In a recent article for The Guardian, Hannah Rosin interviewed Emily White, a Facebook executive, who noted that our lives are no longer about work/life balance, but rather the work/life “merge.” Much like women in high-power executive positions, women in architecture (and particularly mothers) similarly must learn how to negotiate never-ending demands – from the workplace and the home – on a daily basis.

Samara Greenwood discusses this difficult “work/family equation” below. You can find the full, un-edited version at Parlour: Women, Equity, Architecture, If you like this post, you may also enjoy Work/Life/Work balance, by Andrew Maynard.

My own motherhood + architecture adventure began six years ago – so far, it has been a pretty wild ride. There are times I have felt invincible, like I’ve found the magic key to a brilliant life. But more often than not life has felt out of whack, like something wasn’t quite right. Again and again, I’ve attempted to put my finger on the problem, to find the missing piece of the jigsaw. Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I don’t.

I don’t think I am alone.

Architects: Paritzki & Liani Architects Location: Hofit, Israel Project Year: 2012 Project Area: 919 sqm Photographs: Amit Geron

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Arcaid Images, in conjunction with The Architectural Review and World Architecture Festival, just announced the 2012 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Award Winners in the categories of exterior, interior, sense of place, and buildings in use. Images and the winners of each category can be viewed after the break.

Each year the Architectural League presents the work of significant international figures who powerfully influence contemporary architectural practice and shape the future of the built environment. Co-sponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, the program kicks off this year with the Alberto Kalach lecture, which will highlight his current work. Cited as one of the most versatile and prolific architectural voices in Mexico City today, Alberto Kalach co-founded the firm Taller de Arquitectura X (TAX) in 1981. Kalach’s concern for the emerging problems of his vast native city has inspired projects at a range of scales, from his minimal $5,000 houses to housing developments and urban master plans. Kalach’s most ambitious speculative plan, México Ciudad Futura, is the largest project ever conceived for Mexico City. The lecture is taking place Monday, Octobr 15, at 7:00pm at Cooper Union in New York. For more information about the event, please visit here.

Architects: Charles Rose Architects Location: Vermillion, SD, USA Project Year: 2009 Photographs: John Linden

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Produced by the Boston Society of Architects, the ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX) will take place November 14-16 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Boasting the most comprehensive education program and largest marketplace for the design and construction industry in New England, the event offers over 175 professional development opportunities. This covers a range of topics from building technology to design, software, social sustainability and code. The tradeshow and conference launches on Wednesday morning with Speaking of Architecture, an Opening Plenary panel discussion moderated by Renée Loth of ArchitectureBoston Magazine and Robert Campbell FAIA of the Boston Globe. Tours are also provided, allowing attendees an inside look into some of the most unique and interesting buildings in Greater Boston, including the recently re-opened Tea Party Museum, Hostelling International and the MassArt Tower Building.To register and for more information, please visit here.

Architects: T2.a Architects Location: Budapest, Hungary Architect In Charge: Gábor Turányi, Bence Turányi Project Team: Zsolt Frikker, András Göde, Orsolya Gönczi, László Földes, Barna Láris, Péter Márk, Eszter Mészáros, Levente Skultéti, Zoltán Stein, Miklós Vannay Photographs: Zsolt Batár

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The artists in this installation share, with Thomas Demand, a very particular attitude towards models, which stems from their engagement with architecture. Models, according to Demand, are ways of understanding the environment without the distraction of a multitude of diverging stimulations. They are pieces of cultural technology.

Well, according to the UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB) he isn’t.

Last week, BDOnline received an email from the ARB asking them to refrain from calling Renzo Piano and Daniel Libeskind an architect, since “they are not registered with the ARB they are not entitled to be described as such”.

The statement said: “BD referred to two eminent individuals as architects – neither of whom are on the UK register. This is one of a number of peripheral areas, and architects often contact us when they are concerned about the use of the title ‘architect’ in the press although no breach of the legislation in fact occurs.”

Architects: BAUEN Location: Luque, Paraguay Architect In Charge: Aldo Cristaldo Kegler Project Year: 2012 Project Area: 600 sqm Photographs: Marcelo Jiménez, Mónica Matiauda

Construction has commenced on the world’s largest dome roof at Singapore’s National Stadium. Once completed in 2014, the Arup-designed structure will provide shelter to the 55,000 seat stadium and surrounding ticketed community spaces in the heart of the 35ha sports precinct. Singapore’s National Stadium will be the only stadium in the world, custom-built to host football, rugby, cricket and athletic events in one venue.

The simple geometric form of the ultra-thin, retractable dome spans 310m and is designed to use only a fraction of the energy required for an equivalent fully enclosed stadium. Continue after the break to learn more.

For the 13th Venice Biennale, Norman Foster was invited to create two exhibitions. On the one hand, there’s Central Pavilion, “Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank HQ”, specifically commissioned by David Chipperfield, which presents how a public space, created by physically lifting a tower to make a space at its base, has been used by people over time.

On the other hand, we find“Gateway.” Located at the beginning of the Arsenale, it is one of the first spaces the public encounters at the Biennale. In this installation, viewers are presented with an intense dose of images and words, representing different types of buildings and spaces, criss-crossed with the names of the architects, designers and planners that have influenced our built environment over the years.

We had the chance to interview Norman Foster, who tells us more about “Gateway” in this video. Full interview coming tomorrow!

More about this exhibit after the break:

The British band Muse has just released the video clip for the single “Isolated System” from their latest album “The Second Law” alluding to the thermodynamic theory.

By Linda Bennett, for Archi-Ninja

Initially, Architecture School was overwhelming. In my early assignments I struggled to learn the new design ‘language,’ to manage the intense studio hours (goodbye to mum and dad for a while), and deal with the tough criticism – with barely a passing mark, I was lucky to make it through my 1st year! Then there were the ‘super-students,’ those who appeared to achieve the unattainable: draw in plan, section AND perspective, as well as eloquently communicate and sell their ideas.

Six years on from this tough beginning I graduated with high distinction, achieving the highest overall aggregated marks of all students in the areas of History, Theory, Construction, Practice and Design. I was the University of Technology (UTS) winner of the most Outstanding Design Student in 2010, awarded a scholarship to study in L.A. and was also nominated by UTS for the NSW Architects Medallion in 2011.

Today I reflect on my time at university (or college for my US readers) to recognize that the most important lessons didn’t come from the curriculum, but from what I discovered along the way. In no particular order, here is what I uncovered about surviving and achieving in architecture school:

Forget about Winning or Losing

The rest of the 10 Things You Don’t Get Taught in Architecture School, after the break…

Over a year has passed since we first introduced you to the ideas of Family and PlayLab for a floating riverpool in New York’s East River. Since that time, the proposal has generated a lot of interest, and reached major milestones, such as completing a primarily testing of the filtration membranes to find the most effective methods to provide clean and safe riverwater for the public to swim in. With an opening date set for 2015, the ambitious project seeks to improve the city’s natural resources by taking advantage of clean water to safely create a new kind of urbanistic public haven.

Early last week, the team celebrated the beginning of a six-month campaign to raise the first $1 million toward swimming in a clean river.  The campaign funds will go toward the design and engineering of +POOL so that it can obtain the required city and state permits, as well as support a prototype and public pavilion to fully test the + POOL filtration system.

More after the break. 

Peter Hyatt, of Hyatt and Associates, shared with us his recently completed 53-minute documentary on the 1 Bligh Office Tower. Designed by Ingenhoven Architects, the building is the first office tower in Sydney to get the highest score in the Australian “Green Star”-standard, a “6 Star/World Leadership”-certification. Derived from view corridors and the solar orientation, the 30-storey transparent office building offers unobstructed views of the world famous Harbor Bridge of Sydney and complements the opposite Farrer Place to create one of downtown Sydney’s most attractive urban spaces.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Nebraska Chapter recently announced the AIA Central States Region (CSR) Excellence in Design award winners. The awards honor the highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interiors, details, unbuilt, and unbuilt for emerging professionals. More images and information on this year’s design winners after the break.

In the era of velocity, communications and sustainable development, the systems of mobility assume an increasing role as the backbone to the harmonic and democratic growth of territories. As part of the program of the Italian Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition, the Green Boulevards International Competition wishes to contribute to the development of concrete ideas-projects for the use of technologies focused on the production of renewable energy in areas related or in proximity to infrastructures. The design and cultural challenge proposed to participants is that of utilizing networks of mobility – with their berms, trenches, intersections, viaducts, tunnels, setback areas, leftover spaces, and spaces of rest and maintenance – to create new forms of land art or environmental art at the service of energy production that, without interfering with the normal and safe operation of these same infrastructures, are able to generate energy and thus economic resources, to be re-invested in the future development of the community. The deadline is November 15. For more information, please visit here.

Architects: Manuel Vázquez Muíño Location: Carballedo, Galicia, Spain Architect: Manuel Vázquez Muíño Technical Architect: Visitación Mouzo Souto Project Year: 2010 Photographs: Santos-Díez

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Terreform ONE has announced Made in Lower East Side (MiLES) as winner of ONE PRIZE 2012: From BLIGHT to MIGHT – an open international design competition powered by the idea that social, ecological, and economic struggles can simultaneously be addressed through collaborative action and innovative design.

MiLES and three honorable mentions were selected from the twenty finalists we presented to you in August. The competition drew 115 teams and 655 team members from more than 20 countries and five continents, generating an exciting mix of innovative solutions and 21st century alternatives to the American Dream. Continue after the break to see the winning proposal!

This exhibition, curated by London-based Sergison Bates Architects, explores the common spaces between the public city and the private room. It considers six recent social housing projects in six cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva, Paris, Trondheim and Winterthur. The work, by six different practices, reveals an interconnected culture of thought and practice, a common ground of influence and affinities that extends back to past practitioners and typological precedent.

Since its opening in January 2011 we have presented two articles related to this project designed by Frank Gehry, home for the New World Symphony founded by renowned american director Michael Tilson Thomas. Today we have this great video that Cristobal Palma just shared with us, for a better understanding of the spaces and surroundings.

You can check some more videos by Cristobal Palma at ArchDaily: