As promised in my In Studio blog, Building in the Midwest: Where Do We Go From Here?, the topics discussed at the Inside Out: Transforming the Built Environment symposium offered insights into small town economic and architectural development that can be put into practice throughout the Midwest. In fact, some of the revitalization efforts that have taken place in South Dakota have earned national attention.

The lion’s share of green building advancements takes place along the West Coast, the nation’s economic centers pioneer the greatest number of new building techniques, and areas that are already economically thriving have the most funding to direct toward urban development. But what is going on in the vast stretch of America that lies between the coasts? The Midwest does its own planning and pioneering, and develops its own green strategies, but many of its rural communities are dealing with issues that are far different from those being profiled in more visible regions.

I enjoy building as much as I enjoy designing and planning. I look forward to every opportunity I have to get my tools out and physically build something, whether I’ve designed it or not. So, when the time came to assist our web/video partners, Kinopicz American, in the upfit of their new studio and soundstage, I eagerly offered to help with both the design and construction. The first major phase was a new cyclorama for the sound stage. The Kinopicz team decided on a 40’-0" x 20’-0" two-wall cyclorama that is 16’-0" tall, with 24” radii at the floor and vertical corner transitions.

If you have been following the Go Green channel, you've probably read about Vancouverism and the eco-density of downtown Vancouver. Below are a few snapshots of one of the newest contributors to the towering skyline that caught my eye while we were out exploring Vancouver. Right across the street from the Vancouver Convention Center, the Media Center of the 2010 Winter Olympics, is the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

You probably heard via Stephanie’s blog that we are heading to Vancouver. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been to Vancouver, but it seems like a good place to be this month. It’s a place primed to take the world stage in a week for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and we at Buildipedia are interested in the outcome of the 12+ years of coordinated urban planning to prepare the city for such a gathering of diverse communities. The Olympics always offer a city or region the opportunity to present itself to the world, but they also offer the world a chance to examine ideas about, and results of, comprehensive urban planning.

Most buildings are content to be four walls, a floor, and a roof, existing only to provide shelter and warmth for their inhabitants. A few, though, endeavor to be tools, ready at a moment's notice to serve the changing needs of their constituency. The new Wyly Theater at the Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas is a facility that embraces this subservient role to the point that it was designed as a ‘theater machine.’ The facility, opened in October of 2009, was designed by Rem Koolhaas | OMA and Joshua Prince-Ramus | REX and provides a new home for the Dallas Theater Center. Literally an assemblage of moving parts capable of transforming seating arrangements and orientation, the Wyly Theater redefines the meaning of "flexible space."

It’s January and it’s still cold and miserable. I'm referring, of course, to the economy, though the same could be said about the weather. I'd say it's about time for a credit market thaw, wouldn't you? Can we hope that spring will bring a new life for the economy? Recent news indicates the new economic spring might be a late bloomer.

Records are made to be broken. Most are unexpected, like the 100m world record shattered by Usain Bolt in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the world could see this one coming. Yesterday, in an unprecedented display of ceremonial hype usually reserved for major social goodwill events such as the Olympics, the opening of the Burj Dubai tower in the United Arab Emirates made it official. It is the new tallest building in the world, stretching more than a half mile into the sky. The Burj Dubai measures over 2625 ft (800m) and stacks over 160 floors of residential, hotel and office suites into a space-age, missile-like structure.

The Burj Dubai is the latest skyscraper from the prolific neck-bending designer Adrian Smith and his former firm SOM. The official website - Visit the Burj Dubai — The Tallest Building in the World - offers a glimpse into the vision, outlines the features and provides a comparison with the world's other tall towers.

Conceived to be one of the focal points of Dubai at the height of the massive construction boom, the tower opens in the midst of struggling world markets and stalled construction at other major Dubai projects. While certainly eliciting a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the average citizen, the project teeters on the ostentatious, especially taken in context of its immediate environment of Dubai. However, I would venture to say that among the design and construction community, the physical structure garners much curiosity and respect - never before has man reached this far into the clouds.

While we aren't quite through the first decade of the 21st century, The LA Times is running an Arts & Entertainment series tagged 'Notes on the Decade.' Architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne checks in with, “Architecture: Star architects emerge, but even they find limits,” a commentary on the status of early 21^st century architecture.

The article hits most of the highlights of the last nine years: the advancement of BIM design and modeling technology; the effects of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks; the building boom in China; and the momentum of the green building agenda. Hawthorne also singles out a few worthy contributions to our built environment, most notably the CCTV Tower in Beijing, China, a top contender in The Huffington Post's Best Buildings of the Decade poll.  But what resonates most for me is the final thought on the influence of architects and the power of architecture.

Climate change is a topic that, unlike the polar ice caps, won’t be disappearing from the newspapers, televisions and websites that deliver our news. It’s no surprise then that the Copenhagen Climate Conference is the center of attention this week. As world leaders meet to debate the rate of climate change and the degree to which it should be controlled, design professionals continue to lead the way in implementing methods for reducing the effects of building construction and operation on our planet’s resources.

One action that most inhabitants of developed countries take for granted every day is the ability to plug an electrical cord into an outlet and power up any kind of device, from a lamp to a washing machine to a laptop. While we could go on for days debating the status and future of the world’s energy sources and demand, this post is simply about what you plug that cord into.

I’ve been looking forward to the day when the time was right to ‘open the door’ and invite my fellow designers, architects, engineers and planners in for a chat. Today seems to be a good day to do just that.

A big reason for that is we have a new video ready to go this afternoon. Today’s feature is Part One of a video tour of the new Grange Insurance Audubon Center in Columbus, Ohio. The Audubon Center is a new educational nature center on a reclaimed brownfield southwest of downtown Columbus. Project Designer Michael Bongiorno of DesignGroup joins the In Studio team for a tour and conversation about the concept, design elements and changing nature of the new facility.