New to Archinect, Julia Ingalls penned an essay, titled Material Witness: Insanity in the walls of '"True Detective" and "Twin Peaks".

 Olaf Design Ninja_  offered a complement "A good visceral read like a true detective watch...This would almost suggest the inert quality of this line between sanity and insanity material be abandonment. Been working on a large abandoned hospital to rental project for a few years now and…"

Plus, Nicholas Korody snagged an interview with Lagos documentary filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak.
 

News

R.I.P. Randall Stout, who has died at 56

Tim Fernholz looked at how retail/consumer giants, trademark their retail layouts. raj wanted some clarification "This is just a crazy thing....Who owns the copyright? AIA docs says the Architect. Did they sell that?"

Alexander Walter noted Martino Stierli has been named the new chief curator of MoMA Architecture and Design. darkman was disappointed "Another European academic. Shocking choice, Lowry". 

Baltimore Business Journal published architect and critic Klaus Philipsen's criticism, of a faux historicist 7-11 into the westside of Baltimore's downtown. davvid wasn’t surprised "We're seeing EIFS cornices, brick veneer and vinyl keystones. The rejection of that ‘sterile’ mid century modern vernacular gave way to a new kind of banality...I'd much rather see good cookie-cutter design than bad contextualism".

the author himself, kphilipsen popped in, admitting "it was a slow day in the world of architectural criticism. Maybe that is exactly the point..it was, indeed a polemic, some fun, a big blast for a small gnat".
 

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates
Evan Chakroff continued sharing his exploration of Seattle, Washington and it’s environs/culture/architecture, this time focusing on one aspect of the famous coffee culture - the "phenomenon of the Bikini Barista" and road-side espresso stands?!

Matt Kleinmann laid out his argument for Values-Based Design.

Joann Lui, LEED Green Assoc. used her Just an Intern blog to start a conversation - Intern 101: What do you wear to work? Donna Sink opined "I think everyone here looks very nice, except for my personal pet peeve which is that visible toes are never appropriate at the office" to which sameolddoctor replied "I work, these days at a 450+ corporate firm, and I still go barefoot sometimes".

Toxic Garden by Kadri Kerge and Wetland Urbanism by a Tulane School of Architecture research team; consisting of Natan Diacon-Furtado, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Jessica O'Dell, Antonio Pacheco, Jonathan Tate, Neena Verma, Ann Yoachim are just two of the projects from the post, Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Student Work" Pinterest Board.

School/Blogs
Over the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture blog, Lian Chikako Chang helped put together an interactive map based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), on on 1,800 + U.S. Programs in Architecture and Related Fields.

For those hoping to land a job in "academia", The Catholic University of America is hiring a Manager of Fabrication Facilities, while University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is looking for an Architectural Associate, who will report to the Housing and Hospitality Services (H&HS) Director of Physical Plant & Project Management.
 

Discussions/Threads
rob_c started Codes, Quality, and Profit with a question "How much detail should go into a set of drawings to maintain profit?" Chris Teeter answered "At minimum include drawings that show maximum information about scope for purposes of filing or bidding". Similarly Snoopy316 added "in terms of detailing I tend to only detail what is important and specific/unique in the design/element of the building. Builder's shouldn't have to rely on drawings to build". 

However, archanonymous  suggested "that time skipped when drawing details or connections is more than doubly made-up in project management". Carrera concluded that end of day "CD production is key to a good practice after all it’s our work product, our deliverable".

NoNameNum3 is tired "of looking at my offices ugly title block…" Although  jdparnell1218 doesn’t "think title blocks are supposed to be pretty" it probably doesn't hurt to take some time, as gruen has spending "some time making it look nice".

Finally, Ferry Vermeer was highly interested in "Post-socialist / modern architecture in Russia and other former socialist countries?" threadkilla advised "don't have time to dig into answers for your questions, but http://www.tatlin.ru/ is hands down the best Russian publishing house dedicated to architecture and design". Even though it might not "help in developing a thesis" anonitect recommending checking out The Lost Vanguard: Russian Modernist Architecture 1922-1932