6 must reads for the AEC industry today: October 1, 2020

1. Sir David Adjaye OBE to receive 2021 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (RIBA)
" The Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence 'either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture'."

2. SOM reimagines former Cook County Hospital into mixed-use destination (BD+C)
"The reimagined building now includes a new hotel, a food hall, medical offices, and community spaces and is the first phase of a proposed $1 billion redevelopment plan for the area. The building also includes a museum space that will showcase the important role the hospital played for the city and in the field of medicine."

3. Thornton Tomasetti launches T2D2, AI solution company to detect, classify, and monitor deterioration of building envelopes and infrastructure (Thornton Tomasetti)
"T2D2 founder and CEO Badri Hiriyur, Ph.D., director of CORE AI at Thornton Tomasetti, said the AI within T2D2 has been applied to identify visual anomalies and other signatures of deterioration on facades and structures. It analyzes digital images or videos taken by any type of camera (hand-held, fixed or drone-mounted) and can detect and identify conditions of deterioration."

4. U.S. Green Building Council, Green Business Certification Inc. expand resilience resources to support the green building industry (USGBC)
"LEED and GBCI rating systems drive resilience-enhancing strategies to help businesses and governments mitigate climate risks."

5. RedBird Mall co-developer is ready to bring his vision to other languishing U.S. malls (Bisnow)
"The mall is slated to offer South Dallas a solid mix of office, healthcare, retail, entertainment and affordable housing product. The apartments on-site are about 60% complete and developers are grinding away on the underground infrastructure."

6. Millions are house-rich but cash-poor. Wall Street landlords are ready (WSJ)
"Hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic are likely to force a lot of sales and create new renters."

One of the hardest decisions multifamily developers and their design teams have to make is what mix of amenities they’re going to put into each project. A lot of squiggly factors go into that decision: the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate/weather conditions, physical parameters, and of course the budget. The permutations are mind-boggling.