Stefano Colombo, Eugenio Cosentino & Luca Marullo published their second text in a series conceived for Archinect on deserts and radical islands. It is a heady exploration of subcultures (ranging from Punk to Dark Valley, Dark Enlightenment and the Neoreactionaries) and how they "can be seen to possess their own cosmologies".

Chris_Teeter was impressed "this could be an intro text to an entire university course. covers a lot and summarizes it quickly and well. good work."

Plus, Nicholas Korody chatted with Moshe Safdie on the 50th Anniversary of Habitat 67, the Masterpiece He Completed at 25. Safdie reflects "It was a fairy tale. I hadn’t built a building at that time. When they did approve it". Orhan Ayyüce offered up praise "Great architect with rightfully earned respect."

News

Mackenzie Goldberg rounded up The Twitterverse Response to Obama's Presidential Library. won and done williams concluded "I take no issue with the siting or the loss of the athletic fields as long as the new building is designed to be a community asset that is welcoming to its neighbors...Not sure what all the fuss is about."

In [EQxD] related news, University of Arizona appointed Nancy Pollock-Ellwand as new Dean of College of Architecture, while Zena Howard will replace Phil Freelon as managing director of Perkins+Will's North Carolina office.

Marc Miller remarked "Long ago on another platform, I was chastised by others when I wrote optimistically about the doors that might eventually open to others because of the Freelon/Perkins + Will merger. This is exciting news is what I was speaking of, and I hope to see more of it."

Unfortunately, Dennis Rodkin of Crain's reports that husband and wife duo Stanley Tigerman and Margaret McCurry, principals of Tigerman McCurry Architects, will be shuttering their practice and retiring.

Firms/Work Updates

Over at his blog 360 ° Livable Urbanism, Mikkel Sølbeck examined using the "consensus planning method" to develop "pragmatic collective solutions".

Austin Samson shared "Final results from the robotic dab paintings" developed with his teammates.

Recently Miles Jaffe worked on a timber stool from scrap wood.

RCKa received planning approval for its redevelopment of Highgate Newtown Community Centre (HNCC) and Fresh Youth Academy (FYA) in north London, a 3,000sqm site within the Dartmouth Park Conservation Area.

Farzam Khavari opened his latest post noting We all want to be the next Starchitect! BUT HOW? His answer makes reference to Bryan Lawson’s concept of the "Pool of Precedents" and closes with "As Google Says: ‘Stand on the shoulders of giant’."

School/Blogs

Georgia Tech plugged their Instagram.

For those looking to dip their toes into academia, The School of Visual Arts is accepting applications for three different part-time Adjunct Professor positions; supporting specific undergraduate courses on Sustainable Design, Interior Design or Building and Interior Systems.

Discussions/Threads

AwniHamad is interested in specializing in "architectural psychology" and wonders what the job prospects might be? Z1111 warned "There are only a few people who do this in the real world" yet described an appealing career focused on "Creating empathetic spaces." gdub added "Perhaps, expand your online search to include neuroscience, cognitive behavior and architecture" and suggested working with ANFA affiliated faculty.

77LightTemple wanted to get serious for a minute, Have you experienced age discrimination in architecture firms"  quizzical believed "Chuck71 gets directly to the real heart of this issue...Age discrimination has a legal definition". Later LightMyFire66 listed ou "Age discrimination, sure, depends on the firm, location, superior urban-attitude, etc.  Here are some funny things I've encountered over the years...that said, age discrimination, sometimes it's bad and sometimes it is understandable.  There are almost as many 60 year old architects who are incompetent idiots as".

Finally, Tex_arch laid into "Arcom Masterspec software". chigurh didn’t sound sympathetic "Spec writing is not architecture - that is why there are specialized practitioners that make a career out of doing it." Yet, in the opinion of Everyday Intern the OP’s "complaints are off base...Arcom is not in the business of republishing or providing the standards they reference in their specifications." mightyaa argued "The advantage of ARCOM masterspec is they have already done most the legwork and research for you and have been around for decades...Yes... it's a PITA the first couple, but you quickly get used to it."