In an essay titled UNEXPECTED COSTS ~ Big ticket design software versus alternate methodologies, Ann Lui a designer and freelance writer reflected on the fact that "Not twenty years ago, if you wanted to start your own firm, you could do so on a Mayline drafting board in your basement...Today, my partner and I sit on our couch as we write up a wishlist of basic softwares we might need for a fledgling practice...tally the price tags, and the bottom line drops like an anvil: just over $15,000".

mfischer3387 echoed curtkram, "its much tougher to start an architecture business than most other fields, because yes, the start up costs are enormous, as outlined in the article. I would argue that software package costs are not necessarily always for the benefit of design, but for liability purposes". Other commentator's like Jeremy Miller offered advice "You could get the Revit LT suite for  about $1,800...Also, Archicad has a rental model...Be creative" and Steve Sanderson (founding partner of CASE) did the math "My total based on the recommendations above with either Revit LT or AutoCAD LT: just shy of $1400. If you can't afford that, then you probably need to save more before starting a practice".

For the latest edition of the Working out of the Box feature Archinect talked with Nadia Amoroso, an architect who has switched careers to help create the data visualization software DataAppeal. A quote "We live in a data saturated world…there’s lot of data, and more data is accessible on the web. The question is what do we do if it, and how do begin to make sense of it...My architectural background has helped me design the application to ensure concepts of art and design are incorporated into the application, so the resulting data-map, don’t look like the typical GIS scientific maps, but rather ‘designer-type’ data-maps but still offering the analytical side of it".
 

News

The LA Times reported that Renzo Piano, Los Angeles architect Zoltan Pali and officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled preliminary designs last Thursday for a $300-million film museum at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Christopher Hawthorne argued it was "plain to see is the architectural potential of the scheme if it is given a genuine chance to evolve and deepen over the next few months" but Given obviously disagreed "RPBW seems to underwhelm specifically in LA which is very strange. The new cultural projects in Chicago and SF are really quite nice. Why cant they do LA right? Here we have a bubble that encloses a theatre that is not bubble shaped, so to resolve that they include some sort of indoor biosphere. Why?".

Eric Chavkin concluded "The LACMA scheme as described looks like another hodgepodge of styles. A toy chest of architectures related only by location. From the Bruce Goff Japanese Pavilion to the black box Mies bookstore  to Hugh Hardy's disco streamlined moderne to Luckmans sorry start. Renzo Piano's 'back-to-the-future cinema spheres just continues the trajectory...Maybe thats what LACMA is...the piecemeal vision of million dollar handouts".

The Architects Newspaper snagged an interview with Barry Bergdoll, chief curator of MoMA's architecture and design department, to discuss MoMA’s plans to demolish the Folk Art Museum. Mr. Bergdoll called the decision "painful" but said, the building "was designed as a jewel box for folk art".

Steven Ward expressed sympathy for the man, "this is a smart man put in a very difficult situation...he's not the bad guy here. he needs to say what he needs to say...though, as i asked in another post somewhere, does the moma architecture/design department have any legitimacy any more if this action goes forward?" and elviapw continued "Bergdoll's position is the classic career trap...Lack of public funding for the arts is clearly the underlying problem...MoMA's shit decision is indicative of systemic problems...Again, privatization and market-driven ideology wins over an art sector that generates little revenue, that's finally been deemed pedagogical and irrelevant".

Orhan Ayyüce pointed out that Archinect contributor and former editor in chief Javier Arbona's critique of Design as Research, DaR, and what happened to architectural theory A provocative piece. "the Rise of Darists" was recently printed in PLAT 2.5.

toasteroven believed it was "excellent critical analysis (I agree wholeheartedly with many points), but I'm not sure what next step is here". Mitchell Joachim added "Good. If not obvious and needed to be clearly articulated”...

Bustler.net announced the three finalists of the international architecture competition to design the Central Mosque of Prishtina, Kosovo—which ended without a clear first prize winner. After careful evaluation of the 81 received entries, the Jury decided that "no any entry is meritorious to be awarded with the first prize...the Jury anonymously decided to give two second prizes to entries with codes 21PR22 and 1025AC, and third prize to the entry with code  487DH”.

lucap had to ask "how is 1025AC possible?!?!.. I had no idea Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles where still in business!". For his part Orhan Ayyüce liked a project (not one of the three finalists) that resulted from a collaboration between Colombian firm Taller 301 and Dutch practice Land+Civilization Compositions (L+CC).                                              

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates

In a post Intern 101: How to get involved in your firm, Joann Lui listed 5 ways to get more involved: Volunteer to do anything, Attend the educational program, Teach them something, Ask questions and Suggest things. And remember "to all the interns out there - we are not just draftsmen!!".

Recently Kalil Sarraff worked on SpiralTunnel/PublicSpace.

Secondary School, Braamcamp Freire Pontinha in Lisbon, Portugal by cvdb arquitectos and House in Soan Garden by Arkam & Partners were just two of the projects featured in the latest post Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Concrete" Pinterest Board.

The Allianz Headquarters under construction by Wiel Arets Architects in Zürich, Switzerland, was recently awarded the 2013 ‘AIT Innovation Award for Architecture & Technology’. The project received the award because of its interior heating and cooling ceiling panels, which feature concrete core activation and concealed air ventilation.

Schools/Blogs

Kimberly V.K.H. Nguyen a school blogger currently enrolled at Columbia University's GSAPP let it be known that TINA - Tensile Integrity Nodal Assembly her classes "architectural folly" is in production mode!  The installation will be on display for GSAPP's End of Year Show starting May 18th.

Jose Oubrerie, renowned architect and former Dean of the University of Kentucky College of Architecture (now College of Design), visited Lexington to present a lecture to UK/CoD students and faculty at the Downtown Arts Center. FRaC thinks "Jose's awesome!" and is "looking forward to the video"...

This past Saturday morning Patrick Beseda and his classmates at UC Denver presented their ideas for the design of the Billjohn Residence near Montezuma Creek UT as a part of their design-build education in partnership with Design Build Bluff, a non-profit organization designing and building sustainable housing on the Navajo Nation near Bluff, UT.                 

Matthew Messner was chuffed to see UIC at it again with the news that Thomas Kelley was one of the winners of 2013 Rome Prize! Mr. Messner also posted an image of from Thomas' recent undergrad students' works at UIC.

Discussions
Sundayz was looking for help wanted to know how much to ask for, $ per sf...? chris-chitect cautioned "A family was asked me to design a home for them and pay me by the square foot, it was a terrible experience...I think when people ask for a square foot design cost they are showing their disregard for the amount of effort that goes into design and drawings and the variation" but EKE countered "Our standard fee is a percentage of the cost of the work, but smart clients are questioning % fees more and more these days, because they perceive a conflict of interest inherent in the structure...I think $ per SF is a better fee basis than either hourly or a fixed fee..Think of the $/sf as a fixed fee that can adjust if the project scope changes".            

wurdan freo started a thread titled Bathroom Questions. These included, "Any reason why a standard shower has a soffit in it?...Also on a standard 8' wide by 5' deep bath layout the tub would be 30", 36" for the toilet and 30" for the vanity. Do you center the toilet in the 36" or nudge it over slightly at 16" O.C. from the shower so there is more room on the vanity side were you will be trying to grab the tp?".

Miles Jaffe answered "Door & window location determines best layout...Lot's of stuff going on in a bath room, 5' x 8' is not much space. Beg, borrow or steal some more if you can, or use tricks to make it feel bigger". gruen chimed in "Miles is spot on w dimensions. I've also used corner sinks sometimes to save space but really only works in a powder room”.

Finally, JesseConant knows "this is a controversial topic" but is Seeking...cheap foam boards in bulk?

Additionally
John King of the San Francisco Chronicle happened to be on the scene in Cambridge over the last week and put together some thoughts on what he witnessed, on a "new public map of America...and, at least this once, a willing landscape of submission".