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ANN feature: Nuts + Bolts #14: Start Me Up: Taking Cultural Cues From Our Tech Sector Clients: Why can't the rules (or lack thereof) of start-up culture apply to an AEC firm? By Christian D. Giordano/Mancini Duffy- ArchNewsNow.com

Martin C. Pedersen: What the NRA is Really Doing When It Attacks “Elitist” Architecture: As terrifying as it is, the National Rifle Association spot is also a fascinating piece of cultural anthropology...They have found a Bogey Man: it’s those elitists who want to take away your guns! And their provocative symbols? The buildings and art they create and consume.- Common Edge

Behind the Book: The AIA’s 2017 Disaster Assistance Handbook: We speak with resilience expert Illya Azaroff/+LAB to understand why it took the AIA almost a decade to update this vital resource - and why it's better than ever.- Metropolis Magazine

Diamond Schmitt Architects Unveil Transformed National Arts Centre: ...new public spaces and a new entry which, for the first time, connect the NAC to Confederation Square and the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa. Delicate and transparent...stands in contrast to the fortress-like mass of the existing structure.- Broadway World

Duo Dickinson: Does the New Traditionalism Have A Point? ...the aesthetic pedagogy of “Classicism” or “Traditional Architecture” has become a vital alternative to the “correct” and “settled law” of “Modernism"...the anger against Modernism is real and often absurdly extreme...The noise and rancor of these “Style Wars” is reductionist nonsense...I long for a time when “Good” and “Bad” is sufficient architectural judgment - no style screed necessary. -- Steven Semes- Common Edge

David Brussat: Duo vs. the “style wars”: Duo Dickinson spends nine-tenths of his essay...describing new traditional architecture as if it were a recent novelty, a niche phenomenon...but without much practical purpose...after describing valid reasons for the anger of many new traditionalists and a public...that has seen its built environment trashed by modernism for decades, he trashes those who call for an alternative... -- Steven Semes; Nikos Salingaros- Architecture Here and There

Call for entries: Save Cork City Morrison's Island International Design Competition, Cork, Ireland: propose innovative and considered solutions for the renewal of Cork city’s quayside landscape, a new pedestrian bridge at Morrison’s Quay, etc.; cash prize; registration deadline: September 8 (submissions due September 22)- Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland/RIAI Southern Region / Cork Architectural Association / National Sculpture Factory

Call for entries: 2018 City of Dreams Pavilion Design Competition: an architectural pavilion on Governors Island, NYC; registration deadline: September 15 (submissions due September 30)- FIGMENT/ENYA/AIANY/SEAoNY

Call for entries: Kaunas M.K. Ciurlionis Concert Centre in Kaunas, Lithuania (2022 European Capital of Culture); international one-stage competition to select three finalists who will each be awarded an honorarium of €25,000; deadline: September 6- Kaunas City Municipality / Malcolm Reading Consultants

Call for entries: The Cambridge to Oxford Connection Ideas Competition (international): no fee; £10,000 honorarium for 4 shortlisted teams; deadline: August 3- Malcolm Reading Consultants / National Infrastructure Commission

PBS Premieres "Weekend in Havana with Geoffrey Baer" July 18: ...explores Cuba’s history, its architectural treasures, and its rich artistic traditions...includes local architect and restorationist Daniel de la Regata. [also posted online]- Broadway World

"Australia by Design": Australian architect and registrar of the NSW Architects Registration Board, Tim Horton...host of the program, which will air on Channel Ten from July to September...nine episodes [and] a total of 80 projects...aims to make architecture more accessible..."Sustainability forms a huge part of [the show]."- Architecture & Design (Australia)

"Australia By Design" Reveals Properties to be Featured in Show: ...projects are not full of dollar signs and glamour, rather they represent architecture at its finest, which appeals to a budget, claims an architectural purpose and has a positive impact on the local landscape. -- Cox Architecture; Clarke Keller Architecture; John Wardle Architects; Watson Architecture + Design/Seth Stein Architects; David Pennington/Collins Caddaye Architects; Dunn & Hillam Architects [images]- The Urban Developer (Australia)

Rowan Moore: Decent homes for all... Has the social housing dream died? In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it is clear that Britain’s social housing is in crisis. As a new film ["Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle"] looks at the legacy of Thatcher’s right-to-buy, he asks whether the postwar housing ideal can be revived + David Harewood, Kerry Hudson and others on their experiences of council estate living.- Observer (UK)

Paul Goldberger: The Mystic: For Louis Kahn, the test of architecture was in its lasting emotional impact: [His] architecture does not cuddle you. It is not soft, and it is not whimsical. He designed somber, poetic buildings...the best of them are brooding and deep...Wendy Lesser’s ambitious new biography, "You Say to Brick...[her] subject...isn’t only Kahn, but also the shift in culture that has made this philosopher-cum-artist-cum-architect seem so out of sync with the times.- The Nation

Paul Goldberger: Frank Lloyd Wright Is Not Who You Think He Is: Recent changes at his namesake foundation and school, plus a sage new museum exhibit, put a necessary twist on a legend’s legacy: ...a remarkable new exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art...“Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive”...showing us surprising sides of the architect...makes possible a fresh age in Wright scholarship; thru October 1 -- Barry Bergdoll; Jennifer Gray [images]- Bloomberg News

Peter Plagens: Ai Weiwei Explores Surveillance with "Hansel & Gretel": The Drill Hall gizmopalooza gives everyone a visceral experience of what it’s like to be watched by unseen forces...The problem...in spite of - or perhaps because of - the expensive light show...its insights into the power and meaning of surveillance are superficial. There’s not much beyond a general vibe that electronic surveillance is bad; at the Park Avenue Armory, New York City, thru August 6 -- Herzog & de Meuron- Architectural Record

Oliver Wainwright: Beneath the veneer: our unbending fascination with plywood: From army planes to pharaohs’ coffins, the V&A’s eye-opening show tells the astonishing story of this age-old yet perennially modern material: "Plywood: Material of the Modern World"...is like walking through a particularly well-stocked bric-a-brac store...Plywood has enjoyed a recent resurgence, as the symbol of the maker movement...used to project a green, natural image - when the truth is it can often be anything but; thru November 12 [images]- Guardian (UK)

“Educating Architects: Four Courses by Kenneth Frampton" at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal: ...illustrates his multi-generational impact on the landscape of architecture education...and highlights how his pedagogical methods were instrumental in shaping the discipline and profession of architecture internationally; thru September 24 [images]- BlouinArtInfo

"Architecture of an Asylum: St. Elizabeths 1852-2017" Tracks History Of U.S. Treatment Of Mental Illness: ...explores the links between architecture and mental health...Dorothea Dix, the 19th-century reformer..."really believed that architecture and landscape architecture would really have a role in curing people"; National Building Museum, thru January 15, 2018 [images]- NPR / National Public Radio

Studio Gang's "Hive" Comes Alive in This Hypnotic Time-Lapse Video: Every so often in the era of Instagram, an art installation comes about that takes the internet by storm..."The time-lapse showcases the engineering and construction ingenuity"; National Building Museum, Washington D.C., thru September 4- Architectural Digest

The National Building Museum’s Hot New Installation Wasn’t Finished for Opening Day. Here’s Why.
"Hive" was a lot more complicated to build than the designers thought: Things started to go wrong at the seventh row of the silver and magenta beehive...“The nemesis of this is: The materials we’re using are building materials never used in this arena...Prototypes don’t always work" -- Jeanne Gang/Studio Gang [images, video]- Washingtonian Magazine