Here I go about gas prices again…

The Field Trip Team has saddened me with the news that rising fuel costs mean that they have no choice but to raise Field Trip prices.

I begged…I pleaded…I whined….

So okay, you have until May 16th to get your Reservation Form into my hands so that we can register you by the May 17th Absolute Cut Off Point.

After May 17th?

Higher prices.

Before May 17th?

Regular low prices.

Check out the Field Trips to the right, and let me know if you want to take advantage of these classic nostalgic good-old-timey prices.

Los Angeles
Saturday, May 17: The Venice Art Walk & Auctions is an annual celebration of art, architecture, music, and food to benefit the Venice Family Clinic – the largest free clinic in the country. On May 17, meet the meet the architects and developers involved in Venice’s freshest new residences, including award-winning, prefab and sustainable designs by architects featured in Dwell. Through May 18. Various Locations, Venice; (310) 392-9255.

Miami
Friday, May 16: Les Standiford reads from Washington Burning, his book on 19th century architect and urban planner Pierre Charles L’Enfant, whose vision we see manifest in the U.S. capitol today. 8 p.m; Books & Books - Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables.

New York
Sunday, May 18: As part of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Dwell editor in chief, Sam Grawe, speaks with Copenhagen-based designer Louise Campbell, recently featured in dwell.com’s Emerging Designer video series. 11 a.m.-12 p.m.; Jacob K. Javits Center, 655 W 34 St.; (212) 216-2000.

San Francisco
Saturday, May 17: The Oakland Museum of Art opens Birth of the Cool, an exhibit on mid-century design, art, and culture in California. Expect to see Eames furniture, Julius Shulman’s architectural photography, and Chet Baker album art, among other works on display. Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland; (510) 238-2200.

Rory Olcayto of Building Design wrote about yesterday’s devastating fire at Delft Univeristy.

A “catastrophic” fire has caused serious damage to the architecture faculty at Delft University in the Netherlands, endangering first edition books by Rem Koolhaas and MVRDV and Gerrit Rietveld furniture.

Although no-one was injured in the blaze, much of the 14-storey building has been completely destroyed, BD understands.

Tony Fretton, a visiting professor at the department, said the fire – which broke out on a mid-level floor around 9am local time and rapidly spread upwards - is believed to have been started by a short circuit in a coffee machine caused by a faulty water pipe.

“The faculty building caught alight, then spread to the library and the historic chair collection - which includes Rietveld’s Red and Blue chair,” Fretton said. “The fire brigade couldn’t get close to it and decided to stand back and let the fire burn itself out. The whole building is gutted. The effect will be enormous - there are 3,000 students. It’s a complete calamity.”

With exams being held in two months, Fretton, who is teaching next week, said he did not know where students would be taught.

“The building was actually undergoing a refurbishment at the time of the fire,” he said. “The damage is going to run into the millions.” He added that first editions of books by Koolhaas and MVRDV are now feared lost.

During the fire, a nearby student residence was evacuated and people in other buildings were warned to keep windows closed because of the heavy smoke.

A spokeswoman for Delft University said: “Although there were no personal accidents, we regret the loss of the work of staff and students and a number of collections. Delft’s executive board is currently investigating at which alternative locations staff and students of the architecture faculty can be housed.”

Share the grief – Read the comments

High gas prices got you down?

Can’t stand your commute?

Can’t afford to just quit your job?

Here’s a solution:

Move to work. Live on the parking lot.

(But maybe not in a homeless kind of way.)

I just read an article in the NY Times by Elsa Brenner called “Parking Space as Living Space?”

Generating both praise and criticism in a county with plenty of expensive housing but not much of the budget-friendly kind, a Department of Planning report urges towns and villages here to use land in existing office parks as sites for new housing, some of it for moderate-income families.

Read the whole thing