Trends and Links

This week I have another run of quick hits for you from forecasts, to great resources, to personnel stuff and more.  Time to get caught up on this great variety of information. 

--  First up… The monthly Architectural Billings Index was released and it stayed in the positive yet again.  Though it was a lower score than last month (50.9 down from 54.3) the new project index and new design contract totals both went up.  Quite frankly this overall index is looking rather positive right now and even the guy who tracks for the AIA is pretty excited- look at his quote:

“Probably even better news for the construction outlook is that new project work coming into architecture firms has seen exceptionally strong growth so far this year,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “In fact, new project activity has pushed up project backlogs at architecture firm to their highest level since the design market began its recovery earlier this decade.”

So the trend continues to be our friend…

--  On a similar note… do you know what also says things are going well at the architect level?  When the biggest firm in the world shows that they’ve added 1000 architects in the last 2 years.  A thousand!  This link covers that and also introduces you to the rest of the top 20 firms….

--  I was reminded during the TGA event a few weeks ago of an excellent resource that is always being updated…. The World of Glass Map.  This is a superb insight- check it out and bookmark it. 

--  It was great to see the name of an old friend and tremendous man in the news this past week with HHH naming Terry Hessom Vice President of Operations.  Terry is one of the greatest people I know and also an extremely talented person.  I can remember back when we worked together (eons ago) and he was working nights and I was in inside sales.  Now he’s a big time VP and I’m a blogger…. Ha ha … Anyway congrats to Terry and HHH!!

--  Fun link for those of us who pay attention to buildings and the adventures that sometimes happen.  The top 25 Architectural Fails…  and yes my old time pals, the John Hancock building DID make the list at #21.

--  One building that will probably never make a fail list but will be talked about forever is the new Apple Campus.  I have read and watched a ton on it over the last few years and even was quoted in a story in the Times of Israel about the construction in 2015.  But now its ready to go and this article is probably the best one I have read taking a deep look at all there. 

--  I mentioned Burhans Glass a few weeks ago for their work on Instagram… so this time I need to mention Glass Magazine… if you are on Instagram and want to see amazing projects in all of their glory, please follow them at “glassmagazinenga”

--  Last this week… we are in a stretch now with Memorial Day, Canada Day and Independence Day and I hope that everyone reading this does take the time to maybe step away from the daily grind and take a moment of reflection for all that was accomplished in our world.  We don’t get to this moment in time without the efforts and sacrifices of the men and women that made it happen.  Let’s honor them not only now but always.

LINKS of the WEEK

I think you have to read this story to ask yourself how any of it makes sense.

This is a guy in the NFL you can root for!

I tweeted this one out… great work by the high school and the yearbook team to include a young mans service dog.  SO COOL!

VIDEO of the WEEK

This video just leaves me speechless.  Why not climb over?