Earlier this week RIBA unveiled its results from the December 2011 Future Trends Survey. Andrea Klettner of bdonline reports that although the overall trend in architectural practices is a decrease in confidence over future workloads, female employees seem to be hit dispropotionately by the challenges the industries faces. RIBA’s Future Trends Survey also found that female architectural staff fell 4% since 2009 and that between January 2009 and its most recent poll, female architectural staff fell from 28% to 21%. This news only emphasizes the findings that Architects’ Journal discovered after conducting its first Women in Architecture survey which quizzed 700 women “about career challenges as well as sexual discrimination, children, pay and role models”.

Read more after the break.

Craig Hartman, FAIA, the Design Partner in SOM’s San Francisco office, stated, “We want to be part of the dialogue in LA – a tremendously important cultural and talent hub and a diverse design-centric city. With Michael, Paul and Jose leading our studio,” Hartman continued, “we will be part of the conversation and be able to collaborate meaningfully with colleagues and institutions that we’ve known for years.

Our Cebra book giveaway contest is over! Thank you all for participating, and kudos to all Cebra fans and architectural conoisseurs among you! We got some really interesting entries – so be ready for more events like this one, coming soon. The two lucky winners are Mike Delvalle and John Putre. Congratulations, you just got a new something for the library!

So I just asked a simple question. “Are there any Architecture terms or phrases that sound unintentionally ….. ummm… dirty?”

Yep, 12 hours later I had 150 responses. The internet is awesome. And, you guys are disgusting.

So, here goes, I’ll list the terms I have so far. In fact, I’ll even include a pdf you can print and post in the breakroom – (HERE >> architecturesoundsdirty).

Feel free to add more in the comment section down there, or you can tweet them with the hashtag #architecturesoundsdirty

Scheduling the hardware Nailing studs Pipe penetrations Fire-rated penetrations Thru-wall penetrations Undulating facades Undifferentiated wedge

Morris Architects shared with us their Houston Pavilion for the 8th China International Garden Expo in Chongqing, China, which is a showcase for a variety of landscape typologies throughout China and the world. The theme, “Better Garden, Better City”, promotes harmony between landscaped and built spaces. The City of Houston is one of thirty-two international cities invited to participate in the Expo. Morris Architects partnered with SWA Group to design the Houston Pavilion. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architecture press is buzzing with recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reports on unemployment and self-employment figures for those in the architecture field. The media have taken this data and made a plentitude of fearful predictions about the dark future of the architecture profession: there are more too many graduates, seemingly few positions, higher educational requirements and less prestige for the profession as a whole. They paint a somewhat dismal picture, both for those entering the field and those in mid-career, who are looking to start a firm.

The BLA Statistics and a recent study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education offer the following as signs of difficulty and doom:

• Licensing requirements (for architects) include not only a professional degree in architecture (4-6 years of schooling), but also at least 3 years of practical work, training, and passing all divisions of the Architect Registration Examination
• Architecture graduates face stiff competition, especially for jobs in the most prestigious firms
• Undergraduate architecture students are facing 13.9 percent unemployment rates
• About 21 percent of architects are self-employed—almost 3 times the proportion for all occupations

While these statistics could take one down a road of despair, there is more to the story. The reality is that the architecture field has naturally changed with a changing world. All professions are undergoing a profound evolution on several fronts: demographic, education and economic. These changes are not all bad, and actually may provide the basis for optimism.

“Architecture was historically a gentleman’s profession,” said Michael Porter, AIA during an interview we conducted for Success by Design. He went on to say, “Even as recently as 50 years ago, architects were almost always male, came from wealthy families and pursued the career as a symbol of philanthropy more than for financial gain.”

Our friends from CEBRA have shared their new Information Center for Rebild Hills and Rold Forest, a winning competition entry in collaboration with HP Byg, Viggo Madsen and exhibition architect Elisabeth Topsøe. Situated in the amazing nature reserves of Denmark’s Rebild Hills and Rold Forest in northern Jutland, the project was conceptualized as an open and accommodating buiding that serves as a gathering place to inform, guide and inspire the 400,000+ visitors who are guided through the forests each year. “We have created an information portal, which is both building and nature, with a distinctive expression and character deriving directly from Nature’s own formal language and elements, which makes the building stand out from its surroundings and blend in with nature’s scenery at one and the same time,” explained CEBRA.

More about the project, including lots of CEBRA’s awesome hand drawings, after the break.

The project by AQSO Arquitectos, a high density residential complex in Guangyuan, China, is conceived as a strong element in consonance with the surrounding hilly scene. The buildings rise over the landscape becoming a milestone, a sober and expressive landmark. This massing makes it possible to archive the desired plot ratio and increases the green areas on the ground, minimizing the building footprint. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The Campbell Sports Center at Columbia University celebrated its topping out last Wednesday. Steven Holl Architects designed the “inviting new gateway” for the Baker Athletics Complex – the primary athletics facility for the University’s outdoor sports program. With the structural frame place, the large interior space and amazing views of the city are already able to be experienced. Construction is two weeks ahead of schedule and the athletic complex is planned to open this fall. Continue reading for more images and information.

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Richard Meier & Partners revealed today their most recent work in Mexico City. The new Mitikah Office Tower is the third project designed in Mexico by Richard Meier & Partners which will be a state-of-the-art building in the Delegacion Benito Juarez area. The tower will be part of a mixed use master plan designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and developed by IDEURBAN/IDCity from Mexico. The scheme consists of commercial space, low-rise residential buildings, and a hotel and residential tower. More images and project description after the break.

ArchDaily is once again updating you on the progress of The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center designed by Renzo Piano. We showed you initial plans for the building back in 2009. Since then, we have been provided with more detail on the development of the project, which we continue to share with you. As previously mentioned, the center will be a sustainable arts, education, and recreation complex that will contribute to the community of Athens, financed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Plans for this building began five years ago but it was not until December 2011 that preparatory excavation work finally began. Construction is scheduled for Spring 2012 and according to the foundation website:

The beginning of the construction phase comes at a very critical juncture in modern Greek history and brings a much-needed sense of optimism and hope, as well as a whole range of significant economic benefits to the country. Approximately €1 billion of total economic stimulus will be derived from the upfront commitment in the construction of the SNFCC, while 1,500 to 2,400 people will be employed each year to support SNFCC construction and all related industries.

More after the break.

Rather than trying to compete with the sublime landscape of Utah, New York City based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects chose to create a building that framed the views and contained a perspective from which to appreciate the alpine landscape. This design is one of five proposals for the transformation of the Kimball Art Center in Park City.

More on this proposal after the break.

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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently gave the National Park Service 30 days to revise a truncated and controversial quote inscribed on the newly built Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The inscription, paraphrased by architect Ed Jackson Jr. and artist Lei Yixin, turns a speech about humility into a quote that makes MLK look like, in the words of Maya Angelou, an “arrogant twit.” Thankfully this will be corrected, but it remains unclear to me how the design team will satisfyingly right this wrong.

This past Fall, ROMA Design Group proudly announced the completion of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington D.C. In 2000, ROMA won the international design competition among nearly 1,000 entries. ROMA Design Group worked for several years to develop the design. The memorial has now been built and was officially dedicated by President Obama on October 16, 2011.

Architect: ROMA Design Group Location: Washington D.C., USA Illustrations: Christopher Grubbs Photographs: Courtesy of ROMA Design Group

Check out this great video on one of our favorite landscape architects, James Corner. Named one of Time Magazine’s Game Changers - “innovators and problem-solvers that are inspiring change in America” – thousands have enjoyed Corner’s work on the High Line, and we are excited to monitor the progress of Corner’s recent joint win with SOM on Cornell’s NYC Tech Campus. The video sheds light upon Corner’s philosophy on landscape and how public spaces are a defining component of urban spaces. “…As designers, you bring an incredible sense of optimism and faith….and the capacity of good design to transform what may be perceived as negative to something very positive,” explained Corner. Overall, we found the video inspiring and we hope you enjoy it!

Through a range of strategies and carefully selected interventions the porcelain-city of Selb in the Fichtelgebirge region in Germany will be elevated to a regional center for art, trade, tourism, and culture. The winning Europan 11 proposal, titled Dornröschen – Reinitializing Selb or ‘Kissing awake the sleeping beauty’, by NAP (Network of Architects & Planners) will act as the nucleus for future development. In juxtaposition to the well-established and intact city center around the church and market square, the porcelain factory will be a second center of gravity creating a new and desired field of tension in between both. More images and architects’ description after the break.

In this TEDx sponsored talk, Rachel Armstrong - co-director of AVATAR (Advanced Virtual and Technological Architectural Research) in Architecture and Synthetic Biology at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL) – speaks about the dangerous relationship that we have developed with machines since the industrial revolution and ways we can break that habit. Along with her research on “living materials” and “synthetic biology”, Armstrong is looking for ways to rebuild the relationship between our reliance on machines and the systems of nature and our ecologies that are often neglected.

More on this talk after the break.

The Kimball Art Center design proposal by Will Bruder+PARTNERS focuses on the nature of “exhibition” in the context of history. Taking a cue from the “colorful prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs” of Utah’s canyons along with its abundance of formally expressive Victorian architecture, the proposal takes on the role of expression and education through color and craft. This sensitivity to the history and propogation of exhibition is instantly understood with the facade walls of Main and Heber Streets.

Follow us after the break for more…

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The Metro Station 20 proposal by Peter Ruge Architekten on Metro Line 1 in Sofia, Bulgaria acts as a primary metro connection between Sofia’s city center and the airport, and the hub of a major commercial redevelopment plan. Their design seeks to establish clear pathways, form active connections and harmonize architecture and landscape. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Studio Twenty Seven Architecture, along with joint venture partner Leo A Daly, are continuing to develop their design for the District-owned “La Casa” supportive housing project. The project is an important milestone for the District in their efforts to redefine the concept of housing for the homeless community in Washington D.C. More images and architects’ description after the break.

HORIZONTE, a journal for architectural discourse just announced its latest Call for Papers for their 5th issue dealing with the topic “Fetish”. The journal is an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort of students from the School of Architecture, the School of Design and the School of Media Studies and is an independent student organization at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany. For more information, please visit their website here.

Studio Mode / modeLab is pleased to announce the modeLab 2012 Spring Workshop Series. The series starts off with the Agent Forms, a two-day intensive design and programming workshop to be held in Brooklyn during the weekend of February 04-05.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is announcing its second annual student competition for “Reimagining Tall”. The competition will be held in conjunction with CTBUH 9th World Congress Shanghai 2012. Competition chair William Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox noted that the competition hopes to give new meaning to “the tall building” and move it “away from just an instrument of financial exploitation and toward a development highly concerned with its impact on the city, the environment, and the urban habitat”. The competition is seeking proposals that address the building’s relationship with the urban fabric, integrate existing street life and reflect their environment in a productive way. This should be an interesting competition considering we are entering the era of the megatall.

More details on the competition after the break.

The Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah is hosting a competition for a transformation of the “non-profit center for the arts in the heart of Park City’s historic and vibrant art community”. The list of architects competing to transform this cultural space is selective. Among them is Sparano + Mooney Architecture, an internationally recognized firm with offices in Park City, Utah and Los Angeles, California. The competition submissions for Stage II will be presented on February 2nd, but until then here is a preview of Sporano + Mooney’s Proposal!

Follow us after the break for more…

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