“Arabesque I”, by Michael Graves

Heartwarming story of the day: A Chicago rug vendor has tapped several architecture superstars for a new collection that aims to help impoverished Afghan women. The designs by Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Robert A.M. Stern, Margaret McCurry, and Stanley Tigerman will be sold through Arzu Studio Hope, a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of Afghan weavers and their families.  The company is based on a model of social entrepreneurship that seeks to break the cycle of poverty by providing women steady income and access to basic services by sourcing and selling the rugs they weave. See the designs!

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Photo: Barry Johnson

Anna Wintour may not have a future as a US ambassador, but the cause of aesthetics and good design is by no means lost on the government. In January President Obama appointed Michael Graves to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, which governs the independent federal agency covering accessible design under the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other laws. Announcing Graves’s new post among a round of appointments, President Obama said, “These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles. Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.” Read more.

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Los Angeles’s first CityTarget opened in July in a historic 1951 concrete and stone former department store. Photo: Misha Bruk/courtesy of Target

Ever since Target hired Michael Graves as its teakettle mastermind 13 years ago, the company has advertised itself not only as a champion of good design, but as a great democratizer (“democracy” being, of course, a shopping term denoting the right to queue up around the block for a chance to lay hands on the latest collections from Missoni or Jason Wu). In all that time, Target stores themselves have adhered to strict big-box constructionism that basically positions them as a red-splashed Walmart, only with a giant bullseye that reminds you where to point your refrigerator-size shopping cart.

But, over the summer Target began rolling out new concept stores, dubbed CityTarget, in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle (good candidates for the A+ “Retail” Award, perhaps?). The latest launch is under way now in San Francisco’s South of Market district, where the city’s first Target officially opens for business Sunday, after a soft launch on Wednesday. This week also marks the opening of LA’s second CityTarget. This store anchors a newly refurbished Jon Jerde–designed outdoor shopping center downtown. The $40 million renovation includes 100,000 square feet of space for CityTarget on the ground level of Jerde’s fabulously arced triple-decker plaza-mall. Read more!

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The moving platform in Rem Koolhaas’ Maison à Bordeaux allows the inhabitant to access a series of stacked volumes without having to move. Photo via.

Some of the most memorable works of architecture have arisen from life’s unfortunate setbacks: a near-fatal car accident led a wheelchair-bound man in France to commission the Maison à Bordeaux, Rem Koolhaas’ shining example of alternative interior circulation. Frank Lloyd Wright similarly designed a home in 1948 for Kenneth Laurent, a disabled war veteran whose life was made easier by Wright’s spacious, curvilinear plan. In contemporary Tokyo, Takeshi Hosaka architects designed a peculiar home for a deaf couple and their family, enabling the parents to communicate with their young children even from considerable distances.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left no shortage of injuries and setbacks. But as NPR reports, a significant number of wounded U.S. soldiers wish to remain in uniform. At a U.S. Army fort in Virginia, developers are now overseeing a grand housing experiment called the Wounded Warrior Home, which is setting out to repair and retrofit 2,100 homes to accommodate disabled soldiers. Read on.

An ocular window installed in a ‘Wounded Warrior’ house.

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Daniel Libeskind, A New World Trade Center

In the months following the 9/11 attacks, an array of competitions, conferences, and initiatives was launched to consider the appropriateness and terms of rebuilding Ground Zero.When, in mid-2002, the Lower Manhattan Development Company (LMDC) released an abysmal set of six initial plans for a new World Trade Center, a reactionary wave of architects entered the fray, each with their own vision to rehabilitate and transform Ground Zero into a thriving urban center once more. Their plans, however loose or conceptual they may have been, promised to offer the city something more than what it would receive a decade later–Daniel Libeskind’s diluted masterplan for a series of equally bland towers (Libeskind’s first ideas for a tower at Ground Zero above). Explore the alternatives to 2011′s Ground Zero.

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A local Indiana newspaper brings us the news that Michael Graves’s first commission, the 1967 Hanselmann house in Fort Wayne, is for sale for less than $300K. (Historical note: Fort Wayne was home to another Graves house as well, until it was destroyed in a fire in 2002.) The cube-shaped home is described by the paper: “the words ‘angular and geometric’ come to mind when looking at it.” Well then.

We’ve sniffed around to find some other incredible architect-ed properties that have been on the market in the past few years. After the jump, the pros and cons of owning your own piece of architectural history.

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Photo: Michael Appleton for The New York Times

“Years ago, I used to work on Sundays. I stopped going to the office on Sundays right around the time that we finished the Getty Center. Now, I jot down notes on what I need to do on Monday.”

– Richard Meier, architect and now collage artist, talking to the New York Times about his weekend routine.

And where can you find your local Pritzker Prize-winning architect on a Sunday morning?

“I sit in the same seat [in Central Park]. There’s a row of benches on the north side as you go into the park from East 72nd Street — it’s kind of in the middle. The sun hits that area until at least 4 or 4:30. When the sun goes down, I leave. If I get hungry, I go home.”

Other fun facts: for personal possessions, it’s white or black only (no color!); he’s terrible at cooking; he divides his sporting loyalty between the Giants and the Jets, and he’s a big fan of freestyle swimming.

The New York Times has been focusing a lot of energy of late on profiling the personality quirks of established architects. Fellow New York Fiver Michael Graves appeared in a similar interview last week upon the release of his latest Target collection with some notable bon mots, collected after the jump.

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While Slate ponders whether computers have made architects less disciplined, Renzo Piano reminds us “you still need nine months, not nine weeks, to make a baby.” [via Slate]

Qatar officials announced this week they would use artificial clouds ( $500,000 carbon structured helium balloons) to provide shade for events during the 2012 World Cup. [via DailyMail]

“A tectonic collaboration between Lebbeus Woods and Jackson Pollack,” writes Geoff Manaugh describing artist Gerry Judah‘s post-apocalyptic 3-D paintings. [via DesignCo]

Critics argue the ultra-green LEED-certified development proposal by U2 musician The Edge in Malibu would be even greener if it didn’t exist, adding to the growing discussion of the insignificance of LEED. [via mediabistro]

The New York Times interviews Post-Modern architect Michael Graves on his new line of products for Target. [via NYTimes]

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The Santiago Calatrava transport hub at the World Trade Center site won’t be open for another four years, but if it turns out anything like the fancy video rendering above, it’s worth the wait. [via Metropolis/WSJ]

Incoming RIBA president Angela Brady is making fair wages her personal mission in leading Britain’s architectural profession. She issued the challenge to Building Design, saying, “Some of these firms are taking on students for nothing. I think it is absolutely abhorrent.” Brady then suggest publicly shaming the firms who underpay their interns. [via Building Design]

When “less is bore”: a primer on 1970s post-modern architecture and the re-invention of ornamentation, courtesy of Robert Venturi, Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern. [via Opinionator/NYTimes]

Alissa Walker gets the scoop on Gary Hustwit’s next film, Urbanized, the third and final installment in his design documentary trilogy. You may recall Helvetica, the genesis of obsessive font design, and Objectified, a study of the manufactured environment. [via Co.Design]

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This week marks two major Architizer-sponsored design competitions: one takes place in New York this summer in conjunction with High Line Fashion (example: building out a temporary retail space with Supima Cotton); the other, a chance to advise potential clients on architectural matters at LA’s Dwell on Design. [via Architizer]

Last weekend’s Venice Art Walk + Auctions featured “wacky” homes designed by architects for themselves; be sure to check out the Skywave House by Tony Coscia. [via A/N Blog]

Where in the world is Michael Graves? Trapped in a top secret Target teakettle incubator? Nope! In Singapore, building a 121-acre beach resort. [via Architect's Newspaper]

Photographer Joseph Ford set up a series of images turning game-based consoles for his If I were President project. Related:we’ve always though the new Museum of Arts & Design on Columbus Circle looks like a Nintendo cartridge. [via ArchDaily]

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