Archinect - News

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.

Gowanus by Design: WATER_WORKS Competition Winners

2013-02-13T18:09:00-05:00

Winning projects in three categories have been announced in Gowanus by Design's latest competition, WATER_WORKS. The brief called for solutions specific to Brooklyn's Gowanus area that simultaneously explored the role of water in recreation, quotidian uses, and in contaminated urban environments, and demonstrated how a redesigned community center and retention facility represent a more progressive view of the city's infrastructure.

The Bullitt Centre: A Green American Icon

2013-01-16T12:54:00-05:00

A brand new green building project is set to become one of the world’s most sustainable commercial office builds not for the new and innovative technology it has implemented but for the unique approach to green building the developers have taken.

Man Versus Sea: Engineering Artificial Reefs

2013-01-07T21:10:00-05:00

Designers for The Wave, Muscat, were tasked with the challenge of engineering a luxury, mixed-use development stretching along six kilometres of natural beach coastline between Al-Athaiba and Al-Mawelah while ensuring it was protected as much as possible from the Sea of Oman.

There is water that far down

2012-12-02T18:23:00-05:00

"You need to get concrete out of your head and replace it with greenery," Bödeker had thundered at the head of planning at the urban planning authority. The gruff German made such an impression that to this day, Saudi authorities continue to hire and recommend him. Image by Susanne Kölbl / DER SPIEGEL

Susanne Koelbl introduces the work of Richard Bödeker, a German landscape architect who has been working in Saudi Arabia for nearly 40 years. Bödeker Partners has played a key role in introducing green spaces to Riyadh and has pushed the limits in terms of making the desert bloom. However, one does wonder how green all that green really is, in a desert?

Section of L.A. River through the Valley opens to tours

2012-07-16T13:13:00-04:00

The 70-foot channel has for years operated as a flood-control channel, wildlife sanctuary and escape valve for treated waste water befouled with chemicals and trash. Now, the soft-bottom swath of weedy islands, dense brush and willows draped with fast-food wrappers, plastic bags and clothes is one of the newest summer attractions in town.

Floating Architecture: Finding Ways to Live With Rising Water

2012-05-31T14:58:00-04:00

There is a saying that "God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland." And for centuries, the Dutch have built different types of barriers to hold back rising water and allow for development. But as sea levels continue to rise, instead of trying to fight the water, Dutch architects and urban planners are taking a new approach: finding ways to live with it.

bracket [goes soft]: ESP // Estuary Services Pipeline

2012-04-17T16:49:00-04:00

In anticipation of this week's event, Publish Or... bracket [GOES SOFT], we are showcasing a piece from the book each day this week. We hope to see you this Thursday!

ESP // Estuary Services Pipeline
by Bionic / Marcel Wilson

The Estuary Services Pipeline is a regional utility infrastructure designed to cope, adapt, respond, and leverage the changes presented by sea level rise in the 170 miles of coastline in the San Francisco Bay estuary. This century sea levels are projected to rise as much as 55” due to global climate change. This epic disaster will unfold slowly and threatens our most productive economies, infrastructures, cultures, and coastal ecologies. The sheer magnitude of the issue promises uncoordinated efforts among governments, agencies, and the private sector. Response is likely to be slow, late, and resource intensive. The pipeline is a coordinated large-scale force for the San Francisco Bay Metropolitan Area that leverages all available resources to engage...

Sasaki Associates, with RDG and AES, Wins Water Works Parkitecture Competition

2012-01-31T13:50:00-05:00

Des Moines Water Works, working in partnership with Iowa State University Department of Landscape Architecture, recently announced that Sasaki Associates, with RDG Planning & Design and Applied Ecological Services (AES), is the winning team of the Water Works Parkitecture Competition.

WATERMARKS Photos

2011-09-13T00:11:52-04:00

The nice folks at Woodbury have sent along some photos of the recent exhibition WATERMARKS: Acqua Alta, Resiliency, and Precise Meanders. Enjoy.

WATERMARKS: Acqua Alta, Resiliency, and Precise Meanders
Exhibition | September 7th through September 11th, 2011 scenarios WUHO | 6518 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

The Watermarks installation simulates Venice’s Acqua Alta, documents resiliency across the American landscape, and explores representational techniques for water fluctuation.

In Venice, Italy high tides annually flood San Marco’s Piazza throughout late fall and early winter. During this reoccurring phenomenon, the city deploys elevated walkways at common pedestrian routes allowing foot traffic to carry on regardless of thirty centimeters of standing water. Souvenir shops sell disposable plastic shoe covers allowing tourists to wade through the public water spectacle where new urban unfold within the inundated square.

By flooding the gallery floor in Hollywoo...

ONE PRIZE: Water as the 6th Borough - Winners Announced

2011-08-04T15:24:00-04:00

Terreform ONE has announced the winners of ONE PRIZE: Water as the 6th Borough, the open international design competition to envision the sixth borough of New York City. ONE PRIZE is an annual design and science award to promote green design in cities. The 2011 edition turned its focus to New York and its waterways, re-imagining recreational space, public transportation, local industry, and native environment in the city.

Two sides of water

2011-04-06T18:54:29-04:00

Over at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ingra Saffron reviews the recent In the Terrain of Water conference held by the University of Pennsylvania. Also, coincidentally (?) on the same weekend another conference Out of Water occurred at the University of Toronto.

Any Archinecters go and feel like giving a quick report/summary? H/T Mammoth