Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Global Metropolitan Studies Program

From Ron Bishop, AIA:

The Global Metropolitan Studies Program Inaugural Event
Lecture: Professor Sir Peter Hall
Monday, February 13, 2006, 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Wurster Hall Auditorium (Room 112)
Followed by a reception 6:30 - 7:15 in theWurster Hall first floor lobby (just outside the auditorium)
RSVP to: metrostudies@uctc.net

For more information: babshad@berkeley.edu

Monday, January 30, 2006

Three Events from UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design

LECTURE: Focus on Cities: the Expanding Potential of Urban Design, Ken Greenberg, Greenberg Consultants, Inc.
Date:
February 2, 7:30 pm
Location: 112 Wurster Hall

Mr. Greenberg will deliver the keynote address of The Mayor's Institute on City Design, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, The United States Conference of Mayors, and the American Architectural Foundation; and hosted by The College of Environmental Design and The Institute of Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley.
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DEADLINE:
edra/Places Awards nominations
Deadline: February 7, 2006

The edra/Places awards are unique in the ever-expanding universe of award programs. Their primary concern is for good places and how people inhabit them. They invite participation from a range of design and research disciplines, recognizing projects whose significance extends beyond any one profession or field. And they emphasize a link between research and practice, demonstrating how a careful understanding of human interaction with place can inspire design. For more information: Janet Singer, Executive Director, edra; 405-330-4863;
edra@edra.org

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SYMPOSIUM: Thinking/Drawing: Drawing in an Electronic Age
Date: March 3 & 4, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Location: 112 Wurster Hall

March 3-4, the college will sponsor “Thinking/Drawing: Drawing in an Electronic Age”
a two-day symposium examining the need and role for drawing today in the design professions and fine arts. Organized by architecture professor Marc Treib, the program will broadly address the question “Why draw?” by variously examining the dynamic relationships between media, process, thought and environment.

Drawing, it has been said, is the language of design, the language by which we conceive and communicate our ideas to ourselves and to others. Today the presence of myriad images and virtual realities influences how we both see and think, underscoring the relation between the image and cognitive process.

Presenting papers and/or their work will include: Errol Barron, Professor of Architecture,
Tulane University; Christopher Brown, Adjunct Professor of Painting, California College of the Arts.

A reception will follow the completion of the program. Admission is free and open to the public, but registration is required.


For more information: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/events/drawing .

Eminent Domain: Abuse of Government Power?

From David Theroux, The Independent Institute:

"C-SPAN will be covering our very timely, upcoming event on the new threats to the security of private property, "Eminent Domain: Abuse of Government Power?"

When the U.S. Supreme Court last year -- in Kelo vs. City of New London, Conn. -- broadened the power of local governments to take private property for the purpose of economic development or other "public" benefits, it undercut one of the most important features of the American legal system: the protection of private-property rights.

Our event will feature Steven Greenhut (editorial writer, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER) and Timothy Sandefur (staff attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation). Mr. Greenhut is the author of the insightful book, ABUSE OF POWER: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain, and Mr. Sandefur has served as a consultant for a proposed constitutional amendment to limit eminent domain in California.

This very timely forum will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at the Independent Institute Conference Center in Oakland, California. A reception begins at 6:30 p.m., and the program will start at 7:00 p.m. and conclude at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Because eminent domain is a subject that directly touches everyone, I highly recommend that you make your reservations as soon as possible by contacting me or the Institute's Events Coordinator, Ms. Nichelle Beardsley, at 510-632-1366 x118 (NBeardsley@independent.org).
We hope to see you on Tuesday, January 31, 2006!"


For more information: DTheroux@independent.org

Smarter Land Use

Smarter Land Use Project: A new guidebook for achieving effective collaboration among conflicted neighbors, developers, environmentalists, and boards- Landuse.Org

News from Swatt Architects

From Swatt Architects:

"We are pleased to announce new updates to our company Web site, reflecting some of Swatt Architects' major accomplishments of the past six months.

Green City Lofts, our award-winning multi-family residential development, is scheduled for completion in the spring, and we have construction photos and updated information.

We've added video presentations to our Company Profile page and to our presentation on the Kohavi House, which was recently featured in a Jaguar television ad.

We have two exciting new residential projects On the Boards, the Methven House and the Kapoor House, and construction photos of the soon-to-be-completed Mayol House.

Finally, we update you on the many books and publications our work has appeared in recently, and include links to retailers where you can purchase our new monograph.

We look forward to keeping in touch over the coming months to share more of the exciting new developments at Swatt Architects.

Cordially,
Robert Swatt, FAIA and Steven Stept, AIA
Swatt Architects 5845 Doyle Street, Suite 104, Emeryville, California 94608"

For More Information: Tel. 510.985.9779 Fax. 510.985.0116 www.swattarchitects.com

Student and recent graduates design competition

The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) is administering a design competition that encourages students and recent graduates to address the complex issues involved in designing housing for young people with limited resources.

"Finding affordable housing is, to no one's surprise, among the single most daunting challenges for young people who cannot afford to buy into the highly inflated housing markets in Boston and other urban centers," notes architect/educator Peter Wiederspahn AIA, one of the competition's leaders.

Developed and led by Wiederspahn and Utile Inc. designer Susanne Schindler, the competition is designed to encourage innovative/imaginative/practical solutions to this singular challenge. The competition registration deadline is February 17 . The call for entries is available at www.architects.org, click on 'Design awards programs'. Competition award-recipients' work will be exhibited at the BSA's Residential Design Convention and Tradeshow on April 5-6 in Boston.

For more information: e-mail/call Alexandra Lee at the BSA (alee@architects.org / 617-951-1433 x225).

Friday, January 13, 2006

Mergers and Acquisitions Seminar

Special Seminar: The Smart Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions in the A/E Industry

January 16, 2005, San Francisco, CA — MBV Law and Strogoff Consulting will present a targeted half-day seminar, “What Design Professionals Need to Know About Buying or Selling a Firm” on Thursday, February 23, 2006 at the Banker’s Club in San Francisco. This seminar will show architects, engineers and environmental consulting firms how to strategically approach a merger or acquisition—as a buyer or a seller—and capitalize on the dramatic consolidation taking place in the A/E/P industries. Seminar presenters include William Mandel, Esq. and Laura Howard, Esq, of MBV Law San Francisco, and Michael Strogoff, AIA, of Strogoff Consulting.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of architectural, engineering and consulting firms actively looking at acquiring or merging with other firms or considering selling their practices,” states Michael Strogoff, AIA, principal of Strogoff Consulting. “This is due to a convergence of factors, including the desire of large firms to expand geographically, increasing competition among small- and mid-size firms, a dearth of qualified staff, and baby-boomers searching for viable exit strategies as they look ahead toward retirement.

This seminar, recommended for CEOs, CFOs, principals and strategic marketing staff of architectural, engineering and environmental consulting firms, will cover the essentials of ownership transitions, mergers and acquisitions. “Firms must approach mergers and acquisitions strategically while at the same time understanding the tax and legal implications. Our aim is to demystify the process,” states William Mandel, Esq. of MBV.

For more information: call 866.ARCH ENG (866.272.4364) or e-mail seminars@StrogoffConsulting.com

Engineering Koolhaas

From ArchitectureWeek.com:

Engineering Koolhaas
by Arup*
To support the rapid expansion of China Central Television (CCTV), an international design competition was launched in 2002 for a centralized headquarters building in Beijing. Winning the commission was
Rem Koolhaas (Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA), teamed with engineering firm Arup and the East China Architecture and Design Institute as both architect and engineer of record. Koolhaas imagined a building whose three dimensional form brings CCTV's staff and functions into a "continuous tube." This is part of the story of the engineering challenge. — Editor

To Read the Full Article: http://www.architectureweek.com/today.html

2006 Summer Employment Opportunities

2006 SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
ARCHITECTS · LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS · HISTORIANS · ENGINEERS
The Heritage Documentation Programs (Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey), a division of the National Park Service, seeks applications from qualified individuals for summer employment documenting historic sites and structures of architectural, landscape and technological significance throughout the country. Duties involve on-site field work and preparation of measured and interpretive drawings and written historical reports for the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. Projects last twelve weeks, beginning in May/June. Salaries range from approximately $5,800 to approximately $10,700 for the summer, depending on job responsibility, locality of the project, and level of experience.
Applications Due: February 13, 2006 (postmark date)
Application forms and detailed information can be found on our web site:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hdp/jobs
View examples of HDP documentation on the Library of Congress web site: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/hhhtml/hhhome.html

SALLY KRESS TOMPKINS FELLOWSHIP
The SKT Fellowship, a joint program of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), permits an architectural historian to conduct research on a 12-week HABS project during the summer of 2006. The award consists of a $10,000 stipend.
Applications due: February 1, 2006 (postmark date).
For details, visit:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/habshaer/joco/sktf.htm or contact James A. Jacobs at or (202) 354-2184.

SALLY KRESS TOMPKINS MARITIME DOCUMENTATION INTERNSHIP
The SKT Maritime Documentation Internship is sponsored by the Council of American Maritime Museums and permits a student of architecture or history, interested in maritime preservation, to work as a summer intern on a HAER maritime documentation project. The award consists of a $5,400 stipend.
Applications due: February 1, 2006 (postmark date).
For details, visit:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/habshaer/joco/kress.htm or contact Todd Croteau at or (202) 354-2167.

For more information:


Judy Davis
Summer Program Administrator
Heritage Documentation Programs Division
National Park Service (2270)
1201 Eye Street, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 354-2135
Fax: (202) 371-6473
Email:
judy_davis@nps.gov

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Brigitte Shim to Lecture at SFMOMA 1/12/06

Brigitte Shim
Thursday, January 12, 6:30 pm
Lectures take place in the SFMOMA Phyllis Wattis Theater, located at 151 Third Street (between Mission and Howard Streets) in San Francisco.
$10 for AIA and SFMOMA members, students, and seniors
$15 general admission
Tickets are available at the Museum (no surcharge), through www.sfmoma.org/tickets (surcharge applies), or by calling 415.357.4000. Tickets are on sale now.

Toronto-based Brigitte Shim is a principal of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, an architecture and design firm integrating furniture, architecture, and landscape design. The firm's focus on the construction and fabrication of buildings, sites, and their intersections results in a thoughtful questioning of the fundamental relationships between object and ground, building and landscape, and man and nature. Their projects have been honored with eight Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Governor General's Medals and Awards for Architecture along with AIA, American Wood Council, Canadian Wood Council, Architectural Record Interiors, and I.D. Magazine Design Review awards. A Fellow of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada, Shim currently teaches at Yale University. Lecture sponsored in part by the Consulate General of Canada and is an AIA SF/SFMOMA Lecture.

For more information: Call AIA San Francisco at 415/362-7397 or SFMOMA's A+D Forum DesignLine at 415/357-4027.

International Design Conference 2007 Set for Sacramento

The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) recently announced that it will hold its 2007 conference at Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand Hotel May 29 to June 3, 2007 (2006 is in Atlanta). The international conference attracts architects, designers, urban planners, landscape architects, researchers, educators, students and others from around the world.

For more information: Janice Bissell janice_bissell@edra38.com