Architecture Billings Index Fluctuates Downward, But Still Positive
BILLINGS (BLUE) AND INQUIRIES (RED) FOR THE PAST 12 MONTHS. (THE ARCHITECT’S NEWSPAPER)
The Architecture Billings Index has reported a slight fluctuation in design activity over the past few months, recording a score of 51.9 for March, a 3 point decrease from February’s mark of 54.9. Any score above 50 indicates positive growth. All four regions were in positive territory with the Northeast leading at 54.6, the Midwest at 53.9, the South not far behind at 53.6, and the West finishing with a 51.9.
Product> Small Spaces and High Design in the Bath
Open Space Shower by Duravit
Designing for a smaller spaces shouldn’t translate to a reduction in quality finishes and fixtures. Following are a selection of bath fittings that serve as exceptional finds for tight rooms.
Open Space Shower
Duravit
Vienna-based Eoos has collaborated on a folding shower that’s perfect for a bathroom with limited square footage. Available in clear or mirrored glass, the four walled unit folds into a chrome frame that conveniently hides all fittings, including shower and fixtures, when not in operation. The bottom can be outfitted with Duravit’s shower tray or set onto a tiled floor with a drain.
After announcing the winners of the 2012 Jane Jacobs Medal last month at Frank Gehry’s IAC Building in west Manhattan, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Municipal Art Society are in search of nominees for this year’s prize (the awards ceremony was pushed back due to Hurricane Sandy). The groups are accepting online nominations on the Rockefeller Foundation’s website through April 30. Among the qualities of a Jacobs Medal winner are that they “Open our eyes to new ways of seeing and understanding our city” and “Challenge traditional assumptions and conventional thinking.” Winners will be announced this September.
APA Hands Out National Planning Excellence Awards
Philadelphia’s Integrated Planning and Zoning Process won National Planning Excellence Award for a Best Practice, namely its “innovative approach to leveraging the synergy between citizen education, planning, and zoning reform.” (Courtesy APA)
Northwest Indiana’s 2040 masterplan took home top honors for comprehensive planning last week, when the American Planning Association handed out its 2013 National Planning Excellence Awards. The association also saluted 12 projects with the first-ever National Planning Achievement Awards.
Tying into a major theme at this year’s conference, the APA award winners tended toward projects with an ambitious scope, such as Philadelphia’s sweeping planning and zoning rewrite and New York’s Zone Green initiative.
AIA Committee on the Environment Honors the Top Ten Green Projects on Earth Day
Federal Center South, Building 1202. (Benjamin Benschneider / Courtesy AIA)
Quite appropriate for Earth Day today, the American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the ten most outstanding examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions. The projects, which protect and enhance the environment through sustainable design practices and reduced energy consumption, will be honored at the AIA 2013 National Convention and Design Exposition in Denver. Now in its 17th year, the COTE Top Ten Green Projects program is celebrated as the best program in recognizing sustainable design. The program acknowledges projects that succeed in this environmental endeavor via an integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology and ones that benefit their communities by reducing environmental impact.
American Academy in Rome Announces Rome Prize Winners
The American Academy in Rome has announced the winners of the 117th annual Rome Prize, a national competition awarded to approximately thirty individuals who show outstanding work in the arts and humanities. The prize includes a fellowship and stipend, a study or studio, and an invitation to Rome for six months to two years to work within the Academy and with its students to further explore artistic, professional, or scholarly pursuits while learning from the knowledge of peers. This year, 44 individuals comprised nine peer juries that completed the application selection process.
View the winners in architecture, design, and more after the jump.
The Shortlist> AN’s Editors Pick Five Competitions of the Week
SOCIALIGHT Competition Photo.
Are you eager to put your architectural design skills to the test? Here are some exciting upcoming competitions that will be sure to present you with the type of challenge you’ve been waiting for. AN‘s editors have combed through our online listing of architecture and design competitions to bring you five of the most interesting competitions happening right now. If you’d like your competition to be included in the listing, please submit it here.
SOCIALIGHT. The Concept Lumière Urbaine invites architects, landscape architects, and urban planners to re-imagine the future role of lighting in urban neighborhoods. The foundation encourages participants to think beyond the practical use of lighting (security, traffic, and signaling) and consider the way that light can affect the emotions and experiences of the residents of a city.
Registration Deadline: September 12, 2013
Submission Deadline: September 13, 2013
Product> Clutter-Free Options In The Hidden Kitchen
B2-kitchen-kitchen tool cabinet by Bulthaup.
As interior footprints shrink, compact organization grows increasingly important—particularly in the kitchen. Below is a compilation of some of the smartest solutions to keep the heart of the home clutter-free.
B2-Kitchen-Kitchen Tool Cabinet
Bulthaup
German manufacturer Bulthaup’s B2 kitchen workshop (above) is the perfect disguise for the home cook. The kitchen implement cabinet is outfitted with multiple compartments to store accouterments from pots and pans to pantry items. Adjustable shelves, formatted containers, and storage systems all fit uniformly behind the folding doors. It works in a loft, studio, or office environment.
AIA Announces 2013 Small Project Award Recipients
Tahoe City Transit Center. (Courtesy AIA)
The American Institute of Architects has announced the winners of the 2013 Small Project Awards, a program dedicated to promoting small-project designs. Since 2003 the AIA Small Projects Award Program has emphasized the work and high standards of small-project architects, bringing the public’s attention to the significant designs of these small-projects and the diligent work that goes into them. This year’s ten winners are grouped into four categories: projects completed on a budget under $150,000, projects with a budget under $1.5 million, projects under 5,000 square feet, and theoretical design under 5,000 square feet.
The Shortlist> Editors’ Picks For This Week’s Top Competitions
(Courtesy Salt Lake City Interotta)
Are you eager to put your architectural design skills to the test? Here are some exciting upcoming competitions that will be sure to present you with the type of challenge you’ve been waiting for. AN‘s editors have combed through our online listing of architecture and design competitions to bring you five of the most interesting competitions happening right now. If you’d like your competition to be included in the listing, please submit it here.
SALT LAKE CITY INTEROTTA. In an effort to organize city planning, Salt Lake City, Utah came up with the “Mormon Town Grid,” a planning system that evenly and neatly divided pieces of land into squares of the same size. The grid certainly made for a more orderly city, but it also presented a problem. Each 660-f00t square holds 10 acres of land. The blocks are too big and too deep to be walkable, and so driveways and internal streets have been incorporated into the blocks to ease navigation. The competition asks architects, urban designers, and landscape architects to design his/her own 660×660 ft square. Entrants are allowed to interrupt the square any which way they’d like but must remain within the context of the block.
Submission Deadline: May 27, 2013
Obit> Paolo Soleri, 1919-2013
Arcosanti, left, and Paolo Soleri, right. (Doctress Neutopia / Flickr; Courtesy Cosanti Foundation)
The visionary architect and artist Paolo Soleri has died. He was best known as the mastermind behind Arcosanti, the ongoing experimental community outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Arcosanti, which has been under construction for more than 40 years, embodies Soleri’s idea of an architecture merged with the environment. More than 7,000 architecture students have worked on Arcosanti, and more than 50,000 people visit the site every year.
Though Soleri has been viewed as an almost mystical outlier in architecture, many of the design principles of Arcosanti mirror contemporary thinking in architecture and planning, including walkability, high density, diversity of uses, urban agriculture, and use of embodied energy. In addition to Arcosanti, Soleri designed buildings in Italy, New Mexico, and several sites across Arizona. According to the Cosanti Foundation, Soleri will be buried at Arcosanti following a private service. A public service will be held later this year.
Architects Celebrate the Life of the Stubbornly Audacious John M. Johansen
Frank Gehry’s remembrance of John Johansen. (William Menking / AN)
The Century Club in New York recently hosted a memorial celebration of the life of the late architect John M. Johansen organized by his daughter, Deborah Johansen Harris, and son, architect Christen Johansen. Christen, who collaborated with his father on later renovations and additions to various projects, read a touching tribute to Johansen that recalled his series of fast British sports cars and his ability to do “a handstand from a seated position in a lawn chair, or holding himself horizontally from a lamppost when the opportunity arose.” He remembered that John delighted guests to the New Canaan house “by setting his martini down on the window sill and, mid-conversation, vaulting out the window to the lawn below, reappearing moments later through the front door.”
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