William Menking

The U.S. Department of State and the National Endowment for the Arts Design Program has announced a call for proposals to organize and curate the United States pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2020. The United States government has been gradually increasing the amount…

Vienna has long been a leader in public housing, and 60 percent of its current population lives in city-built residences. The grand socialist Hofs of the late 1920s, like the Karl Marx and George Washington, have long been influential for affordable housing advocates. But Vienna is still building,…

Empire of Ice Cream is an exhibition of 13 meticulously filled graph paper drawings and three small sculptures created by Sam Jacob at Betts Project in London. The carefully drawn images in the gallery are generated from “remnants of architectural plans gathered from an assortment of historic…

The pop-up, temporary store phenomena, began a dozen years ago when local, community-based associations attempted to deal quickly with unwelcome empty storefronts on struggling main streets. They have now become a cliché of contemporary corporate branding and a quick, inexpensive way to make a product seem "cool." But Spaceus,…

In April 2015 we heard that the AIGA in New York City was giving up its 5th Avenue storefront headquarters to move into an upper floor of the Woolworth Building. In response, we published an editorial, “Design Orgs Need to Meet the Street,” that argued it was a…

We are not big fans of holiday cards that feature new buildings by architects even if they are hidden behind photoshopped snow or holly. But we are making an exception for Studio Gang's Chicago boathouse. Though we kinda like Steven Holl’s card with the architect in a saffron robe blowing…

The entire length of New York's High Line is increasingly being buried between dense blocks of mid-rise luxury residential buildings. One of the pleasures of the elevated walkway is the view it allows out to the surrounding city, but the park's viewing spots are increasingly being blocked by new…

One of the great joys of the New York gallery scene is that we often get museum-quality shows in commercial galleries. This is the case with the current Charlotte Perriand exhibit at the Venus Over Manhattan gallery on Madison Avenue. Created in concert with Laffanour/Gallery Downtown from Paris, it is…

For those who want to take in history, design, and nightlife, Berlin is the place. Visiting and want to take in some of the sights and sounds? Or on a trip for the Bauhaus centennial? The city has something to offer everyone, and AN has compiled a…

The Pennsylvania-based Lutron Electronics has opened a new showroom in the D&D Building on Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The lighting and shading company, long known for their commitment to good design and the latest technology, now has a space where designers can experience the company’s products. It is possible…

Bauhaus Day 1: I arrived in Weimer the Thuringian birthplace of the Bauhaus in Germany to celebrate the design schools 100th birthplace in 1919. My plane landed in Frankfort in time to receive a message from Dutchman Bart Lootsema asking if had heard about the Bauhaus controversy just now breaking…

Fjordenhus in Vejle, Denmark, is the first completed building by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann. Together with Studio Olafur Eliasson, the duo have created a thoughtfully conceived and crafted structure in the bay of a Danish fjord. In their earlier architectural collaborations—like…