A rendering for a building that will replace a Cooper Union engineering building has emerged (above). Designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the 440,000-square-foot mixed-use building will replace the brown tribute to banality that currently hunkers across from the historic 1859 Cooper Union Foundation building. The 51 Astor Place building is to be demolished; the fate of the connected Starbucks (between Third and Fouth Avenues) is uncertain. The Observer says the proposed building “will......

Governor Spitzer who once called the Freedom Tower a “white elephant” and questioned its economic viability announced his support of the project today in lower Manhattan alongside the Mayor and NJ Governor John Corzine. Spitzer said that after looking into alternatives, he decided that it was best to proceed as planned, citing the strong real estate market. Plus, it's a good photo op. The site’s financials could change. The Associated Press is reporting that......

The NY Times has a nice profile of Amanda Burden, the influential Department of City Planning commissioner whose policies will shape the city for years to come. Burden boasts a quiet, behind-the-scenes role in development across the five boroughs, including large-scale projects like Ground Zero, the Atlantic Yards (she supported downsizing it) and the High Line. She’s also overseeing the largest planning push since 1961 - so far, City Planning has rezoned approximately 4,500 blocks,......

+ Community Board 1 Seaport Committee members react to landscape architect James Corner's South Street plaza plans. Some say it's beautiful. Others say it's too beautiful. + The golden domes that once adorned the 1875 cast-iron, Corinthian-columned O'Neill building on Sixth Ave. between 20th and 21st are returning. In the form of fiberglass-reinforced plastic. + 980 Madison Ave. developer Aby Rosen buys Fred Tomaselli's 1992 Colorado River (pictured). It's made of resin, hemp leaves and......

The Javits Center is like the stepchild of the city's development projects: No one really cares - they want flashy architects or scary renderings of what a Jets stadium might look like. But now the Javits Development Corporation has selected an architect to design a new expansion, British architect Richard Rogers. Not only is he knighted, he designed the Centre Pompidou in Paris (with Renzo Piano) and the Millennium Dome in London, making Gothamist wonder......

- LA architect Thom Mayne, who has some NYC projects, wins the big architecture prize - A commuter photoblog, Expres Train - Quintessential New York entertainer Bobby Short dies - Wrapping the Flatiron for advertising - A recipe for Craft's parsnip and crab soup from Eating In - Mayor B trails Freddy in the polls - Who are the luminous walkers outside of Tweed Courthouse? - Subway delays 'r' us - A review of......

Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne has been awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in the field of architecture. Gothamist guesses that the awesome design for the Caltrans District 7 building in downtown L.A. tipped it in his favor this year (here's a profile of the building, see some work in progress photos here), but he's had a very storied career. As for Mayne's NYC projects, with his firm Morphosis, Mayne has designed the......

This evening, architects Thom Mayne of Morphosis (pictured above, explaining his vision to Mayor Bloomberg) and George Hargreaves of Hargreaves Associates discuss their proposed design for New York's Olympic Village. The design is one of five finalists for the 52-acre site on the East River in Queens, which will include housing for 17,000 athletes, green space, athletic fields and training facilities. Gothamist is able to appreciate the work of Morphosis, and we're curious about......

The International Olympic Comitee pared down the locations contending for the 2012 Olympic Games today, choosing five cities to remain in the competition. The cities chosen were New York City, Paris, London, Madrid, and Moscow. Istanbul, Leipzig, Rio de Janeiro and Havana did not make the list of finalists. This, of course, has Gothamist bummed because we were really hoping to travel to Cuba and smoke some fine cigars. There were reports that as......

Designs for New York City's proposed Olympic Villages, for NYC's 2012 Olympic bid, were revealed yesterday. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Queens is where the world has come to see the future, and if we're lucky enough to host the 2012 Games, Queens will provide a spectacular home away from home for thousands of the world's greatest athletes." Athletes, coaches and officials will be housed in Queens, with the villages on the East River, and later on,......