Orhan Ayyüce kicks off 2013 with Fishing for Architecture with John Lurie the first feature of the New Year. Orhan recently had an opportunity to talk with Mr. Lurie about architecture and this conversation resulted over a few days of messaging in cyber space. John initially noted "Man, I really know nothing about architecture" but to Orhan that was perfect, as he explained "All the better.. We have dime a dozen architects who are experts but say very little. This is not what you know about it but how you feel in it. It can get technical but that is not I am talking about...Everybody knows or senses something about architecture. Especially a highly visual person like you".

gozion commented "i share his opinions on the buildings here. (i used to work as a draftsman, back in the days of  sitting at a drawing board using pencils, or ink & a rapidograph,,,paper or mylar, not linen, not that far back. i letter really well. i was also really fast. u architects can be murder on yr draftsmen.)" and Coen Reese added "I know very little about architecture, but I do recognise Rem Koolhaas' CCTV building. His son, Tomas, is a friend of mine and is currently working on a documentary about him...A wonderfully insightful and delightful interview. Many thanks, Orhan Ayyüce, and many thanks, John Lurie".

News

The New York Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 announced CODA (Caroline O’Donnell of Ithaca, New York) as the winner of the annual Young Architects Program (YAP) in New York. The winning project, 'Party Wall', features a porous façade affixed to a tall self-supporting steel frame that is balanced in place with large fabric containers filled with water, and clad with a screen of interlocking wooden elements donated by Comet, an Ithaca-based manufacturer of eco-friendly skateboards.

Thread Central hosted a brief discussion regarding the project. Steven Ward liked what he saw but wondered "what is the budget supposed to be for these things?! Even if the wood scraps are free, this looks expensive. Love it, though" and larslarson added "yeah..i've been to a couple of these things and the budget has not appeared to be this elaborate... all the money seems to be in the steel frame.. cause i guess the scraps are free and the labor will be free...compared to some of the other ones that have been made this one seems to cover the least amount of area".

For her part Donna Sink shared "That PS1 installation just looks dull to me"  to which Steven Ward responded "i must like dull. actually, i know i do. i'm thinking i'll like its texture and shadow. form: whatever. seems like it could be more economical *and* have more impact on the overall space, though, if it were made up of lower forms that took up more real estate".

Over at Kent Patch, Matt Fredmonsky examined the four proposed designs for Kent State University's new College of Architecture and Environmental Design. This past Thursday they were released for public consumption and the university hosted the four partnerships competing to design the $40 million building by providing a forum so the architects could pitch their ideas. A five-person jury will determine the winning firm, which will be announced in February. To aphorismal the most noteworthy aspect was "how conventional these designs are.  Not saying that's a bad thing (maybe architecture school buildings should be less "starchitecty), but its still unexpected".

Yahoo News reported that Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars from Universe Architecture in Amsterdam has proposed  a house that is not only created using a 3D printer, but also ‘endless’ in its design. A visitor to the ‘Landscape House’ could walk in a constant path continuously through the house, as it’s designed as a möbius strip. randomized believed "this is just an exercise in how to use 3d software and not a very bright one if I may say. For a real architectural interpretation of the möbius strip I would suggest Ben van Berkel's Möbius House..." and curtkram argued "the novel bit is probably the 3-d printer part.  i would guess the pieces have to be pretty big, so the printer would have to be pretty big too.  something like maker-bot should be scalable, so craft the printer scaffolding at the job site and just ship in tons of material in barrels.  that could change how buildings get built, if it works and the end product is of decent quality".

In related news Fred Scharmen (aka sevensixfive) recently complained "making another useless call for an embargo on publicizing claims of "3D printed building!" until *someone actually builds one*".

Angela Fedele wrote about The Tricycle House and Garden, an "Outside The Box"  response to the current property squeeze in China.

Designed by The People’s Architecture Office (PAO) and People’s Industrial Design Office (PIDO) in Beijing the modular portable house and garden is built on a bed attached to the back of a tricycle. homme_du_jura felt "I'm sorry, but this doesn't strike me as thinking outside the box. It's rather about making the box look nicer and a bit more palatable for those passing by, as well as attaching it to a bicycle...Still, the concept of living literally like a snail is interesting".

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates
bigness penned the first post of the new blog Starting up Awesome which will chronicle the story of Richard and Stefano who are trying to start their dream practice: Osom Architects in Italy. Richard writes about his partner Stefano "when we talked he was the first person to show enough enthusiasm, drive and passion to seem trustworthy...It's really early days, Stefano is still working full time in a company, I am working on the practice while managing a few websites". vado retro commented "in boca al lupo! I'll be looking forward to your posts!"

Gonzalo Elizarraras recently worked on Los Santos, in the oven now... while Anton Romashov started a blog aptly titled Photography, to showcase his efforts at Capturing architecture on a film camera. The first post is of black&white architecture in New York City.

Comfort Stations in New York, NY by RZAPS and Lazika Municipality in Lazika, Georgia by Architects of Invention were just two of the projects highlighted in the recent Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Architect Sure!" Pinterest Board.

Schools/Blogs
Darion Mason who is currently working on an MArch Thesis  at BAC, is moving into Design Development phase of the Thesis (which seeks to insert a Moroccan cultural trade school into the existing community in the South End) had a question "Do you think that CAD or BIM is beneficial to developing an architectural thesis project? Why or why not?” Darion further explained “this question is strictly concerned with the development of design by hand or through the use of computer aided drafting".

A Nashville-based community outreach program and the design and construction of the New Norris House have garnered national recognition for architecture faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. UT Associate Professor Thomas K. Davis's community outreach program, "Collaborations in Transit-Oriented Development," received a Collaborative Practice Award from ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture), has honored UT for having best practices in school-based community outreach programs and design-build projects. Plus, The New Norris House, a sustainable home developed by students in conjunction with architecture faculty members Tricia Stuth, Robert French, Samuel Mortimer and Richard Kelso, received the Design Build Award.

Matthew Messner has entered his last semester at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois Chicago, his final studio project will be located at the site of the, now closed, Fisk Power Plant in the Pilson neighborhood of Chicago. Based on what he wrote, FRaC quipped "so you want to make cool stuff..i'm looking forward to your work!". Matthew Messner then offered up the following explanation "Cool is important at UIC. ( read title of blog).  Our Director , or more correctly interim Dean, Robert Somol lays it out in this lecture...In some versions of the lecture, I don't believe the one on film, he also discusses the schools relation to the Profession...In essence the school is not particularly interested in the Profession as a discipline to be taught in an academic setting, because it can be taught so much better in the Professional world...Building is an important part of making Architecture and is closely linked with it, but it is not Architecture, it is Building".

Meanwhile, Lian Chikako Chang at Harvard GSD shared clips of her thesis work in progress. She is "calling the project 'Drawn out: performances of mundane inhabitation’...It's not a design project, but an essay in the form of a video, exploring the reciprocal relationship between the built environment and our bodily states and experience”.

Discussions
mdler started a thread to discuss Accessory Dwelling Units / Granny Flats / Mother-in-law Suites. Specifically mdler lives in  Seattle and is "looking to buy a house in the near future. The idea of putting a rental unit on my property (4000+ sq ft lot needed) is intriguing. If done properly, one of these units could really help offset a mortgage, etc".  gwharton thus warned "mdler, if you're going to go that route, be aware that DADUs are only allowed in certain areas, and DPD has a cap on how many are allowed to be permitted each year".

belle is planning on moving to the Netherlands soon and wants feedback on job prospects in the Netherlands. belle’s "Dutch is 'conversational' only" but belle has "7 yrs experience in the UK and my areas of specialism are hotel/leisure and energy efficiency". usernametaken helpfully offers "The language shouldn't be a problem (when working in the larger cities). The fact that the entire architecture industry is in a dire state. There are simply pretty much NO jobs whatsoever to be found, rather..." although Jadzia adds, "speaking of sustainability - from what I've heard "Cradle-to-Cradle" is quite a popular buzzword in the Netherlands these days- especially around Venlo. So maybe you want to dip into Braungart's theories when you prepare for job interviews in that field".

Finally Will Galloway is looking for help. He needs to know the best way to convert shp file to dxf. He can already manage it with some complicated freeware but it is taking more time that he would like, so he is "hoping some of you folk with lots of experience with this sort of thing can share your wisdom a wee bit".