Milstein Hall of Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) welcomed architecture students to their new studios on August 24, 2011. The studios are set up on the building’s second floor, which contains 25,000 square feet of open space as well as a presentation/critique area where students can show their work. AAP Dean Kent Kleinman said that Milstein Hall “allows a new architecture studio culture to unfold,” and links other AAP buildings in a way that will encourage interactions between the school’s departments.

Milstein Hall incorporates numerous sustainable features—a cooling system using water from Cayuga Lake, 41 skylights, radiant floor heat, and a green roof—and is expected to qualify for LEED silver certification. The building was designed by Rem Koolhaas, who received architecture’s top award, the Pritzker Prize, in 2000, and architects from the New York office of his firm, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

Construction began in August 2009, and a 250-seat auditorium on the first floor will open in October. A walk through of the second floor studios can be seen here. Milstein Hall was named in honor of Paul Milstein by his wife and children.

The YIVO Institute launched a new website sponsored by the Milstein Family Foundation and its successor, the PIM foundation. The website, www.milsteinjewisharchives.yivo.org, reflects the work accomplished during YIVO’s three-year, $225,000 pilot project funded by the PIM Foundation and Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation to preserve and document the historic legacy of Jewish New York with emphasis on the histories and archival treasures of five agencies serving the needs of Jewish community in New York.