Now it’s official. Prince-Ramus has set out on his own, forming a new firm with business partner Erez Ella, and taking the entire New York OMA office and the majority of U.S. clients with them. Though the split was amicable, breaking up is always hard to do. “It ultimately became a clear decision, but not an easy one,” Prince-Ramus told The New York Times, which ran a full-page story yesterday. Said Koolhaas: “The sadness is something we deal with in private.”

The new firm, Ramus-Ella Architects (REX), will continue to oversee development of the Wyly Theater in Dallas and the Museum Plaza in Louisville (both of which Prince-Ramus walked us through in Monterey), as well as the Annenberg Center at CalTech. Good luck to you, Joshua! We’re looking forward to seeing you succeed!

I don’t know about you, but my mind is simply abuzz with the sights, sounds, emotions, and ideas I encountered at TED 2006.  I can’t wait for the TED DVD to arrive so that I can go back and listen to the words of Sir Ken Robinson, hear the music of Thomas Dolby, and soak in the… ahem, insights, of Charles Fleischer.

Until then, Google will have to do.

For example, Joshua Prince-Ramus did a marvellous job of showing us a design process which capitalized on very real contraints in order to create the stunning Seattle Public Library.  When was the last time you heard an architect say that focusing on capital and operational budgets provided a springboard to innovation?  Until I see his talk again on the TED DVD, this BusinessWeek interview with Prince-Ramus which I Googled is just enough to keep my brain from going hungry.