The Van Alen Institute, an organization dedicated to advancing innovation in architecture and urban design, has announced the launch of an International Council of leading architects, planners and designers who will meet bi-annually to "identify and investigate issues facing cities internationally." The thirteen firms chosen — who represent over 17 cities and 10 countries— include firms as renowned as Aedas, BIG, and Jan Gehl Architects. See all 13, after the break.

The International Union of Architects (UIA) has announced that it will award its Gold Medal to the Chinese born American architect and 1983 Pritzker Laureate, Ieoh Ming Pei.

By bestowing the most prestigious of the UIA's awards on Pei, whose “life and work spans the history of modern architecture over five continents for more than sixty years," the UIA recognizes "his unique style, his timeless rigor, and his spiritual connection to history, time and space.”

Pei will receive the UIA Gold Medal at the awards ceremony at the UIA World Congress of Architecture in Durban, South Africa on August 6th 2014.

How do you undo centuries of inequality? How do you overturn an inequality so ingrained in a culture that it manifests itself physically - in the architecture of its homes and in the misshapen nature of its cities?

This is the question post-apartheid South Africa has been struggling to answer for the past twenty years. And while the government has made many concerted efforts, for far too many the situation has remained largely the same.

However, there are currents of change afoot. Many who have been marginalized are now working to defeat the stigma and legitimize their communities, and they are enlisting architects to the fray. From an organization in Capetown that aims to transform the role of the South African designer, to another in Johannesburg that uses design to legitimize informal architecture, to a project in one of the most violent townships in South Africa that has transformed a community, the following three projects are making a difference for the users who have the most to gain from their designs and design-thinking. All three represent not only the power of design to defeat stigma and instill dignity, but also the power of communities to incite these projects, make them their own, and enable them to thrive.

Your virtual tour of the Venice Biennale has arrived! Check out each of the national pavilions currently on display for Rem Koolhaas' chosen theme - Absorbing Modernity, 1914-2014.

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Axel de Stampa has shared with us his awesome series of architecture gifs, Architecture Animée (Animated Architecture), which turn architecture from SANAA, Herzog and de Meuron, MAD Architects and more into amazing, zany gifs. See all nine after the break!

Our friends at The Morpholio Project have just announced that submissions are open for Pinup 2014 - a free competition for students and young professionals to submit up to three digital images of their studio, 3D-printed, or unbuilt work. All work should acknowledge the existence of technology and question why/how "we harness it as designers." The guest jury includes participants from Fast Company, Metropolis Magazine, Columbia GSAPP, and even our very own Editor-in-Chief, David Basulto. Learn how to apply after the break!

This past Tuesday, design icon Massimo Vignelli passed away at the age of 83. To commemorate his memory, we're re-publishing a fantastic video from NOWNESS in which Vignelli and Richard Meier discuss their fruitful collaborations and their long friendship. Learn more about the pair's collaborations and read Meier's full, touching statement on his late friend and neighbor, Massimo Vignelli, after the break...

Check out the awesome video above in which a souped-up drone soars over the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest tower), filming unbelievable aerial views of fast-developing Dubai. The drone, which has an extraordinary range of up to 3 kilometers, is flown by Team BlackSheep, who have many similar videos of cities such as London and New York on their YouTube Channel. Enjoy!

Story via TechCrunch

Next month, the AIA National Convention is coming to Chicago – bringing together the best and brightest building professionals to network, and learn about growing trends in the architecture industry. If you haven’t booked your ticket already, here is a chance to attend the event free of charge!

reThink Wood is offering a full pre-paid pass to the AIA National Convention ($945 value) to one lucky ArchDaily reader. The winner will also be able to meet with architects on site that are passionate about innovative design with wood in mid-rise, and even high-rise projects.

To win, just answer the following question in the comments section before May 21 12:00PM EST: What architect(s) are doing the most interesting work with wood today?

More on reThink Wood at the AIA, after the break.

Federico Babina, the illustrator behind the extremely popular ARCHIPORTRAIT (portraits of architects done in that architect's particular style), ARCHIST (fictional works of architecture in the styles of particular artists) and ARCHICINE (illustrations of architecture in famous films), has just released his latest: ARCHIMACHINE.

To design or not to design -- that is the question. Our profession is one fraught with moral ambiguities -- "from who you’re willing to take on as a client, to what kinds of structures you’re designing, to who will actually build it (and under what conditions)." In a fascinating article, Fast Company's Shaunacy Ferro talks with five big-name architects to find out: where do you draw the line? Fentress Architects, for example, takes a hard line, refusing to design jails or any structure that conflicts with their beliefs. Bjarke Ingels, on the other hand, welcomes the opportunity to design in oppressively-led countries, such as Kazakhstan, because of the architecture's potential for the people. See all five responses on Fast Company, and let us know where your moral compass lies in the comments below.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced 3XN as the winner of the competition to design the IOC's new headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The decision to choose the Denmark-based firm over eleven other firms, including OMA, Toyo Ito, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), follows a unanimous recommendation by the IOC Architecture College.

The 14,000 square meter Headquarters will be part of a greater 'Olympic campus' of administrative buildings, located on a 24,000 square meter site on the banks of Lake Geneva.

The entire shortlist and more from 3XN, after the break...

For those unfamiliar with Valparaíso, allow me to inform you: this city is a treasure. The UNESCO World Heritage site and cultural capital of Chile is defined by its winding paths, happily graffitied streets, antiquated funiculars, and - above all - its colorful, tightly-packed hills. And because of its precarious density, the city was brought to its knees by vicious forest fires this past weekend, fires which quickly spread and consumed 2,500 acres, displacing over 12,500 people whose homes were destroyed.

The hills where the fires hit hardest are similar to Brazilian favelas - inhabited by informal residents who have little to no access to infrastructure and who constructed their homes themselves, illegally, and - as the fires have proven - rather perilously.

The response of the Chilean government so far has been to suggest bulldozing and building again in “a more orderly manner.” To do so, the government has intimated that it will expropriate land and relocate citizens to safer sites.

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