Archinect - News

Wang Shu bucks China’s megacity trend

2013-06-17T20:25:00-04:00

“Cities today have become far too large,” Wang said in an interview while visiting New York in April. “I’m really worried, because it’s happening too fast and we have already lost so much.” Wang, a sturdy 49-year-old, has built his small architectural practice as a riposte to this heedless destruction. With his wife, architect Lu Wenyu, he runs a 10-person firm called Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou, a picturesque lakeside city southwest of Shanghai.

Indestructible Home in Berkeley, CA Inspired by Sea Creatures and Dinos

2013-06-17T15:00:00-04:00

Nicknamed “The Fish House” by locals, the Tsui House built by architect Eugene Tsui is touted by its creator as the one of the world’s safest dwellings. The design is based upon a small and segmented water creature known as a tardigrade, and also features a few architectural elements inspired by dinosaur physiology.

Baharash Architecture Wins Dubai Sustainable City Project

2013-06-12T19:17:00-04:00

Emerging London-based firm Baharash Architecture has been selected to design phase 2 of the 46-hectar Dubai Sustainable City development. The practice is set to open an office in Dubai following the victory against international anonymous teams from the United States, Lebanon, Jordan, UK, and UAE.

Lahore authorities battle to restore splendour of ancient Walled City

2013-06-04T17:19:00-04:00

The Walled City's gardens and squares are now obscured by illegal shops and businesses, the skyline cluttered by unplanned tenements and bundles of cables. For many of the 200,000 inhabitants crammed into these 4sq km, a fraction of Lahore's 7m population, drinking water is a rarity. But last month the new Walled City of Lahore Authority met for the first time. The body oversees the ambitious plan to restore the past glory of the city's oldest neighbourhood.

SOM releases Timber Tower Research Project

2013-06-03T15:37:00-04:00

Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP today released Timber Tower Research Project, an initiative sponsored by the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) to establish the structural viability of a 42-story-tall prototypical mass timber framed building. The structural solution is benchmarked against the existing concrete-framed DeWitt Chestnut Apartments in Chicago—a revolutionary structural solution when it was designed by SOM in 1965. The new prototype is a hybrid system that uses the most efficient structural combination of mass timber, concrete and steel to reduce the carbon footprint of the resulting design by between 60 and 75 percent when compared to the concrete benchmark.

The genesis of the project lies in the fact that a tall building’s embodied carbon footprint is significantly higher relative to low-rise buildings on a per square foot basis. This is exacerbated by the fact that tall buildings are almost exclusively constructed of concrete or steel—high-strength non-combustible materials...

New York Design Commissioner David Burney on the Politics of the Public

2013-05-28T20:33:00-04:00

Increasingly it's been cities that have taken the lead on critical issues, from gun control to immigration reform to economic stimulus to climate change. Given the migration of people into cities worldwide, this trend is sure to continue. We might even be in a de facto transition to a society dominated by economically and politically powerful cities — a contemporary version of the great city-states that arose in the 13th century and ruled Europe until the consolidation of modern nation-states.

For almost a decade David Burney has been Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction in New York City.

In an interview with Places editor Nancy Levinson, he reflects on the urban design record of the Bloomberg years, focusing especially on PlaNYC, the ongoing post-Sandy recovery effort, and the potential for cities to take the lead in 21st-century sustainability planning.

Ed Mazria announces his 2030 Palette design tool

2013-05-16T14:35:00-04:00

The 2030 Palette is an interactive online tool that puts the principles behind low-carbon and resilient built environments at the fingertips of architects, planners and designers worldwide. Our goal is to inform the planning and design process at the point of inspiration. By curating the best information... highly complex ideas are made intuitive and accessible. Guiding principles are presented as individual “Swatches”, which together make up the larger fabric of sustainable built environments.

The site - www.2030palette.org - looks like a very useful resource. Could be useful for designers but even more so for client to get by in when trying "new" strategies.

NEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR MONU #19 - GREATER URBANISM

2013-05-15T11:36:00-04:00

Are cities becoming "greater" these days? (Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, May 2013)

Are cities becoming "greater" these days? When two years ago, in our 14th issue of MONU Magazine entitled "Editing Urbanism", we claimed that in the Western world, the need for new buildings and city districts was decreasing or even ceasing to exist altogether due to demographic changes and financially difficult times, we did not believe in all those new, big-scale, and long-term urban development strategies for the metropolitan areas of certain European cities that were being proposed at the time. The growth numbers that plans such as "Greater Helsinki" envisioned for the year 2050, trying to brand the city as one of the most dynamic metropolises in Europe, predicting a population growth from 1.3 million to 2 million, were too exuberant and too vast. However, other European cities, such as Paris, seem to be changing substantially within their metropolitan areas, their "greater" areas. Paris needs to build 70.000 new housing units per year. Mainly because of such requirements, but...

Mumbai's tallest skyscraper designed to "confuse the wind"

2013-05-03T14:48:00-04:00

Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture has unveiled plans for Imperial Tower, which would become Mumbai's tallest building and surely one of the world's most slender skyscrapers, should it come to be built. The 116-story, 400-m (1,300-ft) tall residential skyscraper has a distinctive curved shape, which AS+GG says has been designed to "confuse the wind."

Time has a Q&A with Maya Lin

2013-05-02T12:48:00-04:00

From the very first, the Vietnam Memorial, it was about being extremely site-specific and site-sensitive, creating something that merged with the land around it. But much more so in the last decade or two decades, my artwork has focused on making you aware of things in the natural world that we might not be aware of. What’s invisible we tend not to think about, so I’ve made sculptures that reveal the terrain below sea level.

Rooftop Farms to Deal with Growing Food Crisis

2013-05-01T10:34:00-04:00

Some of the most densely populated cities across the globe are tackling population growth and food shortages by establishing more rooftop farms. Vertical farms are popping up on unused rooftops in cities across the globe and the outcome is extremely positive.

German building uses algae for heating and cooling

2013-04-25T17:54:00-04:00

A new apartment complex in Hamburg, Germany, intends to generate heat, as well as revenue, from growing the micro-organism. The five-story Bio Intelligent Quotient (B.I.Q.) building, which was expected to become fully operational on Wednesday, has a high-tech facade that looks like a cross between a Mondrian painting and a terrarium but is actually a vertical algae farm.

Seattle’s Super-Green Bullitt Center Opened on Earth Day

2013-04-23T16:37:00-04:00

Yesterday, on Earth Day, Seattle's latest green building celebrated its grand opening: The Bullitt Center, a super-efficient office space at 1501 East Madison Street, was designed to become the world’s largest functioning, commercial Living Building, using an estimated 83 percent less energy than a typical Seattle office building and achieving Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Water.

Why Is the Museum of Modern Art Dead Set on Perpetrating a Hideous Act of Architecture-cide?

2013-04-18T14:28:00-04:00

Come to think of it, however, here’s another idea for the folk-art-museum building: maybe it should be used to display a small selection of MoMA’s extraordinary collection, so that people can experience some of its great works in a small-scaled space and have a tiny hint of the intimate, enticing museum that MoMA once was.

Crusade commenced to convince MoMA not to demolish American Folk Art Museum

2013-04-18T14:26:00-04:00

Can it be saved? A grassroots crusade to persuade MoMA not to tear down the architecturally significant 12-year-old American Folk Art Museum at 45 W. 53rd St. has erupted, igniting the passion of architects, designers, preservationists and ordinary citizens.

Architecture students compete to build largest cardboard structure

2013-04-16T11:32:00-04:00

More than 50 students will attempt to break the nationwide record of 1,655 boxes, currently held by BYU The battle to build the world’s largest cardboard structure has been an ongoing rivalry between three schools: UNLV, Harvard University, and BYU. UNLV students have been preparing for weeks to manipulate the cardboard into realistic architectural concepts, using lessons learned in a fundamentals of design course.

Olympic Displacement: Atlanta 1996 to Rio 2016

2013-04-15T17:35:00-04:00

Atlanta and Rio are but two chapters in the long history of displacement that has accompanied mega-events like the Olympics. Similar dynamics reshaped London’s Clays Lane Estate, Beijing’s hutongs, the Marousi Roma settlement in Athens, Barcelona’s Poblenou and Seoul’s hanoks. . . . Today the people of Vila Autódromo are struggling for what housing scholar-activist Chester Hartman has aptly called “the right to stay put.”

As plans unfold for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, MIT's Lawrence Vale and Annemarie Gray consider the case of Vila Autódromo, a former fishing colony on the Olympic site whose residents have organized to resist displacement. They compare ongoing events in Rio to the demolition of Atlanta's Techwood Homes, the first public housing in America, prior to the 1996 Olympics.

Too Big to Flood?

2013-04-15T12:10:00-04:00

over the next half-century these coastal megacities may grow “too big to flood.” But flood they will unless they dramatically revise their growth strategies and undertake major infrastructure projects

Bruce Stutz explores how as economic activity and populations continue to expand in coastal urban areas, particularly in Asia, hundreds of trillions of dollars of infrastructure, industrial and office buildings, and homes are increasingly at risk from intensifying storms and rising sea levels.

h/t Bruce Sterling

Melbourne Certified As A Carbon Neutral City

2013-04-08T21:05:00-04:00

The City of Melbourne has been certified carbon neutral, an important step toward its goal of becoming one of the world’s most sustainable cities. In a carbon constrained economy, councillor Arron Wood said the certification by Low Carbon Australia against the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) “was a solid demonstration of the City of Melbourne’s commitment to a more sustainable Melbourne.”

This Super Local Brooklyn Whole Foods Will Have A 20,000-Square-Foot Rooftop Greenhouse

2013-04-03T16:56:00-04:00

Whole Foods is teaming up with rooftop garden company Gotham Greens for its next New York location. When the lettuce only has to come down a staircase from the roof, that’s about as local as you can get.

World’s Largest Solar Towers Take to the Sun

2013-03-27T20:38:00-04:00

California will soon be home to the world’s two largest solar towers through an ambitious project known as The Palen Solar Electrical Generating System. The announcement was made shortly after the US Department of Interior announced the country was to add 1.1 gigawatts to its clean energy capacity. California has also committed to have a third of their power must be derived from renewable sources by the year 2030.

The Stern-designed Kohler Environmental Center forces students to work with their zero-energy building

2013-03-20T17:53:00-04:00

The students were tapped in determining whether to invest in one or two clothes dryers. Would they use drying racks to eliminate the second dryer? Would they give up hair dryers? Would they wear sweaters in winter to permit an energy-saving thermostat setting of 67 degrees? “We don’t tell students that certain behaviors are unacceptable,” said Joseph Scanio, one of the center’s two live-in teachers. “We discuss things. We make it easy to be intentional about the choices you make.”

Editor's Picks #307

2013-03-19T17:39:00-04:00

Reflecting on the site of Farnsworth House, an obvious floodplain, toasteroven wondered "who pushed siting the building where it is - the client or mies?". To which snooker-doodle-dandy replied "don't believe Mies would ever let a Client tell him what to do. In fact if they tried, he would most likely stuff out his Cuban cigar on their forehead"

News
As of March 11, 2013 Farnsworth House is fully surrounded by river water, but neither the lower deck nor the upper deck had yet been breached.

Paul Petrunia noted that last time it happened "They even blogged the cleanup: http://archinect.com/news/article/80993/farnsworth-clean-up".

Reflecting on the site of Farnsworth House, an obvious floodplain, toasteroven wondered "who pushed siting the building where it is - the client or mies?". To which snooker-doodle-dandy replied "don't believe Mies would ever let a Client tell him what to do. In fact if they tried, he would most likely stuff out his Cuban cigar on their forehead"

For her part Donna Sink expressed the opinion "I think evilplatypus - whose presence here I miss - once noted that the 100 year flood level that Mies used to site the building has been radically changed due to the massive suburban development that has happened upstream in the intervening 60 years. I think the house should be moved".

AIA ...

Flush With Oil, Abu Dhabi Opens World's Largest Solar Plant

2013-03-19T16:45:00-04:00

Abu Dhabi, the most oil-rich of the United Arab Emirates, is now home to the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant. The 100-megawatt Shams 1 plant cost an estimated $750 million and is expected to provide electricity to 20,000 homes, according to the BBC. Why, you might ask? Bloomberg says the less oil Abu Dhabi uses for local consumption, the more it can export.

Flood Proof Loos

2013-03-13T00:38:00-04:00

When Hurricane Sandy wiped out the lifeguard stations and public bathrooms on many of New York City’s beaches, the city found itself in a bind. How could it rebuild these necessary facilities in time for the summer of 2013?

Loos on stilts, modular shiny boxes, what more could beach goers in NYC ask for?

Architecture for Humanity Announces Strategic Partnership with The Center for Green Schools, U.S. Green Building Council

2013-03-12T19:02:00-04:00

Architecture for Humanity announced their strategic partnership with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The announcement comes in conjunction with today’s release of the Center for Green Schools 2013 State of our Schools Report, which calls for the federal government to commission the first comprehensive study of our nation’s school facilities needs in 18 years. Together the two groups hope to join others in eliminating our nation’s deferred school maintenance bill through implementation of school improvement projects, addressing financing and providing tools to educators. The report estimates that $271 billion is needed to bring existing school buildings up to code – double that amount if we are to modernize schools - and that further research is needed to clarify how and where this investment should be targeted.

About 50 million students attend nearly 100,000 public elementary and secondary schools across the United States. One in four stu...

Green Design Shines at Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up Awards

2013-03-12T14:49:00-04:00

How does one apply 21st century green design to a city with sites and structures dating from the 17th to 19th centuries? That was exactly the challenge for teams in the Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up design competition, and on March 7, 2013, nine finalist teams presented proposals to address the need for affordable green design within Philadelphia at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

To also see the PowerPoint presentations of the three Soak It Up winners, head over to the Bustler article.

Sustainable Holiday Home by Tjep | Isolée

2013-03-07T13:05:00-05:00

Frank Tjepkema of Dutch design studio Tjep. has designed an ecologically friendly getaway home to be self-sufficient in remote areas. Called Isolée, the small house embraces and uses technology to be as energy efficient as possible.

"Reality Check" Premiere

2013-03-07T12:29:00-05:00

In 2012, filmmaker Leon Gerskovic chronicled the journey of 16 design/buildLAB students as they conceived and realized the Masonic Amphitheatre. The project, a charitable undertaking, consisted of the complete redevelopment of a post-industrial brownfield into a public park and performance space. Reality Check is their inspirational story.

"Reality Check" a 45-minute documentary about the conception and realization of the Masonic Amphitheatre by the students in Virginia Tech's design/buildLAB will premiere on March 28th at 7PM at VT's Hancock Auditorium. The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with filmmaker Leon Gerskovic.

Free and open to the public!

Go to www.realitycheckfilm.com for more information or to schedule a free screening at your own venue.

Japanese Eco-Friendly Building Demolition Method Harvests Energy As It Destroys

2013-03-04T10:45:00-05:00

Rather than using cranes to take the building apart from the outside, they start from the inside, taking the structure apart floor by floor from the top down. A crane inside the building lowers materials harvested from each floor to ground level, generating electricity to power other equipment in the process. So with Tecorep, higher buildings are actually an advantage, since the crane can generate more electricity lowering materials over longer distances.