I'm not an analyst nor economist, but my observations are as follows:

1. Private-sector construction as a percentage of total construction appears robust considering the state of our economy.

2. Without question, digital content consumption is no longer the future, but rather the present. More interesting, there are nearly more architects and designers consuming content on their mobile devices than in magazines. — huffingtonpost.com

Mark Dery, reflecting on his recent life as a self-described ‘career patient’, implores hospital architects to collaborate with interior designers, psychologists and neuroscientists in order to eradicate forever the pain of ‘medical incarceration’. — australiandesignreview.com

It is a hard subject to memorialise – to recognise at once the courage and loss of airmen, and the awfulness of the thing they were told to do – the more so as the debate will never end as to whether bombing civilian targets was then the best or only available way of speeding the defeat of the Nazis. — Guardian

"I think that [austerity] is used as a cliche because people don't have ideas, they want to crib [old ones] to do bad stuff," she said, in a Q and A session with Guardian deputy editor Kath Viner. "Schools, housing, hospitals – I think the government should invest in good housing." — guardian.co.uk

Foreclosed is controversial because it suggests that the state, or the public sector — conceived along with civil society in terms of multiple, overlapping, virtual and actual publics — might play a more active, direct and enlightened role in the provision of housing and, by extension, of education, health care and other infrastructures of daily life in the United States.... Simply put, can we no longer imagine architecture without developers? — Places Journal

Günther Domenig passed away on June 15, 2012. Wolf D Prix, design principal at Coop Himmelb(l)au, released the following statement "I insist that Günther Domenig was one of the most important Austrian architects. Important in terms of being weighty. Meanwhile our own tammuz felt "his steinhous is an beautiful and seminal poem of architecture"

The U.S. Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, organized by the Institute for Urban Design on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will be devoted to the theme Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good. The exhibit features 124 urban interventions initiated by architects, designers, planners, artists, and everyday citizens that bring positive change to their neighborhoods and cities. — bustler.net

But despite the many and varied predictions of the death of criticism — of architecture as well as other forms of culture — it seems to me that a radical rethinking of critical practice might be prompted by the potentials of writing for online media, and that this rethinking might result in a new belle-lettrism. — Places Journal

There is, however, a problem: the good intentions McEwan's column irradiates with almost blinding intensity conceal a series of assumptions that struggle to stand up under closer scrutiny. — domus

The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) monthly Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped significantly last month. Nationwide architecture work had begun to contract in April, but sunk by a considerable amount more in May. The May ABI score was 45.8, down from an already contracting 48.4 in April. Inquiries for new projects also dropped, from 54.4 to 54.0, the lowest score in a year. — architectmagazine.com

Over 70 contributions from 50 of the world's top architects and designers are being auctioned. Proceeds will support Architecture for Humanity. Help us reach our fundraising goal of $150,000 by June 30. — architectureforhumanity.org

Four projects have today been announced as First Round Finalists in TEX-FAB Digital Fabrication Alliance’s 2012 international competition, APPLIED Research Through Fabrication. — bustler.net

A pair of exhibitors at next weekend's Dwell on Design show will have a new take on living in a bubble. AirClad, a British company that makes an inflatable pool house, and CasaBubble, a California firm that designs pneumatic backyard guest rooms, are trying to capitalize on the outdoor-living and small-space trends with structures built using little more than lightweight PVC and air. — latimesblogs.latimes.com

Andrew Ferren traveled to Turkey on an architectural pilgrimage, to learn more about the work of a 16th-century architect and engineer named Sinan. VanillaBrice commented "The Sokollu Pasha Mosque is an incredible study of fitting an impressive religious building in a neighborhood setting. The scale and way he controlled the sloping site display his mastery."