Cal Poly Pomona’s Department of Architecture recognized Frank Gehry with the Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence, so Mackenzie Goldberg wrote up his conversation with Orhan Ayyüce. Aram Guiragozian was grateful "I’ve always admired Gehry for how human he is. He speaks a language that is common to not just Architects but to any walk of life...Maybe the best Gehry interview is not an interview, rather a one on one conversation...Cheers guys, this was a good one."

For the latest Callouts, Konstantinos Chatzaras reviewed the Frick Collection aka "a myth of a building told inside-out, of a conglomeration of sequential pochés changing in shape, character, and function, wrapped up in a Neoclassical container, within a house by the Park."

Thayer-D complimented "A lovely write up and equally beautiful photographs.  Bring's back nice memories of a sublime place."

News

The January Architecture Billings Index showed a strong start to 2019 despite the government shutdown. Yet architecture firm billings growth softened in February, even as the ABI remained positive.

Nectors debated the fate of Jon Jerde's iconic Horton Plaza. citizen suggested a compromise "It's possible (though likely difficult) to preserve the public spaces and characteristic frontages, but still allow for major renovations behind in the leased spaces."

Inspired by the Polar Vortex of 2019, Katherine Guimapang collected 5 examples of structures designed to withstand freezing temperatures. bowling_ball wasn’t too impressed "I'm 99% certain that with the exception of the Research Station, every building I've ever designed has had to deal with worse weather than these.  We deal with it every day and it ain't no thang."

ICYMI Archinect Sessions Episode #136 featured an inspiring conversation with Theaster Gates. Marc Miller felt the episode was "Short and intense. More points made in 20 minutes than in many other episodes."

When Office Stack by Jennifer Bonner won an honorable mention in the 2019 Progressive Architecture Awards, davidcallahan complained "Jennifer's great, but it's sad to see the state of the industry when they recognize this stuff instead of her Domestic Hats series. This stuff is super weak in comparison."

R.I.P., Robert Winter, the architectural historian who spent his life chronicling Los Angeles' sweeping cityscape, at age 94. Folks remembered him as "A very nice man" with "a great sense of humor and...a talented speaker and writer."

Firms/Work Updates

John Portman & Associates announced a new leadership team "Under the leadership of Jack Portman, Chairman and CEO...with the January 2019 passing of President Grace Tan, the office transitions to the next level, recognizing these talented professionals within the firm."

While back in Feb, Anthony Nitche was working on "Mapping the Egyptian Nile: Spiritual Division from East to West" as well as  "Documenting the Alhambra Complex".

The folks over at The Midnight Charette had a chance to speak with Archinect's very own Founder/Director, Paul Petrunia about "Archinect's humble beginnings back in 1997 (22 years ago!), the problem with journalism today and the faults of internet technology, expanding Archinect into print and retail, dealing with forum moderation and trolls, and much more."

Responding to a follow-up question from Marc Miller, Paul Petrunia promised "You bring up a good point. The plan is to introduce much more transparency in the forum soon, including the moderation process and our policy/guidelines."

Mecanoo’s masterplan for Nieuw Land National Park was approved with an overwhelming majority by the Provincial Government. Over the next twenty years, the four nature reserves will gradually be connected to form a continuous park.

If you are an early, junior professional looking for work;

• It-makes is seeking to hire a full time or part time Entry Level Architect in their Los Angeles office.
• KieranTimberlake is seeking an Entry Level Design Researcher to join their office.
• wHY is looking for a Junior Designer to join their Los Angeles office to work on "mixed-use development in Watts, the East Palo Alto Youth & Cultural Center,  and The Cheech Marin Center as well as other notable galleries, homes and special projects."
• White Architecture Studio (a Flatiron-based boutique architecture studio) need to hire a Junior Architect "The candidate must have a professional architecture degree, and have legal US work status".

School/Blogs

University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning architecture faculty member Kimberly Dowdell, AIA, was inducted as president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) at the annual conference in Chicago on October 20, 2018. Her term officially started January 1, 2019.

Austin Samson shared student work from an animation course taught at Wentworth which focused "on the choreography of different spatial arrangements but animating certain techniques like intersections, carving, and section planes." wurdan freo commented "Some definitely more successful  than others, but I wonder what someone not trained in a cartesian grid system would think of these animations. Would a layman consider them architectie?"

On the occasion of Kate O’Neal’s appointment as Chief Advancement Officer, SCI-Arc Director Hernan Diaz Alonso explained the mission/vision "With an ever-expanding institution, SCI-Arc’s next frontier will be to tackle the problem of the increased expenses of tuition and improve the conditions of scholarships for our students, as well as to elevate the presence of our school as an active cultural leader in LA and beyond...Kate is fantastically equipped to lead these efforts for SCI-Arc."

Discussion/Threads

David Bruce Lee started an open-thread for The Midnight Charette podcast with Paul on; the history of Archinect, forum moderation and trolls. Proving the point placebeyondthesplines__ decided to pick a fight with Donna Sink for some reason. Surprisingly, placebeyondthesplines__ later had a bit of a change of heart which led Wood Guy to joke "Well I'm gonna try to be more of a dick. Gotta keep the forum in balance…"

Larchinect needed to vent and so started a thread about exhaustion and burnout. Others jumped in to reflect on the challenges of running a small business in a world of "fasttrack delivery" and "fragmented pricing", as well as the benefits of developing a leadership team.

randomised added "It is totally okay to be an asshole when you are trying to reach a certain level of quality...In the end it is the quality of your past work that brings in your future client." Larchinect posted later that on reflection they didn’t think they were cutout "employer/boss". archi_dude recommended "a book called the E-Myth, why most small businesses fail. There’s a version specifically for architects."

Thread Central talked shop and the economy, with some reporting "the economy slowing a tiny bit right now - a few fewer projects popping up, by no means slow, but slowER than it has been the last few quarters." Though Rusty! clarified "Depends on market sector. On the corporate side a lot of large corporations are using the revised tax code to invest capital into facilities." OneLostArchitect chimed in "No slow down here in London area". In Canada "Ottawa is particularly crazy because the west bloc project seems to be hiring literally any fresh grad who can open a revit file, meaning the market is reverse-saturated (?) for talent" and "Seems like a great time to be working" in Toronto.

Naturally headhunting and recruiting came up, with Everyday Architect wondering if "we at peak bubble when I have to beat potential employers off with a stick?"

Additionally

A reminder (from back in 2017) by Kimberly Quick, a Senior Policy Analyst about how Exclusionary Zoning Continues Racial Segregation’s Ugly Work. h/t @alexbaca