Stop Work. After a late-breaking Supreme Court mandate, all renovations at the Manufacturers Trust landmark office building have been put on hold. The judge ruled in favor of preservationists who want to protect the structure as a “model of modernism,” according to the New York Times. It appears that demolition inside the structure has already taken place, marring the structure’s International Style. Renovation opponents want to see the building restored to its original condition.

Stop Work Again. Robert Scarano Jr. is officially banned from submitting construction plans in New York City. The Brooklyn-based architect had appealed an initial ban handed down in March of 2010, but the New York Supreme Court upheld the order. According to the court, the Department of Buildings “can no longer rely on him to submit honest paperwork.” As Crain’s reports, Scarano has made a practice of violating regulations and zoning laws, criticized primarily for his rampant overbuilding.

Shifting Gears. Research by Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy of the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute shows that car use in major U.S. cities has been slowing down. The researchers offer 6 reasons for the shift, all predicting change with respect to the way cities will be designed without the automobile in mind.

Parking Patterns. Architects Michielli + Wyetzner recently won the 2011 NYC Design Commission Awards for a renovation of the Municipal Parking Garage on Delancey and Essex. The rehabilitation, as ArchDaily reports, includes several improvements to accompany a fully patterned weaving cable facade. Composed of three layers, the facade allows for the structure to remain open while the patterning mimicks the “aerodynamic flow of moving cars.”