For the latest edition of In Focus: Archinect talked to London-based Italian photographer, Agnese Sanvito. She described how she started taking pictures while studying Fine Arts in Bologna.

Plus,  in the the latest edition of Student Works: Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect, highlighted work by students from the Masters of Interior Architecture and Retail Design program at the Piet Zwart Institute. As part of last fall's [X]City studio, focusing on a defunct submarine wharf in the Port of Rotterdam, the students explored whether interior design can give way to urban redevelopment.

Chris Teeter commented "I found this a hard problem to wrap my head around, but a good one.  If I understand the intent with the question - Interiors are almost strictly ROI, but urban planning is social and more.  Therefore,  in a way urban plans allocate the best spots for ROI interiors"
 

News
An array of international architects, engineers, academics and cultural leaders have signed a petition pleading with President Putin to override the committee’s decision and spare Shabolovka radio tower in Moscow, whose destruction makes way for reckless development.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has demanded the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) from the international body, saying it is complicit in the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and other violations of international law.

Bustler.net reported that Grant Mudford has been named the 2014 recipient of the Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award. The award highlights an early or mid-career artist who embodies the legacy of architectural photographer Julius Shulman and the Institute's mission to challenge the perception of physical space.

In response bowling_ball raised a quibble

"I like his work and he deserves the recognition, but ‘Early or mid-career artist’ and ‘since the mid 1960s’ should be mutually exclusive...Even worse, the photographer who won in 2012 was 95 years old, and had been shooting professionally since 1939 (for Wright, no less!)..I think I discovered the one career that takes longer to develop than architecture".

Kriston Capps examined the news that Pharrell Williams will deliver the keynote address at the AIA 2014 National Convention. Responding to critics of the AIA, Donna Sink offered up a challenge  

"I'm a mid-40s woman and I've become very active in  the AIA the last two years...I used to bitch and moan and whine about the AIA like you guys do, but then when I became very active in it I realized that what people say here all. the. damn. time. is true: the AIA is you.  You can't just ask those other people who are giving up their time for the AIA to do something FOR you; get to work volunteering in it and it will then do what YOU want.If that task interests you, I invite you to ask your local AIA how you can be of use.  Associate AIA memberships are inexpensive".

jla-x was pleased "Well Donna, if what you say is true that's fantastic.  I sort of became disillusioned by the AIA after going to a few meetings, but I may give it another chance.  As for Pharrell, we should welcome this kind of thing.  I am all for inclusion and diversity of the field".
 

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates
Mitch McEwen shared an interview she conducted with Mahalia C. Gayle a French Literature scholar. Ms. Gayle's new book project is concerned with "politeness and its relationship to aristocracy or republican identity" and Ms. McEwen thought this may "be a pertinent lens for architecture, as well".

Danchi Hutch in Kyoto, Japan by Yoshihiro Yamamoto and Haus W in Frankfurt am Main, Germany by Ian Shaw Architekten were just two of the projects found in the post Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Minimalism" Pinterest Board.

citizen had pity for whomever "needs to sit on that toilet in the middle of the night in February.  Either (a) you'd freeze, or (b) you'd be warm, but your utility bill would be astronomically high".

Scott Henson Architect received the Lucy Moses Preservation Award from The New York Landmarks Conservancy, for the Engelhardt Addition of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory.

August Rulewich recently worked on a 9x9x9 inch stacked model (taskboard) - generative processes in Maya (inspiration from Antoine Pevsner's "Developable Column") while Courtney Newhouse worked on her Thesis parti and topography model (which) is taking shape!.

School/Blogs
In a recent post, Cameron Rodman affiliated with University of Tennessee's College of Architecture + Design, wrote about Villa Adriana Emperor Hadrian’s complex in Tivoli, Italy. The post took mespellrong back "One of the best days I have ever spent. Thanks for sharing this. I particularly remember all of the graffiti from GSD classes of the 80s and 90s carved ruthlessly into the stones".

After a semester of studio work the students in Virginia Tech’s design/buildLAB "started prefab". In case you have forgotten the students are designing and building a fieldhouse for the Clifton Forge Little League.

Nicole Doan a fourth year architecture undergraduate student at Cal Poly Pomona, was going to name her new blog "Architecture Will Kill You", but thought better of it.
 

Discussions
trail.runner is looking for, people to fill out their survey which seeks answers to the "question of why we are not reaching the goals of the 2030 Challenge".

gwharton believes it is because “Challenge criteria that don't make any sense”. gruen helpfully recommended changes to the survey “Survey assumes all my buildings are large ground up construction free from any site constraints. None fit these requirements”.

grneggandsam currently works in Washington DC but is "wondering what the other possibilities are" or asked another way what is, Best City to practice Architecture?

DeTwan noted "there seem to be a line running north to south from North Dakota to Minneapolis, to Des Monies and Omaha to Edmond and Oklahoma City down to Dallas and Austin to Houston that seems to have the strongest economies for young professionals in the nation". Added homme_du_jura, "Houston is a lively, dynamic city...Just up the road is the DFW metroplex, where there many opportunities for ambitious architects and a large collection of offices representing the world's biggest design firms".

Finally, Ryan Simons is looking for suggestions of "zines being published by students in Arch. programs" he  knows "of goo & : (colon) at GSAPP, but would like to collect more zines from around the world".
 

Additionally
The Architecture Lobby released a manifesto.