Zaha Hadid’s winning design for a new art museum at Michigan State U. had too little space for paintings—and cost way too much. (Michigan State U. image)

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor reopened its expanded Museum of Art last weekend with a 24-hour celebration. But things aren’t going so well over in Lansing, where Michigan State University’s plan to build a sleek, 41,000-square-foot museum designed by the architect Zaha Hadid has run into all kinds of trouble, according to an engaging account in The State News.

For...

A Farm for the Future, a BBC documentary about the prospects of agriculture after peak oil, is now available online. The program, which was made by the wildlife filmmaker Rebecca Hosking, begins on a conventional farm owned by Ms. Hosking’s father in England’s South Devon region. The documentary goes from there to explore other low-energy, low-impact farming methods that Ms. Hosking says might be necessary in an energy-starved (and food-starved) future.

The documentary should be compelling viewing for anyone involved with campus sustainability and food projects. We’ve recently discussed the

In recent months the recession has created plenty of complications for campus administrators — some institutions have found themselves scrambling to make new financial arrangements when complicated borrowing packages fell apart, and some states have frozen capital spending, forcing projects to an awkward halt. But now there’s a new worry. Contractors hired to build a new residence hall at Winona State University, in Minnesota, couldn’t get insurance for the project, according to the Winona Daily News.

Contractors informed the university that they were unable to comply with the state-university system’s insurance requirements for construction, said Kurt Lohide, the university’s vice president for finance and administrative services, adding that the insurers...

Higher-education institutions on both sides of the swollen Red River have canceled classes until April 6 to give students and employees a chance to pile sandbags around vulnerable homes and properties and clean up any damage they might sustain.

North Dakota State University, in Fargo, is on relatively high ground, so officials there didn’t have to evacuate the campus. But many of its employees and students who live in areas directly threatened by flooding have had to leave their homes, and thousands have been working around the clock in sandbag brigades up and down the river.

They’ve been working alongside students and employees from Minnesota State University’s campus in Moorhead, which is directly across the river from Fargo, and

Not Square: Claremont McKenna College’s award-winning residences were designed by CO Architects. (Photo by Paul Turang)

Student housing at Claremont McKenna College has won a 2009 design award from the magazine Residential Architect.

The housing was designed by CO Architects. The designers say that in creating the residences, they tried to exploit the best aspects of the Southern California climate by setting the buildings around courtyards that blur the distinction between inside and outside spaces. The living areas are arranged in “social units” that encourage students to congregate...

Two condominium owners who say they were forced to sell their homes to make way for the George W. Bush Presidential Library have rejected a $2-million settlement offer from Southern Methodist University, reports The Houston Chronicle.

According to the newspaper, Southern Methodist officials say that they purchased the condominium property for a variety of possible projects. The former president and First Lady may be deposed for testimony about the case and what the university told them about the plans for the land.

The story says that Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the university, “is prepared to play ‘hardball’ to bring the matter to an end.”

A date with dynamite: The former Union Carbide headquarters, now owned by the University of Charleston, will be imploded on Saturday. (Photo by Michael Runion)

“Pumpman 1994” — also known as Chris Belcher of Cincinnati — won an auction on eBay to blow up an old Union Carbide building owned by the University of Charleston. He paid $5,207 dollars for the right to push the detonator button that will bring the chemical company’s former headquarters to the ground this Saturday.

It appears, however, that he will give up this glorious opportunity for destruction. According to a local news story, Mr. Belcher, a...

The U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor has renovated Alumni Memorial Hall, lower right, and constructed a big new addition. (Allied Works Architecture image)

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor will reopen its Museum of Art this weekend after a three-year makeover that rehabilitated the 41,000-square-foot original building — Alumni Memorial Hall, which dates to 1907 — and expanded it with a 53,000-square-foot steel-and-limestone addition intended to engage the university’s students and open the museum to the community around the campus. The museum will mark the reopening with a 24-hour-long celebration.

The Associated Press reports that Ohio lawmakers have shot down Miami University’s plan to buy more than 300 Aeron chairs at $522 apiece. The ergonomic Aeron chair, manufactured by Herman Miller, is something of a design status symbol. One can hear commercials for the chair on National Public Radio.

“The state Controlling Board voted 6-1 against what normally would be a routine request to the panel of lawmakers, who oversee state spending,” the AP story says. “Board members said Monday they were dissatisfied with the university architect’s explanation for why the chairs were necessary.”

The story...

The Sioux Falls, S.D., Argus Leader recently ran an article about South Dakota State University’s refusal to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, in part because the university relies heavily on its coal-fired heating plant. Coal might be dirty, but it’s also cheap. Switching to natural gas, which would reduce the amount of pollutants emitted, would cost the university up to $1-million, the newspaper says.

“They always say, ‘It’s not about the money,’ but it’s about the money,” David Chicoine, the university president, told the Argus Leader. “We don’t want to sign it, then not be able to meet the commitment.”

The article appears just as there is