Housing Starts and Permits Up Strongly in June
from the Nation's Building News
Home builders responded to improved market conditions and the impending expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit in June by posting substantial gains in nationwide housing starts and permits, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department last week. Commerce reported a 3.6 percent gain in overall housing starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000 units and an 8.7 percent gain in permit issuance to 563,000 units. More

Giving Design Managers a Voice
from the Catalyst
Catalyst is a blog from the students at the Pratt Design Management program created to "stimulate thinking and encourage conversation about the role of strategic design in making and shaping an economy that is generative, humane, resourceful and 'good by nature.'" More

Stylish Senior Living Creates "Destination" Community Care Center
from Contract Magazine
Sun City Palace Tsukaguchi near Osaka, Japan is not your ordinary senior living facility. Instead, thanks to interiors by San Francisco-based BAMO, it feels more like a 5-Star hotel. "The design must discreetly respect the needs of senior residents without reminding them of their limitations," explains Gerry Jue, the firm's senior principal and co-founder. "The design must be non-institutional, residential, and dignified in feeling, comfortable, and of the highest quality." More

Kitchen Is Top Room for Design
from Kitchen & Bath Business
When it comes to redesigning the home, a recent Amana brand survey revealed that consumers would most like to redesign and bring some style to their kitchens. In fact, of the bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom, the kitchen is the number one room (34 percent) consumers would most like to see get a design facelift. Overall, 65 percent of those surveyed believe their home represents their sense of design, with the majority of these consumers identifying the kitchen as the hub of their home. In fact, 43 percent indicated the kitchen was the room they could not live without, and nearly a third chose the room as the best for entertaining. While all of this data seems to point to the kitchen as the new living room, only 17 percent believe their kitchens best represent their sense of style. More

Going Behind Melbourne's Closed Doors
from PSFK
Recently, Melbourne residents were offered the unique opportunity to view some of the city’s most interesting buildings, normally off limits to the public. In total thirty buildings opened their doors to the public for Melbourne Open House, with the Melbourne Unity building, Town Hall and Offices attracting a 4660-strong crowd of onlookers interested in the city’s history and architecture. PSFK offers a gallery of images from the tour. More

Rising Demand for Live/Work Housing
from Multi-Housing News
With almost half (49 percent) of U.S. businesses being operated from home, the house is increasingly becoming the American office, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report from 2006, which is also the latest one available. And there are many more home businesses that have started since the downturn began last year, according to the Urban Land Institute. The trend appears to be stronger in urban than in suburban areas. More

For Some, Tiny Houses Are Just the Right Size: "Super Downsizing" Is a Fitting Lifestyle During the Downturn
from Builder
Tiny home proponents call it "super downsizing," but that's just the extreme edge of a growing movement away from suburban castles and into "right-sized" homes that require less energy, upkeep and money, experts say. "The era of the 'McMansion' could well be over as home sizes have been trending downward recently, with a significantly higher number of architects reporting demand for smaller homes this year," Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects, said in a news release. More

Green Building Goes Global
from Hospitality Design
Over the last five years, there has been an expansive growth and interest in the U.S. market around green buildings and sustainable design principles. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has been at the forefront of this movement in the United States and is now setting its sights on expanding its mission into an embracing international marketplace. There are reasons to be optimistic about the international market's acceptance of sustainable design principles into its built environment as we all work to reduce the impacts of buildings on the environment. More