has passed.

More information on the David Wright House, after the break...

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Board of Directors has announced that Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects will receive the 2013 AIA Architecture Firm Award.

Vinicius de Moraes, a Bossa Nova legend (and composer of “The Girl from Ipanema”), met Oscar Niemeyer at the Café Vermelhinho in Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s. They first worked together on de Moraes’ play, "Orpheus of Conceição," in 1956 (Niemeyer designed the set). In light of Oscar's death, we bring you this short text, translated from the original Portugese, that Vinicius wrote in the 60s about his dear friend, Oscar.

There are few testimonials I have read that are as exciting as Oscar Niemeyer’s account of his experience in Brasília. ¹ For those who know only the architect, the article could pass as a self-serving defense - the justified revenge of a father who, despite his gentle temperment, fought for his child[, his Brasilia - a city] at the mercy of the world. But for those who know the man, the article takes on even more dramatic proportions. For Oscar is not only the opposite of an activist, he’s one of the most anti-self-promotional beings I've met in my life.

His modesty isn’t, as it so often is, a shameful form of vanity. It has nothing to do with his down-to-earth expertise, which Oscar has thanks to his professional value and possibilities. It is the modesty of a creator truly integrated with life, who knows that there is no time to lose, that we need to build beauty and happiness into the world, because the individual is fragile and precarious. This poignant sentiment, of the fragility and precariousness of things, plays in Oscar in a higher key (only further highlighting the dignity of this man and artist); it’s never been a self-serving sentiment, but one for mankind in general, for whom he hopes to make a better future.

Summit Series, a popular conference that TechCrunch describes as “Part Burning-Man, Part TED,” has just acquired 10,000 acres outside of Salt Lake City, where they hope to develop a “500-home village to foster startups, artists, thinkers, and nonprofits who will build their own version of utopia.”

Each of this year's winners of the Curry Stone Design Prize are incredible examples of the powerful, and truly varied reach, of Public-Interest Design - which is why we're sharing these short films, by Room 5 Films, on each of the winning projects. From the Butaro Hospital in Rwanda designed by MASS Design Group to the "Liter by Light" project (that recycles plastic bottles to bring a safe source of light to the slums of the Phillippines), each of these films are inspiring snapshots into the work and worlds of each of these winners.

More videos on Curry Stone Prize Winners, after the break...

If you missed Design Like You Give A Dam: LIVE! - the Architecture for Humanity event of panel discussions and workshops at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco - you must check out this short video.

Here's a new definition for the phrase "Tree House."

Visiondivision's concession stand for 100 Acres, an Art & Nature Park in Indiana, is made entirely from one 100-ft yellow poplar tree. Not only does the trunk form the horizontal beam of the structure, but literally nothing of the tree was left to waste: bark became shingles; extracted pieces of wood became structural support, chairs and tables, swings; even the bark's syrup was extracted to be sold in the kiosk itself.

The architects who refined this tree into a building were inspired by an ethos of "gentleness" with nature. As they share in their architects' brief: "Our project is about trying to harvest something as gently as possible so that the source of what we harvest is displayed in a pure, pedagogic and respectful way—respectful to both the source itself and to everyone visiting the building."

A video, images, and the architects' brief, after the break...

+ 14

If you're at all immersed in the design world, you already know the name of Danish-American furniture designer Jens Risom. And, if you know Jens Risom, you most certainly know the mid-century, pre-fab house he designed and built on an isolated island 13 miles off the coast of New England. 

If you don't know it - now's the time to get acquainted. The gorgeous summer home - which famously graced the pages of LIFE Magazine in 1976, has recently been featured by Dwell in a video.

The house, which has stood on Block Island for 45 years with relatively little renovation, despite the island's notoriously powerful gales of wind, defies the stereotype that pre-fabricated buildings can't be built to last (or beautifully designed).  Indeed, Risom only attempted the venture because of the "personal freedom" that pre-fabrication afforded him. As he explains: “Architecture, to me, is the most beautiful of the arts. But I watched my father [an architect] struggle with the challenges, what was to me an enormous drawback: The architect did not fully drive the end product. I always knew that I wanted to design, but only [if I could] create products over which I had total control.”

More on this extraordinary home and its designer, after the break...

We know you’ve been anxiously waiting to have ArchDaily with you everywhere you go - whether on the road or on your couch. Well, we’ve listened, and we’re more than proud to announce the launch of our first iPad application!

Our new App will give you in-depth access to the winners and finalists of The Building Of The Year Award, the most important architecture award in the online world (since 2009). It’s an award that recognizes architects - both established heavyweights and emerging talents - as the best and brightest of today, and they’re all chosen by you, our community of ArchDaily readers. While you'll have to wait a bit longer until you can vote for your favorite 2012 projects (TBA early 2013), the App offers the perfect distraction: full access to the 2011 winners.

Find out more about our “Building of the Year” App, after the break...

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser has announced the launch of the Qatar National Library (QNL), to be designed by Rem Koolhaas of OMA.

The QNL, a public access library, will symbolically connect the country's past and future. As her highness explained: “The library’s vision of bridging with knowledge Qatar’s heritage and future demonstrates the significant role QNL will play in unlocking human potential as Qatar builds a knowledge-based economy. A modern dynamic National Library for the country is essential in reaching this goal.”

As such, Rem Koolhass - an architect known both for his iconic structures as well as his success with the Seattle Public Library - has been hand-picked for the important design, soon to be, according to the QNL website, "one of the most [...] iconic landmarks in Qatar and the region." As a library on the cutting-edge of digital archiving, the building will require innovative facilities (including over 300 public computers, wifi and multi-media production studios); however, it will also serve the community as a relaxed, social gathering place.

More images of OMA's plans for the Qatar National Library, after the break....

Since 1851, World Fairs have offered glimpses into specific moments in time - giving us insight into what was once innovative, high-tech, and down-right radical. But the structures, the icons of each Fair, don't always stand the test of time - no matter their architectural pedigree. In Flushing Meadows Park, New York, for example, Modernist icon Philip Johnson's 1964 New York State Pavilion now stands neglected, overgrown in ivy. Mies van der Rohe's German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona Expo was promptly demolished (although eventually reconstructed).

On the other hand, the Eiffel Tower, although considered "vulgar" in its day (1889), was maintained because its height made it well-suited for emitting radio signals; it's now Paris' most important tourist attraction.

The fate of World Fair Structures is the theme of New York-based photographer, Jade Doskow, who has already shot 19 former World’s Fair sites. Take a peek at Doskow's images and find out how World Fair structures have fared, some better than others, after the break...

+ 8

About a decade's passed since Foster+Partners won the competition to re-design Avery Fisher Hall (as part of Lincoln Center's campus-wide re-haul, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro), and the famous music hall is finally ready to go through with it - just not necessarily with Foster+Partners.

After Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic failed to raise the $300 million they needed to cover construction costs, and due to concerns that displacing the orchestra would jeopardize potential revenue, Foster+Partners' plans languished. However, the Philharmonic is now under new leadership, and its young directors are anxious to transform the conventional music hall, hence why they've decided to solicit new proposals for the building.

As the Orchestra's new executive eirector, Matthew VanBesien, told the New York Times: “If you’re not thinking about the way in which our art form and music and audiences are evolving, you’re not serving the art form long term. You really want to build this next great hall in a new way, to do the kinds of things you maybe are doing but want to do in a more compelling way or maybe can’t even imagine yet.”

More info about the proposal for the new Avery Fisher Hall, after the break...

SANAA has just unveiled their plans for the Bocconi University Campus in Milan, Italy. The design features various undulating structures, forming connective inner courtyards, that wind their way across a 17,500 square meter green space open to both students and neighborhood residents.

According to Paola Nicolin, a professor at Bocconi and writer for Domus, the University is a "playground" for the imagination, using "non-hierarchic compositional elements" to establish a relationship between the campus' organic forms and the human lives which inhabit it. In Nicolin's words, the project "speaks of transparency, empathy for nature, and far-sightedness."

More images and info on the project, after the break...