| Art Deco tours show the various architectural styles of the era
Modern day South Beach is still a vibrant monument to the Art Deco designs of the late 1920s and '30s. The narrow streets are lined with hotels and buildings designed with curved edges, porthole windows and pastel-colored facades, all touchstones of the style. The Miami Design Preservation League is offering tours of the Art Deco district - guided, recorded and one that can even be done listening on a cell phone. On a recent sun-drenched morning, guide Erika Brigham, who has lived in the area since 1988, kicked off the tour with a lively talk about the architectural history of the neighborhood. She wore palm tree-shaped earrings, a gold-and-black speckled visor and a T-shirt promoting the annual weekend event celebrating Art Deco, which was scheduled this year for Jan.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize Adds Three New Jurors
Three new jurors, one from Italy, one from Japan and one from the U.S. have been added to the jury that selects the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate for 2007. Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 11, 2006 — "Three architects from different countries and divergent backgrounds have been named as Pritzker Architecture Prize jurors," it was announced today by Thomas J. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation which established the prize in 1979. "The three are Shigeru Ban of Tokyo and Paris, Toshiko Mori of New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Renzo Piano of Genoa, Italy and Paris."
They join jury chairman, Lord Palumbo, chairman of the Serpentine Gallery Trustees, former chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain and well known as an art and architectural patron; and (alphabetically): Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, architect, planner and professor of architecture of Ahmedabad, India; Rolf Fehlbaum, chairman of the board of Vitra in Birsfelden, Switzerland; Carlos Jimenez, professor at Rice University School of Architecture, and principal, Carlos Jimenez Studio in Houston, Texas; Victoria Newhouse, architectural historian and author who founded and is the director of the Architectural History Foundation in New York; and Karen Stein, editorial director of Phaidon Press in New York.
Three matchmakers try to help, but Mr. Wrong leads her to Mr. Wow
The Matchmaking Institute in New York City molds novice meddlers into professional love brokers. "It's all about efficiency," says Rachel Greenwald, a professional matchmaker in Colorado. "If, say, you're a busy executive, a third-party setup saves you the time it takes to slog through all the dating arenas — spending hours at a crowded party only to go home having met no one." Since it's one thing to hear about the wonders of matchmaking from those who sell the service and quite another to experience it yourself, I decided to test the viability of this venerable institution by asking three matchmakers to work their magic on me. Here's what happened. Matchmaker No. 1 Rachel Greenwald, author of "Find a Husband After 35 (Using What I Learned at Harvard Business School)," believes in the efficacy of business tactics in every circumstance — even love.
PS2 Makes You Study, Sort Of
We've all heard the basic story of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 before: An unsuspecting orphan is pulled from the comfort of his boring life into an adventure that will eventually lead to saving the world from a vast source of evil. Been there, done that. But Persona 3, released on Aug. 14 for the PlayStation 2, is far from a run-of-the-mill PS2 role-playing game, and not just because of the techno and rap that make up its soundtrack. Despite the cliché story (albeit with a modern twist), the gameplay mechanics are so quirky and innovative that one can't help but overlook Persona 3's many similarities to every other RPG ever. Persona 3's originality stems from the fact that it doesn't fit comfortably into just one genre. Half of the game is composed of traditional dungeon-crawling RPG fare, but the other half is a high school simulation, complete with gossipy girls, extracurricular activities, dating, and tests.
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