In her recently published Op-Ed Ann Lui, reflected on the experience of receiving a jury citation, for her and her partner’s entry in the 2013 Burnham Prize Competition: NEXT STOP-Designing Chicago BRT Stations.

She concluded "So submit the competition that doesn’t have a properly sized curb — and in fact doesn’t have a curb at all. This is a defense for the projects that have balloons, trees on skyscrapers, and blimp docking stations. It is also a defense for every detail a designer developed and then translated into reality".

Donna Sink was moved "Beautiful. I love this so much. It's ultimately an optimistic profession, even with knowing how little we know (and I say this after 28 years in the discipline - still learning)".
 

News
New York-based Turkish architect Selim Vural, founder of architecture and interior design firm Studio Vural, shared his design for a Gezi Park Monument, with Archinect. The memorial commemorates the recent protests on Istanbul's Taksim Square.

vasif kortun offered some criticism "the abstraction and generalization of the figure into a psuedo-futuristic statue deprives it of any political dimension. The proposal chooses exactly where another monument was planned eighty years ago...To bring that type of brutal monumentality to the same location reintroduces an autocratic narrative that was not interrupted before the mid-to-late 1970s when the square became home to May Day parades".

while tammuz x opined "but now you have opened up an opportunity to make us ponder which is worse, the gentrifying mall or the ba'athist-like monument".

Over at Haaretz, Keshet Rosenblum talked with the architects behind ARCHITACTICS-The Role and Responsibility of Architects in Conflict Resolution an exhibition dedicated to SAYA’s work which opened recently at  ZeZeZe Architecture Gallery in Tel Aviv Port. Rosenblum reports the "aim of the exhibition... is to mobilize tools from the world of design and architecture to help to promote the peace talks".

The AIA Architecture Billings Index remained positive again in June and the June ABI score was 51.6, down from a mark of 52.9 in May. Said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA.;  "Threats to a sustained recovery include construction costs and labor availability, inability to access financing for real estate projects, and possible adverse effects in the coming months from sequestration and the looming federal debt ceiling debate".

Also, Archinect’s new Editorial Intern Justine Testado provided information regarding the upcoming exhibit "Never Built: Los Angeles", which opens this Saturday  at the Architecture and Design Museum, in Los Angeles. She believed, the exhibit is "a thought-provoking experience that uniquely depicts the city's rich architectural history while exploring the architectural potential for the ever-changing City of Angels".

Eric Chavkin commented "I hope that this will be a good one. One of my first interviews was with an architect that envisioned an extension to LAX airport by building an island out onto Santa Monica Bay...Does anyone know what or who is in the show?"...

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates

Katie Helsey started a blog to SPREAD THE WORD. She explained "The Miller House, located in Lexington, Kentucky, is slowly being encroached on by generic suburban housing developments. Designed by Jose Oubrerie, the last living apprentice to study under Le Corbusier, the Miller House which once sat on a little over 29 acres and overlooked a lake, is now a single lot in a developing cookie cutter neighborhood. The house has been repossessed by the FDIC and its value has been significantly decreased monetarily and culturally. #SAVEtheMillerHouse".

In a later post Evan Chakroff responded "i just contacted ArchDaily about running an essay I had written (but not published), a few years ago, when I was working with Jose to document his old drawings...you may be interested in this old thread- archinect.com/forum/thread/76881 - and please send me an email - i have contacts for some people you might want to meet".

Meanwhile Menona wondered "A nice idea to turn it into something like an artist in residence program...The sad thing is, that if they're going to build a development around there, they'll fill it with a bunch of garbage.  The logical idea would be to call Jose.  He's in Columbus, which is what 2 or 3 hours up the interstate?  Call Jose and see if he'd be interested in the project of creating a cohesive overall site with a sympathetic visual and architectural language for the new built work...The integrity of the Miller house would be spared somewhat and it could have a positive result...Is that a crazy idea?  Or is it just too obvious?".

Stephan Graebner recently worked on "Ready for Shipping - Das ist ein Portfolio von Stephan Gräbner".

Haarlemmerbuurt, Binnen Wieringerstraat in Amsterdam, the Netherlands by Claus en Kaan Architecten and V' Tower in Eindhoven, the Netherlands by Wiel Arets Architects were just two of the projects featured recently on the Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Glass" Pinterest Board.

Lester Tobias continued providing his "unique perspective of a Malibu architect, who must deal with severely restrictive zoning codes", by exploring the tale of The Malibu Bay Co. & Measure M.

Schools/Blogs

University of Michigan Taubman College  graduate student Harold-Sprague Solie shared a recent research abstract re: dematerialized architecture(s) in Detroit and promised to do a blog post soon on his thesis research.

Matthew Messner currently pursuing a graduate degree at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois Chicago announced, Cloudz Watching, "a new tumblr started by those with interests in the young  Midwest Architecture scene centered around the faculty and students of UIC, UK, Michigan and Ohio State, with a little love from the LA crowd.  Cloudz Watching is a mix of theory, unbuilt work, and general musing focused on short written pieces.  Check out the piece I wrote, ‘#POP’ from a few weeks back".

Jeffrey Maeshiro a Master of Architecture candidate at the California College of the Arts noted "There will be major changes for the architecture program at CCA this year as Ila Berman, Director of Architecture from 2008 to 2013, will be leaving to take the position of director of the School of Architecture at Waterloo University in Ontario, Canada. Her partner, Mona El Khafif, will also be leaving for a tenure-track position there. I had the privilege of taking her Scanning the City seminar in the fall of 2012. She is an incredible educator and will be a sorely missed resource. There will purportedly be a national search for a new director, while in the interlude the brilliant David Gissen will take over as interim director".

Discussions
jmanganelli  is "trying to figure out what 'agent' means with respect to the architect's role, and I am posting here in the hope that you can offer references and guidance".

Miles Jaffe argued "If you're talking about social responsibility, this has been all but abandoned by architects and is a reflection of cultural values. If you're talking about liability, I'm pretty sure it ends at health and safety - code compliance - although anyone can be sued for anything by anyone at anytime".

bklyntotfc clarified "Your role as 'agent of the people' is stated on your architectural license, and in the laws of your state that regulate that licensing.  Basically they say that architects have a legal responsibility to protect the public welfare.  Public welfare means designing buildings meet the building code, zoning regulations, etc.  Public welfare does not extend to matters of taste (unless they are written in to law, i.e. landmark/preservation regulations)".

While, for his part won and don williams asked "I think you are getting hung up on the word, "agent" and "vendor." Are these contract terms that you are trying to clarify?"

thenihilist was looking for more information on Moorish domes. Specifically, "I have always been interested in Western vaults, analysed their geometrical and structural nature, and the discovery that medieval Moors used such complex rib vaulting before it even appeared in Europe somehow shaked my understanding of development of vault in Western vaulting technique...My question is whether it is possible that these domes influenced development of rib vaulting in West and could they somehow influence Gothic architecture?"

Quondam thought it was an "Interesting quest...I'd try to do a parallel chronology of Moorish architecture and Romanesque architecture. I think you'll start finding similarities, with the Moorish evolving much quicker into elaborate vaulting and the Romanesque striving toward greater and greater height" and  afrdzak advised "Might be a spoiler alert, but in my past searching I have not come to the conclusion that the intricate designs, whether they be structural or not, are not from pure idea. Quite the opposite, actually...Also, another interesting thing about domes is how they resolved the cube (square) to dome (circle) transition".

Finally, Kos Scarpa Kos started a thread to discuss In The Story of Post-Modernism, by Charles Jencks. Kos pointed out the "author of the cover is the Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendorp,  wife of architect Rem Koolhaas". citizen felt "The irony of the title just hit me...Less so for architecture, but in other humanities fields the concept of post-modernism is completely antithetical to a grand, overarching narrative".

However, Quondam countered "It's just your second paragraph that strikes me, that's ironic".