For a recent edition of the In Focus series, Katherine Guimapang highlighted the work of London and New York-based photographer Kevin Scott. Gary Garvin felt they were "Wonderful, wonderful pictures..What better way to appreciate the reflective potential of the pool of Cuadra San Cristobal than with a white horse? I will remember this building now and the picture a long time."

Plus, Sean Joyner provided a guide to the Job Title of Job Captain. mightyaa chimed in "A lot of firms use the title Job Captain as a slot for higher paid technical staff member; this member doesn't have to be licensed or hold a architect degree...Due to fee structures".

News

Over at the NYT, Lauren Messman took a look at the renovated Seattle Asian Art Museum ahead of its grand reopening.

There was quite a kerfuffle over a report that President Donald Trump was considering a new executive order, with the goal of making classicism the "preferred and default style" for new and upgraded federal buildings. Donna Sink cut to the chase "The key issue here: nobody is saying Classical architecture is *bad*, but some people are saying *only* Classical architecture is good. We can obviously have both - unless a dictator says we can't."

The AIA published a strongly worded letter in opposition and The National Trust for Historic Preservation, NOMA, and ASLA all came out against the idea. Even Michael Lykoudis, Dean of the classical architecture-focused School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame, wrote that the planned executive order fills him with "great dismay."

Unfortunately, as midlander noted "The fact that potentially sympathetic experts disagree with a policy has never stopped Trump, and probably emboldens him. But this is nice piece with nuanced thought." For his part, Antonio Pacheco went "meta-critic" ending with this suggestion "So, rather than debating around the edges of style and taste, perhaps Americans should work to revive and re-envision the role of public architecture in our society from top to bottom, first."

citizen described Faulders Studio's striking new facade (for a parking structure) in Miami, as "Rorschach meets Haring meets homicide chalk outline.  I like it". They were also glad to see "A floor plan! +++" included with the post.

Defending the work of writer Anne C. Bailey and photographer Dannielle Bowman, Edward Singer clarified

"Arguing about classical architectures link to slavery completely misses the point of the article...This is the point of the article, that these places have been erased from the landscape. There is a reason they preserved many of the concentration camps, so we remember what took place there. The sites of similar atrocities in our backyards however have largely been erased from public memory without us ever having to reconcile our own complicity with them."

The January AIA ABI report, with a score of 52.2, showed the AEC industry to be growing at a modest clip. Though one wonders, what the effects of the global Coronavirus have been since...?

R.I.P. Yona Friedman. babjirao remembered "Personal loss for me. Yona is my Guru. Very fortunate to work with Yona in Paris - in his House - on a real project - which he did for Compagnie  Dubonnet Cinzano (CDC) in Ivry Sur Seinne".

Elk Valley Tractor Shed in Hood River, OR by FIELDWORK Design & Architecture and Operable Boundary in New York, NY by Dean/Wolf Architects are just two of the latest top images (in no particular order) from the Archinect Pinterest board Doors & Gates.

Blogs/Firms/Updates/Work

Back in late January, Phillip Skein was working on Hope School, Rwanda, while Takeshi Kondo on "Some drawings".

Hoffman Architects summarized the impacts of a new rule adopted on January 14, 2020, which enacted substantial changes to the inspection and reporting requirements for FISP, commonly known as Local Law 11. Changes include better regulations related to things like SWARMP conditions, QEWI selfies and how "Like restaurant health grades, facade condition status must now be posted in the lobby or vestibule of the building, within 30 days of issuance".

Make Architects has completed The Link, a tranquil walkway that replaces part of a multi-level car park and creates a more accessible, engaging entrance, at Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne.

If you are looking for a position as an Intermediate / Mid-Level Architect, consider applying to work at; Diller Scofidio + Renfro or Soho House & Co.

Or perhaps Laufs Engineering Design, where you would specialize in "façades and waterproofing"?

School/Blogs

University of Toronto, Texas Tech University, University of Houston and Princeton, created the top four (in that order) most popular posters featured in the Fall '19 Get Lectured series.

Kirill Volchinskiy, AIA, an instructor/lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona, wrote about student work from a studio for which "The course objective was to engage second-year students in advanced digital processes starting from drawing conventions of complex geometries to three-dimensional physical models, studying the relationship between the drawings and model itself." So naturally students started with "Donor geometry derived from fonts".

Architect, urbanist, and New Urbanism proponent Stefanos Polyzoides was chosen to lead the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, effective July 1st. Thayer-D was pleased "It's nice to see a Dean...coming from the world of architecture rather than up through the academic track for a change, especially one with such a great body of work...Gives one hope."

Discussion/Threads

leonizer had a question about the level of knowledge required in dealing with MEP, for architects. bowling_ball and Wood Guy agreed "1000%" with Non Sequitur’s answer. In other words "Sorry if that means the M has to actually do some calcs and resize the ducts but I ain't lowering my ceiling 10" because you're too lazy to make the effort. Literally a conversation I have in every project."

On a related note, connorotoole25 was looking for Help with structural beam calculations. He later admitted "I'm not educated in the architecture sector but have dealt with stress and strain in engineering before but it's all a bit lost to me at the moment". Which makes sense, since a number of 'Nectors indicated that the required simple formulas would have been covered in school. Others advised him to hire a structural engineer.

HolisticDesign wanted to know "How are all of you addressing exposed concrete with continuous insulation?" in relation to the 2018 IECC. archanonymous confirmed "yeah, it is very difficult to pull off with prescriptive CI in exterior wall assemblies. Even precast sandwich panels don't meet the letter of the code." One suggestion was to "Try a performance based approach". The Cascadia Clip®  or some other form of a thermally broken standoff, was therefore recommended by some. Also, "It's encouraging to hear that the newer energy codes are doing what they were designed to do--prioritize energy efficiency over architectural vanity."

Finally, Sean Joyner whose doing research on “alternative work models in architecture" asked "Does anyone work in a firm with a 4 day workweek where 32 hours is considered ‘full-time?’ My assumption is that this does not exist in the US, but I really want to be proven wrong."

whistler answered "My office has mandated a 4 day work week for the last 20 years...typically...10hr days.  Everyone is way more productive". Others like midlander or Archlandia have experience with a similar schedule but pay was adjusted accordingly. tintt added "I typically work between 4 and 14 hour days. I have no idea if I work 40 hours a week or not and don't care to know. Work gets done, I feel rested and satisfied." Which atelier nobody argued "is what salaried work is supposed to look like, unlike the more prevalent treatment of salaried employees as nothing but free overtime."