Rarely has such a vision of ethereal beauty—nay, transcendent brilliance—come over our transom in such a thorough, considerate, and thoroughly considerate manner as the above image wended its way our way, this most fine of mornings. With, bien sur, a touch of explication:

In case you missed it in the February 1989 issue of National Geographic-- David Childs after the fall, apparently eating from the tree of knowledge...which he promptly cut down and made a bench out of.

Would you trust this man to design your wtc?

A-ha. A-ha-ha. A-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha. Full stop.

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Seems there's been a wee mishap at Libeskind & Libeskind. While we liked the hagiography-cum-cocksuck (masquerading as a Time article) that was sent out this afternoon by Danny's intra-office flacks (and immediately forwarded to us by like a million people), we loved the fact that, like Mark Strauss and Max Protetch before, the 394 recipients' email addresses were all right there in the "cc" line. So, while Nina busies herself firing one unfortunate "AM" in her employ, scan the list after the jump. We've already found a few treasures: all the current and former powerplayers downtown (as if they care), Frank Gehry (as if he needs his nose rubbed in Danny's good press), and poor sainted Sarah Crichton. Did she not already pay her dues?

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No, no: we're not half as idle as our most loyal fans would have it. Not by half; while it may have appeared to many that we invented a new holiday (or two) for ourselves in order to squander July, then decamped to points sandy for much of August—only to return in September and fizzle out upon re-entry—the truth is that we've been traveling. With all the rest of the sad, sad, fallen world of starchitecture. Oh, but how that guilt already mounts; we must make a confesstion. It was not us, "per se", but one of ours—a colleague, an ally, a co-worker (in the bland parlance of our day). Squirreling away our dimes and ha'pence, we sent this brave soul into the belly of the beast—as some few wise among you may have cottoned—if by beast we mean the opening festivities of the...wait for it...10th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale!

Venice Biennale begins for some, ends for others The prosecco bottles are lying forlorn and empty in the undergrowth of the Giardini in Venice, the palazzi are voided of black-clad architects in difficult spectacles. The Venice Biennale preview is over is and it’s now open to the public, meaning that it’s as good as over. Your correspondent arrived in La Serenissima on Friday in a state of moist anticipation. Will Farshid Moussavi be sporting headgear to rival her Dark-Helmet-out-of Spaceballs effort from last year? Will Ricardo and Liz talk to anyone? Will it be any good now that the director has decided cities are more important than buildings? How will the Peggy Guggenheim bouncers deal with being bum-rushed by the desperate, non-guest-list hordes? None of the answers to these questions are revealed below….

Reports and pix continue, after the jump, in the order they were received from the field and piled up in our inbox. Because, fine: We were out of town too, just plain rocking bells, and we're not gonna interrupt that for some damn blog.

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Please, please, please, O generous gods and godlings, ineffable deitudes from whom all blessings everlastingly flow: let just this one thing be true. Let it be real. Let it get built and used and visited and filmed. Let it become enshrined in monographs. Let it be learned and taught. Let it become the shining center of our common architectural memory. Forever. Breaking! Heidi Fleiss is building America's first legal all-male brothel in Nevada. And she says she's hired Daniel Libeskind:

Her plans now include everything from a spa to peepshow rooms. To design those rooms, she told me, she had hired World Trade Center architect Daniel Libeskind, and they were in “preliminary phases.”

Savor the love for a moment before you read on to the big "but"...

Whatever those phases are, when I reached Libeskind’s office, no one there had any idea what I was talking about, nor, they said, had they been in contact with Fleiss.

No matter what Nina says, we're not giving up hope. Because it feels so right.

· The Heidi Chronicles [LA Weekly]

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It's almost over. The skinning marring of Frank Gehry's IAC HQ, that is. And good lord is that one hella funky curtain wall. Which isn't always such a bad thing. But let's just say it hasn't grown on us yet.

· Bad Skin Mars Gehry's NYC Debut [The Gutter]
· IAC HQ [WATPA?]
· The 21st Century Refinery of West Chelsea [Curbed]

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So many of you are writing in to inquire as to why we have not commented on the recent double dose of Jean Nouvel in the New York Times (perhaps we are "useless, slatternly fops all aswell with our own debauchery," as one of you kindly suggested) that we thought we would actually stir from our summertime torpor, if for but a moment, to do so. As we see it from here, he got a nice sloppy one from Nicolai—writes one Reader, "Sounds like Nouvel just gave Nicolai a woody... Muscular industrial landscapes, Virile landscapes, erotic lipstick red... whew...did it just get a bit hot in here?"—and a pretty sound spanking—"my heart sank"—from Kimmelman.

All in all, not an unenjoyable outing for the Frenchman.

· On the Mississippi, A Vision Steeped in an Industrial Past [NYT]
· A Heart of Darkness in the Cityof Light [NYT]

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Remember when Diller + Scofidio (before Renfro got real estate on the shingle) tried to pretend they were artists and got bitch-slapped in the Village Voice? It was beautiful. And it's happening again. Except this time it's Herzog + DeMeuron. And they're getting bitch-slapped in the Times. Roberta Smith, take it away:

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron should not relinquish their day jobs as high-profile architects in order to become curators or installation artists anytime soon. Their Artist's Choice exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art is perverse, cerebral and probably the most elaborate one-liner you're likely to encounter this summer. Nothing less should be expected from an effort titled "Perception Restrained," which jams artworks into extra-large wall niches almost entirely sealed from view.

Ouch. And oucher:

Intentionally or not, this show is a form of self-promotion executed by Mr. Herzog and Mr. de Meuron in what may be the most important building they did not get to design.

· Once Again, Herzog & DeMeuron Offer Their Vision of the MoMA [NYT]
· Coming Soon to MoMA: HdM's Funky Space-Out Zone! [The Gutter]
· Herzog & DeMeuron Bust the Blood and Sex at MoMA [The Gutter]

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It has been so long since we've turned our attentions to—fuck, what was her name? Big girl, gets jiggy? Can be kinda cranky sometimes? No stranger to the press? Anyway, an increasingly essential source (damn, we may even make him part of the family) sent this in. About that architect. About whom we forget.

Her life might be about to unravel because her long-standing personal assistant has resigned to go and work for Lady Something-or-Other—i.e. someone with the old-fashioned nobility earnt through an accident of birth rather than ability with photoshop. My mole told me: "He was a raving queen - the only ones she can stand - and he was counting down the minutes until freedom. Now she'll have to do her own washing and everything."

Sounds like quite a job. Quite a job.

· Update Update Update: The End is Near [The Gutter]

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They're not fucking around in Vegas. Or are they? The MGM Mirage CityCenter—"an unprecedented $7 billion urban metropolis...defined by spectacular architecture, renowned for premier experiences and unrivaled as the address to live and live it up," as the flacks have it—starts construction today with an impressive stunt: pouring 10,000 cubic yards of concrete, delivered all at once by convoy, for the foundations. Previously announced architects for the mega-project include Cesar Pelli, KPF, Sir Norman, and Rafael Vinoly. But today's press release includes the stirring news that David Rockwell, Helmut Yawn, and our very own Daniel Libeskind have been added to the muy caliente mix. And what does MGM have the erstwhile master-healer doing?

"[a] retail district [that] will feature international luxury brands and high-end couture under a crystalline canopy of unprecedented brilliance."

Perfect.

· MGM MIRAGE Sets Project CityCenter Foundation With 'Big Pour' [Yahoo]

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It seemed impossible at the time—Piano sermonizes? Foster drives sheep?—but those wit-fed Brits have pulled it off. Except for the Foster part. He bailed, but we do have the spectacle of Richard Rogers and Renzo (again; he's so game!) rocking the mutton on the Milennium Bridge. No word yet on how the army of fleecers were kept from locking step and bringing the span into Tacoma Narrows-like failure. Again.

· "I Love Southwark" Says Shard Architect [London SE1, via ANN]
· Sheep Flock Driven Through City [BBC, via ANN]
· Renzo Piano: Blessed Be You That See My Buildings [The Gutter]

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