News
Following a drop of almost a full point in June, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) fell again by more than a point in July. allSTAR believes "its time to get creative with business strategies and contracts. also not a bad time to hire risk managers"

The Cupertino City Council announced that Apple Inc. has submitted a development proposal for their new Apple Campus. Orhan Ayyüce quipped "I can't help thinking a cubicle smasher." and sameolddoctor commented "Death Star + Pentagon".

To the news that the Passivhaus Institute PHI, has ended their relationship with the Passive House Institute United States (PHIUS) which will no longer be able to provide building certifications, sevensixfive tweeted "it sounds to me, after reading a few articles, that the whole fight is over the damn software." and furthermore "This Passive House fight is just another example of proprietary formats, standards, and certification monopolies killing architecture." 

However, Emily Kemper disagreed, arguing "One of the reasons cited in the separation is the "competing professional certification scheme", which is a partnership that PHIUS entered into with a group about a month ago to offer "Energy Performance Scores" on homes.  The labeling of homes is a hot-button topic in the U.S. right now, and in my humble opinion, it doesn't serve the integrity of the Passivhaus standard to associate with a politically charged and unsettled labeling system." Meanwhile jump commented "children and adults its so hard to tell the difference.  no wonder the planet is fucked."

PayPal founder Peter Thiel is working closely with the Seasteading Institute to create sovereign nations in international waters, free from the laws of any country and has invested $1.25 Million to create floating micronations. 18x32 thought its "Ironic, given PayPal's own policies on international accounts. They won't verify a shipping address that is in a different country than your bank account, for one, so if you tried to link an account on this micronation to your PayPal account, you would be required to drop in for a visit everytime a package was delivered. Also, these are some pretty ugly-looking designs."
royc just got snarky and said "Gee, I wonder why a super-rich international corporate leader would want to pay for (literal) offshore tax havens..."

Schools/School Blogs
Samuel at University of Tennessee provided information on the date for the official ribbon cutting (less than a week away) for the New Norris House.

Lian at Harvard's GSD reflected on the end of the summer and how her earlier bicycle accident and subsequent broken bones re-calibrated her sense of motion. She writes "So I've had, as you can imagine, plenty of time to consider how motion, and mobility, enact both space and time. And how our experience of both grows directly from our ability to move, whether under our own power, assisted by mechanical advantage of a bicycle, the motor of a private vehicle, or the tedious rhythm of public transit." Lian also shared a link to an interview she did, with Bryan Bell, Design Corps founder and 2011 AIA Latrobe Prize winner, for the Boston Society of Architects.

Firms/Work Updates
Dan Brunn Architect, completed a full remodel of an existing ranch style house, into a more open plan, in the Encino Hills within 6 months. The end result Hayvenhurst, is a house that feels brand new, all while staying within their client's budget.

Check out the Primary Substation for 2012 London Olympics, which was completed back in 2009 under strict time and budgetary constraints, by Robin Lee Architecture.

Guy Horton, recently worked on a new book which is now out on Amazon. Titled The Real Architect's Handbook: Things I Didn't Learn in Architecture School, it is an honest and hilarious look at the profession...but serious, too.

Jeffrey Butts Jr, is moving to India next month to start new job!

Back in 2008 form environment research (fer) studio, completed The Green Building which was the first LEED Platinum project in the city of Louisville and the first LEED certified adaptive re-use project in the state of Kentucky.

Discussion Threads
Ryan002, has been reading reading Benjamin (Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and wants to talk about Architecture and Reproduction. Specifically, "In an age where everything can be easily reproduced, how has architecture been affected, particularly in terms of aesthetics?" trace™ responded "Homes and buildings are still assembled by hand, more or less, so until that changes (or they figure out a way to ship things larger than a flat bed) "mechanical reproduction" will be limited to small items and details. So "no", it has not done anything for architecture." While TED wrote "I think you all are taking Benjamin too literal and thinking flat pack and all - which is not at all what he was talking about [where's Javier when you need a good Marxist interpretation!] Benjamin, writing in 1936 was writing about the impact of capitalism on culture and society. While this can mean production in the literal sense, mass housing in the US falls very much within the loss of Aura - and much more to the point we become machines."

Over on Thread Central, Donna Sink divulged the super-secret project she is working on as local architect-of-record. The Indianapolis Museum of Art commissioned Visiondivision  to create an innovative concession stand for 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. The result is Chop Stix. Also posted to the Archinect new-feed here.

Living in Gin will be visiting London and is looking for London Firms Doing Transportation Design. pettydesign suggested "Talk to Allies and Morrison. I worked for them for a few years and they have a crossrail project as well as recently completing Kings Cross. Not starchitect, but very british style of thought and work. Almost unknown in the US, but one of the big guys in the UK. Plus the glass box office was nice to work in." The thread also got into the in and outs of getting a UK working visa and licensure registration in the UK.

wurdan freo asked for input or secrets on how to keep the plan review people happy including any stories from the field.  To which curtkram, commented "being courteous helps (moreso if you work with the reviewer often so they know you), but the first step is to understand the code and design to it. I've changed the mind of the reviewer several times by simply quoting the code book, but ultimately they're the AHJ." Meanwhile, won and done williams explained "Pretty simple. Design to code. Have clear, consistent drawings. If you are talking site plan review, read the zoning ordinance. The whole thing, not just the partsyou care about. Yes, most city's have some form of design guidelines. Know them. Obey them. Design to them."

Finally, Steven Ward, pointed out "the big challenge is when there is interpretive room. i just came through a review incident this week in which our understanding of the code differed somewhat from the authority looking at it...key was that both i and the reviewer kept it conversational, we both respect each other and know that the other is knowledgeable, and we led each other to the passages of code that gave us the interpretations we supported...neither of us ever closed the door to further discussion and both of us had room to move (even if only a little)...a code review is NOT the time to stop thinking about design. if there is an issue, be familiar enough with the relevant passages of code to design your way out of it. a really smart design solution can be a win for both parties. sometimes the result won't be exactly what you intended, but it will be a lot better than where you might end up if you dig in your heels."