The Role of Design in Difficult Times
from Guardian.co.uk
How does design respond to a bleak economic landscape? Philippe Starck, Sir Terence Conran and Kirstie Allsopp debate the future of their industries in these lean times. More

25 Trends Transforming Architecture and Design
from Design Intelligence
Design Intelligence publishes its 2009 Trends Forecast of Architecture and Design. The January/February issue also examines design economic trends and residential design trends. More

Hong Kong Tenements Go Green
from Interior Design
Hong Kong's tenements are getting a green makeover at Atria Green Residencies, a group of Chinese-designed tenement structures from the 1960s that have been retrofitted with renewable energy sources and green building concepts. More

Seniors Housing Negatively Impacted by Recession
from Multi-housing News
The economic and financial crises may be starting to affect the performance, a well as capitalization rates, of seniors housing, according to research by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC). More

Revised Green Guide for Health Care Operations Section Released
from Facilities Net
A new, expanded Green Guide for Health Care Version 2.2 Operations has been released, marking the most significant revision to date to the first voluntary, best practices green building and operations toolkit customized for the health care sector. More

The Corner Office Gets More Collaborative
from Contract Magazine
With the global economy in the tank, executive across the board are reexamining the way they do business, which includes rethinking how they use their office space. But are these corporate higher-ups willing to sacrifice the cozy, high-end executive suites and elite executive floors of the past? More

What Works Now
from Interiors & Sources
New workplace design is more than a catch phrase for Toronto-based Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. It defines the practice and its proclivity for transforming amorphous office spaces into vital instruments of change. Indeed, change is exactly what Wildeboer Dellelce LLC, an out-of-the-box Toronto law firm, had in mind when they decided to pack up their office mascot (a head-turning vintage billiard table) and move to a headquarters custom-tailored to their unique work hard/play hard corporate image. More

Recession Forces Universities to Reconsider Building Plans
from BusinessWeek
Harvard ended 2008 a little less rich. The world's wealthiest university announced in December that its endowment had shrunk from $36.9 billion to $28.8 billion during the second half of the year. In light of that asset plunge and the general economic malaise, the school is reconsidering the scope and timing of its ambitious expansion plans. Even the 1-million-square-foot, $1 billion science complex designed by Behnisch Architekten, already under construction and originally slated for completion in 2011, is under the microscope, according to spokesman Joshua Poupore. More