January 2009 Inklings of promise from the new administration are shining out from the torrent of dire economic news. If you feel overwhelmed, listen up: “I still really admire architects, and I love looking at buildings.” Although proverbial music to our ears, that direct quote might seem innocuous, even simplistic, if it were not for the speaker—the future President of the United States. Barack Obama, responding in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC television, declared his admiration for the built environment and his concern for energy usage, positions that have been amplified not only in words but actions. Photo
Deans of architecture schools and department chairs set agendas. Strategically, strong heads can aim an educational community, including faculty, students, and alumni, in an intended direction.
August 2008 Omit the “pre” from prefab: There’s nothing preliminary about the term. If you have any doubt that prefab’s moment has arrived, ask the educated general audience that reads Dwell and other shelter magazines or watches HGTV—many have become passionate devotees of the idea. Hundreds, no thousands, of true believers poured through the doors of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on July 15, drawn to the opening of a major show devoted to the subject, entitled, Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling. Five actual structures, illustrative of the most provocative ideas in house making today,