Will Galloway profiles the work of Samira Boon who in in recent years "has turned to an interesting series of research-led design projects focusing on making 3D fabrics" and immersed herself "in research on structural textiles". 

Plus, Nicholas Korody rounded up the Critical Reaction to the news of Aravena's 2016 Pritzker. His closing line "it remains important to avoid disciplinary self-satisfaction and inflated self-importance, particularly when we still consider a bronze medal conferred by an international hospitality conglomerate as among the highest achievements possible." 

Virgilio Rico believes "We will never end homelessness but we can provide housing solutions that procure not only dignity but that also fulfill the spiritual needs of the people, and Aravena does that. Maybe for many that's not enough to be deserving of the Pritzker Price, but his awarding definitely sends a political message to everyone in the industry; we should care about things other than the aesthetic and business sides of the profession." 

News
Responding to Patrik Schumacher's criticism, DWLindeman wrote "The shame is that Alejandro Aravena is more than qualified as a maker of new forms. Formal forms (for universities) and vernacular forms (for housing), but Schumacher is unwilling to acknowledge this."

On a related note, Martha Thorne, executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize was the guest on Archinect Sessions #48. Olaf Design Ninja_ summarized the chat "to win the pritzker its good to be on the committee" and Chris Teeter expressed his love for "Archinect! here is an organization - Pritzker - fairly unnoticed by most media, Archinect drills the lady involved in the election process, who like any good cover-upper pretends Amelia's question is dumb after being asked twice! like the pope election - she says!"

Shigeru Ban presented a Nepal House Project prototype in Kathmandu to the press. He will be "encouraging people to copy" the ideas "No copyrights". Miles Jaffe was not really impressed "Not sure you can patent a building technique ... but positive vibe nonetheless."

Frank Lloyd Wright’s George Sturges House, will be among 75 lots from the estate of the actor and playwright Jack Larson, to be auctioned on February 21. EKE chimed in "It's a really cool little house. Hope the new owners will put some money into it. It's looked pretty shabby for awhile. Time to catch up with the deferred maintenance."

The Guardian reported on some of the post-occupancy challenges of 5468796 architecture-designed Centre Village housing project in Winnipeg. 

midlander wisely noted "It sounds like the architect approached this as an architectural problem, which it wasn't...Architects should be wary of doing project types they themselves don't know well for clients with no relevant experience...Unfortunately this will add one more example of failed public housing for those who oppose it...What it really is though is muddled thinking by 2 parties with little understanding of the issues at hand."

Hoskins Architects mourned the untimely passing of celebrated Scottish architect Gareth Hoskins OBE. Also, Professor Stanford Anderson, scholar and founder of the History, Theory and Criticism Program at MIT, has died at 81. As Michael Kubo reminded us, Stan's imprint on MIT and the field is enormous and he was arch. critic for the Globe 1967-68. Wrote on Expo '67, Expo Boston '76 + bldgs by Rudolph, Johnson, Pei, TAC…
 

Firms/Work Updates
Last month Mitch McEwen visited Miami and "witnessed the carting away of Art Basel.  On the Sunday evening that Art Basel wraps up, as well as the morning after, Miami Beach looks like a truck stop ran into the ocean."

Recently, Maite Fernandez worked on Marine Research Center: Exploded Structure. While Karolina Wierzbinska worked on Aishti | Mall & Foundation| Beirut | Lebanon.

Over at her blog The Walk, Tanvi Kulshreshtha's second post (ever) answered the question Do Green Houses cost more to build than regular houses? The key is "Considering the life cycle costs".

Urban Barn in Paris, France by ATELIER ZÜNDEL CRISTEA and Stepped Courtyards in Fuzhou, China by OPEN Architecture are just two of the projects that can be found on the latest Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Architect Sure!" Pinterest Board.

School/Blogs
New York City College of Technology put out a Call for Mentors for Spring 2016. Remember, the service hours are applicable towards IDP’s Leadership and Service requirement!

Discussions/Threads
jon-manuel was looking for opinions of what constitutes a competent wall assembly. Especially since the reps (Tyvek vs. zip sheathing system) aren’t in agreement. gwharton thought it was simple "If the zip system as installed has a low enough perm rating, it's a vapor barrier, regardless of what the manufacturer says...So, I'd put specific performance criteria in the spec for vapor permeability". In Wood Guy’s experience "Zip sheathing, taped, is a very good air barrier...ZIP's weather-resistant coating perm rating is in the teens, and Tyvek is even higher, so they aren't contributing to trapping moisture in the assembly, unless you do something stupid". gruen advised "you should download WUFI and play around with various assemblies."

Sahas questioned the relationship between of equity and race in terms of "employment in architectural industries in US, Australia and generally the Western world". Initially commenters were skeptical, some like Josh Mings believed the OP had "to be someone trolling, or someone that lost a position to someone else and can't reconcile that...either way, holy hell is your thinking outdated." However, Marc Miller countered "It's there, it happens actively and passively and there's research that supports it- not to mention anecdotal findings."

Finally, citizen said goodbye to "the end of an era", as L.A.’s Hennessey + Ingalls venerated art and architectural bookstore is closing down in preparation for a big move across town. no_form hopes "they'll get more business now that they'll be in the Arts District" but Janosh shared "Although it is super important that LA have an architectural bookstore of the magnitude of H&I, I kinda wish it was another one with friendlier folks." For haruki "The old 80's Morphosis designed location on 3rd street in Santa Monica was a legendary cruising ground. If the new downtown location can approach even a small level of renown for the same I will consider it a success."