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Architects band interview - UK Hardcore
The Architects put on one of the best live shows you #39;ve even seen. The singer took some time to talk with us about helping the homeless, how his parents supp...
By: Enoch Magazine
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Architects band interview - UK Hardcore - Video
Block of flats in Branksome Park
By: David James Architects Associates Ltd
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Block of flats in Branksome Park - Video
ST. PETERSBURG
Few companies here last year played more of a punching bag than Wannemacher Jensen, the architectural firm charged with cheerleading the Pier's voter-doomed replacement candidate, the Lens.
But even as their most prominent project crumbled, the architects' fortunes soared. As demand for new designs surged last year, the firm boosted its staff from seven architects to 12 and saw revenue nearly double to $3.2 million "our best year ever," partner Jason Jensen said.
If real estate watchers had a crystal ball, it would probably be designed by architects: They start blueprinting and billing nine to 12 months before builders spend their first construction cent. And experts say flourishing demand for architects has inspired optimism that the construction economy is back on track.
Florida added 7,000 architectural and engineering jobs between December 2012 and December 2013, state data show a 10 percent jump and the fourth best of all industries. (The top three: building materials suppliers, heavy construction and probably unrelated hobby, book and sporting goods stores.)
Nationwide, the rate of unemployed architects dropped from 17 percent to 6 percent between 2010 and 2012, the most recent year available, American Institute of Architects data shows. The largest segment of laid-off architects found a new job in less than six months.
So why is the architecture market waking up now? Public purse string holders long strapped by the Great Recession are now seeing surpluses, and opting to restart stalled projects and retool old fire stations, schools and city halls. And pent-up commercial leaders are finding the confidence to suddenly build again after years of just making do.
"People are tired of the economy we've had. We're all tired of it," said Mickey Jacob, the executive vice president of Tampa-based BDG Architects, who served last year as the president of the American Institute of Architects. "Our private sector clients are investing heavily thinking 2014 will be a benchmark year."
But little is certain even now as to whether architects' fortunes will continue to dip or fall. The Architecture Billings Index, which charts nationwide designer demand, dipped at the end of last year after a run of solid growth, with many firms saying they were "coping with an unpredictable economy."
And though Tampa Bay builders have broken ground on thousands of new suburban homes, developers are a lot less optimistic about the prospects for certain commercial properties full-service hotels, suburban offices, regional malls that once served as architects' bread and butter.
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Architects engineer a comeback as construction revives
By Gotabaya Rajapaksa
The theme adopted for 31st National Conference organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects Architecture Envisioning Futures, is a timely one that will no doubt encourage considerable deliberation among members of the profession. Architects have an important role to play in development as the nation moves swiftly to a prosperous future built on a platform of unparalleled peace, security and stability.
When Mahinda Rajapaksa was first elected President of Sri Lanka in 2005, he had a very clear vision to end the three decades of terrorism and bring peace to the nation. This vision was outlined in his primary election manifesto, the Mahinda Chinthana document. Within his first three and a half years in office, that vision was achieved.
The President's vision for his second term of office, as outlined in the Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma document, is to strengthen peace and fast track economic development. This vision centres on transforming Sri Lanka into a dynamic global hub that will make full use of the country's unique strategic position and its educated and productive work force. It envisions that Sri Lanka will become a naval, aviation, commercial, energy and knowledge hub in the future.
One of the foremost requirements in facilitating this transformation is creating an overall environment that is people friendly. Such an environment will greatly uplift the living standards of the people, whilst also encouraging high net worth investors, entrepreneurs, and high calibre professionals to live and work in Sri Lanka.
Such people expect to maintain a high quality of life for themselves and their families. They, therefore, need a social and physical environment that is of a considerably high standard. Maintaining such an environment will also help attract Foreign Direct Investments and sustain local investments that will further develop Sri Lanka's industries and businesses. With all this in mind, the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development and its line agencies, together with the provincial and municipal authorities, has undertaken many programs throughout Sri Lanka to uplift the quality of its metropolitan areas.
The focus is on developing clean, green, people friendly cities and towns that will foster an efficient working environment and a relaxed living environment.
Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa being introduced to office-bearers of the SLIA
Because of the need to have a vibrant commercial capital, the Government has focused much effort on the development of Colombo and the greater metro Colombo area. There were many issues that the city faced due to its organic and rather unplanned growth over the years. There were also many long needed infrastructure improvements that had to be made. These included:
Flood control and improvement of drainage infrastructure Providing proper housing for low income, underserved settlements Improving the road network and improving pavements for pedestrians Developing parks and more public open spaces for people to use and enjoy Restoring old heritage buildings to bring out the architectural heritage of the city, and Enhancing public facilities such as toilets, bus halts and markets.
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What we build today must last for generations
After four months of decline, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) showed modest gains. The ABI score was 50.4 in January, up from 48.5 in December. This score reflects an increase in design services, as any score above 50 indicates an increase in billing.
There is enough optimism in the marketplace that business conditions should return to steady growth as the year progresses, AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker said in a statement. The suspension of the debt ceiling should ease some anxiety around projects for the federal government, at least for the time being. However, private sector spending should lead the construction upturn this year, which will depend more on employment growth and continued improvement in the overall economy."
The South brought in the highest regional score (53.5), followed by the West (51.1), Midwest (46.5), and Northeast (43.6). By sector, multi-family residential had the most growth at 51.8, followed by commercial/industrial at 50.9. The project inquires index was 58.5, down from a reading of 59.2 in December.
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Architectural Billings Show Slight Uptick in January
Individuals and small businesses now have new, user-friendly ways to create websites that are ideal for today's go-go world of mobile devices.
Until recently, those who used do-it-yourself services to fashion websites had to navigate a tedious array of codes and steps. And with the rise of smartphones and tablets, Web creators sometimes had to create one version of a site for desktop applications and another version for mobile applications.
"More Web design services are using what we call responsive design principles," said Michael Tchong, founder of San Francisco-based Social Revolution, which tracks technology trends. This kind of design enables people to access a website with a minimum of scrolling, resizing and panning -- regardless of whether they use a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
Strikingly and WordPress, both based in San Francisco, and Squarespace, based in New York City, are among the companies that have embraced these new design techniques.
All three companies say their tools allow users to design websites within a few minutes -- and they don't have to know any code to do so.
"It can take hours to set up a website, but with our technology, it can be done in 10 minutes," said David Chen, chief executive officer of Strikingly. "The websites that people create through us are optimized for a mobile platform and for a desktop platform."
At the Strikingly site, users can choose from personal, business, or portfolio options. Then they can edit the templates, including the title, font and other elements. The site has prompts for creating links and new sections.
"We started this in college because we needed to build a website easily," Chen said. "We realized that consumers have trouble building their own websites. Nobody really understands how to do it. We wanted to democratize the whole process."
All three services allow users to just click away and build the lead page and inside pages as they wish, add images and create links. People can also insert buttons or locations for social networking efforts such as Twitter or Facebook.
"You don't have to know any code. You don't even have to know how to set up a site," said Raanan Bar-Cohen, senior vice president of commercial services for Automattic, the parent company of WordPress. "The beauty is the user doesn't have to think about all this stuff. It all happens behind the scenes."
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User-friendly ways to build mobile websites
After nearly a decade of renovations, the South Carolina home where President Woodrow Wilson lived as a teenager is reopening to the public as a museum not only about the politician but also the Reconstruction Era.
Former U.S. President Woodrow Wilsons boyhood home in Columbia, S.C., is opening as a museum. Photo by The Associated Press
The home where the 28th president of the United States moved at age 13 and spent his teenage years reopened Feb. 15.
Wilsons father taught at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Columbia and was minister at First Presbyterian Church, where Wilsons father, mother and sister are all buried.
The villa-style home built in 1871 is one of four historic sites for Wilson along with his birthplace in Stanton, Va.; a home in Augusta, Ga., where he grew up; and the Washington, D.C., home where he lived after his time as president. The South Carolina home is the states only presidential site.
Saved from demolition in 1928 after residents protested, the historic home in downtown Columbia closed its doors and grounds to the public in 2005 when plaster fell from the ceiling in some of the downstairs rooms and water damage to the homes foundation became evident.
Rather than just start pulling out artifacts from those rooms that were affected, we decided to go ahead and close the whole site, said John Sherrer, director of cultural resources at Historic Columbia, which maintains the property.
The $3.6 million project to restore the home, which is owned by Richland County, was funded through tax money and private donations. During the nearly decade-long closure, Historic Columbia spent that time doing a historic analysis, which determined details like the blueprint of the home when the Wilsons lived in it and what had been added and closed up in the decades since.
The end result was a building that, structurally, looked like it did when the Wilsons called this home, Sherrer said.
If Tommy Wilson (Woodrows nickname) and his family had showed up here in 2005, theyd be walking around going, Whats that window doing there? or How can we get from this room to that room? ... Now what we have is a building that more genuinely reflects what they would have been accustomed to.
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After lengthy restoration, Columbia home where Woodrow Wilson lived reopens
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