Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect, interviewed rub-a-dub (a team of Sebastian Andia, Rodrigo Chain, Apostolos Despotidis and Thomas T. Jensen) to learn about their project 'Space Oddity', for the latest edition of the Student Works series.

Space Oddity was conceived by rub-a-dub in 2012, while studying under the DRL at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, a post-professional MArch program. They state that while their proposal "is obviously not a viable option for actual space travel...the timing is ripe to imagine new versions of living and moving in space...Lately there has being a lot of noise about space design, including contour crafting and 3D printing amongst others. We believe a lot of these projects are only solving technical issues".

Fred Scharmen was intrigued "Very nice work. Thanks for posting this".

News
The Observer published ‘Miami's new vice – an addiction to star architects‘ in which Rowan Moore criticizes a "city has become a drop-off point for the migrant tribe of global super-rich", discusses Art Basel and a few of the many new monuments to architecture as capital/consumption. Also, "raymondjunglesraymondjunglesraymondjungles" and "Foster/Hadid/Koolhaas/Herzog/Calatrava/Gehry/Nouvel".

Orhan Ayyüce posted a link to some information regarding Pioneers of modern architecture in Iran. tammuz came across a paper to help understand the wider context, "it draws its own conclusions but at least it gives a historical background. its interesting to see that architecture responded to the people's  revolution in iran".

The NYT spoke with Yehuda E. Safran organizer of ‘Adolf Loos: Our Contemporary’ on view through Dec. 10 at the Arthur Ross Architectural Gallery, Columbia University, Buell Hall. Donna Sink felt compelled to point out "Loos' work *does not* lack for ornament.  The ornament is the material itself and the composition in proportion of the elements and the way one moves through them in space.  There's nothing missing - Loos is not "abstaining" - because every moment of the work has been considered and balanced with everything else".

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates
Stallan-Brand announced they have prepared preliminary urban design proposals for a major mixed use project - 17 Acres, Merchant City - in Glasgow's historic Merchant City. The proposals involve the creation of a new city block, a city park and significant new public space.

Archinect was delighted to present the second leg of 5468796 Architecture's travelogue for their 2013 Professional Prix de Rome winning research project, 'Table for Twelve'.

Therein they traveled to Rotterdam to meet up with their dinner host Tanner Merkley during the 2013 Rotterdam Architecture Film Festival. One reflection they shared

"The true value of the Table for Twelve tour might be in the opportunity to visit with peers abroad and be reminded that the grass is not always greener, and that the struggle to create a sustainable and lasting culture of architecture within one’s own community and the larger public remains a struggle regardless of the passion, support structures, champions, and dollars dedicated to elevating design. In the case of the Super Dutch phenomenon, despite having the figurative planets align to create a perceptually perfect climate for great architecture to emerge, a more sustainable model is still necessary. Perhaps it might be necessary to balance the lessons from this movement with those of its successors in order to create a lasting culture of architecture".

Schools/Blogs
Evan Chakroff part of the group from Ohio State’s Knowlton School of Architecture visiting Japan for a whirlwind December, architecture/urbanism tour, shared some Instagram impressions from his first days in Tokyo without the students. Before the students arrived in Japan he took advantage of the free time to visit Nikko (home of  the best of Japan's Edo-era architecture), as "The city had been cut from our official itinerary fairly early in the planning process, and I wanted to see what we'd be missing".

The first official day of the trip was spent in Tokyo visiting "a cross-section of Tokyo's architectural history".

Will Galloway affiliated with Tokyo’s Keio University provided an update on the Inujima Studio he is co-teaching with with Kazuyo Sejima and Hiroto Kobayashi. In a post titled Trust and Architecture. He writes "We have come to a moment where we kind of have some idea about the known knowns and the known unknowns, to borrow a Rumsfeldian truth-ism.  But it is going to be a bit more time before it makes sense. The uncertainty is good practice for the modern role of the architect though".

For those looking for a career in academia Taliesin, The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is currently seeking a Director of the 82 years old school. Also, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona invites applications for a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Architectural Design and Digital Technology position to begin Fall 2014.

Discussions
BulgarBlogger "was hoping that the experienced architects on this forum" could help with a Code Question. A current project has a plan that shows a fire rated door separating the basement from the ground floor, "Do I need this door". poop876 guessed "You probably have a separation of use: first floor separated by a rated assembly from the basement, therefore the door has to be rated to keep the rated assembly".

Meanwhile won and don williams sought to correct an misconception "Contrary to popular belief, most architects, even experienced ones, do not know the answer to questions like this off the top of the their heads, but instead know where to look up the correct answer". poop876 had one final piece of advice "calculate your occupancy for the kitchen and bathroom in the basement, with that you will determine if you need a second means of egress".

Coincidentally s=r*(theta)  was looking for tips re: GETTING BETTER AT CODE REVIEW. thisisnotmyname offered some solid advice "learning how to work with IBC codes.  They are worth every penny for people just starting out with building codes...The Code Corner website also has some nice free articles that guide you through the code analysis process as well". Apurimac added "Can't believe no one mentioned ‘expediting’...Get to know the plan reviewers you work with the most and what makes them tick".

Finally, jamesconnor7  started a thread to get opinions regarding artificial turf. jla-x commented “I hate artificial turf.  It always looks fake.  If you want your house to have the feel of the neighborhood in Edward Scissorhands or the Black Hole Sun video by Soundgarden then go for it, but I personally hate it”. However, gwharton countered “I have a 12-foot square piece of SynLawn with a padded backing I use as an area rug in my living room. It's actually quite realistic-looking...It makes a pretty cool rug. My house is a 1950 mid-century ranch that I completely gutted out and rebuilt in 2006. As part of that, I played up a lot of the indoor-outdoor living that single-level ranch homes are so well adapted for”.

Donna Sink loved the idea "Oooh...I love that idea.  I've used Synlawn in interiors, but never residential.  I may steal your idea".