Sliding ice, cracks in masonry prompt M.I.T. to sue Frank Gehry
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has sued Gehry Partners, the Los Angeles-based firm of star architect Frank Gehry. The prestigious school says its $300 million Stata Center, which opened in 2004 and was designed by Gehry, has experienced "considerable masonry cracking" due to poor drainage in the building's outdoor amphitheater. Other problems: "Sliding ice and snow from the building’s window boxes and other projecting roof areas, blocking emergency exits and damaging other building elements.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Gehry accused M.I.T. of wanting his firm's insurance to fix the problem. "These things are complicated," he said. "And they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong. A building goes together with seven billion pieces of connective tissue. The chances of it getting done ever without something colliding or some misstep are small."

The news has resulted in dozens of stories worldwide, including:

• BBC News
• Business Week (the story includes great reader comments)
• NPR interview with New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger