News
Janelle Zara wrote about The New Architectural Wisdom of Airports: Ikea, iPads, And Ice Skating Rinks for Art Info. aml pointed us to her "more skeptical take on contemporary airports" and airport urbanism over at her blog. Therein she argued "my main point is that airports are and should be treated as public infrastructure, and as such it’s time to demand improvements. running them like places of consumption and following retail models is unimaginative, irresponsible, and ultimately results in deteriorated service".

Steven Heller recently had a chance to talk with Alice Twemlow about What determines a solid piece of critical writing. eric chavkin felt it was a "Decent short interview" then shared "I agree there should be more discussion about design - all design, and not just the 'I like' , 'I dont like' responses typical in design blogs. Alice should read Archinect".

Bustler.net posted a list of the 2012 Recipients of the AIA Small Project Awards. Reacting to the Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church; Springdale, AR by Marlon Blackwell Architect Orhan Ayyüce posted an image of Fire Station No. 4, Columbus, Indiana, 1967, by Venturi and Rauch asking "Do you think so too? As a student FS 4 was a big deal for me and still is."

Work/Firms/Blogs
Semple Brown Design, P.C. announced that along with AECOM and Carve ( a creative and innovative design and engineering firm from the Netherlands)  they were selected as a finalist in the international design competition for an innovative $5 million playground in Denver, Colorado. noodlespace thought it looked "kind of messy" but Donna Sink argued "But it does look fun! Kids don't mind a mess".

Gregory Walker, explored the applicability of the music industry role of producer to the architectural industry and  listed a few key qualities that would be needed in let's produce something...

amlocke continued documenting his time in Delhi during the first leg of his thirteen-week train expedition across India. He had a chance to visit The Laxminarayan Temple. On the way there he got the chance to bathe all five statues at a smaller shrine. thenewintern was impressed by amlocke’s approach "I am Indian and live in NY from 5 yrs now and I love everything that you are doing! Despite being from India when i went back last summer I felt totally different. Its a rediscovering experience."

Over in Nantes France a/LTA architectes built L’ARBRE A BASKET in front of the Maison des Hommes et des Techniques. The project is a basketball tree and offers a new type of sports equipment that can be used by just about anybody!

Also, Zawia a periodical, English & Arabic publication on design, architecture & urbanism based in Cairo hyped #00 their upcoming volume, titled Change. Saskia Sassen, Carlo Ratti, Joseph Grima, Stefano Boeri, Markus Miessen and WAI Architecture Think Tank are amongst the contributors.

Schools/School Blogs
Clemson graduate students Nick Barrett and Sam Pruitt won the prize for the South Region in the Habitat for Humanity's Sustainable Home Design Competition for their project "NOTBLOX® Affordable Housing Project: Assembling Sustainable Communities with Insulating Concrete Forms.

Anthony Pins at the University of Michigan made the case for safeguarding Prentice Women’s Hospital by Bertrand Goldberg from demolition. He contended "That the debate over the hospital’s future has been protracted over nearly a half-decade is telling not only of Goldberg’s idiosyncratic appeal, but the extent to which the legacies of Late- and Post-modernism stand to be judged on the all-or-nothing basis of the contemporary historic preservation model."

Megan Basnak described the Saturday June 23, 2012, official opening of Elevator B  at Buffalo's SiloCity. The event was the culmination of months of planning, designing, and construction for a small group of Master of Architecture students from the University at Buffalo.

Meanwhile California State Polytechnic University, Pomona student John Tubles blogged about his summer visit to Tokyo>>Sendai>>Ishinomaki.

Chris DeHenzel grateful recipient of the 2011-2012 John K. Branner Fellowship had a informative post about Torvehallerne, Copenhagen’s recently revitalized public food market, at IsraelsPlads conceived and designed by Danish architect Hans Peter Hagens. Wanting to examine the idea that while "Torvehallerne appears to be an overwhelming success as an active ‘public’ space, one might question what kind of ‘public’ can afford to shop for groceries in a place where you could spend $8 for a fruit smoothie?"  Chris sat down with Hans Peter in his office on Christianshavn to talk about the project.

Discussions
Archinector Al-Malik Bey started a thread because he is in a bit of a debate with a colleague regarding an alleged "Blacklist" or "Do Not Hire List" That all firms withing New York State refers to. ciao replied "I've heard about such things as employer blacklists, but have come to think them as informal habits that companies develop to avoid naughty applicants. As of late, I'm more interested in the politics of hiring practice". Countered w. architect "Black listed,...nah, never happen....talk to Glenn Small, Architect...."

dia needed some assistance re: plywood in the States as is working on a project that requires the use of plywood and has a few questions - chiefly due to a translation of NZ/Australian standards into US standards: Rusty Shackleford provided the translation help and then went opined "I assume you are preparing for your NYC visit... If you are buying building supplies here, stay away from big box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. They are just horribly unreliable when it comes to delivery. There are many independent lumber yards that can deliver on same day as order" while el jeffe included some more information re: vendors "wood products are pretty regional, but georgia-pacific, boise-cascade and L-P (louisiana-pacific) are big players w/r/t wood products that are national."

Finally, Barry Lerhman let us know that he is getting "ready to take the plunge for a Onset Hobo U30 data logger (powered by a 1.2 watt PV panel!), with sensors for soil moisture and temp, air temp/RH, wind speed, and a solar radiation (aka pyranometer) to start". Barry also has a wish list which includes amongst other things a , net-radiometer and heat-flux sensors. He also promises pics of the gear!

Additionally
Check out, Terra Incognita - A puzzle completed only in the player’s imagination. Conceived by the @Demilit collaborative for the New City Reader’s Istanbul Design Biennial 2012 edition, issue no. 3. The end result of the puzzle as demilit explains "is Istanbul re-imagined by the public through the course of experiencing it. In this digital document, we pass along the
very same blueprint for everyone to use in their own cities, towns, and
communities."