ARCHITECTURE

BUILDING HISTORY Cooper Union’s exhibit of plans and sketches by architect Louis Kahn has been extended. “Coming to Light” features Kahn’s plans for a memorial for Franklin D. Roosevelt for Roosevelt Island. Above is a 1973 drawing for the posthumously completed plans – it was, however, never built – and at right is an original 1974 architectural model, looking west toward the United Nations building and Manhattan. The show also includes Kahn’s personal sketchbooks, which have never before been exhibited. Through Friday, February 18, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday, noon-7 p.m., Cooper Union, Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery, 7 E. 7th St. at Third Avenue, second floor, 212-353-4232, free.

BENEFITS

CATHOLIC CHARITY The Catholic Youth Organization hosts a benefit for its athletic, recreational, and cultural programs for young adults of all religions throughout the Archdiocese of New York. Edward Cardinal Egan will present awards to former professional baseball player Daniel Staub, among others. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., Cipriani, 110 E. 42nd Street, between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-371-1011 ext. 3655, $500.

BOOKS

MINUTE MEN Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn read from their book “102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers” (Times). Tonight, 8 p.m., Rocky Sullivan’s Pub, 129 Lexington Ave., between 28th and 29th streets, 212-725-3871, free.

JOURNEY TO JAPAN Novelist Peter Carey reads from “Wrong About Japan”(Knopf), his embellished memoir about a trip to Japan with his manga comic-loving 12-year-old son. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 212-595-6859, free.

COMEDY

TEMPTING TREAT The British Muslim comedian Shazia Mirza performs her stand-up act “The Last Temptation of Mirza” next week. A question-and-answer session and reception follow. Tuesday, 8 p.m., the Next Stage, 312 W. 11th St., between Hudson and Greenwich streets, 212-741-9940, $22 in advance, $24 at the door, reservations strongly recommended.

FAMILY

LITTLE LIT Child magazine bestows awards on authors and illustrators of children’s literature, including Tomie dePaola, who will receive a lifetime achievement award. He also signs copies of his latest, “Stagestruck” (Tommy), along with the other award-winners who will be present. That long list includes Jules Feiffer, Sonia Manzano (Sonia on “Sesame Street”), Mo Willems, Linda Sue Park, Mary Ann Hoberman, and Simms Taback. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 E. 17th St. at Broadway, 212-253-0810, free.

FILM

THUMBS UP The “Film Comment Selects” series screens new movies championed in the pages of Film Comment magazine during the last year. The series opens today with “Oldboy,” a Korean film about an antisocial protagonist who is kidnapped, framed for murder, and forced to watch nonstop television and eat pounds of shrimp dumplings. Park Chanwook’s surreal story has already been optioned for a Hollywood remake (4 and 9 p.m.). Olivier Assayas’s “Clean,” which is also playing today, stars Maggie Cheung as the wife of a once-famous musician who overdoses and leaves her facing a prison sentence (6:30 p.m.). Series: Today through Thursday, February 24, Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-496-3809, $10 general, $7 students, $6 members, $5 seniors Monday-Friday before 6 p.m. and children ages 6 to 12.

GETTING READY FOR THE GATES MoMA screens documentaries about art installations by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, beginning with the 1967 project in which they covered a mile and a half of the Australian coastline in fabric and rope. The series opens with “Dem Deutschen Volke (Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Wrapped Reichstag),” about their 1995 project in Berlin (tonight, 7:30 p.m.). Up next is the Maysles brothers’ “Christo’s Valley Curtain,” which documents the 1974 project in which the artists hung an enormous sheet of fabric between two Colorado mountaintops. It is shown with the filmmakers’ “Running Fence,” about a 1978 fabric project in the California hills (Friday, 7:30 p.m.). Series: Today through Wednesday, February 23, days and times vary, Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-708-9480, $10 general, $8 seniors, $6 students, free for children under 16. The gallery at Hermes also is screening excerpts from an unfinished documentary about the artists, the latest in a decades-long collaboration between Albert Maysles and the duo that began with “Christo’s Valley Curtain.” Screenings: Through Sunday, February 27, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., until 7 p.m. on Thursdays, the gallery at Hermes, 691 Madison Ave. at 62nd Street, fourth floor, 212-751-3181, free.

MUSIC

MUSIC VIDEOS The world premiere performance of Morton Subotnick’s “Until Spring Revisited” kicks off “Hip Chips,” the Electronic Music Foundation’s international festival of laptop music. Mr. Subotnick and Miguel Frasconi perform the composition on three laptop computers using software that interprets mouse movements and key depression. Two large video screens display the performers’ hands. Meanwhile, artist Sue Costabile improvises using a light pad, a digital video camera, fabric and paper, and, yes, another laptop. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, 518-434-4110, $20 general, $15 Symphony Space members, $12 seniors and students.

POLITICS

LIBERTE, FRATERNITE The Manhattan Libertarian Party holds its monthly meeting in an Episcopal church – so much for the separation of politics and religion. Tonight, 6:30-8:30 p.m., First Reformed Episcopal Church, 317 E. 50th St., between First and Second avenues, 212-779-1873, free.

READINGS

BAWDY BROADWAY LindaAnn Loschiavo’s play “Courting Mae West” is about the blond bombshell’s arrest for obscenity in a Broadway theater on February 9, 1927. A staged reading today on the anniversary of the event is preceded by a discussion led by Ms. Loschiavo about Broadway censorship during the 1920s. Tonight, 8 p.m., CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. at 34th Street, 212-817-8215, $15.

TALKS

WHAT’S ON TOP The director of the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity, and Citizenship at the New School, Aristide Zolberg, discusses the French law forbidding Muslim schoolgirls to wear headscarves to class. Tonight, 6:30-8:30 p.m., CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. at 34th Street, 212-817-8215, free.

DOWN TO THE WIRE The producers of HBO’s critically acclaimed police series “The Wire” join stars Idris Elba, John Doman, and Seth Gilliam for a screening of an episode from the most recent season. The group discusses the show with moderator Ken Tucker, a television critic for Entertainment Weekly, and answers audience questions. Tomorrow, 6-7:45 p.m., Museum of Television & Radio, 25 W. 52nd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-621-6600, $15 general, $12 members, $7 students.

DISCUSSING VIOLENCE A daylong symposium at the New School tackles the resurgence of violence against Jewish institutions in Europe and America. Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., the New School, 66 W. 12th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-229-5353 for information, 212-229-5488 for tickets, $20.

THEATER

MONSTER MASH The new off-Broadway play “The Frankenstein Summer” begins previews tonight. Catherine Bush’s drama is about the meeting of Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley at Byron’s Swiss villa in the summer of 1816.The summer of vices inspired Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein.” Marc Geller directs and acts in the Red Light District production. Opens: Sunday, 7 p.m. Runs: Through Saturday, February 26,Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 7 p.m., Phil Bosakowski Theatre, 354 W. 45th St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues, 212-352-3101, $15.

VOLUNTEER

HELPING HANDS More than 60 Manhattan based nonprofit organizations gather for a volunteer expo at Grand Central Terminal. The last day of “NYC Share Your Heart” is a family event, with music, magicians, games, and a special emphasis on children’s charities. Tomorrow and Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday (family day), 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall, 15 Vanderbilt Ave. at 43rd Street, 212-340-2210, free.

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