Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: in her latest article for The New York Times, design critic Alice Rawsthorn examines the symbols and slogans adopted by the Occupy protest movement in cities around the world.

Rawsthorn explains that the name ‘Occupy’, which originated at the Occupy Wall Street protest against the banking and democratic system, “is a stellar example of both what is known in marketing as an umbrella brand name and what the anti-corporatists in the movement could call beating them at their own game.” She adds that the use of hashtags and slogans short enough to send on social networks such as Twitter have helped the movement spread globally and could represent a new protocol for protesters involving “the repeated use of a few carefully chosen words,” rather than images.

Dezeen Wire: the opening of the September 11 museum in New York, which is scheduled for September 2012, is under threat due to an ongoing dispute over unexpected costs – The Washington Post

The museum is part of a memorial to the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre being developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who say that they are owed $156 million by mayor Michael Bloomberg’s National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation. The row had been kept quiet over fears it could overshadow the 10th anniversary of the attacks but has now led to the suspension of construction contracts which could delay the completion of the museum.

See our previous story on the opening of the National September 11 Memorial, an animation of the memorial fountains and architecture critic Rowan Moore’s examination of the infighting that has plagued the redevelopment of the World Trade Centre site.

Dezeen Wire: the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Design Council have expressed support for a new housing strategy announced by the UK government that aims to deliver high quality homes rather than a higher volume of poor standard properties.

RIBA chief executive Harry Rich said: “I am delighted that the government has listened and has given such prominence to design quality and the role of architects in driving good design within their communities and in delivering housing fit for the 21st century” – see the full statement from the RIBA here.

Design Council Cabe chair Paul Finch stated: “The Government’s commitment to good design, as expressed in the National Planning Policy Framework, should mean that quantity and quality are seen as natural partners rather than opposites” – see the full statement from the Design Council here.

RIBA president Angela Brady recently criticised the state of housing in the UK and the RIBA also published a report criticising Britain’s “shameful shoebox homes”.

Dezeen Wire: supporters of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei have been posting photos of themselves naked on a website as a protest against the Beijing police’s decision to question his assistant, who had taken nude pictures of the artist and four women – The Telegraph

Ai was detained for 81 days earlier this year by the Chinese government on charges of tax evasion, during which time he was also asked about the photographs that he says have no deeper political meaning.

Dezeen Wire: The latest RIBA Future Trends Survey shows that the private housing sector is benefiting from all-time low interest rates but overall confidence about future workloads remains low.

A third of architects responding to the survey said they felt under-employed in October, with those in London most optimistic about growth and Scotland and Northern Ireland the least confident.

See past RIBA Future Trends Survey results here.

RIBA Future Trends Survey results for October 2011

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Future Trends Survey for October 2011 shows little change in confidence about future workloads. Statistical analysis of the survey enables the RIBA to track regularly the two key indices of confidence within the profession: future workloads and staffing levels.

There was a slight rise in the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index which for October stood at -7, compared with -10 in September 2011. Practices in London remain the most optimistic about growth in workloads over the next three months, while Northern Ireland and Scotlandremain the least confident about future work. As in previous months, it is the smaller (one to 10 staff) and medium (11 to 50 staff) sized practices that are less confident.

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index also barely changed: down from -7 in September to -8 in October. No practice – of any size – predicts an increase in staffing in the next quarter. Overall staffing levels had on average declined by 7 per cent from October 2010, which tracks a   reduction of 12 per cent in actual work in progress compared with October 2010.

A third of those responding to the survey felt that they had personally been under-employed during October, a slightly higher percentage than in September 2011.

The public, commercial and community sectors forecasts also saw little or no change. On the other hand, the private housing sector forecast recovered quite strongly, moving from – 5 in September 2011 to +5 in October 2011.

Adrian Dobson, RIBA Director of Practice, said:

“Not unexpectedly, practices continue to describe a challenging and unpredictable state of play, with increased competition for falling levels of public sector work and continuing resistance by banks to lend for development projects. Faced with this uncertain outlook, they are reluctant to recruit new staff.

“But on a more positive note, the bespoke housing sector remains strong, buoyed by all-time low interest rates, and more specialised areas within healthcare and conservation also continue to perform well.”