A recent survey on Houzz.com shared the top five remodeling challenges for U.S. homeowners.

Trina Knudsen

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We recently saw an interesting survey of homeowners posted on Houzz.com titled "Transforming the American Home: Findings from the 2014 Houzz and Home Survey." Houzz is a website that posts literally millions of pictures of homes and everything to do with them, including the kitchen sink. It is a great resource for gathering and communicating ideas if you are considering building or remodeling a home.

The study surveyed 200,000 Houzz.com users across the world and discovered general patterns and perceptions in the current remodeling and housing market, including some of the most common challenges. The top renovation challenges identified by the survey were: "finding the right products to use," "defining my style," "making decisions with my spouse or partner," "staying on schedule" and "educating myself."

As architects, the most obvious thing about the results is that design was not mentioned as a challenge. We do not think this is because it is so easy but because people often overlook it as the first and most basic element of a great project. We also find it interesting that undertaking the design process with an architect can lessen (and in many cases eliminate) the challenges named in the Houzz survey. Bear with us as we put on our architects' hats and take a look at the survey results:

Forty percent of those surveyed identified the greatest renovation challenge to be finding the right products to use. This may stem from the fact that we are bombarded with an overabundance of information in this day of the Internet. Rather than having too little from which to choose, we have the opposite problem: Like a single person who cant commit because something better may come along at any time, we have issues making a choice due to the fear that we are missing something better that we havent yet discovered.

As challenging as selecting products may be, remember that even the most superior products installed in an inferior design cannot save the day. A poor floor plan that directs traffic through a kitchen instead of past it will still function poorly despite the most amazing gas range. We have been known to use the phrase, Dont put lipstick on the pig.

The second greatest challenge identified by 29 percent of those surveyed was "defining my style." While this may be a personal quest to learn about oneself, an architect can help by discussing the style of the existing structure in terms of materials, the shape of the house, also known as massing, and historical context.

Lets say a homeowner determines her preferred style to be Craftsman. She can then select a lovely Craftsman front door and sidelight, the design of which delights her. However, installing that terrific Craftsman door in her mid-century modern home will not be as successful of a curb appeal update as she may have hoped. Unless a complete tear-down is contemplated, an effective remodel will require a subtle blending of the owners style with the style of the home itself.

Continued here:
Renovation Solutions: Top remodeling challenges decoded

Even though MNK Architects was selected two months ago to perform a study on whether the Downtown Jail should be replaced or fixed, Commissioners Court has not reached an agreement with the company.

On June 1, Commissioners Court authorized county staff to begin negotiations with MNK Architects to come up with a price on the study.

As of Thursday, Commissioners Court has not signed a contract.

Commissioners discussed the topic Thursday in executive session.

Details were not revealed.

Commissioner Vince Perez said MNK Architects is charging the county a much higher price than what Commissioner Court had expected.

Commissioners had allocated $250,000 for the study, which will compare the cost of building a new jail and of remodeling the existing 30-year-old facility.

MNK is charging the county almost double, Perez said.

Perez said he did not know how long negotiations are going to take.

"The jail is the most expensive component to our budget, so we want to be sure that the study is going to give us all of the answers that we are looking for so that we can make the best decisions in the future on how to cut cost," Perez said.

The rest is here:
El Paso County Commissioners Court: No contract reached in jail study

Architects design buildings and other structures. In addition to considering the way these buildings and structures look, they also make sure they are functional, safe, economical and suit the needs of the people who use them.

Employment Facts:

There were approximately 113,700 architects employed in 2010, mostly in the architectural, engineering and related services industry. About a quarter were self employed. Most jobs were full-time positions, but if you're thinking 9 to 5, you're wrong. Many architects work over 50 hours a week and those hours include weekends and evenings. While they work in offices most of the time, they also have to visit construction sites to check up on the progress of the projects they have designed.

Educational Requirements:

To become an architect one must earn a professional degree in architecture after completing one of the following programs offered at many colleges and universities:

Generally, the professional degree in architecture must be from a school of architecture accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). A few states don't have this requirement.

Why Do You Need to Know About Educational Requirements?

Other Requirements:

In the United States those who want to provide architectural services must be licensed. To become a licensed architect one must earn a professional degree in architecture, complete a period of practical training or internship, and pass all divisions of the ARE (Architect Registration Examination). In most states, continuing education is required to maintain licensure. To find out what the requirements are in the state in which you want to work use the Licensed Occupations Tool from CareerOneStop

One needs certain qualities to succeed in this occupation. If you want to be an architect you should be creative and have good visualization skills. Not only do you need to be able to create designs for buildings and other structures, you need to be able to see, in your mind's eye, what they will look like once they are built. Since architects have to describe their ideas to other people including clients and colleagues, you must have strong communication skills. The ability to think critically will help you solve problems that inevitably arise during most projects.

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Architect - Career Information - About.com Career Planning

Even though MNK Architects was selected two months ago to perform a study on whether the Downtown Jail should be replaced or fixed, Commissioners Court has not reached an agreement with the company.

On June 1, Commissioners Court authorized county staff to begin negotiations with MNK Architects to come up with a price on the study.

As of Thursday, Commissioners Court has not signed a contract.

Commissioners discussed the topic Thursday in executive session.

Details were not revealed.

Commissioner Vince Perez said MNK Architects is charging the county a much higher price than what Commissioner Court had expected.

Commissioners had allocated $250,000 for the study, which will compare the cost of building a new jail and of remodeling the existing 30-year-old facility.

MNK is charging the county almost double, Perez said.

Perez said he did not know how long negotiations are going to take.

"The jail is the most expensive component to our budget, so we want to be sure that the study is going to give us all of the answers that we are looking for so that we can make the best decisions in the future on how to cut cost," Perez said.

More:
No contract reached in jail study

ARCHITECTS are being invited to take part in a competition that aims to bring Springburn's Winter Gardens back into public use.

Designers have been asked to create a new community space in the gardens, where local residents can "share collective memories".

The competition is being launched by the Glasgow Institute of Architects in partnership with the Springburn Winter Gardens Trust.

Entries will be displayed in an exhibition of models that will tour Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Institute of Architects venues.

The first of these events will be Doors Open Day on September 20 and 21 at Mosesfield House in Springburn Park.

Winners will be selected from a shortlist by a community voting process with the winning design announced in November.

In 2009 it was estimated that full refurbishment of the Winter Gardens was feasible and would likely cost around 4.67million.

A number of options have been suggested during the 30 years the structure has been out of public use.

A spokesman for the Glasgow Institute of Architects said: "The approach suggested by the Glasgow Institute of Architects is to make a series of incremental steps toward full renovation.

"The first step should be small, engage the local community and bring the structure back into the daily lives of the residents of Springburn and lovers of the park.

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Bid to help Winter Gardens bloom again

Hamilton County commissioners next week will vote whether to assign architects to four new school projects, send $26 million to the city's Industrial Development Board for the planned expansion at Volkswagen and confirm or deny a mayoral appointment to the Erlanger board of trustees.

During an agenda session Wednesday, commissioners heard resolutions assigning nearly $2.9 million to four architects for the design of a new Ganns Middle Valley Elementary and additions at Nolan Elementary School, Sale Creek Middle/High School and Wolftever Creek Elementary School.

In March, commissioners agreed to Mayor Jim Coppinger's plan to build the four projects for $48 million. The votes next week will only be to design the schools, and Commissioner Tim Boyd, who sits on the commission's finance committee, wanted to know if the design portion was at or under budget.

"Since these are definitive figures on these resolutions, can I interpret that to mean that the budget price for these particular projects has been whittled down?" he asked during a committee meeting.

But Gary Waters, who manages facilities for Hamilton County Schools, said design fees were set by a state price schedule and "we think we are still at the estimating stage."

According to the resolutions, Derthick, Henley & Wilkerson Architects would design Ganns for $1.4 million; Franklin Architects would design the Nolan Elementary addition for $328,590; Hefferlin + Kronenberg Architects would draw up the extension of Sale Creek Middle/High School for $679,300; and Billingsley/Architect would handle the addition at Wolftever Creek Elementary for $421,976.

In March, the Ganns school was estimated to cost $26 million. Additions at Sale Creek are expected to cost $12 million and $5 million each at the other two schools.

Commissioners also will hear a resolution to give $26 million to Chattanooga's IDB, which Finance Committee Chairman Joe Graham said was part of the deal for Volkswagen's expansion at Enterprise South industrial park.

"This is basically some cleanup work on the budget for VW. This is the money we agreed for the expansion. It's coming out of our fund balance now, but we did leave the door open to turn this over to bonds if need be," Graham said.

Commissioners also will consider the appointment of Richard Youngblood to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority board of trustees.

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Hamilton County Commission to assign architects for schools

Architects - The Devil Is Near (Live @ Brutal Assault, Czech Republic, 07-08-2014)
Brutal Assault 2014 Recorded by: HTC ONE.

By: mcrblazule

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Architects - The Devil Is Near (Live @ Brutal Assault, Czech Republic, 07-08-2014) - Video

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Ma Yansong, of MAD Architects, outlines his vision for the future with Domain editor Alice Stolz.

If Chinese architect Ma Yansong could move mountains, he would. Instead, through his distinctive architecture, he has become a leader in designing buildings that bring elements of nature into the city.

Born in Beijing, Mr Ma, the founder and principal of internationally renown architectural firm, MAD Architects, has a deeply rooted yearning to be surrounded by mountains and waterfalls.

Shunning square masculine-styled buildings and embracing curves and fluid lines, Mr Mas style is nothing but distinctive. His Absolute World Towers in Mississauga, Canada has been dubbed the Marilyn Monroe Towers for their sinuous shapes. Yes, you see a lot of curves in my architecture, Mr Ma said while in Melbourne last week as a guest speaker for Melbourne Universitys Deans Lecture Series.

The Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center is a city-scale urban project by MAD Architects.

North American high-rises are symbols of power and strength and people feel nothing [when they see them]. They feel theyre isolated from those structures so I wanted to do something more lifelike.

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In China we have to build a lot of buildings because of the population, but we can still focus on the environment and the landscape. What if we create a whole city as a park or as a garden and then we have architecture within this space. Thats what Im trying to achieve.

If Mr Mas designs are like nothing youve ever seen before, thats because you probably havent. I dont think any modern cities are doing [what Im doing] because what Im inspired by [comes from] a traditional part of Beijing. Even in the modern parts of Beijing there is no sense of nature. It is purely about buildings and big streets, its a very North American typology happening everywhere in China.

Read more from the original source:
The sky's no limit for MAD Architects' Ma Yansong

12 August 2014

Innovative design wins Auckland apartment design competition

Auckland firm S3 Architects proposal for an innovative timber building has won the competition to design an apartment building on a brownfield site in Mt Eden.

Organised by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and developer Ockham Residential, and with the support of Auckland Council, the competition was staged to produce a buildable design for 11 Akepiro Street, a site adjacent to the Western Line rail tracks and the city end of Dominion Road.

A further goal of the competition is to promote architectural and community thinking around medium density development, a housing option that is increasingly relevant in rapidly growing Auckland.

The result of the competition was announced today by Mayor Len Brown at Auckland Art Gallery, where the 65 competition entries have been on display since Sunday.

Aucklanders have made their views absolutely clear to us having greater choice in housing is crucial to them, the Mayor says.

Auckland is also united in something else our development has to be of high quality. That is fundamental to Aucklands future and that is one of the strongest messages we have heard.

And that is why I as Mayor and Auckland Council are so strong in our support of this competition.

Jury chair Richard Goldie, a director of Peddle Thorp Architects, said the competition was a bold and timely initiative by Ockham Residential and the Institute of Architects that had produced an exceptional response from architectural practices.

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Innovative design wins Auckland apartment design competition

Park 'N' Play, by Danish firm JAJA Architects (Image: JAJA Architects)

Multi-story car parks are ubiquitous, necessary, and almost always boring. Danish firm JAJA Architectshopes to do something about the latter with its Park 'N' Play project. Located in the Nordhavn area of Copenhagen, it's a multi-story car park that features plenty of parking space, but also some greenery and a kid's playground up on the roof.

JAJA Architects was given the nod to go ahead with Park 'N' Play after the firm won a competition hosted by developers By & Havn. The project is part of a wider scheme to redevelop the local harbor area and features a facade of red-brick concrete and a frieze that depicts major local historic events, in addition to scattered greenery.

While most inner-city multi-story car park staircases tend to have that smell and a distinctly sinister "about-to-get-mugged" atmosphere, JAJA Architects cites Paris' iconic Centre Pompidou as inspiration, and envisions its staircase as an attractive feature that will also offer views of the surrounding area.

The stair's handrails are dubbed the "red thread" and include a continuous bar that leads up to the roof, before twisting into some rather cool-looking playground equipment. There are also benches and viewing points for the grownups.

Park 'N' Play is scheduled to be completed in late 2015.

Sources: JAJA Architects, By & Havn via Arch Daily

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JAJA Architects aims to make car parks a little more interesting