News
Donna Sink spoke for architects and Wright-lovers everywhere when she commented "YAY" in response to the news that the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has facilitated the purchase of the David and Gladys Wright House in Phoenix, Arizona, through an LLC owned by an anonymous benefactor. The transaction closed on December 20 for an undisclosed price.

The property will be transferred to an Arizona not-for-profit organization responsible for the restoration, maintenance and operation of the David Wright House.

Talks with Kermit Baker the AIA’s chief economist along with architects like Neil Denari and firms like Legat Architects, led Robbie Whelan to write Demand for Architects Builds Momentum-Billings for Design Jobs Rise for Fourth Straight Month, Reflecting Improving Housing Market and Institutional Demand.

The Miami Herald reported that Zaha Hadid Architects will design a tower to be built on a site directly across from Museum Park. The selection of Hadid was confirmed Monday by the investment group behind 1000 Biscayne Tower, which is managed by local developers Gregg Covin and Louis Birdman. Ian Wilson felt "They should hire a local architect" while Thayer-D added “Some how Miami seems like the perfect home of a Zaha Hadid tower, and I mean that in the best way possible”.

Two NJIT students Levitta Lawrence, 21 and Andres Ormeno, 30  won first place in a competition to design a livable home for under $100 per square foot. Their homes were selected, to be built on five lots in East Orange by Habitat for Humanity. Willard Williams was impressed "These are really excellent solutions, and it's awesome that they get to build their projects right away.  I would love to see this sort of solution and design-build process implemented in more locations throughout the United States.  There are a lot of areas that have very old, inefficient buildings that need significant improvements".

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates

Marjiorie Felice recently worked on Historical Restoration of The Corbin Building.

Meanwhile, both MPLS rope densCITY and LakeForms by design collaborative Futures North are asking for your vote entry in the $50K Minneapolis Creative City Challenge design competition for a temporary public installation in downtown Minneapolis for summer 2013.

Vote on Facebook by January 7 (you have to "like" Mpls Convention Center and then click on "Vote" button).

everydayintern wanted advice on A.R.E. Strategies and asked Archinecters to "Post links, recount personal stories, give advice, ask questions etc”. For his part Brian Henry also had a few questions "Are there specific sections that people find easier to study for at the same time...Also, I'm sure this differs from person to person, but is it a good idea to take the test closer to graduation".

Brandon Sargent shared "For each, I would study beginning 2-3 weeks before the exam day and give myself a couple weeks off (or more) after the exams.  I used Kaplan and Ballast to study, along with supplements recommended on ARE Forum.  First exam to last took 13 months - I passed all sections on the first try".

Schools/Blogs
Patrick Beseda at UC Denver provided a short review of his semester project. He ended up proposing a research academy for the site in Pt. Lobos, CA.

He then offered up some thoughts to AIA Colorado, AIAS UC Denver, the students of UC Denver and the AEC professionals of Denver "I know, our building is pretty uninviting, our space is actually really depressing, some of our faculty (even a few of the gainfully employed among you) is particularly uninspiring, and our commuter population is conspicuously absent, but its true...There is passion here. Look past the unmotivated, the unwilling and the uninspiring. Find the students, the faculty, the administration (if there is any) that have a vision and a drive".

Jadzia commented "Your inflammatory speech somehow appeals to me, though the undertone is more pissed off than cynical...PS Nice project".

Ryan Woods was part of a team of students at Clemson University, Clemson, SC who designed and built Conepy (Dalen’s Duckling) a light sculpture for their Digital Manufacturing Processes course with Professor Doug Hecker during the Fall 2012 semester. The goal of the project was to recycle a bi-product of industry into a light fixture using digital manufacturing processes. The product chosen for this exercise was a textile cone, sourced from a local textile mill in Greenville, SC.

Discussions
SC81 is "being asked to come up with a number for compensation for basically designing and rendering an interesting facade for this building and producing one high quality rendering "and wants help coming up with a number. FRaC suggested an equation of "modeling and rendering hours + design hours x hourly rate = $_,___.__" and Larchinect argued "if you charge flat fee you can be sure you'll be asked to do more than you charged for. If you charge $1000, you can bet you'll deliver $2000+ worth of work. Just charge hourly and make sure the client knows what theyre getting".

SC81 also provided an update "Thanks for the advice. Ended up doing $1500 for rendering plus $50/hr for design services. There is a contract with specifics about revisions, etc. They had no prob with that proposal, for what it's worth..."

usernametaken is looking for help planning a summer holiday to the US. They have to choose from four cities Chicago, Boston, Toronto or Miami and want to know "Which of those cities would you suggest for a short (max. 3 days) visit?". Orhan Ayyüce stated "Every architect or student of architecture should see Chicago. If not the most, it is one of the most significant cities on earth to survey modern architecture and its development".

However he wasn’t the only one who felt that way Oscar Parrilla chimed in "I live near Miami it has nice architecture to view but I personally would go to Chicago, the father city of modernism" and Josh Mings thought "As a new resident, I will also vouch for Chicago. It is like seeing and walking among your Modern Architecture textbook every day. I even have the last standing church designed by Sullivan five blocks away from my house".

Finally, Orhan Ayyüce posted a quote of John Chase’s Shopping for Architecture LA Forum Newsletter, from December 1989. citizen concluded "My old colleague John certainly knew how to turn a phrase. ..My opinion is that merely expanding the list of things to pick out or specify for a design --while certainly adding important variables-- still is not sufficient to get at the complexity of architecture".