Nicholas Korody’s piece regarding this year's 'Homeless Studio' (done in partnership with the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission) at USC, started quite a discussion. 

Contra many commenters b3tadine[sutures] felt the design brief/work was a useful illustration of a "both/and..." approach aka the need to think tactically and strategically.

Deans/directors at schools across the country, were given a chance to respond to the election of Donald Trump. junegrant saw the initial batch of respondents as a missed opportunity "why aren't the HBCU's included?...get out of your comfort zone". 

Similarly, Gutschow questioned "Did every Dean/Head in the US get this?...If not all schools, how did you select your list?  It seems that if we are to confront the lack of inclusion, inequality...we should do so as a collective of all schools, on all sides of the discipline, not just the 1% brands that are represented so far in this piece".
 

News
Readers got a first glimpse of Foster + Partners and Rubio Arquitectura's Museo del Prado expansion scheme. davvid criticized "Beautiful renderings of what looks like a very dull design."

If you missed out on Next Up: The LA River, Archinect Sessions' podcasting event, you can now listen to the whole thing, released in two (1 and 2) parts on One-to-One.

Marc Miller found the discussion(s) interesting overall but disagreed with them on a fundamental point

"One of the interesting parts about listening to the interviewees was ascertain their trust of the current plan and it's internal process...What was really interesting was the broader interpretation of the river...And they're all wrong- design for when the river is a fullest and let the citizens celebrate at the waters edge".

For 2017, the AIA Gold Medal, which honors an individual's outstanding body of work that has influenced architecture theory and practice, was awarded posthumously to architect Paul Revere Williams, the first African-American recipient.

Moreau Kusunoki responded to the latest developments in the Guggenheim Helsinki saga. h2osuperfly _ couldn’t help wondering "How many thousands of hours of free work went into this fiasco?"

The South Yard in Nanning, China by Advanced Architecture Lab; Co-design: Zhou Chao, Atelier UPA and 70s Modern in Abington, PA by Irwin Stein; Renovation: Moto Designshop Inc. are just two projects from the latest Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Architect Sure!" Pinterest Board.

Firms/Work Updates
The latest post by Olaf Design Ninja_ referenced John M. Johansen like architecture, Gottfried Leibniz’s monadology and the neuroscience of creativity and free-will.

Recently David Curtis, Volunteered at camp school, Standing Rock while Shahram Zarkesh worked on Villa SD.

James Pereira started a blog Elemental Urbanism. Somewhat pessimistically he prophesied "In time, what will be left behind are abandoned high-end waterfront towers and developers will soon be drained dry." then goes on to write "The basic concept of an elemental refers to the ancient idea of elements as fundamental building blocks of nature.  In the system prevailing in the Classical world, there were four elements: fire, earth, air, and water.  Today, in terms of environment, these elements would include global warming, economic conditions, regulations/government, and migration to name a few."

For those looking for work, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation is looking to hire an Assistant Architect. Or on a related note, PBDW Architects need an Intermediate Preservation Architect.
 

School/Blogs
Over at the newishh blog affiliated with UNM SA+P, Shreya Bhaskare shared some work (hers and other students) from a 200 Level (Studio 201). The brief was to study and understand the complexities of a natural setting (Bosque del Apache).

SCI-Arc announced a full-tuition scholarship for LAUSD students. Orhan Ayyüce thought it was "Fantastic news. I hope there is a parellel one extends to transfer students from LACCD."
 

Discussions/Threads
A couple of folks had questions about the path/system to licensing and what the possible downside(s) could be? shellarchitect advised "get your license before anything else. It's extremely time consuming and every year that it gets put off it becomes even harder. I personally know a ton of people who will prob never get licensed because they've been out of school for years and have family/work obligations." Most folks agreed the main issue was legal liability, specifically "you will likely be held to a higher standard of care if you are ever sued".

Everyday Intern raised a potential concern about overtime compensation vs salary. Others that stress levels may rise, perhaps in parallel with amount of time spent "Waiting on checks".

Back in the end of October Kozumelle started a thread to discuss the gender politics of guest crits. Josh Mings admitted "Sexism is still rampant in architecture." but believes things are getting better. natematt’s has definitely "seen pretty clear preferential treatment in both directions in school. Men for men and men for women, never much bias from female professors though. The majority was favoring men". bpete concluded that what was needed "are jurors who are willing to call out their colleagues".

Finally, shellarchitect was looking for tips regarding continuous insulation and the 2015 iecc. TedTedTed felt this was one of the most infuriating posts in the history of Archinect, which he characterized thusly "Hey, help me pass this ComCheck (or ResCheck) by gaming the system.  I don't actually care enough to design a building that will function well." Lately he and WoodGuy have both been leaning towards Roxul or Mineral Wool insulation for the environmental benefits.
 

Additionally
You might be interested in digging into the contents of @SocietyandSpace virtual issues on immigration, prisons, queer/feminist geogs & more. Which are all now free to access.