Archinect - News

Snøhetta's high-tech Vertikal Nydalen mixed-use project opens in Oslo

2024-04-27T10:00:00-04:00

A new mixed-use project in Oslo from Snøhetta has been completed following a nine-year design and development phase that culminated in 118,400 square feet and 18 floors with restaurants, an office component, and 40 apartment units all built in.

Vertikal Nydalen is the focal point of a new town square in the Norwegian capital and features a self-sufficient climate system bolstered by PV panels, geo-wells, heat pumps, and an advanced building monitoring system that allows user feedback to inform its controls.

Image credit: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The project was born out of a pilot program that combined two research efforts supported by the Research Council of Norway. It focused on enhancing the building’s ventilation strategy and helping its heating/cooling systems run with little added energy at an efficiency rate of up to 2.5 times the industry’s current leading standard.

Image credit: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

Snøhetta's Kjetil Trædal Thorsen says: "We are proud to f...

Plans for world’s tallest residential tower unveiled in Dubai

2024-04-27T08:00:00-04:00

Hospitality brand Six Senses has unveiled plans for a new residential tower in Dubai Marina, set to be the world’s tallest. Sprouting up in Dubai Marina, the Six Senses Residences will be the second Dubai location to come from Six Senses, joining the nearly-opened Six Senses The Palm Jumeirah hotel. The tower is said to boast an impressive 122 floors, when it is eventually completed in 2028.

The height of the new Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina tower is equal to the under-construction Burj Azizi tower nearby, a $1.5 billion commercial project that was announced to have broken ground in January and will be completed the same year.

Image credit: Select Group

They will become two of the world’s six 120+ story structures. Reported amenities include a 109th-floor lap pool and cryotherapy chambers, crystal sound healing room, movie theater, and spa.

Image credit: Select Group

Despite the size, only 251 high-end residences are included. The current record-holder for tallest residential building, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture's Central Park Tower in New York City, has 179 units over 131 floors.

Image credit: Select Group

WSP Middle East and Woods Bagot are reportedly in charge of the architectural design.

Upcoming Spring academic events at Archinect Partner Schools

2024-04-26T19:10:00-04:00

The end of the Spring 2024 academic term is rapidly approaching, so let's take a look at some of the late-semester events, reviews, and lectures still in store for our Archinect Partner Schools SCI-Arc, Pratt Institute, Tulane University, UCLA, Temple University, University of Oregon, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and New York Institute of Technology.

SCI-Arc

Image courtesy SCI-Arc

The 2024 Spring Show exhibition, curated by Fiction and Entertainment program faculty Alexey Marfin, opens tomorrow, April 27, and will be open to the public until May 6.
Class of 1995 alum Gordon Kipping presents Maison de Cartes, which runs through June 2.

A look back at SCI-Arc's Spring lecture series can be found here.

Pratt Institute

Image courtesy Pratt Institute

The Public Space Challenges Symposium & Workshop takes place from April 25–27 in Higgins Hall.
Pratt Institute's History of Art and Design program will showcase the thesis presentations of graduating students on April 26. The exhibition Silent Conve...

Featured architecture jobs with $100K+ salaries

2024-04-26T14:56:00-04:00

If you're an experienced architecture professional looking for a new career opportunity, check out this week's edition of our curated jobs roundup from Archinect Jobs. Below, we highlight 17 employers offering senior positions with a starting salary of over $100K per year.

Our selection was based on jobs that have publicly disclosed the annual salary range in their job listings on Archinect Jobs. Make sure to take a look around the job board for other good matches — there are currently lots of opportunities with the stated salary range reaching into the six-digit figures.

Additionally, check out Archinect's coverage on salary transparency and our Architecture Salary Poll for more insight on what you should expect to make based on your position and location.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro seeks a Senior Designer/Architect Fluent in German in New York, NY
Salary range: $110,000 – $135,000 annually
"We are currently seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Architect/Designer for immediate ...

Construction starts dip 1% in March despite encouraging signs in the residential sector

2024-04-26T13:56:00-04:00

Construction starts for March have dropped by 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.06 trillion, according to the latest figures released in Dodge Construction Network's new Construction Starts Index.

For the month, nonresidential building starts went down 9%, while nonbuilding starts dipped another 7%, and residential starts were up by 1%. On a year-to-date basis, the total number of all starts was up 13% compared to the same three-month period in 2023. Residential starts increased by 24%, while nonbuilding starts gained 16%, and nonresidential building starts went up by 2%.

“The construction sector has hit a soft patch to start 2024,” Richard Branch, the chief economist for Dodge Construction Network, said. “However, this should not be overly surprising given high rates and restrictive credit. There are bright spots though, as single-family starts are moving higher and federal dollars are lifting nonbuilding starts. The recent hot inflation readings likely mean that rate...

'Wood’s Up' surveys the impact of timber architecture at the Aedes Architecture Forum

2024-04-26T13:28:00-04:00

Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum has launched its latest exhibition, Wood’s Up!, a survey of 16 recent timber building designs that stand as examples for the use of the material and its future capacity to be used as a solution at mass scale in various typologies.

A few of the 19 participating firms and designers include David Chipperfield, Snøhetta, LAVA, Coop Himmelb(l)au, SCAPE, Behnisch, and Francis Kéré, whose new all-wood childcare facility at the Technical University Munich debuted this week.

Snøhetta launches national park regeneration project in Japan

2024-04-26T11:57:00-04:00

Snøhetta has announced a new regeneration project with the Japanese private environmental agency BOND. The scheme for a yet-unnamed national park has several planned outcomes aimed a different social and environmental issues in Japan, which is experiencing a crisis of aging and still recovering from damages caused by seismic events in January and throughout the course of the last decade.

In a social media post, Snøhetta says: “Our masterplan will strengthen the relationship between earth, people, and nature, while beginning to heal and restore the scarred landscape to its original state of biodiversity and natural richness. Eco-concepts for health, wellness, and educational facilities are woven together with active public spaces spread across the park. This ecotourism development is the first step in furthering BOND’s vision of linking top stakeholders, government agencies, and locals to offer sustainable solutions for some of the long-term challenges facing the country.”

The firm h...

The American Academy in Rome presents the 2024–25 Rome Prize winners and Italian Fellows

2024-04-26T11:44:00-04:00

The American Academy in Rome has announced the 31 recipients of the 2024–25 Rome Prize. Awarded each year and described as the gift of “time and space to think and work,” the fellowship is intended to “support advanced independent work and research in the arts and humanities.”

“The Rome Prize is one of the most storied fellowship programs in the United States,” said AAR President Peter N. Miller announcing the latest winners. “Over a thousand people compete for the chance to live and work in Rome, inspired by the city and one another. The Rome Prize winners represent a bridge between the United States and Italy, but also between a present of potential and a future of achievement.”

This year’s competition received 1,106 applications — a record high — from applicants in 46 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The acceptance rate was 2.9 percent. This group of Rome Prize winners has approximately 39 percent who identify as persons of color. Thirteen percent were born outside the Un...

Helsinki launches New Museum of Architecture and Design competition

2024-04-25T19:33:00-04:00

An international competition to build the new Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki, Finland, has been launched.

The initiative is part of the previously announced Helsinki South Harbor Makasiiniranta redevelopment that is being planned by a consortium including Niam, K2S Architects, White Arkitekter, Ramboll Finland, and Rakennuttajatoimisto HTJ Oy.

The deadline to submit an entry to the contest is August 29th of this year. The winner will be named following the culmination of the two-phase judging process in September 2025.

The foundation behind the competition says: "Based on the competition, a more detailed timeline will be made on the development, zoning and construction of the new museum building. The timeline towards the opening of the new museum will be updated during the process."

The competition listing can be found here on Bustler.

Lee Bey reviews Chicago Bears' revised new lakefront stadium plans

2024-04-25T19:00:00-04:00

However, check out the stadium renderings accompanying this story. Look at how big that thing is. The size almost makes the Museum Campus buildings look like neo-classical LEGO blocks in comparison. Judging from the renderings, the stadium looks pretty good as far as professional sports facilities go. It’s the right building but the wrong spot.

Bey’s effective teardown includes a slideshow of Manica Architecture’s new renderings for the reported $2 billion stadium, which replaces a scrapped plan to relocate the team to suburban Arlington Heights from its hallowed Soldier Field home.

Bey said Mayor Brandon Johnson's team "stood by as a private entity took the lead and told how the public’s lakefront would be redeveloped." The stadium is expected to be built on a three-year timeline, with the completed design made ready in time to kick off the 2028 season.

The White Sox are also mulling an upgrade closer to the South Loop that could cost upwards of $9 billion.

Eric Owen Moss’ first LA home relists for $10.95 million

2024-04-25T18:39:00-04:00

Eric Owen Moss’ first residential design in Los Angeles, the 1991 Constellation 167 home in Brentwood, has hit the market courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty for a listed price of $10.95 million. The home had previously been listed by Compass and Sotheby’s for $12 million last fall before being put up again for the lower price, held exclusively by the latter.

Photo: Wayne Ford, image courtesy Sotheby's International Realty

The 5,476-square-foot design includes four bedrooms and 5 full baths and sits on just a quarter-acre parcel. It has appeared several times in various television shows (R.I.P. Curb Your Enthusiasm) and is distinctive of Moss’ warped style, which was later repeated in 2022’s A+M House. A “comprehensive” series of upgrades and restorations has been performed since it was commissioned, according to Robb Report.

Photo: Wayne Ford, image courtesy Sotheby's International Realty

Moss, who turns 81 this year, recently completed his (W)RAPPER office tower in Culver Ci...

University study pavilion wins the 2024 EU Mies van der Rohe Award with a reconfigurable design

2024-04-25T18:05:00-04:00

The winners of this year’s European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture — Mies van der Rohe Award were just announced via a special ceremony held in Brussels earlier today.

Leading the field of two category winners was the Berlin-based duo Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke’s new Study Pavilion on the campus of the Technical University of Braunschweig, a play on the open space concept that allows for variations of student activities using a flexible layout in what is labeled as a "counter-model to spaces of hierarchical knowledge transfer" by the foundation.

RIBA opens exhibition unpacking gender, race, and imperialism within its own headquarters

2024-04-25T13:01:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects is set to open an exhibition that unpacks narratives of gender, race, and imperialism within the fabric of the institute’s London headquarters.

Titled Raise the Roof: Building for Change, the exhibition will host “a variety of new artistic interventions interrogate and respond to the complex narratives within specific interior features of 66 Portland Place — the Jarvis Mural and Florence Hall Dominion Screen.”

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

2024-04-25T12:03:00-04:00

Construction has begun on a $300 million renovation of Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3. The upgrades are expected to take three years and will overhaul the terminal’s infrastructure from security checkpoints to baggage claim, as well as adding amenities and improving accessibility.

Named ElevateT3, the project will include the reconfiguration of two TSA checkpoints into a single screening area, an expanded passenger corridor between concourses K and L, and the development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new concessions and amenity spaces. The terminal’s interior and exterior are also to be renovated to improve overall energy efficiency.

Previously on Archinect: FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion. Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027 and will take a phased approach to allow continuous operations throughout Terminal 3 during construction....

Heatherwick Studio tops out UK pharma hub with curving timber structure

2024-04-25T11:56:00-04:00

Heatherwick Studio has offered a construction update on its design for the UCB Windlesham Surrey Science Research Hub in the United Kingdom. When completed, the building will serve as a hub for the Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB.

In new photos released by the firm, the project's cross-laminated timber structure can be seen following its recent topping out. The CLT structure, described by Heatherwick Studio as “possibly one of the most complicated CLT structures in Europe,” took two years of design and eight months of construction to deliver. The novelty of the structure comes from its curved form, which serves not only as the main structure but the feature finish for the building.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heatherwick Studio (@officialheatherwickstudio)

Designed in collaboration with executive architect Veretec, the three-story timber extension will be partially submerged into the site’s existing campus, connecting various wings of UCB’s R...

BIG creates mirrored installation for Audi at Milan Design Week

2024-04-25T11:46:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has designed an installation for the car brand Audi, installed at Milan Design Week. Titled ‘Reflaction,’ a play on the words “reflection” and “action,” the installation seeks to convey how “our actions in the world reflect the very essence of our existence,” according to Audi.

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

The installation is configured as a ‘plus’ symbol when viewed from above, dividing the site into four spaces constructed from a minimal selection of materials. The walls of the installation are formed of 33 x 28-foot mirrors, which, according to Audi, “creates an immersive spatial illusion, highlighting the brand's continuous effort to overcome the limits of innovation.”

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

Each space is grounded in a particular theme, namely Community, Knowledge, Performance, and Digital. The Community section features a ‘circular forest’ of Japanese maples to provid...

Georgia Tech team wins 2024 ULI Hines Student Competition with redevelopment plan for Seattle

2024-04-24T18:37:00-04:00

The winners of this year’s Urban Land Institute (ULI) Hines Student Competition have been announced as a team from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Their vision for the redevelopment of a land parcel in downtown Seattle addressed concerns about equity, housing affordability, access to neighborhood services, sustainability, and connectivity to surrounding communities as related by planning officials from King County.

Their project titled ‘Meander’ was selected as the $50,000 winner and joined by three other $10,000 prize winners from Georgia Tech, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Kengo Kuma to design new mixed-use shopping center for Miami's Design District

2024-04-24T17:36:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma Associates has shared the announcement of a new mixed-use project in the Miami Design District.

The MIRAI Design District is a $1 billion development to be realized at 65,000 square feet with 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and another 40,000 square feet of high-end offices located above.

Image courtesy Kengo Kuma and Associates

The development's marketing arm describes the spaces as "each in meticulously curated, modular bays for luxury brands and trophy offices," designed to "allow each brand its own identity."

From there, a "series of micro-experiences" will define the concept, which is located at the intersection of Northeast 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue. The building's two main transparent mesh facades are angled to create a mix of shadows and greet users from different angles, while the shops underneath are serviced by a wooden soffit pedestrian walkway.

Image courtesy Kengo Kuma and Associates

The design district was also recently announced as the location...

Following a Frank Gehry overhaul, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is hiring an exhibition designer

2024-04-24T17:28:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Deputy Director, Occupancy Management - Real Estate at the MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Exhibition Designer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The role calls for an individual who will design special exhibitions, gallery projects, and gallery furnishings for the display of works of art in the museum. Specific tasks may include managing the design and documentation process for exhibitions, creating technical drawings and models of objects and spaces, and developing schedules for construction and object installation. Among the requirements for the role are model-making skills, design training and experience, and preferably a degree in art, architecture, or art history.

The museum's North Entrance, for the first time in decades, was restored to public use in 2019. Steve Hall © Hall + Merrick Photographers, 2019, cour...

Kéré Architecture breaks ground on new timber childcare center at the Technical University of Munich

2024-04-24T15:45:00-04:00

Kéré Architecture has broken ground on a new all-wood childcare facility at the Technical University Munich (TUM). The design of the Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM is 700 square meters (7,500 square feet) in total and will hold space for 60 children in service to faculty members and their families.

Image copyright Kéré Architecture

The building, made possible through a donation from philanthropist Ingeborg Pohl, is defined by its playful interior, which incorporates a variety of scales and unique circulatory features, such as slides that connect each of its five floors.

Image copyright Kéré Architecture

Administrative suites are placed at the ground level, with three floors dedicated to children and divided by age group. A green roof play area called the Himmelswiese (German for “field of the heavens”) completes the program above. The firm has emphasized its use of timber throughout is meant to “take the sustainability of the building to the extreme.”

Image copyright Kéré Archi...

March Architecture Billings Index declines significantly due to inflation and supply chain issues

2024-04-24T13:23:00-04:00

The AIA/Deltek’s latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) for the month of March has posted a decline to a score of 43.6. The new figures indicate a reversal of February’s “most modest easing.”

The AIA says: "This shows that clients are interested in starting new projects but remain hesitant to sign a contract and officially commit to those projects. However, most firms report that they still have strong project backlogs of 6.6 months, on average, so even with the ongoing soft patch, they still have work in the pipeline."

There were a number of revealing statistics included in the ABI report, which recorded responses from a special practice questions survey, including (among others) the ease at which design contracts are being negotiated when compared to the experiences of firm leaders within the industry just 4 to 5 years ago. 46% now report having a "more challenging" time negotiating their design fees versus the pre-pandemic time period, with another 14% saying that it was "much...

The Grand Palais debuts its pre-Olympics makeover in Paris

2024-04-24T11:48:00-04:00

As the start of this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics draws closer in Paris, the first images of the Chatillon Architectes-led restoration of the Grand Palais have been made public.

The initial phase of the four-year project that will be completed in 2025 involved expanding its capacity by 60%, creating a new pedestrian linkage to the Seine and Square Jean Perrin, restoring the balconies of the structure’s nave, and removing ad hoc additions that had slowly accrued since its opening 124 years ago.

Image credit: Laurent Kronental for Chatillon Architectes

New public gardens were created around the building, fostering an enhanced connection between it and other historic areas in the 8th arrondissement: the Champs-Élysées, Boulevard Churchill, and Petit Palais. They include more than 250 plant species, fed by rainwater that has been collected from the roofs — the largest made of glass in Europe — of the Grand Palais. The project's total costs will equal about $500 million USD, and the...

Noncompetes to be banned in the U.S. after FTC ruling

2024-04-24T11:36:00-04:00

The Federal Trade Commission has announced a rule banning noncompetes in the United States. According to the FTC, the ban seeks to “promote competition” by “protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation.” The rule is expected to go into effect in six months.

The rule will not apply to existing noncompetes for senior executives (workers earning more than $151,164 annually and who are in policy-making positions), although employers cannot enter into or enforce new noncompetes for senior executives. In all cases, employers must provide notice to workers bound to an existing noncompete that the agreement will not be enforced against them in the future.

Related on Archinect: A Guide to Salary Transparency Laws Across the United States. Image: Pixabay

Noncompetes can be used in the U.S. to impose contractual conditions on employees that prevent workers from taking a new job or starting their own business, the FTC n...

Grimshaw, CetraRuddy, Assembledge+, WTARCH, and Max von Werz are Archinect Jobs' latest featured employers

2024-04-23T19:53:00-04:00

From Archinect's active community of job seekers, firms, and schools, we are highlighting five hiring architecture practices with current openings in New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. Take a look at these opportunities below, and visit Archinect Jobs for the complete list of available positions.

Global architecture, design, and planning firm Grimshaw is currently seeking a Senior Architect to join their Los Angeles office. Applicants must have ten or more years of relevant experience and should be great designers, highly motivated, well organized, thoughtful, and have experience working as part of a design team on large projects.

Newark Liberty Airport, Terminal A by Grimshaw, TTP, STV, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Photo: Grimshaw

New York-based architecture and interior design practice CetraRuddy has several exciting openings for qualified candidates: an Intermediate Architect and Interior Designer with at least six years of work experience, a Project Arc...

Zaha Hadid Architects and Cox Architecture's new Western Sydney International Airport reaches 75% completion

2024-04-23T19:00:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has updated its progress on the Western Sydney International Airport project with Cox Architecture. Construction is now 75% complete on the approximately 4,200-acre design, which is located in the expanding Parkland City region. The project cost is equal to $4 billion USD, resulting in ZHA's third major airport design after the Beijing Daxing International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport in India.

Previously on Archinect: Halfway through for ZHA & Cox Architecture's Western Sydney International Airport project

In the drone video below, the design's terminal structures appear in the first-phase terminal precinct. The project is expected to open in 2026 and serve 10 million travelers per year.

The firm says: "The design incorporates sustainable principles across its architecture & construction, integrating extensive use of daylight, natural ventilation and water recycling in a modular, energy-efficient design."

View this post on Instagram ...

Sam Lubell on cultural institutions’ newfound embrace of landscape architecture

2024-04-23T18:30:00-04:00

[...] such projects have fundamentally transformed in recent years, reflecting, among other things, seismic shifts in both museums’ priorities and the profession of landscape architecture, as well as a surge in interest in outdoor space because of the pandemic. The first rule: don’t dare call them gardens. These are sophisticated landscapes integrating — and enhancing — institutions’ missions while also encouraging education, sustainability and a much-needed sense of civic welcome.

Sam Lubell of the New York Times talks to Walter Hood, William Fain, and Kate Orff for a survey focused on the expanding role of landscape architecture in major American cultural sector projects.

He says: "The ascension of landscape in the museum world shows no signs of abating." Projects of note include the Hirshhorn Museum’s debated Hiroshi Sugimoto-led sculpture garden redesign, Studio-MLAand Frederick Fisher and Partners’ work for the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, and the forthcoming Calder Gardens in Philadelphia from Piet Oudolf and Herzog & de Meuron.

"Museums are places where you can say something about the culture. Where we can begin to vet some of these things that we don’t want to talk about. It goes back to the idea of these being the new civic spaces, where honest conversations can be had," Walter Hood told him. (A look at his firm's contributions to the new International African American Museum in South Carolina by Moody Nolan and Pei Cobb Freed can be found ...

Brightline West breaks ground on $12 billion Vegas to California high-speed rail project

2024-04-23T17:28:00-04:00

The $12 billion high-speed rail infrastructure project that will connect Las Vegas with various hubs in the Southern California region is off and running. Brightline West’s 218-mile loop is now under construction with a $3 billion push from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the 2028 finish line in sight to coincide with LA's turn as host of that year's Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Las Vegas Station aerial view. Image courtesy Brightline West

Las Vegas Station interior view. Image courtesy Brightline West

The trains will be operated at a maximal speed of 200 miles per hour, setting the North American record. (Another project between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, will commence soon.) Wes Edens, Brightline's founder, said: “Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.”

Rancho Cucamonga Station exterior view. Image courtesy Brightline West...

Henning Larsen unveils design for new Jeddah Opera House in Saudi Arabia

2024-04-23T15:53:00-04:00

Henning Larsen has announced a new cultural project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Danish firm's plans for the new Jeddah Opera House entail a 1,500-seat opera, 750-seat theater, and 150-seat Rehearsal Hall to be constructed at a site that forms the new Opera Quarter and is included as part of the larger Jeddah Central master plan.

In concept, the scheme presents a cluster of buildings along a central spine adhering to the Red Sea shoreline. Glowing geometric volumes display an irregular rhythm created in their facade’s coral stone and wood exteriors and enlivened by Mashrabiyas and Roshans, all of which are vernacular elements and responsive to the Al-Balad area's architectural history and character. The listed square footage of the project is 344,400 (or 32,000 square meters).

Image: Vivid Vision courtesy of Henning Larsen

Louis Becker, the Global Design Principal for Henning Larsen, describes the work: "The tradition of theater grew out of public space and everyday life — the casual...

New scientific study provides vital data on sinking Chinese cities

2024-04-23T15:08:00-04:00

The toll of urbanization in China has been documented in a new paper published in the journal Science by a team of researchers from different institutions around the country. Using a method called spaceborne synthetic aperture radar interferometry (or InSAR), they were able to establish the rate at which land is subsiding in major cities, affecting over a third (36%) of the country's urban population.

The paper's abstract states that 45% of metro areas surveyed are now subsiding faster than 3 millimeters per year, with another 16% subsiding faster than 10 millimeters per year. By 2120, upwards of 26% of all coastal lands will have elevations below sea level. The source of the sinking is the combined weight of buildings and the depletion of groundwater around urban areas. "Our results underscore the necessity of enhancing protective measures to mitigate potential damages from subsidence," the authors stated.

These latest findings could potentially have bearings on the work of Turensc...

Cosmic set to produce prefabricated ADUs in California with water recycling and solar energy

2024-04-23T13:58:00-04:00

San Francisco-based Cosmic has raised $1.5 million in funding for their micro-home product designs aimed at bringing “self-sustainable homes in California and beyond.” The company’s leading product, Cosmic ONE, is described as a “limited-edition high-quality micro-home” that can serve as an ADU, a primary single-family home, or a component in a wider residential community.

Showroom model. Image courtesy: Cosmic

Cosmic ONE has been designed as an all-electric, prefabricated unit that can use recycled water for non-potable needs, as well as being equipped with a solar and battery system. The first 100 CosmicOne units will be available for sale in California.

Showroom model. Image courtesy: Cosmic

“Building a new home and expanding an existing one today can be very challenging due to the intricate permitting process, labor scarcity, and complexities of site infrastructure works,” the company says about their prop...