Archinect - News

What is the future of the library?

2013-05-16T18:36:00-04:00

For the first time since Henri Labrouste (1801-1875), currently the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, formulated the conception of the new, democratic library, the central library is fighting for survival. The relevance of these gloriously inflated book boxes is being questioned in an age that looks to the Internet for its intellectual resources.

Cities Of The Future, Built By Drones, Bacteria, And 3-D Printers

2013-05-08T12:43:00-04:00

*This screed is awesomely entertaining and full of cool links, even though it’s almost entirely implausible..There’s also the occasional built-from-scratch Brasilia. So, some people might build a city like this in some central-planned, high-tech rush, before realizing that urban drones, bacteria, and 3DPrinters are fated to become as old-fashioned and pokey as swoopy, Space Age Brasilia is right now. - Bruce Sterling

As part of the Futurist Forum series, Chris Arkenberg composed some vignettes, suggestive of how urban architecture(s) could transform from than the rigid construction methodologies of today, the result being that "Architecture will lose its formal rigidity, softening and flexing and getting closer to the life we see in plants".

h/t Bruce Sterling here

Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990

2013-04-09T18:11:00-04:00

This exhibition charts L.A.’s rapid transformation into one of the globe’s most influential industrial, economic and creative capitals. From its ambitious freeway network and sleek coffee shops, to its dynamic cultural destinations and experimental residences, the vast metropolis’s rich yet often underappreciated built environment is reexamined, promising new insight into the region’s development and impact as a vibrant laboratory for cutting-edge design.

No robots in our homes, but many predictions about 2013 come true

2013-03-22T12:44:00-04:00

The April 3, 1988, magazine's cover illustration showed bubble-shaped cars traveling in "electro lanes" on a double-decked, high-rise-lined 1st Street in downtown's Civic Center area. The cover's headline was "L.A. 2013: Techno-Comforts and Urban Stresses — Fast Forward to One Day in the Life of a Future Family."

To read the 1988 Los Angeles Times Magazine's future prediction, DOCUMENT: 1988 'L.A. 2013' essay, click here.

Winners of Transiting Cities - Low Carbon Futures Competition

2013-01-21T14:42:00-05:00

A few days ago, we published one of the finalist entries of the international design ideas competition, Transiting Cities - Low Carbon Futures. The competition was open [...] to develop innovative visions for Latrobe City, in eastern Victoria, Australia to make the transition from a singular economy dominated by the power industry (coal mining and electricity generation) into a diversified economy and prosperous low carbon regional city.

Transiting Cities - Finalist Entry “Networked Ecologies: Rethinking Remediation”

2013-01-11T14:01:00-05:00

Last fall, the international research project and design ideas competition, "Transiting Cities - Low Carbon Futures," had invited designers and academic institutions from various fields to envision new, innovative and alternative cities of the near future by defining opportunities for transition into low carbon, prosperous, and vibrant communities. One of the finalist entries [...] is the concept "Networked Ecologies: Rethinking Remediation" by Arizona-based team Studio One.

Peel-and-Stick Solar Panels: A World First

2013-01-09T19:31:00-05:00

Researchers at the Stanford School of Engineering have succeeded in developing the world’s first peel-and-stick thin-film solar cells. The idea will allow the cells to be applied to almost any surface, with successful tests having been conducted on paper, plastic and window glass. This opens up significant opportunities for alternative applications for solar technology, previously limited by traditional solar cells, which must be mounted on stiff, often heavy, fixed panels.

Reimagining Buildings Of The Past With The Materials Of The Future

2012-11-16T19:57:00-05:00

... we asked a few forward-thinking professionals in the business of buildings. The question went something like this: If we were going to remake a famous building or bridge using the materials we have today or will have in the future, what would we do differently? That's just vague enough to make things interesting. Here's what we got back.

Audi Urban Future Award 2012 Goes to Höweler + Yoon Architecture

2012-10-23T15:04:00-04:00

Eric Höweler and J. Meejin Yoon of Boston firm Höweler + Yoon Architecture are the winners of the Audi Urban Future Award 2012. The team won with the project "Shareway," a proposal calling for the reinvention of the Boston-Washington, D.C., metropolitan region called Boswash. The Audi Urban Future Award 2012 is an international architecture competition that focuses on specific mobility scenarios in five metropolitan, regions Boston/Washington, Istanbul, Mumbai, Pearl River Delta, and São Paulo.

Under Tomorrows Sky opens at Dutch Design week in Eindhoven

2012-10-19T13:49:00-04:00

Under Tomorrows Sky is a fictional, future city. For MU Foundation in Eindhoven Speculative architect Liam Young of the London based Tomorrows Thoughts Today has assembled a think tank of scientists, technologists, futurists, illustrators and science fiction authors to collectively develop this imaginary place, the landscapes that surround it and the stories it contains.

The team includes futurist and author Bruce Sterling, comic author Warren Ellis, Scientist Rachel Armstrong, games concept aritst Daniel Dociu, comic illustrator Paul Duffield, Microsoft Research Lab, BLDGBLOG, Animators Factory Fifteen, ARC magazine, Centre For Science and Imagination and many more. Working with special effects artists from such films as Alien, Sunshine and Blade Runner, the architects of Tomorrows Thoughts Today have built a room sized movie miniature model of the city.

Follow the project website to see the full team, all the concept art imagery, the think tank discussions and photos of ...

PLURALITY, some sci-fi viewing for the weekend

2012-10-12T19:07:00-04:00

In the year 2023, the Bentham Grid goes online... After the state of New York gives the police access to "The Grid," a new technology that allows people to purchase anything with a quick scan of their fingerprint, crime drops almost instantly. However, they also discover that certain people are popping up in two places at once.

Architecture Exhibit Outlays Cities of the Future

2012-09-28T12:10:00-04:00

The Future of Architecture, an overnight exhibition led by the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), looks into the city’s future and explores different architectural visions as to how Toronto may evolve and transform in the coming years.

Survey Predicts Architect Shortage by 2014

2012-09-26T14:50:00-04:00

The recession decimated the architecture profession, with firms closing or laying off large numbers of employees, architects left jobless for months or years, and many leaving the profession entirely. But a survey recently conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction (Record’s parent company) came to the counterintuitive conclusion that some U.S. firms expect a shortage of qualified designers to meet their workloads by 2014.

The Real iPod: Elon Musk's Wild Idea for a 'Jetson Tunnel' from S.F. to L.A.

2012-07-16T13:39:00-04:00

...how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to weather, it goes 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train... it goes an average speed of twice what an aircraft would do. You would go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other mode of transport. I think we could actually make it self-powering if you put solar panels on it, you generate more power than you would consume in the system.

The "new" model of privatized infrastructure

2012-07-09T19:22:00-04:00

all are really just a smoke screen for a much deeper set of political and even philosophical issues that will impact urban dwellers in the near future, especially as more than half’s the world’s population will soon be living in cities. That set of issues centers around the delicate dance between public and private ownership of space, both in the cloud and on the ground.

Earlier this year Jan Chipchase, Executive Creative Director of Global Insights at frog – the global design and innovation company, wrote "The Networked Urban Environment" which explored a contemporary-future of cloud-urban infrastructures such as; “smart” car, “smart” parking and payment systems, and “smart” cities. While in these days of austerity, recession and crisis public/private partnerships promise, business-efficiencies, they bring possible pitfalls.

The Founder of TreeHugger and His Apartment of the Future

2012-05-18T13:57:51-04:00

This laboratory, as Mr. Hill calls it, for small-space, sustainable and — it must be stressed — high-end living is the first tangible product from his fledgling company, LifeEdited. It comes with an awkward manifesto that nonetheless manages to gather an armful of social and economic trends and philosophies, including happiness research, the booming field of collaborative consumption and data on the proven efficiencies of cities.

d3 HOUSING TOMORROW - The 2012 Competition Winners

2012-03-06T14:38:00-05:00

The winners of the 2012 Housing Tomorrow competition were just announced. The annual competition promotes the exploration of contextual, cultural, and life cycle flows that offer new housing strategies for living in the future. Sponsored by New York-based d3, the competition invites architects, designers, engineers, and students to collectively explore innovative approaches to residential urbanism, architecture, interiors, and designed objects.

TED Prize Wish Revealed: The City 2.0

2012-03-01T16:05:00-05:00

Last December, the 2012 TED Prize winner was officially announced, and for the first time in the history of the prize, not just a single person but a collaborative idea was being awarded: the City 2.0. This week, with the TED2012: Full Spectrum conference happening right now in Long Beach, California, the TED Prize Wish - "One Wish to Change the World" - has now also been revealed.

Winners of the Fentress Global Challenge: Airport of the Future

2012-02-29T17:14:00-05:00

Global design firm Fentress Architects recently announced the winning designs for the 2011 Fentress Global Challenge, an international competition launched last fall for architecture and engineering students to present their visions for the Airport of the Future. Expert jury members narrowed the 200 submittals to 16 finalists, and then to the top three with two honorable mentions.

Brick Swarm

2011-11-27T19:05:03-05:00

Semi-autonomous flying robots programmed by Swiss architects Gramazio & Kohler "will lift, transport and assemble 1500 polystyrene foam bricks" next month—starting 2 December 2011—at the FRAC Center in France. The result, they hope, will be a "3.5 meter wide structure."

The end is near…cast your vote at the Zombie Safe House Competition now!

2011-10-10T17:13:36-04:00

In a not too distant future, hordes of blood-drenched zombies are on the horizon, mindlessly roaming the deserted streets, trying to get into your house and eat your brains. Sucks if your house isn't fully zombie-proof by then, right? So head over to the 2011 Zombie Safe House Competition voting page and root for your favorite entries. Or get eaten alive. Voting ends October 21.

Here's the direct link to the ZSHC voting page and just some of our favorite entries below.

The Accidental Futurist: Steven M. Johnson's Alternate Realities

2011-08-26T14:00:46-04:00

Steven M. Johnson (b. 1938) is a former urban planner and future trends analyst from California, who defines himself in terms of Chinese astrology as a tiger "with a tendency to rush forward, defend the weak, and be foolishly brave." Since the early 1970s, he has been creating scores of alternative products and systems—on paper—that he hopes will benefit "or at least amuse" his fellow consumer-citizens.

Rethink LA: Perspectives on a Future City

2011-08-16T19:19:59-04:00

If you're in the Los Angeles area these days, we highly recommend to visit the excellent exhibition Rethink LA: Perspectives on a Future City, currently displayed at the Architecture and Design Museum on Wilshire Boulevard.

Images above: Rethink LA exhibition opening, August 4 (Photo courtesy of Rethink LA)

Created by Rethink LA, a collaboration of forward-thinking volunteers in the LA architecture, planning, motion graphics and design community, the interactive exhibit uses photographs and the technique of photomontage, alongside visual and audio narrations, and interactive installations to examine Los Angeles in the past, in the present, and projected forward fifty years to a post-oil future.

Starting from the theory that Los Angeles undergoes a major shift every 50 years, the exhibition proposes that the next shift will start with the decisions made today; resulting in a reality that is portrayed by a range of invited local and global contributors. Understanding ...

The State of Architecture in 2018: If you build it, they will come

2011-05-20T13:18:53-04:00

According to Future-Jobs-O-Matic, Marketplace's career forecasting tool, the future of architects in 2018 will be bright, very bright, it seems: "Jobs for architects are expected to grow faster than average. Driving the growth: rising demand for senior centers and green buildings. Competition at prestigious firms is expected to be intense, but if you're the super creative type, you'll be in demand. Calatrava who?"

Can't wait for the future to come? Check out hundreds of openings - and maybe find your future job - in our Archinect Jobs section.

Inside Masdar City: a modern mirage

2011-05-11T11:46:11-04:00

The first phase of this zero-carbon Gulf city is up and running. But behind the futuristic facade of driverless pods, medieval streets twist and turn back the clock to traditional design

Architects Imagine a Utopian Paris in 2100, a Little Warmer and a Whole Lot Greener

2011-04-18T23:56:27-04:00

... a new exhibit is having fun imagining what [Paris] will look like in the year 2100: 2º C warmer, due to climate change, but also a whole lot greener, where pedestrians rule and every building has a roof garden.

The exhibit, which is the work of Yannick Gourvil and Cécile Leroux of the architecture firm Collectif et alors, is called "+2º: Paris s'invente!" Part of the City's Week of Sustainable Development (April 1-7), it was born of a simple idea: having acknowledged that the planet is getting warmer, how does Paris react? By tackling the problem head on, both by adjusting to a warmer climate and by taking measures to make sure things don't get any worse.