The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has reported that the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was positive in June for the fifth consecutive month. The June ABI score was 52.6, down from 53.1 the previous month, but still reflects an increase in design services, as any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings. The new projects inquiry index was 58.6, down from 60.1 the previous month.
“Demand for residential projects has surged this year, greatly exceeding the pace set in 2015. This suggests strong future growth for housing in the coming year,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “While we expect to see a momentum continue for the overall design and construction industry in the months ahead, the fact that the value of design contracts dipped into negative territory in June for the first time in more than two years is something of a concern.”
Regional Averages
Sector Index Breakdown
Key June ABI Highlights
As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. Regional and sector categories are calculated as a 3-month moving average, whereas the index and inquiries are monthly numbers. Any score above 50 reflects an increase in design services.
News via the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Bláa Lónið (Blue Lagoon), Iceland by hellimli
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Photo essay: drawn to the bright hues painted on basketball, tennis and volleyball courts in low-income neighbourhoods, New York-based photographer Ward Roberts has scoured the globe to capture these pastel-toned pockets of urban space (+ slideshow). (more…)
The project concerns the renovation of an apartment located inside a former school of music in a XIX century building in the historic center of Siena.
The Nineteenth century municipal property Palazzo has been divided into apartments and auctioned. The apartment cuts are very nice and allow interesting joints that became a wealth for the project.
The apartment is located on the first floor and develops on two levels around a courtyard. One of the main objectives of this project was to emphasize the presence of the double level by putting in visual communication the two floors with a gallery in the center of the living area that enhances the considerable height of the undivided environment.
The apartment presents on the lower floor, living area, dining room and kitchen with two bedrooms and a bathroom and on the upper floor a gallery which leads to an environment loft with open views on the rest of the house. The living area at the entrance and the gallery and the loft upstairs incorporate an internal courtyard on which many windows of the apartment open. This environment becomes a secondary light source for the apartment and create interesting unexpected visuals.
Southwards the apartment windows overlook the historic center skyline of Siena with some of its most important monuments.
The project is based on the building central wall that crosses the environment from north to south and it’s a lime-colored paste plaster pulled to iron, the wall comes up till the roof with framing in view free from false ceilings that had hidden it for about 200 years. The warping beams and terra cotta tiles in was lime treated too.
All the other walls are of white plaster. The floors of the lower ground are made with a warm gray materic resin and bathrooms floors and coverings are made of the same finishing. The upper ground floor is made with a natural oak parquet. The internal staircase that connects the two levels of the apartment is in plate t crude iron natural wax treated, with the parapet in stretched metal mesh. Some parts of the apartment are made of suspended ceillng with lateral channels to accommodate the led lighting for a wall-washer effect . Three black industrial bell lamps descend from the ceiling on the dining table, the rest of the lighting system is made with led lighting fixture with direct and indirect light.
Furnishings are partially of recovery partially on design.
You’re reading 7 Things I Learned From Seeing a Therapist, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
This article is a major piece, as I get out of my comfort zone, just to write it.
Yes. I visited a therapist once. It was for my anger issues.
I grew up feeling a lot of anger as I bottle up my emotions pretty much all the time.
To give a little context, my anger is mostly derived from allowing people and my wrongdoers to walk all over me. The anger within me then festers and eats me up inside as I keep wondering why these people get away with it. It almost feels like they win, while I lose out entirely.
Did the therapist help? You’ll see.
You know how in movies the main character who’s going through some issues visit the therapist once or a couple of times, goes through some flashback sequence, gains an epiphany and then transforms himself altogether?
Then he proceeds to solve all his problems and live a happy life.
Therapy is not like that.
Sorry, but life is not a feel-good movie. You can’t heal overnight or cure all your woes in one single moment.
Therapy is a long-term commitment between you and the therapist. There needs to be active communication and cooperation so as for you to improve.
This may sound daunting, but take it as a way of looking at life. All too often we think we can become better just by reading a blog article, get coaching or travel to some place for a moment of inspiration. We should instead be more real about it and tackle life with resilience.
My therapist actually told me that he had his own therapist.
Why? Because he’s also human and needs someone to communicate his problems to.
That said, therapists are not perfect, and that’s okay.
Don’t you see how you’re not alone? That everyone has their own issues and are working hard to become better?
If you ever feel alone, don’t. There’re many people out there who are in the same boat as you. You just don’t see it.
My therapist told me firmly, “What you need to do is to stand up for yourself from now on at the heat of the moment. You’re angry because you feel you let them get away with it.
You’re not the kind who can get better through meditation, distracting yourself, or whatever. They will NOT work for you.”
The last sentence really got to me. I loved how he emphasized on it.
I think that today, with the amount of free information out there, we think that everything should work for us.
But that is actually not the case. Just because it worked for someone or that it sounds easy enough doesn’t mean that it will be suited for you. Not all problems can be cured with a simple list article you find in some blog.
So don’t be frustrated if something isn’t working out for you though it does for your friends or family. You simply need to find that unique solution for your unique life. Put in the effort to do so and consider paying for it. It’ll be worth it.
My was from a government clinic. It was heavily subsidized.
No, therapy doesn’t have to be expensive like how you see it in the movies.
Just seek it out already from where ever you are at. You may be surprised.
Face it. We are all smart people. Many of us know what to do when it comes to our problems.
But only few do what they know.
I get it. It’s hard though. That’s why it could be merely needing that support and positive reinforcement.
A therapist can help with that. Heck, a good friend can help with that.
I believe we all know deep down what we need to do. It’s just that for whatever reason, we don’t dare to. Thus, we need that support, reassurance and validation.
Go get it. Everyone needs a helping hand from time to time.
Is there really a stigma in seeing a therapist? I guess for a lot of people, there still is.
People would think that you’re problematic, overly emotional or even crazy.
But that’s their problem.
The people who see the need to focus on others’ problems are effectively wasting their time as they are not reflecting on their own to improve themselves.
So care not of what others think.
If you want to seek professional help. Just go for it. Many do.
As said, therapy is not a feel-good movie. It’s not the golden ticket to cure all your problems.
It’s entirely up to you to take action. You must motivate yourself to do something for yourself. I honestly actively stand up for myself more today and it works. The results will surprise you too. I always thought standing up for myself meant getting into an ugly argument with others, but nope. Many have even apologized to me.
You can make the choice today to become better. Therapy is merely support and guidance.
That goes to show how powerful you actually are.
So decide today.
You essentially don’t need others to tell you what to do. Get help, but then help yourself.
I am pretty sure you can do it.
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You’ve read 7 Things I Learned From Seeing a Therapist, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
The good life… We work hard at our jobs to get a glimpse of it during the summer or spring breaks when we finally have the time to do what we want to do. Some people use this time to go to the beaches to chill and party until the moon comes up. Others go to a foreign country to explore and experience a new culture. Everybody has his own definition of the good life. But what everybody has in common is that it’s associated with the ultimate happiness, joy and satisfaction of life. How great would it be to live life on your own terms and to live the good life, whether you have time off from your job/school or not? Let’s find out what the keys are to live the good life anytime anywhere.
Your work is going to fill a large portion of your life. You need to find out what it is that you’re good at and also what you really like. If you combine those 2 key elements, you’ll approach your ‘work’ as something totally different. You’ll begin to see it as something that helps you becoming a better person in life and of course, a happier one. For some people entrepreneurship might be their thing, others like to work in the corporate world or in the health-care industry.
Everybody has his own passions and interests so it doesn’t really matter in which profession you’ll work. As long as you work in a place where you feel happy and feel like you’re making work- as well as personal-related progress, you’ll never work another day in your life.
Having great relationships with your loved ones is of crucial importance to be happy and feel loved. Not only is this common sense, but there is also finally evidence to back up this claim.
The Grant study, a 75-year study about finding out what creates a fulfilling life, showed a really simple but important conclusion: feeling loved and having good relationships with the people you care about are the most important things to live a happy and meaningful life, regardless of the situation. Therefore, focus on and cherish the relationships that you have with your loved ones, because they are the ones that will give you happiness and joy that you won’t find anywhere else.
When has been the last time that you just took a moment for yourself to think about all the things that you’ve accomplished so far? Since we live in a world that is 24/7 up and running it’s hard to stand still by your achievements, because nowadays you always see someone who has it better than you. However, your achievements don’t decrease in value just because someone else is 3 steps ahead of you. You’ll start to live your life on your own terms when you don’t feel the need any more to compare yourself to others. The key is to be genuinely happy with what you have, and the universe will reward you with more in life.
The ideal situation would be to learn or to do something new every day. However our reality almost never matches with our ideal self, hence the name ideal. It’s also pretty difficult to challenge yourself every day, because some days you probably won’t feel like it and just want to be and feel comfortable and relaxed. That’s why you need to look at the bigger picture. Striving for progress means that you should set goals for yourself that encourage you to become a better person and to do things that you normally wouldn’t do. You don’t have to learn how to play the piano, if you don’t like pianos. But what you can do is becoming more knowledgeable in the classical music if that’s what interests you. This can be progress to. As long as you’re keep trying to do and learn new things over time you’ll not only improve the quality of your life, but you’re also finding more things out about yourself that you wouldn’t find out otherwise.
People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer, and all life for the good life. However, you don’t have to escape your ‘normal’ life during spring or summer break to experience the good life. You can create your own ‘good life’ without going anywhere. Once you realize this, you can start living the life you’ve been waiting for all your life by creating it right now.
The post 4 Keys To Create A Life You Don’t Need A Vacation From appeared first on Change your thoughts.
The Miami office of Perkins+Will has unveiled the designs for 1212 Lincoln Road, a five-story mixed-use structure at the corner of Alton Road and the internationally renowned Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach.
The complex, which will span 140,000 square feet excluding parking, will feature 100 boutique hotel units, a European-style market, high-end retail space, as well as 450 parking spaces. The Market portion of the complex will contain fresh produce, as well as a variety of exotic eateries.
Conceived as a glass prism with distinctly positioned glass façades, the Hotel will “anchor this most important of intersections, becoming both a marker for the entry to Miami Beach through Alton Road, but also a termination for the newly designed Lincoln Road” explained the architects.
Additionally, the project is currently aiming for LEED Gold certification.
The design of the project aims to “continue the sophisticated contemporary design palette that characterizes Lincoln Road,” such as Herzog & de Meuron’s 1111 Lincoln Road, which is located across the street.
1212 Lincoln Road has won unanimous approval from the City of Miami Beach’s Design Review Board and is due for completion in 2017.
News via Perkins+Will.
Sig Nordal 