When any time I give analysis on the economy, I always leave
a healthy “but” in there with regards to the political climate. So when #Brexit – the vote of Britain to
leave the European Union- happened this week, that surely became an example of
something that “could” be an issue. We live in such a reactionary world, that
some times you really can’t get a true feel for any sort of impact because of
the immediate bluster in the aftermath of the event in question. “Uncertainty” is the key word. Obviously there’s a lot at play here, and a long way still to go, so
it surely bears our attention going forward.
Could this be something that derails the positive trend that many of us
are on? I ask because the emotional
reactions right now are outnumbering any rational ones. Curious of the thoughts of the amazing minds out there in the industry on this one.... so feel free to share.
Elsewhere…
-- Speaking of positive trends… the Architectural Billings
Index had an excellent May. With a score
of 53.1 the index posted it’s best score of the year and the analysis is
pointing to a fresh surge on the institutional side of the business. Personally I always liked institutional work
because they were less likely to “value engineer” products out. In any case, this currently stands as a good
sign. Now whether or not the
geo-political strife is going to hamper this- we’ll see.
-- Fantastic book out that industry geeks would love. “One World Trade Center-Biography of the
Building” by Judith Depré takes an extremely deep look at the
building of the new World Trade Center buildings and the amount of mention on
glass and aluminum has been surprisingly heavy. There’s also insight in there on suppliers for
the building I was unaware of, so that was interesting to me. The best part is it shows our industry as
more than just folks who throw some random glass into any old hole. There’s precision, planning, and care. That was cool. I will note the first ½ of the book is where
the action is, 2nd half starts in on the other landmarks of MYC and
some other items, so it makes for a quicker read.
-- Saw the
news this week on Asahi and Solaria.
That is excellent stuff and major kudos to my old friend Scott Hoover
who’s obviously doing great things in his role at Solaria.
-- I was
able to finally see the movie “13 Hours” and I have to say I am impressed that
they kept pretty close to the book.
That’s rare in Hollywood. But
then again this story was so deep and intense it was almost impossible for
Hollywood to screw up. (Then again so
was the book based on “Munich” and that was ruined, so who knows)
-- I had
one of the moments recently where I know I am getting old. I had to change the settings on my iPhone to
the largest print. My kids can read my
phone from across the room now, as well as some astronauts in space….
-- Last
this week- a programming note. No posts
coming from me until the week of July 18th. Unless of course news happens… Which on that
note, the rumor mill is churning at record speed, but yet no news, so maybe
over these next two weeks things break? If
they do, I’ll tweet about them more than potentially blog. Anyway, I hope everyone has a safe and
enjoyable Canada Day later this week and Independence Day in the US the week
after. Please try and celebrate the good
in the world, honor those who served, and stay positive for the future. See you back in this space in mid July!
LINKS
of the WEEK
-- This is such a great story, but you always have to have your
guard up somehow since we do live in a world where people love to prey on the
good. Still glad this worked out.
-- Funny circumstance here… getting stuck in a Barney the Dino
head.
VIDEO of the WEEK
So this holiday weekend, instead of watching what looks to
be an awful sequel, maybe check out the fun original instead. Movie I am talking about is Independence
Day… the first one was super. Not sure the 2nd one will be. So here’s a flashback to 1996….
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