01.18.10| Here's another great way to start the New Year and to get people thinking
about the benefits of effective office design. Gunlocke is holding
a competition for non-profit organizations that will award the winner
with its first Office Needs for Good Deeds online office makeover
contest. To help improve the style and productivity within its space,
thewinning organization will receive a 1,200 sq.-ft. makeover
(estimated value of $75,000) for its offices featuring Gunlocke's latest
casegood line, Silea and ancillary equipment.
Competitions and Awards >>, Manufacturing >>
01.18.10| It was neither the best of times nor the worst of times. While we in the
U.S. continue, generally, our charmed lives, there were events and
circumstances in the interiors industries to bemoan and many that brought
joy and hope. The economy finally struck us with full force, and by the
end of November, contract furniture orders were $620 million for the
month, with estimated trailing 12-month orders at $7.77 billion, down
30.2% year-over-year. November shipments were $640 million, with trailing
12-month shipments estimated at $8.025 billion, a 28.9% year-over-year
decrease -- "the worst drop we have on record," said Raymond
James analyst Budd Bugatch. Still, every drastic shift brings the
prospect of an inflection point, and we look forward to seeing what we
have learn from 2009. Here are a few of the salient developments covered
last year by officeinsight.
A&D Firms >>, Competitions and Awards >>, Events >>, Legislation >>, People >>
12.14.09 | Business savvy is becoming an important subject in the A&D
community, even if for some it only means finding a job or re-thinking a
career. Out-of-work design professionals are encouraged to beef up their
credentials, learn BIM, etc.
Manufacturing >>, Project >>
12.14.09 | Driving home from the NeoCon East show this year, still dazzled by the
diversity of office furniture and design industry on display and the
creative and enthused people I met, I remained puzzled about how
designers earn their money.
Random Walk >>
12.14.09 | Cubellis, the Boston-headquartered firm, has closed its doors. (See
officeinsight 8.20.07, Interview with Len Cubellis.) The firm had been in
business for over 20 years and, during the period 2005-2007 and beyond,
was engaged in an aggressive expansion plan. The plan was to “grow big by
staying small,” said Mr. Cubellis. Small entrepreneurial firm offices,
empowered to make their own decisions, were supported by the firm-wide
business infrastructure and the ability to leverage firm-wide project
capabilities.
A&D Firms >>
12.14.09 | Tout le Toronto A&D monde convened at the Four Seasons
Hotel’s Regency Ballroom on Dec. 4th for the ARIDO/IIDA
Leaders Breakfast. They came to be entertained, enlightened and
guilt-tripped by keynote speaker Edward Burtynsky. Described as a
photographic activist, he shoots the “after” versions of awe-inspiring,
Sierra Club-like vistas after they’ve been ravaged by industry.
Events >>, Prof. Associations >>
12.14.09 | Perkins+Will, Chicago, recently underwent an expansion and
renovation of its current location on the 35thand 36 floors at
330 N Wabash. The cornerstone of the renovation was to incorporate
sustainable strategies and create a dynamic work environment, resulting
in a LEED Registered Project, with point value currently tracking
Platinum status.
Project >>
12.14.09 | The second annual IIDA NY Chapter Sustainable Design Forum Quilt
Auction was held in the Haworth showroom last Wednesday.
Haworth's LEED Gold certified showroom showcased eleven large scale
quilts all designed and hand sewn by design firm teams and members of the
A&D community. The sold-out event was a silent auction to benefit
LMNOP, an A&D professional development and support group that
was formed earlier this year.
Events >>, Prof. Associations >>
12.14.09 | It was nice to thumb through the pages of last week’s
officeinsight and happen on a photograph of Princeton’s restored
Whig Hall. Nice in a comforting, old-fashioned nice-ness. In so
many senses. (And I realize one cannot thumb through
officeinsight; one merely scrolls. Down). But ah, the
classical design of the building. The sturdy stone walls, the tall, proud
columns. A design of nineteenth century architect A. Page Brown.
Ira Joe >>
2.07.09 | These are tough times, and there’s no doubt the industry takes comfort in
observing certain routines and rituals. Among the highlights of the year
for A&D folksalong with Contract’s Interiors Awards Breakfast
and the various NeoConsis the annual trek to New York for the
Interior Design magazine Hall of Fame Awards ceremony at
the Waldorf-Astoria. For New Yorkers in the industry, the arrival of
their A&D peers from all over the country and beyond marks the
beginning of the holiday season as surely as the lighting of the tree at
Rockefeller Center.
Competitions and Awards >>, Events >>
12.07.09 | Here's an illustration of how comfortable Bill Bundy is in his own
skin:
On the eve of the annual Michigan-Ohio State border war for pigskin
supremacy, Mr. Bundy is resplendent in bright-hued Buckeye regalia and
he's walking tall through the streets and shops of downtown Holland,
MI. He's initiating eye contact with everyone he encounters,
attracting more than a few shuddering stares and sidelong glances of
bemusement along with some head-shaking harrumphs from the maize-and-blue
locals.
People >>
12.07.09 | No major museums, no tall office towers, nothing on the skylines of
Shanghai or Dubai. Again this year, the Gold Medal of the
American Institute of Architects is going to an architect with a
relatively low profile, whose work is characterized by formal restraint
and elegantly severe detail. The new honoree, Peter Bohlin, is in
a real sense the U.S. equivalent of last year's AIA Gold Medalist,
Glenn Murcutt of Australia.
Competitions and Awards >>, Prof. Associations >>
12.07.09 | The not-so-large town of Big Rapids isn't far from the middle of
the mitten that gives shape to Michigan's lower peninsula, nor is it long
from situating itself at the center of an even more prominent map,
squarely in the vanguard of an academic and cultural movement aimed at
revitalizing America's small towns by embracing sustainable design and
green building practices.
Research >>
12.07.09| The holidays are all about giving and there’s no better gift than giving
back to the community by helping those who are less fortunate. On
December 4, some of New York’s top architectural and design talent
gathered at The Children’s Aid Society’s Dunlevy Milbank
Center in Harlem for a heart-warming holiday traditionmaking crafts
with children who may not otherwise have gifts for their
families.
Events >>
