6 must reads for the AEC industry today: October 14, 2020

1. Thailand’s Elephant Museum reinforces the bond between humans and beasts (BD+C) 
"Deforestation devastated that bond between elephants and the Kui people in northeast Thailand’s Surin Province, depriving both of food and medicinal plants. The province also incurred severe droughts. These events displaced the Kui and elephants to surrounding towns, begging for food or working in elephant camps."

2. The Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion will nearly double its exhibition space (BD+C) 
"As part of the $344 million project, a new standalone building, designed by SANAA, will be built and connected to the existing Gallery building by an outdoor public art garden. The garden will be accessible 24/7, creating a civic campus on its site overlooking Sydney Harbor."

3. Austin is first major Texas city to adopt wildfire code (BD+C) 
"Responding to an increased risk of wildfire, Austin became the first major city in Texas to adopt a code aimed at curbing wildfires."

4. Persuading workers to come back to the office still a tough sell (Bisnow)
"More than six months into the coronavirus pandemic, only about a quarter of office workers have returned to their places of work, a new study has found."

5. Traffic is returning faster to outlet centers than malls; What does that mean for the sector’s future? (National Real Estate Investor)
"Outlet centers have not been spared the pandemic’s toll. But their open-air locations and focus on value are major advantages."

6. Facebook's big augmented reality play could spark new wave of proptech (Bisnow)
"Technologies that people take for granted today, such as smartphones or Google Maps, have fundamentally changed the way the real estate industry does business. The next technology that could transform the industry, multiple proptech experts say, is augmented reality glasses."