Ed #3 ‘Normal’ published an excerpt from Ignacio G. Galán’s Interview with Jim LeBrecht about the recently released documentary, 'Crip Camp' exploring his experience at Camp Jened, a summer camp for people with disabilities aka a "crip camp" not a "straight camp". These issues are personal for Erick Mikiten who commented

"important ideas about the architecture of inclusion. I'm an architect in Berkeley...have used a wheelchair my whole life..the ADA is a set of requirements that are bare minimums; not perfection by any means...far short of the goals of Universal Design...Done right, access is profoundly beautiful".

Plus, Esther Sperber argued that in the case of the top "illegal" 20 floors of 200 Amsterdam Avenue, we should Move the Conversation From Demolition to Creating More Affordable Housing. She even proposed plans for converting the current 3 large apartments per floor to 8 smaller apartments per floor. midlander for one, totally agreed "with the basic premise of this piece" and Thayer-D also approved "an interesting idea, especially of ensuring a mixed income set up." 

News

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects are the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize winners. Although kenchiku was "Looking forward to the El Croquis issue on their work that will surely come out" Erik Evens was a bit more conflicted "I'm really glad that a firm led by very accomplished female architects have won the Pritzker. I am not a fan of their work, however."

'Nectors continued to talk all things Taliesin School of Architecture Board closure. First, we learned that the Board of Directors for the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT) voted to rescind their previous decision to close its facilities.

When, the Foundation issued a lengthy response then doubled down, sleepyinillinois had feelings, specifically "Closing of this school is a sin.  Agree with the comments made by Emma Lee. The people on the Foundation are clueless."

Volunteer found it illuminating that the AIA had "not commented at all about the school's proposed closing...says volumes". More profoundly the whole episode led liberty bell to conclude "Stuart Graff and the entire Foundation can go to hell."

If like so many, you are locked-down hunting for content/for something to watch; Los Angeles-based critic/curator Mimi Zeiger has developed Feminisms: 1974 to Now, a curated video playlist of lectures that have taken place at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) over the decades highlighting "feminist thought and dialogue" at the institution.

In economic news, February's ABI data wasn't bad but didn't account for the now global COVID-19 pandemic. By the middle of March, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management issued a revised economic forecast stating that the US economy had already stopped growing and will "remain in recession through the end of September”.

Later in the month, the AIA released a range of data showing how the crisis has not only thoroughly impacted the day-to-day functions of the architecture industry, but has also imperiled its short-term economic future.

R.I.P. to all those that have passed away as a result of this COVID-19 pandemic including; Henry Cobb, Vittorio Gregotti, Michael Sorkin and Boston City Hall co-designer Michael McKinnell.

George Dodds lamented "Gregotti wrote and practiced a middle ground that argued for the value of architecture engaged in the complexities and nuances of site. There is so much that students of architecture could and should learn from his legacy of word and image" while Chemex mourned Sorkin "Can't think of a greater architect-critic. Though there are many imitators."

Sharing Architecture by Ogulshat Amanova and Thesis: Gangster's Paradise by Simone Salame are just two of the latest top images (in no particular order) from the board Student Work.

Blogs/Firms/Updates/Work

ICYMI, Log 48: ‘Expanding Modes of Practice’ guest edited by Bryony Roberts is out now.

Recently, Sayjel Vijay Patel shared a video for their ‘Emoting City’ collaborative project, while Zuzana Jurova an image for an "outdoor art school space".

For those, perhaps, newly looking for work consider the following opportunities;

• The Friends of the High Line is looking for a new Director of Strategic Planning.

• Maybe, Director of Retail Design at Capital One?

• Or, working as a Workplace Innovations Lead? Note, though this position is located at an R+D Lab on the premises of a large tech company in Mountain View, CA, you are employed through XL Construction.

School/Blogs

CUNY City Tech announced the start of a B.Arch program. Interested? First year (freshman) applications will be accepted in December 2020.

Blaine Brownell has been named as the new director of the School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s College of Arts + Architecture.

Discussion/Threads

Bench wants to celebrate "a big, bold, sexy window frame protruding from a wall." citizen offered up a "good explanation" of how one achieves the look "Whereas a conventional approach would be 1) wall, and 2) window assembly in wall opening, the above image would be 1) wall, 2) separately designed and built frame feature, and 3) glazing assembly set within."

mo95 wondered whether "computational architects...get higher salary than normal architecture designers ?" Contra some jokesters, monosierra advised they "are real positions, highly specialized and increasingly common in large offices...Pay-wise, I think most of these professionals already have a few years of experience under their belt - or possess specialized degrees. Therefore...salary tends to be higher than other entry-level positions."

Finally, there was lots of chatter regarding the elephant in the room. Back at the beginning of March, folks like threeohdoor were already asking "What happens when a construction team gets Covid?...someone has to haul that gyp up to the 3rd floor...When the first big construction site in a city gets the bug, everything will begin to seize up." b3tadine[sutures] started a thread with "Well, it's time to start planning" which of course included posts on "TP. whiskey. Wine. Sanitizers. All the important ones!"

mightyaa reported their first "cancellation...I get it... Felt really doom and gloom though". Things got so bad, that we dedicated a whole thread just to COVID-19 Lay-offs. From Chicago to Los Angeles, NYC to Western Colorado, to even Ontario, 'Nectors all chimed in with stories of furloughs, job losses, project freezes et al. archi_dude drew a distinction with 2008 "The issue is that unlike past recessions that have a slow creep and leaders of companies can take time to react this is a 100% shutdown reaction."

On the flipside, some firms were still hiring "but mostly for healthcare", at least as of March 24th and recruiters had even been in contact "several times in the past 2-3 weeks".