Through May 17th, Tomas Saraceno’s ‘Cloud City’ at the Carpenter City is one of three major works of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design exhibition, The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy is an “exploration of the emerging domain of experimental spatial practice where the concerns of art, design, and activism are powerfully converging today.”

Pratt Show 2011 is designed to give industry professionals and the public a chance to see the best work of students in Pratt’s design programs, many of whom will go on to become masters in these industries. Pratt Show 2011 will also feature for the first time products designed in collaboration with corporate sponsored studios and iconic corporations such as Barnes & Noble, Cabot Wrenn, Cotton Incorporated, Nachtmann, Umbra, and West Elm.

Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Three to Now’ is part of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design exhibition, The Divine Comedy. On display at Gund Hall through May 17th this major work is a piece of an “exploration of the emerging domain of experimental spatial practice where the concerns of art, design, and activism are powerfully converging today.”

The Groundbreaking Women in Construction conference, May 9th and 10th, is an opportunity for business owners, entrepreneurs or women rising through ranks in construction, design or engineering firm, to join national and global women leaders for Engineering News-Record’s second annual leadership conference for women.

In March of 2011, a design-build class from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) received a grant in support of their efforts to design a shelter for disaster relief. The money from the grant was used to travel to Haiti to see conditions on the ground, 14 months after the earthquake that reportedly amassed some 230,000 fatalities.

The goal of the trip was to investigate the myriads of different shelter construction projects still ongoing as Haiti transitions from the emergency tents and tarpaulins that still populate the landscape, into temporary housing for the foreseeable future until permanent housing can be provided through rebuilding.

One of the more ambitious and impressionable projects we came across was the UberShelter.

AIA New York celebrated their 30th year of the annual design awards program which recognizes projects located in New York City or design by architects practicing in New York City. Three projects received “Best in Show”: the Hypar Pavilion Lawn and Restaurant by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFOWLE, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects’ David Rubenstein Atrium, and another collaboration by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with FXFOWLE and Beyer Blinder Belle’s Public Spaces.

A special exhibition featuring all of the winning projects will be on view through June 25th at the NYC Center for Architecture. The complete list of AIA New York 2011 Design Award Winners following the break.

Melvin and Bren Simon Director and CEO Maxwell Anderson holds a conversation with 100 Acres Project Manager Dave Hunt and Architect Marlon Blackwell about the Indianapolis Museum of Art Visitors Pavilion. This Director’s Journal from Art Babble discusses the structure, site, geothermal, and the program of the pavilion.

MIT’s Festival for Art Science and Technology will culminate this weekend May 7th and 8th with FAST Light, a series of innovative site specific installations around the MIT campus and along the Charles River. Installations by MIT Department of Architecture Head, Nader Tehrani (founder and principal of Office dA and of the newly formed NADAAA), Professor Sheila Kennedy (Principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture), and Professor Meejin Yoon (Principal of Höweler + Yoon Architecture and MY Studio) are among the final river front projects that will light up the night along the river this Saturday and Sunday in front of Killian Court at MIT.

More information, photographs, and videos following the break

Running through May 17th at the Northwest Labs, the much anticipated Harvard University Graduate School of Design exhibition, The Divine Comedy, features major works including Ai Weiwei’s ‘Untitled’. The Divine Comedy exhibition is an “exploration of the emerging domain of experimental spatial practice where the concerns of art, design, and activism are powerfully converging today.”

The AIA New Orleans chapter will also be providing a variety of educational tours that explore the soulful flavor of the city’s architecture. There is still time to register for the convention, more information can be found here.

The AIA New Orleans welcomed a record number of entries for the 2011 Design Awards, 100 Years of Excellence in Design. The categories included Interior Architecture, Master Planning, Divine Detail, Project, Architecture, Adaptive Reuse, and Juror Favorite. A complete list of the 2011 AIA New Orleans Design Awards and jurors comments following the break.

Thursday, May 5th the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will host the AIA New Orleans Member Preview Event for two architecture exhibitions, Elemental and New Orleans Architecture Now. Both exhibitions will open to the public on Saturday, May 7, and remain on display through Friday, May 13 during the 2011 AIA National Convention. To register and for more details of the event can be found here.

Slated to be one of the most ambitious green buildings in North America, the Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design and Construction will be the world’s most energy-efficient commercial building reinforcing the city of Seattle’s commitment to be at the forefront the green building movement. This exciting new building is planning to achieve the Living Building Challenge (version 2.0), as described by the International Living Building Institute.

The mixed-use building will serve as the future headquarters of the Bullitt Foundation as well as provide office and commercial space for leaders in the green building industry. Thursday, May 4th, at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, a free community event will present the Cascadia Center. Further details can be found here.

Architects: Miller Hull Partnership Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Project Team: PAE Consulting Engineers, Point32, Schuchart Construction

The Dingbat, which has long been a residential icon of the Los Angeles area, is direly in need of an update. Transportation and congestion are some of the greatest obstacles that Los Angeles faces today and the traditional Dingbat fails to respond to these problems in many ways. Not only has the limited capacity (6-8 households per building) proven insufficient in accommodating the rapidly increasing population and thus exacerbating already problematic sprawl, but the back-out parking spaces traversing the sidewalks create unfriendly and hazardous walking conditions for pedestrians making the already difficult journey to public transit even more of a challenge.

The AIA New Orleans chapter will offer three volunteer outreach opportunities for the upcoming 2011 AIA National Convention attendees and supporters. Convention-goers and the interested public can volunteer prior to and after the Convention, which is scheduled for May 12th – 14th. The three organizations include Hand On New Orleans, the Preservation Resource Center’s Rebuilding Together New Orleans program, and New Orleans Operation Helping Hands. If you are interested in volunteering more information can be found here.

This coming Thursday, May 5th Harvard University Graduate School of Design will host Jacques Herzog, of Pritzker Prize winning Herzog de Meuron. The lecture, from 4pm-5pm, will be held at the Piper Auditorium and is free and open to the public. It will also be streaming live on the GSD webcast page. Further information about this upcoming lecture can be found here.

Presented by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and Architecture Canada | RAIC the 2011 Festival of Architecture will take place May 24 to 27th in Vancouver, Canada.

Construction is underway for the Greenpoint Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Station, designed by Michielli + Wyetzner Architects for Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The two-story, 12,400-square-foot contemporary design accommodates the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) ambulance crews and vehicles, and occupies a prominent site on Metropolitan Avenue near Bedford Street in the rapidly developing neighborhood. The station is part of FDNY’s plan to improve response time to medical emergencies throughout the city by increasing the number of stations and thereby reducing the distance and time ambulances travel to those in need. Completion is expected for June 2012.