As Joe Valerio sees it, architects shouldn’t just shape structures; they should interpret their times. “The most useless term in architecture is `timeless building,’ which I translate into `meaningless,’” Valerio says over lunch at the sleek Blue Water Grill at Dearborn Street and Grand Avenue. “Our job is to do cultural commentary.”
Valerio is hardly the [...]

Architect Hitoshi Abe, who has built little outside his native Japan but has strong ties to Southern California, has accepted an offer to become chair of the architecture and urban design department at UCLA.
The appointment, which requires approval by the university and chancellor, is expected to become effective after the beginning of the year, with [...]