Julia Ingalls published back to back chats with Tom Kundig and Steven Holl. The former, on the release of ‘Tom Kundig: Works’ by Princeton Architectural Press which features nine of Olson Kundig’s most recent works.

The later, on the occasion of Phaidon’s comprehensive new monograph ‘Steven Holl’, written by Holl’s friend, colleague and former student, Robert McCarter.

News

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) returned to positive territory after a slight dip in August. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the September ABI score was 53.7, up from a mark of 49.1 in August.

BIG (in collaboration with West 8 and Atelier Ten) released a master plan for Pittsburgh's Lower Hill District. Marc Miller offered some criticism "The plan as presently proposed ignores much of the history and context of the lower hill...In some respects it repeats previous mistakes...Small gestures that look internally instead of making large connections across the urban fabric...it's improperly grounded".

Steven Holl Architects announced that their Copenhagen Gate Project (originally won in 2008) may actually begin construction in 2016. Nate Hornblower took the chance to remind folks "Damn, Holl is a genius."

In a conversation with the Guardian, Lord Foster argued "I have no power as an architect, none whatsoever" and stated advocacy is the only tool at his disposal as an architect. midlander countered the doubters "Advocacy is a meaningful power. It's the only power a lawyer or a writer has. Architects are petty if they overlook that."

Firms/Work Updates

A Swimming Pool in Bagneux, France by Dominique Coulon & associés and Thorne Bay House in Takapuna, New Zealand by Bossley Architects are just two of the projects found in the latest Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Interiors" Pinterest Board.

Christopher Perrodin used his blog to "write down and record a set of ideas about retail, reflecting on where it is and imagining (what will most likely be very) near future projections about where it might go". In the post Mixed Use he suggests new futures for "So called ‘brick and mortar’ stores" while positing I Was There as "short-hand for an embedded memory", a value-added that can be provided by brands.

Zaneta Hong recently worked on Platform 8 | An Index of Design & Research.

School/Blogs

For those looking for work, Ball State University wants to hire an Assistant Professor, Architecture History. Meanwhile CUNY Queensborough Community College needs a Facilities Planning Director. Preferably one with valid New York State Registration as an Architect.

Professor Spiegelhalter (FIU) gave an introductory lecture with the title "Mitigate, Adapt, Sustain: Design Protocols for Carbon-Neutral Adaptive Blue Infrastructures", at this year’s 3rd annual National Rising Seas Summit.

Discussions/Threads

poiuy was interested in details regarding layoffs at KPF New York? Volunteer "heard it is due to a China backlog shrinkage. No idea how serious". Later Xenakis noted "Its the way it is folks...During and after the recession architecture firms and construction companies needed to go to a more aggressive schedules with fewer people...many firms have a high turnover rate because of this".

ketch asked for thoughts on the best young european architecture studio(s). So far the responses include Kozumelle commenting "The best young studios are American. The old ones are European", and Carrera advising that De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop would be a good place to start.

Olaf Design Ninja_  was hoping for help collecting "examples of joints, nodes, connections, and" other parametric details. After a bit of back and forth about what qualified, Marc Miller wrote

“Given that building materials have physical limits, it becomes conventional (slot, stitch, nail, glue) eventually...does that matter for a parametric facade or is it the system assembly that is more important."

ivorykeyboard was late to the party but posted projects by Marc Fornes + Ammar Elouieni and Thom Faulders. And archanonymous reiterated "our capacity to design and visualize complex geometry is far, far ahead of our ability to manipulate matter...My vision of parametricism is more like what Amazon is doing with logistics".

Additionally

Winnie Wong analyzed China's museum building boom, for the November edition of Artforum. Her conclusion?

"In today’s China, where, in a total inversion, private ownership and capital are celebrated as the drivers of everything good, far less patriotic fervor has been directed against the very few who have been empowered to exploit the many...The rush to enable private developers to grab what little cultural property is left (alongside whatever land remains), under the banner of reclaiming culture itself, has become a cynical solution to the deliberate destruction of the past and the present."