Taking place October 24-26 at the Phoenix Art Museum, the AIA Women’s Leadership Summit 2013 consists of a 2-day, 5 to 6 session event that gathers voices of architects serving in various leadership roles, including, principals, educators, owners, designers, environmentalists and innovators, in an intimate setting to discuss the challenges and opportunities for women practicing architecture today. The Summit strives to engage speakers and attendees in an open, conversational setting to share both personal and work experiences toward positive contributions through the practice of architecture. To register, and for more information, please visit here.

Taking place at The Center for Architecture in New York, 'Practical Utopias' presents a body of recent work by American and other international firms in five cities across East Asia. Conceived as extensions or embellishments of existing capitals of finance and culture, these new cities within cities serve as focal points for future visions and global ambitions. Over the past twenty years the pace and scale of urbanization in Asia has been unprecedented in both the emerging and maturing economies of the region. Curated by Jonathan Solomon, this exhibition provides a framework for education and cultural exchange between New York and the global cities of Asia. The exhibition runs October 1 - January 18. For more information, please visit here.

Van Alen Institute announced just last week the finalists for Ground/Work: A Design Competition for Van Alen Institute’s New Street-Level Space. Continuing the Institute’s more than century-long legacy of supporting architectural innovation through design competitions, research and public programs, Ground/Work called on emerging architects to take on the task of designing an engaging and accessible venue for the Institute as it reimagines both its physical space and intellectual agenda at its New York City headquarters.

The selected finalists are Collective-LOK (Jon Lott, William O’Brien Jr., and Michael Kubo); EFGH (Hayley Eber, Frank Gesualdi, Spencer Lapp, Pat Ruggiero, and Ani Ivanova); and Of Possible Architectures (Vincent Appel, Ethan Lay-Sleeper, Jaime Magaliff, Paul Miller, Heather Murtagh, Franklin Romero Jr., and Emily Ruopp, in collaboration with Jay Atherton). More images and information after the break.

The University of Cambridge Library, with the Department of Architecture, recently launched a landscape design competition to transform the space surrounding Cambridge University Library. Open to professionals and non-professionals alike, they are looking for bold submissions that reimagine the open spaces and environment of the iconic Giles Gilbert Scott building. A monumental presence both within the University and the city, entries to the competition will be judged on their innovative interpretation of the site, its context, use and history – as well as their ability to integrate contemporary ecological research. Entries should also promote new visibility for the Library and encourage people to think about the role of the site on the western edge of the city. The registration deadline is September 30, and the deadline for submissions is November 30. For more information, please visit here.

STUDIO magazine recently announced their Call for Papers for their forthcoming Issue #5: 'IMPORT><EXPORT,' which is set to examine how these two concepts linked to architecture modify the way to conceive, think and project our cities. This issue aims to explore the unceasing exchange among different realities which has produced a hybrid and heterogeneous urban landscape in which architectural experiences of different sources meet and combine. Structurally organized in different ways of contribution - essays, insights, experiences, images - the issue is meant to be investigated by a multi-disciplinary global perspective in order to define its complexity. The submission process involved two stages with the Stage One deadline on August 31, Stage Two September 30, and publication in November. For more information, please visit here.

RIBA Competitions just announced the six teams that were selected to take part in the design stage of the competition for The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to design their New Global Centre for the Social Sciences. The shortlisted teams include: Grafton Architects, Ireland; Heneghan Peng, Ireland; Steven Holl Architects, USA; Hopkins Architects; OMA, The Netherlands; and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. This new building will have a vital role to play in cementing the LSE’s position as a world renowned educational establishment and will become a place that inspires existing LSE students and will help attract new high calibre students and staff to the School.

Free and open to the public at the ZEZEZE Architecture Gallery in Tel Aviv, the Architactics exhibition by SAYA Design for Change summarizes the approach of SAYA’s mission-based practice. Rather than diving into the details of their specific proposals, it illustrates the channels of influence this practice has defined for design in peace making. SAYA’s pioneering approach termed by its founders as “Resolution Planning” was developed a decade ago to reclaim the architectural responsibility in designing peace. Its goal is to redefine the role and responsibility of architects in conflict resolution, to re-include the city, the people and their joint future space back into the picture. The exhibition will continue to be on display until August 24. More architects' description after the break.

Currently on view until August 30, Unit Architects is presenting their 8-week exhibition in the entrance space of Buro Happold's 17 Newman Street offices as part of Buro Happold’s Emerging Architects event program. A great way to show off some of the upcoming talent in architecture and design, the contribution by Unit Architects to this series focuses on a selection of their work that shares a common approach of engagement with scale, contextual symbology, material presence and considered detailing. More images and architects' description after the break.

Conducted by RARE directors on behalf of the Architectural Association in Singapore, the 'Objectify' workshop at Singapore Polytechnic's School of Design will sample starchitecture to suggest and respond to the city's idea of growth through image forging. Can architectural objects define a city? Singapore’s territorial enclave is punctuated with signature buildings designed by the worldwide architectural stardom. The exaggerated objectification of the architect’s status and designs is embedded in the city’s culture and apparent belief in their value. Taking place August 21-30, the workshop will explore these conditions, sampling icons to extract novel proposals. More information after the break.

Launched by Floornature, the winners of the second edition Next Landmark competition were just announced. Originality, environmental sustainability and all the ideas that exploit relations between people, architecture and landscape were the main determinants of the winning projects. For the first time, the 3 winning projects and the 6 special mentions were announced in a live streaming event conducted by anchor-architect, Pietro Polidori with the participation of all the big names on the judging panel. Next Landmark 2013 was an all-women edition, with two women winning first prize for the First Work and Research categories, Shoko Murakaji from Japan and the Russian, Nataly Abramova respectively. The first prize for the new Photography section went to the very young photographer and designer, Hugo Soo from Canada. More images and information on the winning projects after the break.

As part of the 2013 AIA Global Dialogues, (un-covered) Connections, 'Leaning Out: Women in Global Practice' will discuss what it means to be a woman in the construction industry practicing globally in our time. Taking place this Thursday, July 25th, from 6-8pm EST at the Center for Architecture in New York, key speakers include the most significant women in their field - over 3 generations, which will be moderated by Cathleen McGuigan – Editor-in-chief at Architectural Record. Organized by AIA NY Global Dialogues and AIA NY Women in Architecture, the main question of the event is,'What are the challenges and the opportunities that women who choose this path face and how do their successes and shortcomings affect the next generation?' For more information, please visit here.

Taking place September 1-30, the nation's largest architectural festival of its kind will be presented by AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design, celebrating its tenth anniversary. The Architecture and the City festival, which takes place in San Francisco every September, will feature behind the scenes walking tours, films, exhibitions, lectures and more, providing opportunities for participants to engage with the local architecture community and experience design in a myriad of ways throughout the city. From theoretical urban interventions and works in progress to civic landmarks and hidden histories, architects and designers will discuss the ways their work alters and redefines the city we call home with over 40 festival programs. For more information, please visit here.

Hosted by the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland chapter, the 'Spirit of Place' – 2013 Regional Architecture Conference will focus upon the unique opportunities commonly available to architects practicing regionally, responding to the unique ‘Spirit of Place’. Taking place September 6-7, "the aim of the conference is to excite and inspire the practice of architecture in regional Australia," according to the creative director of the event, architect Stephen de Jersey. The conference features an illustrious set of keynote speakers, whose work responds to this mandate. In addition, there will be a rich range of associated tours and events that explore the extraordinary locality of the Cairns region. More information after the break.

Taking place at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech August 5-9, the Outside Architecture + Design: Digital Design and Fabrication Workshop is offered to advanced high school students and college students completing their first year of studies in a design field. Building on the well established Inside ARCHITECTURE + Design curriculum, the laboratory/workshop is intended to provide a forum for the exploration of emerging design technologies through a one-week immersion. More information after the break.