Jamie Chan connected with sixteen women, ranging from current and former students, professors and deans, about What It Means To Be Female in Architecture School.

"What is clear is that we are in the midst of a generational shift, with more people paying attention to female leaders in the field" yet she acknowledges "that there is much work to be done."

Sitting Duck felt it "A comprehensive audit of testimonies of where we stand" and while Janosh seemed to agree, also suggested "it would have been great to hear some acknowledgement that the high cost of architectural education and its failure to prepare individuals for practice is a major contributor to the lack of diversity in practice."

Plus, Archinect released a new anonymous survey "in order to assess the profession’s current economic condition" with promises to "present our findings and analysis" once enough responses are gathered and the data has been compiled.

News

‘Nectors were fans of SOM's Schwarzman College of Computing at MIT but the "flybys" weren't doing it for sameolddoctor who couldn't agree with the consensus take "Sorry to be the outlier here...this is boring AF."

In case you didn’t realize "The principal of Dubbeldam Architecture + Design is Heather Dubbeldam, not Winka Dubbeldam" and that doesn’t make the featured cabin in rural Ontario, Canada any less lovely.

While Alan Loomis was pleased to read about a push to restore César Pellis’ San Bernardino City Hall he quibbled with calling it a "masterpiece". Later admitting "it is a significant building in the middle of Downtown and its present vacant state does not help the situation. It's restoration as the seat of local government would be most welcome to the overall physical shape of Downtown San Bernardino. This is happy news."

Loughborough University has partnered with Thomas Heatherwick's Humanise campaign, as part of it’s new Master of Architecture & Design program.

monosierra appreciates the goal…but argues "Heatherwick is probably one of the worst practitioners to lead the vanguard - he still operates at the scale of tabletop objects and consequently, his architecture comprises cute toys blown up to the scale of buildings. Mind you, his company employs some of the best minds in digital fabrication and design. But with the key man more of a toymaker than a designer, the firm's work is stymied by the dreams and limitations of its founder."

In response to BIG critics, Will Galloway found himself making the case for them, twice.

First, he clarifies that their "new remote hotel concept on Sagi Island, Japan…is where a lot of beautiful architectural resorts are located. If there is a plague the architects arent the ones leaving the scars. Quite the opposite, truth be told…Feel free to mock the ridiculous PR text if you like. Its badly written. The design itself is nice."

Later weighing in on KING Toronto "Been watching this go up on my morning runs through the city. It looks great in person…The urban planning that comes with the project is also really strong…Unit plans are also much better than is normal in Toronto…All in all this project is excellent and it has done a lot more within the market than most architects will ever bother with. If anything we need more housing of this quality, not less."

The fact(s) that Studio Libeskind’s latest in Brooklyn was designed to Passive House standards and is a "social housing" project, didn't seem to matter to most. Though reallynotmyname did offer some qualified praise

"probably...nicest building in this particular NYCHA public housing complex, which isn't saying much. I'll grant that the architects probably had to work within heavy budget and programmatic restrictions."

Coincidence? Two of the latest top images (in no particular order) from the Archinect Pinterest board Living Spaces are The Glass Cabin by Mjölk architekti and Internal Landscape Villa by Atelier Štěpán (both located in Czech Republic).

Blogs/Firms/Work Updates

Mitch McEwen continued her explorations into how "A croissant, in some instances, becomes a logistical issue–  even one of global import." In part iii she explains "It would take a careful historian to explain the dynamics or even capitalize the locations correctly, and I am not a historian.  I have never been to Israel or Palestine.  What makes any of this spatial analysis or reading legitimate? These questions– as specific as they are to Gaza or Jerusalem or Detroit– might also be asked of a croissant."

ICYMI, Quattrocchi Kwok Architects released an updated "Social Justice Label 2.0" from the International Living Future Institute highlighting their progress on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals.

Cristina Cotruta started a blog. The first two posts covered The Age of Post-Human as well as her early Design Dialogues with ChatGPT and more. She writes "Embracing AI-driven technologies as integral components of our toolkit not only empowers us as architects but also serves as a direct conduit to fostering national growth and prosperity…By leveraging AI in design, we not only expedite project timelines but also unlock unprecedented levels of creativity and efficiency, laying the groundwork for sustained economic expansion."

Are you an experienced (with 9 to 10 years) Project Manager, looking for a new gig?

• Frida Escobedo Studio is looking to hire for their NYC office with a starting salary between "$125,000 - $150,000 annually" while on the West Coast, Open Office is also hiring.

Or, for someone with less experience (2-5 years), Honghong Design wants to hire a Junior / Intermediate Architectural Designer.

Schools

Marywood University launched a new Bachelor of Virtual Architecture program, the first-ever undergraduate degree-granting academic program dedicated to training students in virtual architecture.

In hiring news, The New School announced Joel Towers as its tenth President and Jose Castillo will be the new Department of Architecture Chair at Cornell University.

Looking for work? The University of Hong Kong still has 6 openings and while application review may have started, it was also extended until June 30, 2024, for at least a few.

Discussion/Threads

WiscoArchy, a first time poster, needed advice after being "offered ownership at my current firm...at only 27 years old."

Anywhere from 18 months to 5 years (for due diligence, lawyers, mentorship etc.) seems to be a reasonable timeline based on others experience, if OP’s firm is serious. As Josh Mings emphasized "if they're expecting a snap answer... that's a red flag". For his part Chad Miller had at least 8 follow-up questions adding "If this is just a profit sharing buy in your hours shouldn't increase at all." ghwarton suggested "If you decide to say yes, consider being open about the side residential work and using that as equity for your buy-in (bringing your side practice into the company as project revenue, in return for ownership shares)."

archanonymous wanted to try something new "We've had the other thread" and so wanted to know "tell me why you continue to work for someone else." Bench was amused "funny, I was actually thinking the same thing in terms of threads. No shade or anything…the insight was great and i really value reading about it."

A number of folks highlighted the difference in scale/scope as one key reason, with Wilma Butfitt writing "As someone who’s been on my own, I’m now considering going back to not on my own. Mostly to work on bigger projects". EveryDay Architect would only be interested "to go out on my own…if I decided I wanted to work as a third-party consultant rather than as an in-house employee. I've seriously thought about it, and I could probably make more money that way, but I'd also have to worry about running a business rather than just getting my work done, and that doesn't appeal to me."

Finally, Donna Sink had a chance to visit The Shepherd, a new art center in Detroit, and shared info, pics and some review(s) "The whole place is done with topnotch attention to detail, material, and craft…The landscaping is so gorgeous…a totally perfect event."