In the first edition of our In Focus  in 2013  Archinect spoke with Yohan Zerdoun an architectural photographer based in Germany/Switzerland.

Plus, Orhan Ayyüce published parts 1 + 2 of a multi-part interview with George Brugmans (Executive Director of the IABR) in which they continued their discussion from where they left it two years ago. Topics include; the theme of the 5th Biennale itself: Making City, the model used for the 5th IABR of Test  Sites and Counter Sites, and also  Istanbul as either "the next metropolitan nightmare, or...an inspiring example?".

Thayer-D chimed in "This is an excellent example of how well intentioned architects continue to talk past each other while so many of their interests intersect...One of the speakers spoke of the need to create relationships with politicians, developers and the public in general to forge a new way forward.  Again, I'd be in full agreement.  What's amazing is that this has been happening for the last 20 years in the Congress for New Urbanism...Thanks for bringing up this very important topic, one that I'm glad was finally addressed head on by president Obama in his inaugural address.  My only hope is that we can move beyond the incessant infighting and try to forge alliances to improve our future, regardless of what style buildings we prefer or what flavor ice cream we like".

News
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported that the December ABI score was 52.0, down from the mark of 53.2 in November, yet was the fifth consecutive month of gains in ABI.

The title/theme for the 2014 International Architecture Exhibition has been released. Rem Koolhaas stated "Fundamentals will be a Biennale about architecture, not architects. After several Biennales dedicated to the celebration of the contemporary, Fundamentals will focus on histories...Ideally, we would want the represented countries to engage a single theme –Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014 – and to show, each in their own way, the process of the erasure of national characteristics in favour of the almost universal adoption of a single modern language in a single repertoire of typologies".

tammuz commented "open up any magazine of trendy architecture and you'll see instance of the above abound...much more interesting is the cultural differences that occur within each country let alone the differences between one country and the other. we know convergence; we're getting bored by it...lets look at hegel's blind spot".

New York City-based Pei Partnership Architects, the architectural firm that designed the never-built National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg’s Celebrate Virginia South filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the complex’s developer Celebrate Virginia South LLC. The firm says it is owed more than $6 million, money that the firm hopes to recoup in an eventual sale of the 38 acres. snook_dude could relate noting "Yikes, that sucks.  I'm owed a shit load of money for a project that went south a few years back. It is still tied up in US District Court, with no time line for resolve in site. Crazy thing is my testimony is in the center of case. Hopefully someday I can speak of it in a positive manner".

In an Op-Ed for the LA Times Greg Goldin and Sam Lubell reviewed some of  the 100-year-long story of unbuilt Los Angeles. The two authors are co-curators of the A+D Architecture and Design Museum Los Angeles show "Never Built: Los Angeles" and the authors of the forthcoming book of the same name. citizen posted "I look forward to seeing this exhibition and the book for a trove of gorgeous images and ideas. Its editorial tone is off a bit, however...Some may not care for the various eventual outcomes, but the notion that nobody paid attention or built projects by notable architects and planners in Los Angeles is incorrect...Is it a shame that some really interesting designs were never built?  Sure.  But to ask ‘Why is Los Angeles a hotbed of great architects, yet so lacking in urban innovation?’ overlooks a century of other innovations that did come about".

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates
Gregory Walker over at his blog mal-practice-the architecture of constructing a practice Mr. Walker explored the importance of team-work in a post team of individuals. He concluded "so this year's about digging down and getting my team some opportunities to show just how good we are. and to how we can grow our team positively. here's to hoping you can say the same".

Stephan Graebner recently worked on a "very good consultation with Alexander Schwarz from David Chipperfield Architects two days ago. He helped us a lot - now we can continue" 

and Saleh Masoumi Verki recently worked on "PHYLLOTACTIC TOWERs".

The Cultural Centre in Cartaxo, Portugal by cvdb arquitectos and the Paul & Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette, LA by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple were just two of the projects highlighted in the recent post Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Glass" Pinterest Board.

Nicholas Cecchi of Demiurge Design LLC wanted to "share a few sketches with the archinect community as they often look much different than traditional conceptual or space planning sketches I was doing in school”. Also he writes regarding sketching “a crucial part of any Architect's skillset, and that is no different on the fabrication side of things". He also provided progress shots of fabrication (braking, welding, and assembly)  for Volkan Alkanoglu’s sculptural installation for Cedar Rapids, IA.

tonystefan continues his tour of Kuala Lumpur mega-malls with a new post on Solaris Mont Kiara. This example of Kuala Lumpur Mega malls is quite special to tonystefan who shared "This might be the project that inspired this blog. My first experiences of this mega-mall were as a passenger in a car. Solaris Mont Kiara is positioned along the arc of a freeway, on top of a hill. The sheer length of the development coupled with its prominence make it unmissable: driving by it at speed limit takes a little while!..Solaris Mont Kiara is less of a mall, and more of a district. It essentially defines the edge of an urban block of pedestrian-friendly streets".

Reflecting on a visit last week to the Tanks at Tate Modern which opened this past summer, Mitch McEwen believed "I would be remiss - or obviously biased in my affection for the work of Herzog & de Meuron - if I didn't mention the bins collecting water.  Whether the concrete was sweating (e.g. sweating slab syndrome) or something was leaking I couldn't tell".

Schools/Blogs

|At Grade: Full Scale Fabrication is a new school blog, authored by two students Justin Wang and John Kerner. The two students are in the  Bachelor of Architecture, Professional Program- Option Studio-Spring 2013 with critic: Peter Goche at  Iowa State University. The site of inquiry takes place at Black's Heritage Farm, south of Ames, Iowa. This semester's work will be focused on the "re-appropriation of a space originally constructed for the drying of corn".

Starting this spring, the School of Architecture, at the University of Minnesota's College of Design, will offer a new concentration in research practices within their master of science in architecture degree (MS-RP) for students starting the fall of 2013. The program aims at halving the amount of time from high school to licensure for architects--from an average of 14.5 years to 7. 

Gregory Walker was "on board in concept. i'd like to know more about the structured experience part of it, but it's similar to what dan friedman's been pitching for a long time as well...what's the downside here? if anything, it would revolutionize how graduates can position themselves in the market, especially if you don't go into ‘formal architecture’...the only people who have something to fear (if this takes off) are the other schools; firms who are simply looking to keep cheap drafting labor with recent grads and older more traditional architects (practice wise) who could be out-hustled" yet Matthew Messner was "extremely skeptical of this. Outside of the fact that I don't believe in the wholesale mixing of the Profession and Academia, I don't think coming up with a new degree is addressing the real problem.  As observant stated above, and the article itself points out, IDP is broken.  Schools should not be responsible for fixing what the AIA has screwed up, and the AIA should take this as a wake up call".

Noam Saragosti, currently a 4th year B.Arch student at Cal Poly Pomona introduces himself in his first post on a new Cal Poly school blog. He was born in 88’ in Kibbutz Yakum in the center of Israel then spent his teenage years in Fresno. This quarter Noam is enrolled in: "Seismic Design in Architecture with Gary McGavin, Topic Studio; Where Cars Relax”  with Christoph Kapeller, Regenerative Global Systems with Jerry Mitchell and DECAF: Digitally Enhanced Construction and Fabrication with Axel  Schmitzberger".

Discussions
dia started a thread to discuss self-building. He clarified, "Not in terms of self esteem (well, sort of) but the act of building your own home. Have we become too disconnected from the act of building, and is it time that it was taken back?". Donna Sink referred to her own ongoing bathroom renovation and shared "In my mind, anything designed needs to start from the question of how to build it well.  Doing work on my own home, I've learned how hard it is to build things well, and how important it is to work with craftsmen on the parts that require more knowledge than putting together an Ikea cabinet" however Will Galloway cautioned "self-build can be magic, and innovation is always great to see, but let's not over-romanticize. as for only building what our builders want to build? why? without any disrespect to the builders who build what we design, there are a lot of lazy details in the real world that may cost less and are perfectly serviceable, but look horrible".

For his part Chris Moody opined "There's nothing silly about carrying 2 x 4's in your truck if you are the designer. I look at it this way. The best way to understand your design is to actually build it. You will definately gain a deeper appreciation for your design and for those who are involved in the construction process".

MyDream asked "Should building codes enforce sustainable design?" marisco noted "I know here in Alberta, and other parts of Canada there has been talk about adding a model energy code addition to our current building code set. It would require every building to achieve a certain level of efficiency to pass. I just haven't heard of it being instituted officially yet. It does create quite a stir among developers who like to skate at the minimum levels of everything as they don't want to put in the money, but I think it is an interesting proposition". Drawing on some personal experience Miles Jaffe
argued "the real question is not should building codes change but how and by who should they be changed". Apurimac concluded "If more stringent energy codes can be enforced in ways that won't jack up the cost of construction substantially, I'm all for it.  However, I think alot of the cheaper, common sense solutions, aren't really prescribed in the current energy codes and any good architect would already take those into account".

Finally, earlier this month aphorismal was looking for "any  precedents wherein a sunspace/solarium was used to store heat during the day, then release the heat at night?  Maybe via thermally massive materials like concrete as a border between the sunroom and the living space?". jla-x responded "Since you want to store the heat for night, and it is several stories up, how about a greenhouse/patio combo with operable glass louvers?  If it is operable to the inside and the outside, it can be used for ventilation (of heat out) in the warm months and heat storage and nighttime transfer in the winter months...If you can add water to the space (for mass) it should hold and release the heat slower throughout the night (rather than if only warm air which will release heat very fast).  possibly some aquatic planters that are exposed to direct sun within the greenhouse/patio space?" while Greg Pittman suggested "Sunrooms can be a great source of heat for your house and save you a good deal on heating bills. The southern wall of your sunroom is the most preferred location because it’ll receive good amount of sunlight. Install a fan higher up in the wall in your sunroom. Set the thermostat such that the when the temperature reaches the desired level, the fan automatically delivers heat to the remaining building".

Additionally
If you are in San Francisco/Berkeley this weekend (Friday/Saturday), the second annual Studio One Symposium will be held February 1-2, 2013  in Room 112, Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley. Focusing on the studio’s themes of craft, tradition, technology and place, the symposium will bring together a talented group of influential designers, thinkers and makers for two days of design, discussion and debate.