Residential Tuesday 2006.1219

Tue Dec 19 13:40:52 PST 2006

Dear Designers, Builders, and Dwellers,

Residential Tuesday brings you top housing news and analysis 
every week in this free email newsletter from the editors of 
ArchitectureWeek.

Breaking News: New Figures Show Mixed Picture for Housing Market

	"Home construction rebounded in the United States in
	November after a big drop the month before, but permits for
	upcoming building fell to a nine-year low, suggesting
	weakness persists in the new-home market, government figures
	released today showed.

	"Builders broke ground on new homes at an annual rate of
	1.588 million units last month, 6.7 percent higher than in
	October, according to figures from the Commerce Department.
	In October, home construction had dropped a whopping 14
	percent and the November rebound was better than expected.

	"But the picture for the country's beleaguered new home
	market was mixed.  At the same time that construction picked
	up, permits, a good barometer of future construction, fell 3
	percent in November to their lowest level since December
	1997. The decline in building permits shows builders are
	continuing to plan for less construction. ..."
    - Washington Post
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121900457.html

And at this point in the cycle, mixed news is probably still good news.  More below...

Residential Design and Building News
------------------------------------

Nov. Home Construction Rebounds After Big Drop - Washington Post, 2006.1219
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121900457.html

UK Public Says 'Build New Homes in Urban Centres' - 24Dash, 2006.1218
http://www.24dash.com/socialhousing/14470.htm

Weyerhaeuser to Close Plants, Cut Jobs - Houston Chronicle, 2006.1218
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4410278.html

New Move to Promote Sales of Small Houses - China Daily, 2006.1218
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-12/18/content_760990.htm

Cities of the Poor I: Life in the Slums (Kenya) - The World, 2006.1218
http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/6669

Black Market Economy Taxing All Canadians - Halifax Chronicle Herald, 2006.1218
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/547795.html

A Robot in Every Home - Scientific American, 2006.1218
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=9312A198-E7F2-99DF-31DA639D6C4BA567

Slow Market, Preservationists Save Old Homes - Clarion Ledger, 2006.1217
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/BIZ/612170349/1005/biz

The Expanding Latino Housing Market Must Be Addressed - Opinion at Ocala, 2006.1217
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/OPINION/212170340/1183/OPINION01

Plan to Raze Home Prompts Belated Outcry - New York Times, 2006.1217
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/nyregion/17house.html?em&ex=1166504400&en=9c26f0587ce70ab8&ei=5087%0A

Home Remodel Called a Model - San Jose Mercury News, 2006.1217
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/16260478.htm

It's 'Bath' Time in Home Building - Philadelphia Inquirer, 2006.1216
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/16252567.htm

About the House: The General Contrator Problem - Opinion at Berkeley Daily Planet, 2006.1215
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=12-15-06&storyID=25896

Estate Homes Rising in Seclusion - Charlotte Observer, 2006.1215
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/16244478.htm

Home Depot to Buy Protege Retailer in China - New York Times, 2006.1214
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/business/worldbusiness/14depot.html?_r=1&n=Top%2FNews%2FWorld%2FCountries%20and%20Territories%2FChina&oref=slogin

The 100 Houses Architects Designed for Themselves - International News (Pakistan), 2006.1214
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=35444

Revered Home Now Rubble - WFAA, 2006.1213
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/DN-dahl_13met.ART.North.Edition1.3de3f88.html

Green Star Rating Scheme for Homes - Guardian Unlimited, 2006.1213
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6277507,00.html

Finding Elusive Solutions to Urban Housing Problems - The Standard, 2006.1211
http://www.eastandard.net/mag/mag.php?id=1143962348&catid=169

Product News - Mohawk Commercial Goes Post Modern
     http://www.architectureweek.com/2006/1213/products_update.html

Classic Home 070 - Kaufmann Desert House by Richard Neutra
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2006/1213/classic_home.html

People and Places - 
     Chicago - Revised design revealed for residential tower by Calatrava
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2006/1213/people_and_places.html

Current Quiz -	
	In evaluating and comparing paints, a critical piece of
	information is the amount of volume solids in a
	particular paint. What does "volume solids" refer to?
    http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2006/1213/quiz.html

Architecture Answer - for last week's quiz...
	Who is the following quote attributed to? "A doctor can
	bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his
	client to plant vines." Frank Lloyd Wright, Le
	Corbusier, or Eliel Saarinen?
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2006/1213/answer.html

Current Events and Exhibits
     http://calendar.architectureweek.com/events/

Upcoming Conferences and Expos
     http://calendar.architectureweek.com/conferences/

Current Design Competitions
     http://calendar.architectureweek.com/competitions/

Residential Design and Building Forum
     http://arch.designcommunity.com/forum-7.html
Modern Living Forum
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/forum-14.html
Architecture Discussion Forum
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/forum-6.html
Architecture Students Forum
     http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/forum-13.html
Jobs Boards, Design and Building Products and Services
     http://marketplace.designcommunity.com/

Contents, RSS, and Surface of the Week - 
     Nested shutters on window in painted stucco wall (WI-0001)
     http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2006/1213/contents.html

Five years ago in ArchitectureWeek:
    Thermal Delight in Courtyards, by John S. Reynolds
    http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/1212/environment_1-1.html

For any subscription-related questions, just drop us a line at
"subscriptions at architectureweek.com".

Joining the list to get this weekly message is always free. 

Next week we'll be on a solstice break.  Hope you have a good one!

Write to us directly anytime, at "editor at architectureweek.com".

Best holiday wishes,

Kevin Matthews
Editor in Chief
ArchitectureWeek

   Advertise in this weekly residential design and building newsletter!
       http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/media_kit.html
   Suggest a web site to be linked from our free Web Directory:
       http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/links/
   Add or update your entry in our free directory of over 20,000 firms:
       http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Help:Getting_Started
   Join the free email list for this weekly email newsletter:
       http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html
   Announce New Products in ArchitectureWeek:
       http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/product_update_submit.html
   Subscribe and contribute to help support ArchitectureWeek on the Web:
       https://archweek.securesites.com/cgi-bin/support_archweek.cgi

   To UNSUBSCRIBE, and also for self-service change of email address:   
       http://www.architectureweek.com/mailman/listinfo/tuesday

	ArchitectureWeek is a green publication.  By publishing
	this professional design and building magazine online-only, 
	we save about 48 tons of paper monthly, or about 50 big 
	trees-worth every week, compared to reaching a similar 
	readership on paper - not counting these newsletters!  
	We provide ongoing pro-bono services to local non-profit 
	sustainability organizations.  And our company offices are 
	powered by 100% wind energy through our local utility.

+ - - Copyright (c) 2006 Artifice, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. - - +
 Click Forward in your email - Share Residential Tuesday with a friend!