On the bio-retention bed front, the five beds have now been planted full of native water loving goodness! The greywater bed is piped in, but can't be turned on until city ordinances allowing it have passed in June. The rainwater beds (beds 2-5) have all been planted, but won't be piped in until next week. Currently our rainwater is being diverted into a pile of gravel in the yard, but once the system is all put together all excess rainwater will eventually make it's way to through these beds! — University of Tennessee (Samuel)

So the summer is here and it's been raining all week in NYC. I'm off to DC for the weekend!
As I promised, photos from the GSAPP 2011 End-of-the-Year Show. Are you excited?

I am particularly proud of all the work everyone at our school produced. Architecture is alive and kicking. — Columbia University GSAPP (Anthony)

Exit Reviews are starting tomorrow and we all can't believe they're here. They've felt so far away for so long. I'm probably about 98% done with my talk, I go Tuesday at 4:30 so I have time to polish it up. — Ohio State University (Emma)

Very excited to be back in Montreal for the next few days, for McGill School of Architecture's conference, 'The Virtue of the Virtual.' — Harvard GSD (Lian)

This weekend our team hosted a "soft opening" of the New Norris House to celebrate the completion of major construction. There is lots more to do and details to resolve, but this event was a welcomed termination of two semesters of work by design|build studio/seminar participants. — University of Tennessee (Samuel)

The first year of architecture school is complete. There were a lot of ups and downs but as you’re about to see, it seems that many of the experiences have balanced themselves out. — Pratt Institute (Jemuel)

I was driven instead by a curiosity about how the structures are used today and how they have settled into the everyday landscape. This is not a bunker archaeology or philosophy, as Virilio would have it, but a bunker sociology — a bunker acoustic ecology. — places.designobserver.com

Place: Living Room Studio
Time: 12:18 PM

Photos from the final! — Columbia University GSAPP (Anthony)

There's still a bit more house to take down, but we've come much further than I thought we could in a few short months. The above photograph was taken three days ago – we aren't salvaging the addition so two rooms on the main floor are all that remain. — University of Manitoba (Shannon)

We were joined by Andrew Zago, Rob Livesey, Jose Oubrerie, and Ben Nicholson. Zago as many of you may know is a professor at Sci-Arc, Nicholson is at the School of the Art Institute (not to be confused with AI, the online/art school/thing)and Rob Livesey, and Jose Oubrerie come from Ohio State. As I understand it Oubrerie is a disciple of Corb. — University of Illinois Chicago (Matthew)

Jacques Herzog: I don't believe in books on architecture; they're bound to fail and disappear even sooner than architecture...which can last for hundreds of years [before disappearing]. Not that I don't respect people who write books. — Harvard GSD (Lian)

In our weekly review, we’ve begun discussing the means by which the home’s undoing can transition into the pages of a book. In a project that must somehow translate itself to a far-removed audience, starting early in this process will be critical to ensure we don’t miss any essential moments. — University of Manitoba (Shannon)

The end of Winter Quarter was, as always, filled with excitement here at the KSA. My partner and I made a fun model of our proposed looping transit system for Ohio. (I'm pretty sure I can draw the state now without looking at a map.) — Ohio State University (Emma)

On campus, Bacchanal, is throwing a concert featuring Snoop Dog. I'm at home nursing my postpartum depression after birthing my final project and trying to do my paper for Kenneth Frampton's Architecture History II. — Columbia University GSAPP (Anthony)

Beautiful thesis projects abound at the presentations last Friday... a busy semester coming to a close giving way to a promising Summer and a formal beginning of my own thesis. My work this semester has focused on becoming literate in various scripting languages and diving deeper into the possibilities enabled by Building Information Modeling, parametric softwares and simulation tools to assist and enhance the quality of design. — UC Berkeley (Michael)