For his first feature, Antonio Pacheco (Archinect’s new Managing Editor) takes readers Inside the Plan to Save LA’s Southwest Museum, since a 2003 merger, known as the Autry Museum of the American West.

Plus, Katherine Guimapang chatted with Jennifer Bonner about the power of alternative teaching methods, pedagogy, her role at Harvard GSD, and more. Bonner closed by describing her work/practice with three phrases: "Pictorially graphic," "Out of Place," and "Funnily Scaled."

Some readers wanted to get into an argument over academia vs practice and the importance of licensure when teaching, however as jla-x noted "who cares if she is licensed or not.  I really like her work. It’s sort of POMO, but without all the fuss. It’s elemental and referential at the same time...but then takes a poop on the purity of doing that by disrupting the rhythms  and playing with colors...Fun stuff...fuck licensure."

News

In light of #MeToo and in order to better assess "professional character in practice and during award recognition" the AIA announced efforts towards improving review standards on how architects will be selected for awards. More than one person felt

"It's an important move and I hope it leads to much broader introspection. Architecture is a cloistered profession and has become just a group of the same people reinforcing and congratulating one another...I think a great first step would be having AIA Awards juries contain 2/3s non-architects".

Carmody Groake completed their project, to “dry out” and preserve the Hill House (by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh) using an enormous metal mesh enclosure/scaffolding, named the Hill House Box. Some criticized their efforts as "really daft" or "terrible". Others simply believed the result "could have been more architecturally conceived."

Biscayne Times senior writer Erik Bojnansky considered the demise of the first multifamily building designed by renowned Miami firm Arquitectonica (and its second project ever). The 37-year-old, Babylon, was demolished in July. thisisnotmyname claimed "arguably better aesthetic taste than whoever did the supersized junk buildings that now exist on either side" going on to explain "For me, Arquitectonica's work became really weak after 1986 or so, making preservation of their early stuff important."

The family of the revered South African trumpeter and cultural activist Hugh Ramapolo Masekela unveiled a memorial pavilion honoring the musician that architect David Adjaye designed. Erik Evens liked "this building.  The roof reminds me of an abstracted tree canopy."

Antonio Pacheco reported that, Spanish architects Selgascano are busy finishing out the new 90,000-square-foot Hollywood outpost, for global co-working platform Second Home. Will Galloway was into it, "Second home in London is brilliant. The serpentine pavilion was the one I thought I wouldn’t like but it is probably still my favorite in the last few years. I love the feeling that everything is carefully made but entirely un-precious. Slightly junky but not junk."

First, demand for design services in May remained essentially flat in comparison to the previous month. Then, AIA’s ABI took a dip in June, to 49.1. The good news, is that even though the new design contracts score reached a 10-month low and the project inquiries score hit a 10-year low,

AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. isn’t too worried given "current robust backlogs."

Stanley Tigerman passed away. In a sign of editorial displeasure (?) Chris Alker offered an alternative headline, "A central figure among the Chicago Seven has passed away at 89" and psteiner shared some personal memories from working

"at Archeworks with Stanley and Eva at the helm...Really going to miss his perspective and voice".

Blogs/Firms/Updates/Work

Back in June, Kimberly Algarme was working on a "...High School Expansion" while Anas Eranhikkal's House W was "under construction".

If you live in Philadelphia or are looking to move, multiple firms there have openings, including for;

• Entry-level Architectural Staff with 0-3 years of experience
• Project designers with 1-3 years of experience
• Or, a creative, talented and team-oriented interior designer, with 5-8 years’ experience

Ampdesign hyped the opening of Agency Coffee on Melrose, in Los Angeles.

Clayton & Little were recognized with a AIA 2019 National Small Project Award for their Saxum Vineyards Equipment Barn in Paso Robles, California.

Schools/Blogs

New York's Pratt Institute announced Dr. Harriet Harriss (previously of RCA London) as the new School of Architecture Dean. 

Architect, academic, and best-selling novelist Lesley Lokko was named dean (effective December 2019) of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at The City College of New York.

Donna Sink is thrilled "I'm kind of overwhelmed and enormously optimistic about so many women being named to head architecture schools in recent weeks!"

On the flip-side, Reed Kroloff is the new Dean at IIT - College of Architecture. So of course, folks quickly referenced an old essay he published in Metropolis Magazine, titled ‘Black Like Me’. archanonymous admitted

"Its pretty cringe-inducing now but meh, should be allowed to fade into the past. I think he had good intentions and sentiment expressed very poorly."

Discussion/Threads

There were a few good professional practice related threads including;

• Non-traditional job with arch degree
• Working for Starchitects
• Abuse in Professional Practice

Regarding the later, Everyday Architect reminded us all

• working 100 hour weeks is not normal in architecture
• sleeping on the floor is not normal in architecture
• feeling threatened that your job will be outsourced to another country is not normal in architecture
• thinking architecture is a zero sum game is not normal

Plus, archanonymous dished "Currently working for a borderline starchitect as a mid-levelish person. All i'll say is i've already realized there is an expiration date on this experience."

Based on some personal experience, Dangermouse wondered whether "the star architecture staffers club been replaced by the famous Instagram collaborators club?" randomised clarified

"Collaborators are not the same as unpaid interns, for a first they get paid…" That being said, there are potential downsides to the gig-economy including being clear on "the rights and responsibilities of both parties in an employer-independent contractor relationship. Most architects, however, seem pretty clueless on the matter. They will also resist crediting you".

Finally, Susz was looking to find "projects that have reused / grafted relics of an existing facade onto a new wall/facade/building" similar to Medieval Mile Museum Kilkenny Ireland by Mccullough Mulvin Architects.

senjohnblutarsky pointed out that the "remains of the Hotel Esplanade were moved and incorporated into the Sony Center in Berlin." Gonzalo Samaniego suggested The Museum in Gibellina Nuova by Fancesco Venezia "absolutely beautiful. He reused elements from the old Gibellina, a town that was devastated by an earthquake."

Additionally

Over at Real Life magazine, Julia Foote explores Ghosts of the Future aka why The smart home is a haunted house.

To wit;

"the smart home would seem to be the opposite of the Gothic, which takes place in crumbling mansions and historic castles. But the true locus of the Gothic is not in these old buildings, but in the revenants that haunt them — and just as Gothic ghosts remind us of pasts that we may rather forget, the AIs that run our sleek smart homes force us to confront the human cost of our modern technology."