Translation from English

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

FDNY Union Head Pushes for Zadroga Act Extension for Ground Zero Responders-Newsday

Latest deaths of Ground Zero responders shows need for Zadroga Act extension, FDNY union head says

Retired New York City Fire Dept. member Daniel

Retired New York City Fire Dept. member Daniel Heglund was one of three retired FDNY firefighters who died on the same day, Monday, Sept. 23, 2014, from cancer contracted at Ground Zero. The other two who died Monday are retired Lt. Howard (Howie) Bischoff and retired firefighter Robert Leaver. (Credit: FDNY)
The deaths of four Ground Zero first responders from cancer and leukemia in recent days underscore the need for Congress to extend medical benefits for those who worked on the pile and later got sick, the head of an FDNY firefighters union said Thursday.

"We were domestic soldiers on that day when America was brought to its knees," said James Lemonda, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854 at a news conference in Manhattan to update the list of firefighters who have died or become ill since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Lemonda vowed to push Washington, D.C., legislators to extend the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act beyond its expiration date in 2016. The act provides medical treatment and health insurance coverage to first responders who cleared debris and searched for victims at Ground Zero amid toxic dust and fumes from the smoldering rubble.


"We will be asking elected officials in Washington to put aside their bipartisan politics and remember those who helped America on that day," Lemonda said.

Since the attacks, 92 members of the firefighter association have died and 875 have been diagnosed with 9/11-linked illnesses, union officials said. Of those diagnosed, 80 members' illnesses are at the critical stage and 177 are in remission, they said. Another 280 members are in the early stages of their illnesses and 25 are being tested to confirm whether their work at the World Trade Center is linked to them getting sick, according the union leaders.

On Saturday, retired FDNY Lt. John Gremse of Long Beach was buried after losing his battle with colon cancer. Gremse, who grew up in Valley Stream, was 64.

"His prognosis was good, but in May the cancer spread to his mouth and liver," said his longtime friend Deputy Chief Paul Ferro of Division 13 in Queens.

Ferro described Gremse as "as an avid softball player, swimmer and surfer."

Two days later, three FDNY firefighters died. Esophageal cancer took the life of retired firefighter Daniel Heglund, 58, of Rocky Point, according to union officials. He was a member of Rescue 4 Ladder 33 in Woodside, Queens.

Firefighter Robert E. Leaver, 56, of Engine Company 202 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, died of leukemia Monday. Retired Lt. Howard Bischoff, 58, of Ladder 149 in Brooklyn died of colon cancer.
Lemonda said the deaths have shaken association members "concerned as to what is going to happen to them in the future."
 

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Architecture Daily

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Hotel Golden Holiday in Nha Trang / Trinh Viet A Architects

© Hiroyuki Oki
Architects: Trinh Viet A Architects
Location: Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam
Architect In Charge: Trinh Viet A, Naoya Sakamaki, Le Hoai Phuong
Area: 2000.0 sqm
Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki

House in Atsugi / Naoya Kawabe Architect & Associates

© Takumi Ota
Architects: Naoya Kawabe Architect & Associates
Location: , Kanagawa,
Area: 110.0 sqm
Year: 2008
Photographs: Takumi Ota

“Briefly”: a Documentary About Design’s Least Significant Piece of Paper

<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/107567840">http://www.vimeo.com/107567840</a> When we evaluate the work of architects and other designers, we often treat it as if the design was created in a vacuum. It’s easy to forget that the vast majority of designs emerge from a collaboration between the designer and their client, and when it comes to the design’s success the input of the client can often be as important as the work of the designer. This creative relationship can be a difficult one to navigate, yet it is usually held together by a single document: the brief.
Released today, this half-hour documentary by director Tom Bassett entitled Briefly takes a long hard look at the brief, with architects Frank Gehry and David Rockwell, industrial designer Yves Béhar, illustrator and author Maira Kalman, marketing executive John C Jay and creative executive John Boiler all pitching in their experience with creative briefs, and recounting stories where, for better or for worse, the brief had a major effect on their work.
More on the documentary after the break

Bow House / Edwards Moore

© Fraser Marsden
Architects: Edwards Moore
Location: Richmond VIC,
Year: 2014
Photographs: Fraser Marsden
Los Angeles, California. Image © Wikimedia Commons / Pintaric

Los Angeles Rids Itself of Helipad Requirement, Opens City to “Bolder” Skyline

Helicopter landing pads will no longer be required atop new buildings in Los Angeles, California. The rule’s elimination, which was announced yesterday by the city’s mayor and fire chief, allows architects the freedom to break away from LA’s “boxy” skyline. “I want to see innovative design,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said. “I want to see good design, but we’re going to take the handcuffs off of you when we ask you to do that. I want neighborhoods to look good, and I want our buildings to look iconic.” You can read more about the change, here.

Locales Roca / BBC Arquitectos + Sol Loustaunau

© Manuel Ciarlotti
Architects: BBC Arquitectos, Sol Loustaunau
Location: Tucumán 668, , Río Negro Province, Argentina
Area: 600.0 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Manuel Ciarlotti

Finalists for 2014 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Announced

Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Restoration Plan. Image Courtesy of BFI
Seven humanitarian initiatives have been nominated for “Socially-Responsible ’s Highest Award,” the 2014 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. Presented by the Buckminster Fuller Institute, the $100,000 prize is awarded each year to scientists, students, designers, architects, activists, entrepreneurs, artists and planners from all over the world using innovative solutions to solve some of humanity’s most pressing problems.
Among this year’s finalists are a floating health clinic in Lake Tanganyika, a comprehensive coastal resiliency plan for the Northeastern Seaboard, and a waterfront regeneration plan for the Makoko/Iwaya community. 
The 2014 Finalists are…
New Practices New York: Upcoming Firms in the Big Apple

New Practices New York: Upcoming Firms in the Big Apple

WHAT: With its fifth biennial competition and exhibition, the AIANY New Practices Committee is proud to recognize six emerging architecture and design firms working in New York City. These firms will be featured in an exhibition opening on October 1 at 6pm at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place. This year, the opening of New Practices New York 2014 will also kick off Archtober 2014, Architecture and Design Month.

In Progress: Pomona College Studio Art Hall / wHY

© Jeremy Bittermann
Architects: wHY
Location: , CA, USA
Area: 35000.0 ft2
Year: 2014
Photographs: Jeremy Bittermann, Benny Chan

Confirmed: Wilkinson Eyre Designs Large-Scale, Transit-Oriented Development for Toronto

Courtesy of Ivanhoé Cambridge
Developer Ivanhoé Cambridge has confirmed plans for a major, multi-phased office and transit development in the heart of ’s financial core, just east of Union Station. Designed by London-based Wilkinson Eyre, following an international competition, the two-tower development will rise on both sides of the railway tracks and connect via an elevated public park. The South tower will include a major new GO Bus Terminal serving Union Station and will be topped with commercial retail.
More on the development, after the break.

Constellations Bar / H. Miller Bro

Courtesy of H. Miller Bros.
Architects: H. Miller Bro
Location: 37-39 Greenland Street, , Merseyside L1 0BS,
Architects In Charge: Hugh Miller Furniture, Howard Miller Design Ltd.
Year: 2014
Photographs: Courtesy of H. Miller Bros.

MASS Design Group’s Latest Video: Design That Heals

<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/106936022">http://www.vimeo.com/106936022</a> In their sixth Beyond the Building video, “Design That Heals,” MASS Design Group explores how architects can improve the lives and health of people everywhere. The video reveals how the work of MASS operates on various scales from everything to designing better furniture to influencing national policies. Their approach to humanitarian architecture begins by empowering the local community to take ownership of new projects, and in turn, bring about significant improvements in the quality of life in places that have previously been overlooked.
For example, talking about MASS Design Group‘s Butaro Hospital, Rwanda‘s Minister for Health Dr. Agnes Binagwaho says: “There’s this idea of equity to put a hospital, state of the art, in the middle of nowhere. It was not nowhere for everybody, because there are 300,000 people living there.” Watch the video above and get involved in the conversation on how architecture can go #beyondthebuilding.

Vila Taguai / Cristina Xavier Arquitetura

© Daniel Ducci
Architects: Cristina Xavier Arquitetura
Location: – São Paulo,
Design Team: Henrique Fina, Lucia Hashizume, João Xavier
Area: 1250.0 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Daniel Ducci, Joao Xavier, Courtesy of Cristina Xavier – Photos of work, ITA – Prototype photos
Online Master Class:  Real Estate in the Corporation – More than just an Expense

Online Master Class: Real Estate in the Corporation – More than just an Expense

Online Master Class
Real Estate in the Corporation – More than just an Expense
Date: Oct 7th 2014 at 18:00 Madrid time.
Speaker: Sharon Liebowitz, VP of Global Real Estate, JPMorgan Chase
Registration: click here to register to the event.
Brought to you by: IE School of Architecture & Design
Real Estate is among the top three expenses for most corporations, and as such, needs to be aggressively managed. But, in addition to managing real estate as an expense item, real estate also needs to be managed as a strategic asset. This can include using the workspace to attract talent, developing a location strategy to situate offices near the best labor pool, or creating an office environment that supports collaboration. Deploying the capabilities of real estate as a strategic asset enables businesses to achieve their priorities.

Interactive Infographic: How Much do Architecture Graduates Earn?

The median total lifetime earnings of architecture graduates (highlighted red) compared to all other majors (excluding with graduate degrees). Image Courtesy of the Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution
Using information collected from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution has created a set of interactive infographics comparing the lifetime earning potential of graduates of 80 majors. With so much debate over the earning potential of architects, the tool provides us with an invaluable insight into the long-range outlook for members of our profession, charting the both the total lifetime earnings of architects and their average earnings per year over a 42-year career.
Read on after the break for analysis of what the  tell us
Courtesy of RIBA

RIBA Future Trends Survey Shows Confidence Remains Steady

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)’s Future Trends Survey for August showed that confidence among UK practices has remained stable at “a very positive” balance figure of +28. The positive outlook was shared by the whole country, with every region returning a balance figure of above +20 – a significant improvement for Wales and the West, who last month were at a more reserved +12. “Sentiment about future workload prospects for the architects’ profession has been strong throughout 2013 and 2014, and we are now beginning to see this reflected in increased levels in the aggregate value of work in progress,” said the RIBA, adding that the increasing workload is being “driven primarily by growth in the commercial and private housing sectors.”
Oct Design Museum (Shenzhen) / Studio Pei-Zhu. Image Courtesy of Studio Pei-Zhu

Is The Design Museum Dying?

In an article for the Financial TimesEdwin Heathcote asks “what are design museums actually for?” Noting that we are living through a “boom time” for the typology, Heathcote argues that when we are overwhelmed by design in our day to day lives, what will fill these spaces? London’s Victoria & Albert Museum sprouted from the legacy of the 1850 Great Exhibition, where the concept of a design museum originated, as an attempt to “display the fruits of Britain’s industrial revolution.” Ironically in the very same museum in 2013, curator Kieran Long acquired a print of the world’s first 3D printed gun for the permanent collection. Will the ubiquity of ‘design’ soon negate the need for dedicated spaces?

Single-family house in Curile / 3biro

© Miran Kambič
Architects: 3biro
Location: 8330 Čurile,
Area: 245.0 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Miran Kambič
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