Archinect - News

A quick look at some of the most talked-about "smart-city" projects

2013-02-21T11:33:00-05:00

Technology being used in urban communities around the world hints at how we may live in the cities of the future

Jane Wakefield reviews recent efforts by large technology firms such as IBM and Cisco, as well as more grass root projects, to harness the power of technology to build the "cities of the future now". The list of projects includes Songdo in South Korea, Masdar in Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro new city-wide operation centre,

Editor's Picks #303

2013-02-19T12:33:00-05:00

For the latest edition of the ShowCase feature, Archinect profiled 253 Pacific Street, a project designed James Cleary Architecture. It is a newly constructed building in Brooklyn, New York containing three duplex residences.

News

Planetizen covered Arup’s proposal for a "smart" building that will plug into "smart" urban infrastructure and cater to an increasingly dense and technology-savvy urban population. Fred Scharmen thought the proposal featured "Fantastic graphics" yet toasteroven continued his criticism from last week "I'm a little perplexed by this proposal - one the one hand it assembles all the ideas into one building (which should be larger city-wide infrastructure, not in a single building), but it's a little too ‘plug-in city’ for me - as in verging on completely unrealistic and incredibly naive about how the city really functions".

Apparently Ryan Griffin agreed, referring to the title of the news posting he wrote "radical? maybe helpful to post in a...

Editor's Picks #302

2013-02-13T14:44:00-05:00

The Three Grand Prize winners and thirteen Special Mentions were released for d3's Unbuilt Visions 2012 competition. The program promotes critical debate about architecture and design by acknowledging excellence in unbuilt projects. The Grand Prize: went to The Emperor's Castle, designed by Thomas Hillier, UK. In response homme_du_jura applauded "I'm very glad to see Thomas Hillier's work recognized...A beautiful piece!"

For the latest Student Works: feature, Archinect published New Horizons Iceland Expedition, which was a compendium of results from a trip The Bartlett School of Architecture Unit 3, wherein "Twelve 2nd and 3rd year students designed, built and tested a series of shelter/surveying devices (they were told to make “sure it fits in the check-in luggage) to research and charted varied aspects of Iceland”.

News

The Three Grand Prize winners and thirteen Special Mentions were released for d3's Unbuilt Visions 2012 competition. The program promotes critical debate about architecture and design by acknowledging excellence in unbuilt projects. The Grand Prize: went to The Emperor's Castle, designed by Thomas Hillier, UK. In response homme_du_jura applauded "I'm very glad to see Thomas Hillier's work recognized. He submitted this piece for another competition a few years ago and was duly recognized, even as it went a bit beyond the competition's established criteria. A beautiful p...

Editor's Picks #301

2013-02-05T10:09:00-05:00

Archinect released the final and third part of a multi-part interview Orhan Ayyüce conducted with George Brugmans, Executive Director of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR). The topics included: São Paulo, Rotterdam and Beyond. At one point Mr. Brugmans summed up "when the requirement is to find the right balance between people, planet and profit, transformational and infrastructural ambitions are to all intents and purposes to be seen as part of the same ‘making city’ package. It worked like that on both Test Sites, in Istanbul and in São Paulo. It is important to note here that this provides a unique opportunity".

I was also interested to note the final section wherein Mr. Brugmans discussed the recent post-austerity political/budgetary challenges facing the Netherlands in general and the IABR specifically. Along those lines in a comment after the first part of the nterview was released, I referenced an op-ed by Sérgio Miguel Figueiredo published last m...

A Dream Grows in Copenhagen

2012-03-07T16:08:00-05:00

Jan Gehl, says the new suburb was old-fashioned from its inception. “It was built on principles — specifically those of the modernist movement — that were popular in the middle part of the last century,” he said. “Orestad was built from the top-down, rather than from the bottom-up. Plus, there was an idea that if you got enough ‘starchitects’ on board, then things would be fine.”

Nick Foster analyzes the way Copenhagen has used the development of the master-planned districts of Orestad and Nordhavn to think big and differently about urban development and redevelopment in Denmark. What makes these locations noteworthy is the fact that they were planned from the beginning to include a mix of housing typologies and commercial uses, they offered an opportunity to build high-rise blocks not allowed elsewhere and they featured a blend of starchitecture along with work by local firms.

A Manifesto for Looseness

2011-12-13T13:37:20-05:00

My thinking about complexity and the dangers it poses for us has been evolving fast lately and I am convinced that this is some of the most important work I've ever done. The message is simple, but the implications are profound. To say "hope you enjoy" would not accurately describe my feelings. Let's try "hope you are moved to action, dialogue, or further reflection" instead.

Harnessing Residents' Electronic Devices Will Yield Truly Smart Cities

2011-12-11T11:19:03-05:00

The best way to harness a city's potential for creativity and innovation is to jack people into the network and get out of the way