News Briefs

• Lord Richard Rogers wins Pritzker Prize for architecture.British architect Lord Richard Rogers, acclaimed for his urban, socially minded, and open designs, including the airy Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, is the winner of the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize, it was announced today. Rogers, 73, is the fourth British architect to receive the field’s top honor, founded in 1979 and sponsored by the family that developed the Hyatt hotel chain. Past winners include Californian Frank Gehry and Italy’s Renzo Piano, who designed the Pompidou with Rogers.

• GBI offers Green Globes assessment and rating system free to members.The Green Building Initiative is offering free use of the Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system to professional affiliates who join the group, with the number of uses dependent on the level of affiliation. The GBI hopes the varied levels will make the Web-based green management tool more accessible to architecture, engineering, and construction firms.

• After three straight highs, architectural billings come down to earth.After three consecutive months of high scores, the Architecture Billings Index, a leading economic indicator of construction activity, dropped more than five points in February. The American Institute of Architects reported the February ABI rating was 52.5 (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings), compared to a score of 57.9 in January.

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