WBYA? is a coalition of architects, activists, scholars, and educators that tackle the pressing question: who builds your architecture? Check out their Critical Field Guide...

Plus, for the latest edition of Dean's List: Nicholas Korody spoke with Qingyun Ma, of the University of Southern California. Orhan Ayyüce felt them "Wise words…" while Thayer-D was intrigued "I don't think I've ever heard a dean call for beauty so unequivocally...would this prioritization over-ride your call for social impact of building and also advancements of technology?"

News
DOMO Studio was roundly criticized for it’s "softer, gentler" (aka "the Bushwick of xenophobic nationalism") for the Trump, Mexican border wall. Olaf Design Ninja_ opined "this is a poorly thought-out knock-off of age old ideas that were far more refined then this joke.  It's a joke architecturally without considering the politics behind it."

In a bit of good news, after years of uncertainty, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has had an application approved that will enable it to remain accredited.

R.I.P. Christopher Gray, wry architecture author/researcher, at age 66. And Hugh Hardy, the architect best-known for his renovation of many of New York’s most famous theatrical landmarks.

Julia Ingalls drew attention to the transparency of OMA’s refurbished arts-oriented, multi-disclipinary space "Concrete" in Dubai. A couple of commentators were interested in "photos of the interior." quondam...  wasn’t able to help but did link to some "diagrams of the intention".

An AIA and NCARB commissioned independent third-party market research, reveals that while both employees and supervisors think attaining licensure is important, employees don't think supervisors think it's important. Meanwhile the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) returned to growth mode in February, after a weak showing in January. 

Interestingly, it appears as if the Western region is showing the slowest recovery, with a low of 47.5

Pages Lane in London, UK by Kirkwood McCarthy and Harbor Houses in Aarhus, Denmark by ADEPT, are just two of the projects from the latest Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Bricks & Stones" Pinterest Board.

Firms/Work Updates
Austin Samson reawakened his blog Disruptive: An Ad-hoc Approach to Digital Computation. The two latest posts feature work of students, including from an advanced studio at the Yale School of Architecture he helped teach, lead by Hernan Diaz-Alonso with Ivan Berna.

Mitch McEwen makes reference to White Flight, Trump Tower(s), Trump Hotel(s) and "neo-fascist fake urbanism" in explaining why "our discipline is not innocent."

Steven Ward was excited "Finally in to our new office!" While Sundus Al-Bayati, recently worked on a MODULAR CONCRETE WALL with Xin Hu.

TAB1006 started a blog to share the account of a journey towards licensure, as a 35 year old, non-traditional student of architecture.

School/Blogs
The Free School of Architecture (FSA) announced its inaugural Board of Advisors for 2017–2018.

At the end of the 2016-2017 academic calendar, Wiel Arets will conclude his deanship at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture in Chicago. Good news though, Arets will join the faculty, at the onset of the 2017-2018 academic calendar.

Joachim Perez recapped Kunlé Adeyemi’s evening lecture, at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

Discussions/Threads
David Cole AIA published a three part series of threads regarding Housing Affordability for an; Entry-Level Intern Architect. Mid-Career and Managing Principal. His biggest caveat "these show what you hypothetically could buy under certain circumstances, not necessarily what you should buy."

kjdt appreciated the effort "It's an interesting thread.  While your entry-level analysis thread seems pretty straightforward, this mid-career one seems more complex to analyze...Your analysis indicates that housing would be a hardship for many mid-career architects in many places.  That's true - but in some cases I think the hardship is self-imposed - just the result of wanting too much house."

Now that StarvingDesigner is "getting closer to getting licensed", they are "curious if there are recommended go-to sources for getting custom-designed architect's stamps"? Janosh corrected "Not true. Every state is different, and some of them certainly do allow for variation and customization." mightyaa continued "In CO you can make some changes...You'll also want to work with the stamp maker because". b3tadine[sutures] recommended going old school, while arch76 had a "CA stamp done online- designed in ACAD and pushed through photoshop to create the file type at the resolution they wanted, all set up on their web site. I vaguely recall it being a raster image rather than a PDF. It cost about 25 bucks, works like a charm."

Finally, Sean Justin reviewed Andrew Atwood’s contribution to SCI-Arc’s “Drawings’ Conclusions” exhibition. He writes "To move within inches of the drawing is to reveal it’s secrets. When up close, one realizes the dabbled trails of tiny dots are in fact specific indentations in the surface of the canvas, delicately flirting with thick, raised layers of what seems to be paint. When the physical borders between the white and gray shade values become visible, they start to read as individual flat shapes, rather than rolling hills."