In Archinect's latest feature Color in Architecture — More Than Just Decoration,  Frank H. Mahnke (author of COLOR, Environment, & Human Response) explores the links between color, space and human neuropsychology. For more information check out the interdisciplinary education/accreditation program known as IACC Academy for Color and Environment. anf thought it was a "Great article... fits in well with the themes and topics being explored over at the Architectural Association's Research Cluster on Colour in Architecture and Urbanism, ‘Saturated Space’'”.

News
The Architects’ Journal surveyed the British public and reported that It’s true: people don’t know what architects do Rusty Shackleford quipped "To be fair, 98% of architecture students and 95% of their professors have no idea what architects actually do" but Will Galloway answered "only in the usa rusty.  we're all licensed architects here. i would bet the numbers are even lower here". Stephan Pezdek meanwhile, believes "people realize we design buildings, but just have no idea what it takes to actually build one".

Korean architect Seung Hyo-Sang will attend the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, as the only Korean architect invited to the exhibit. There he will present 10 homes he has designed and seek to focus on the ethics of architecture. In a recent interview he relayed his original hesitation in accepting the invitation explaining "I thought the European architecture world doesn’t respect Asian architecture. After hesitating, I decided to go and discuss Asian architectural values that aren’t found in Western architecture". job job noted that he found himself in "agreement with the above comments. I also hope that he avoids the track of making spurious claims that only reinforces the exoticism of oriental traditions, whatever that may be. The latest Pritzker winner was a more intriguing figure before his speech about sentimental crafts, and no single architect in Asia should ever need to take the burden of representing a very disparate region."

In As The Shopping Mall Turns 60 (and Prepares to Retire) Emily Badger mused on how the Vienna-born architect Victor Gruen idea transformed American consumption patterns and much of the environment around us. Yet at age 60, it appears as if the enclosed regional shopping mall may have lost it’s popularity. Eric Chavkin related another legacy of Gruen "Gruen also left a legacy to SCI-Arc; his library. When SCI-Arc was going thru the accreditation process the school was told the library needed more books, At first  the SCI-Arc library was books donated by the faculty but to be accredited the school needed more volumes, The library of late Victor Gruen filled that quota." For his part Orhan Ayyüce commented "I love shopping malls. It is a good place to verify one's thoughts on consumerism and trends. In fact, I am on my way to Glendale Galleria to meet my friend Aram who has done some studies on that particular mall."

The Australian Institute of Architects unveiled plans and preview images of its exhibition, Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture, which will open at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale this August. The projects included; "A live roaming radio show", "A complex robotically fabricated sculptural installation" and "A touring team consulting local Venetians about ways to improve their homes, educating the public about connections between housing design and health issues’ amongst others". For her part Donna Sink totally wants to "ride that little hanging bike thingamajig".

Work/Firms/Blogs
Kevin Havens, Director of Design; Wight & Company wrote about Early Childhood Center (ECC)s, Not a Preschool, But a Prelude to Success. Mr. Havens went on to emphasize a "learning villages" model such as the one employed at the Wight-designed Ann Reid ECC in Naperville, Ill.

Wei Yi Tseng a recent graduate of Syracuse University, recently worked on ...SIAC: 1/2 scale model.

amlocke announced The Beginning of a Journey starting July 26th. Specifically an Indo Inquisition via thirteen-week train expedition across India. The journey will document the influences of international modernism and British occupation...

lawrencewspeck wrote about Building with High Thermal Mass in a Hot, Humid Climate, His firm PageSoutherlandPage used high thermal mass concrete walls for a recent project and the results so far look good "Architecturally, the concrete has a beautiful look and feel, which we didn’t fuss up at all...the temperature is approaching 100 degrees outside, the building interior is surprisingly cool." MODEBRISER commented "This is a great idea...it would be great to know more about how these mass walls will read in the form and materials of the spaces."

Schools/School Blogs
Goswin alerted readers to the fact that the deadline to apply for The Architectural Association Summer School in Nice France - Love & Crime. BASTA! -  is Deadline: 29th of July.

Lian Chikako Chang a Harvard GSD blogger, alerted us to the recent publication of a chat she had with with Eric Höweler (Höweler + Yoon Architecture), Patrick McCafferty (Arup Boston), Jason Smith (Commodore Builders), and Tom Couturier (Couturier Iron Craft) about their collaboration on the stair and centerpiece of the Boston Society of Architect's new headquarters--the BSA Space, over the summer. Therein Höweler, admitted "If the stair seems sort of fetishized, I think it is…. We were hyperconscious of the fact that this is the BSA"...

While in Barcelona, Chris DeHenzel interviewed Miguel Usandizaga, Professor of Architecture at ETSAV-UPC, who with Jose Maria Garcia Fuentes, authored a book titled Architectural Design of Markets, 2005-2010. Chris interviewed Mr. Usandizaga because the research and design proposals presented in that publication have contributed to the "Barcelona model for Market Renovation".

Discussions
Thread Central spent a bunch of time figuring out all the buildings in the The Architecture Alphabet by 99% Invisible Podcast dude. Posted by curtkram who got "about half.  isn't 'N' at disney?  and 'O' is every building in london after wren rebuilt after the fire.", larslarson felt it seemed "a bit too NY centric." and Emilio "got stumped on some of the same letters mentioned above" but couldn’t believe "how many in an architecture forum don't recognize Neutra's Kaufmann House, an icon of postwar Modernism."

monnoo restarted an old thread regarding koolhaas' Junkspace. monnoo started things off "Koolhaas shows us that modernism and postmodernism has to be finished. He is an ex-static ex-modern...Heterotopia is not a theory either...So far, I did not see any theory in architecture. (Most of) Architecture is still in a stage which could be called ‘phenomenological’" to which gwharton retorted "Junkspace is anything designed by Rem Koolhaas...Are you familiar with the Sokal Hoax?"

Quondam then entered the fray and declared "Conversely, Junkspace is not a synthesis, but rather a by-product, an undesigned residue paradoxically emanating from our ever-expanding (overly?) designed built environment. Junkspace is there although no one specifically designed it, yet it might not be there so much if designers weren't so intent on designing everything[?]."

Finally, Transparence started a thread with the following provocation Ancient buildings were more beautiful than new ones, do you agree with this? bob/bob agreed "One thing that makes my Midwestern American city so attractive is the quality of the historic buildings...Anyway, my point is that lots happened between the fall of Rome and Bilbao that is also worthy of consideration." though there is no there pointed out "There were plenty of buildings through the years that weren't built to last nor beautiful. Only the ones that were built to last and worth keeping, lasted."