Archinect - News

60 Minutes spotlights the importance of indoor air quality

2023-10-31T14:50:00-04:00

For the Harvard professor, founder of the university's Healthy Buildings Program, our building design and public health officials have ignored indoor air systems for too long – that is, until the COVID pandemic hit. [...] "If you look at the way we design and operate buildings –and I mean offices, schools, local coffee shop[s] – we haven't designed for health," Allen said. "We have bare minimum standards."

Professor Joe Allen, who also does consultation work for developers, recently advised on the Amazon ‘HQ2’ project in Virginia from NBBJ. He and his colleagues at Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program center their work around six research areas (Homes, Schools, Business, Materials, Climate, and Infectious Diseases), noting that humans spend, on average, 90% of their lives indoors. The project leverages studies and empirical evidence that have roots in 19th-century public health design and is now being aided by research into the effects of ventilation on the spread of COVID-19.

"All else equal, which building are you gonna go to? You have your choice right now: This building that put in healthy building controls, or this building that's designed the way we've always designed buildings, and is prone to being a sick building?" Allen told 60 Minutes, speaking about post-pandemic market standards.

A list of tools and resources compiled for designers by the program can be found here.

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Planting trees could lead to fewer heat-related deaths in urban areas, according to a new study

2023-02-03T17:32:00-05:00

A new scientific study has shown the positive correlations between public health and tree planting in urban areas.

In a report published recently by The Lancet medical science journal, a team of European researchers shared data on mortality rates in 93 cities in the summer of 2015 that showed how premature deaths caused by urban heat islands can be mitigated through increased greening strategies.

The study found 6,700 premature deaths in that period related to the phenomenon. One-third of those deaths, according to the authors, could have been prevented by adding 30% more trees in the urban environments of each city. The data supports established notions that particularly low-income communities can benefit from resiliency measures, adding to a growing chorus of scholarship at a time when climate change is becoming a moribund issue for cities worldwide at an accelerated pace.

Ci...

The Tate Modern is hosting a vaccination clinic as the UK begins its reopening

2021-07-14T03:00:00-04:00

The Tate Modern will turn into a mass walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre this Friday night, offering first and second Pfizer jabs to anyone over 18. The iconic venue will be hosting the pop-up vaccine site in its Turbine Hall, offering Londoners exclusive access to galleries for the night and a unique setting to get protected against Covid.

Vaccination rates in London have fallen recently. All four Tate galleries have been fully reopened since May following a 14-month partial closure that reduced overall visitorship by 80%. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the reopening of the country on July 19th despite pushback from some critics pointing to variant-fueled infection rates as cause for concern.

An in-depth feature by CityLab recently highlighted the complications of adapting large-scale architecture like the Tate into infrastructure for vaccination sites against a once-in-a-century pandemic like COVID-19. Other civic institutions in the US and Canada have been volunteering their services significantly throughout the past year.

Time Out London has more on the vaccination drive here.

Building the infrastructure of mass Covid-19 vaccination

2021-01-26T14:45:00-05:00

More than 50 countries are racing to vaccinate their populations to fend off the rising death toll of a third wave of infections. To supplement the existing network of hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies and other healthcare facilities, many are establishing mass vaccination sites capable of processing crowds — often sports arenas, convention centers and stadiums, but also parking lots and deserted shopping malls.

Bloomberg CityLab takes a look at how large sports, cultural, and civic facilities are being converted into mass vaccination sites in cities around the world.

Combating the stigma of opioid dependency with the help of architecture and emotions

2020-07-21T13:24:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Combo Competitions

Emotions, Architecture, Opioids (deadline extended to September 6) is an ideas competition seeking to explore the emotional impact of architecture, its effect on how people feel and behave - and how it can be of use in the struggle against opioid dependency. The goal of the competition is to design a building for the administration of methadone to patients, located in Venice, Los Angeles.

Architecture has an impact on how we feel and behave.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States has in the last decade snowballed into a national health crisis, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year, and costing society billions of dollars in addition to the immense emotional suffering of those affected. A major reason for the crisis is the stigma attached to drug addiction: the fact that drug dependency has long been regarded as a criminal problem rather than a health concern has over time established that anyone addicted to drugs shoul...

Composite shelters being developed to aid hospitals in COVID-19 testing and treatment

2020-03-31T15:28:00-04:00

The new Tupelo shelters are designed to be easily and strategically combined with additional rigid-walled Tupelo shelters as well as soft tent shelters. [...] the new shelter’s dynamic design can adapt to fit needs in healthcare for treatment and testing, and perhaps in the evolving classroom setting as well. The shelter can be “flat-packed,” meaning the shelter walls can be stacked on top of each other for high-volume, rapid transportation to affected areas.

Rhode Island-based Core Composites, a leading company that has built and designed advanced composite-based, rigid-wall shelters for the U.S. military, is working to quickly develop an easily deployable shelter that can be used for COVID-19 testing and treatment, and to aid over-capacity hospitals.

WeWork being pressured to close their locations as more members test positive for coronavirus

2020-03-20T21:11:00-04:00

Some members have signed a petition on the worker advocacy platform Coworker.org calling on WeWork to close its 848 locations worldwide. There are more than 300 locations in the United States. Jill Raney, a Washington-based WeWork member who launched the petition, says the company’s decision to remain open during a public health crisis is “unconscionable.” They said it effectively forces businesses with small margins to choose between wasting money or putting themselves at risk.

As the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. increases rapidly, WeWork has remained open even after some members have tested positive for the virus in at least seven of their New York locations as well as in LA and Chicago, according to The Washington Post. Other members have signed an online petition calling for the company to shut down all its locations worldwide. To add to that, some small business owners who use WeWork are angry that the company is refusing to refund them for spaces they can no longer use.

Despite the growing outcry from their members, WeWork argues that they remain open because it is “in the public interest and that the business is an essential service,” and that they “have members counting on [them] to remain open so they can run their companies,” the article states.

SXSW 2020 canceled in Austin due to coronavirus concerns

2020-03-06T18:54:00-05:00

According to a statement released by SXSW today, the City of Austin has canceled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU. Initially scheduled to occur from March 13 to March 22, this is the first time in 34 years that the conference has been called off.

"We are devastated to share this news with you. 'The show must go on' is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation," SXSW said in a statement.

A decision drawn from concerns of the coronavirus, just two days ago, Austin Public Health said that "there is no evidence that the closure will make the community safer," but SXSW says it will "honor and respect the City of Austin's decision."

Harvard Square Kiosk by CultureHouse. Via CultureHouse Facebook page

In the world of architecture, one of the more popular happenings at SXSW is the Place By Design competition which "aims to showcase innovative and invigorating d...

Coronavirus fears fuel remote work trend

2020-03-02T17:15:00-05:00

With some overseas cities shut down and companies in the U.S. urging those returning from high-risk areas to stay away from the office, workers world-wide are hunkering down for what might be a new normal [...] powered by technology like videoconference services and workplace-collaboration software, many members of the new remote workforce say they are finally able to get some work done without constant interruptions from open-office setups or days packed with in-person meetings.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the sudden rise in remote working arrangements as the world economy grapples with the spreading coronavirus threat.

The report touches on the situation faced by Texas-based designers Jing Johnson of Prism Renderings and her husband Warren Johnson of STG Design. The two underwent a 14-day self-quarantine period following a business trip to China and relied heavily on remote working approaches to stay on top of their work.

As California's wildfires become increasingly urban, concerns over airborne health risks grow 'worrisome'

2019-11-07T15:31:00-05:00

The samples he collects will help scientists better understand how the massive increase in seasonal wildfires burning through residential areas might be affecting our health. Where smoke once contained the remnants of only biomass (trees and other organic matter), fires are now burning up homes—structures that contain thousands of synthetic chemicals, paints, plastics, and metals that smolder and combust into tiny particles.

After years of improvement, air pollution in the U.S. is getting worse again

2019-10-24T14:09:00-04:00

Air pollution worsened in the United States in 2017 and 2018, new data shows, a reversal after years of sustained improvement with significant implications for public health. In 2018 alone, eroding air quality was linked to nearly 10,000 additional deaths in the U.S. relative to the 2016 benchmark, the year in which small-particle pollution reached a two-decade low, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Washington Post reports that "concentrations of the pollutant have risen about 5.5 percent since 2016," and points out several contributing factors that the Carnegie Mellon study identified: increased natural gas use and vehicle traffic, risen severity and frequency of wildfires, and the rollback of regulatory enforcement of the Clean Air Act in recent years.

"The health implications of this increase in [annual average fine particulate matter] PM2.5 between 2016 and 2018 are significant," explains the research paper. "The increase was associated with 9,700 additional premature deaths in 2018. At conventional valuations, these deaths represent damages of $89 billion."

For the 19th time, Los Angeles takes the crown as the smoggiest city in the U.S.

2019-05-01T19:42:00-04:00

For 20 years, the American Lung Association has gathered and analyzed data from official air quality monitors creating its annual "State of the Air" report. It's been reported by the association that more than four in ten people currently live in areas where pollution levels are too dangerous to breathe. Now several factors contribute to such poor air quality; however, during the 20 years these reports have been conducted, Los Angeles has been ranked as the city with the most polluted air quality by ozone measurements.

Sadly, the city's air quality has gotten worse since last year's State of the Air report. The data gathered analyze ozone layers in the city. The San Bernardino and Riverside counties are also included with Los Angeles' data report which affects the city's ranking tremendously. Many may view smog as an obstruction from Los Angeles' cityscape, however, the long-lasting effects of poor air quality can cause severe damage like lung cancer with a higher risk for early de...

“Sunlight was weaponized”: How shade has been an index of inequality in LA's urban design

2019-04-24T11:30:00-04:00

Shade is often understood as a luxury amenity, lending calm to courtyards and tree-lined boulevards, cooling and obscuring jewel boxes and glass cubes. But as deadly, hundred-degree heatwaves become commonplace, we have to learn to see shade as a civic resource that is shared by all. In the shade, overheated bodies return to equilibrium. [...] Shade is thus an index of inequality, a requirement for public health, and a mandate for urban planners and designers.

In this longform piece, writer Sam Bloch delves into the history of how shade has served as an index of inequality in the urban design of Los Angeles, and how the city (and perhaps other locations) should learn to consider shade as an important public health requirement.

“People living in poor neighborhoods, many of them black and brown, are exposed not only to higher levels of air pollution, soil toxins, contaminated water, and flood risk, but also to higher temperatures on unprotected streets. [...] Maybe we ought to start talking about shade deserts, just as we talk about neighborhoods without grocery stores as food deserts,” Bloch writes.

“Look at what happened to Pershing Square, where sunlight was weaponized to clear out the ‘deviates and criminals,’” Bloch adds.

Investigating the hidden air pollution in our everyday indoor spaces

2019-04-08T16:07:00-04:00

House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry—was the world’s first large-scale collaborative investigation into the chemistry of indoor air. [...] The experiment’s early results are just now emerging, and they seem to show that the combined emissions of humans and their daily activities—cooking, cleaning, metabolizing—are more interesting, and potentially more lethal, than anyone had imagined.

In this New Yorker piece, writer Nicola Twilley observes one of the experiments of HOMEChem, who investigates the atmospheric chemistry of our indoor environments and how everyday activities can greatly affect its air quality.

“Dozens of the chemicals measured by the HOMEchem team are known to be harmful, and, as every scientist I spoke with mentioned, we spend almost all our time indoors, breathing them. Nonetheless, it is outdoor air-pollution levels that have been firmly linked to public health,” Twilley writes in the article.

Chinese city to launch artificial moon into space. What could possibly go wrong?

2018-10-29T19:13:00-04:00

It might sound like a plot cooked up by a cartoon villain, but a city in southwestern China is aiming to launch into space an artificial moon that could replace streetlights by bathing the ground in a “dusk-like glow.” [...] the satellite’s mirror-like exterior would reflect sunlight down to Earth, creating a glow about eight times brighter than the moon. The artificial moon, which he said would orbit about 500 kilometers above Earth, could save $174 million in electricity from streetlights.

The capital of China's Sichuan province, Chengdu, could have its own illumination satellite 'moon' up in the skies by 2020, according to the People's Daily.

Light pollution, and its documented health effects on humans and nocturnal wildlife, doesn't seem to be much of a concern to the officials behind the audacious space-mirror scheme. As Kang Weimin, Director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace at Harbin Institute of Technology, attempts to reassure: "The light of the satellite is similar to a dusk-like glow, so it should not affect animals’ routines." – Okay, we're all cool.

This app tells you how much you're “smoking” in the city air you're breathing

2018-04-27T14:17:00-04:00

Shit, I Smoke! was created by Brazilian-born designer Marcelo Coelho and Paris-born app developer Amaury Martiny in just a week, after they read a study that analyzed air pollution and its equivalent to cigarette smoking. [...] Using the formula in [the study], [the app] uses live pollution data from hundreds of air quality stations in cities around the globe and converts the station’s PM2.5 number into the number of cigarettes being inhaled by a person in real time.

“For both Coelho and Martiny, the app isn’t only a useful tool to inform users about their city’s air quality; it also makes this information more accessible and easier to comprehend.”

China builds "world's biggest air purifier" to battle air pollution

2018-01-17T13:36:00-05:00

An experimental tower over 100 metres (328 feet) high in northern China – dubbed the world’s biggest air purifier by its operators – has brought a noticeable improvement in air quality, according to the scientist leading the project, as authorities seek ways to tackle the nation’s chronic smog problem. [...] The head of the research, Cao Junji, said improvements in air quality had been observed over an area of 10 square kilometres (3.86 square miles) in the city over the past few months [...].

Now that the experimental smog-eating tower is up and running in the city of Xian, authorities are hoping to build much bigger, scaled-up versions in other Chinese cities soon: "A full-sized tower would reach 500 metres (1,640 feet) high with a diameter of 200 metres (656 feet)," the South China Morning Post writes.

Beijing bans winter construction to reduce air pollution

2017-09-19T14:00:00-04:00

Beijing will suspend construction of major public projects in the city this winter in an effort to improve the capital’s notorious air quality, official media said on Sunday, citing the municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development. All construction of road and water projects, as well as demolition of housing, will be banned from Nov. 15 to March 15 within the city’s six major districts and surrounding suburbs, said the Xinhua report.

"China is in the fourth year of a 'war on pollution,'" Reuters reports, "designed to reverse the damage done by decades of untrammelled economic growth and allay concerns that hazardous smog and widespread water and soil contamination are causing hundreds of thousands of early deaths every year."

Medical experts issue warning about street lights

2017-06-26T12:11:00-04:00

The American Medical Association (AMA) has just adopted an official policy statement about street lighting: cool it and dim it. The statement, adopted unanimously at the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago on June 14, comes in response to the rise of new LED street lighting sweeping the country. An AMA committee issued guidelines on how communities can choose LED streetlights to "minimize potential harmful human health and environmental effects."

There are two basic issues at hand. First, new, "white" LED lighting, which have a color temperature of between 4000K and 5000K, can cause discomfort and glare. This is because the light is concentrate and has high blue content, which can cause severe glare and force pupillary constriction. Second, these lights can impact human circadian rhythmicity, affecting our sleeping pattern. And, actually, it's not just human sleeping patterns at risk—wildlife migratory patterns are being disrupted as well.

Oil company proposes turning L.A. oil-drilling site into affordable housing

2017-04-12T14:06:00-04:00

Sentinel Peak Resources, which took over the roughly 1.1-acre site in December, now believes that affordable housing is the “best beneficial use” for the land [...] Neighborhood leaders said they were interested in closing and re-purposing the site, but are awaiting more details. They stressed that regardless of any plans, they still want the city to pursue their concerns about violations at the site, which Sentinel Peak Resources has so far brushed off.

According to the L.A. Times, “No official plan has been drafted and details are scant, but [L.A. City Council President Herb] Wesson said he was ‘unbelievably excited’ about the idea, arguing it could pave the way to convert other local drilling sites.”

But converting the site — which is located at 4th Avenue and Washington Boulevard across the Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Studies — could become pricey, and state regulators “caution against building over wells, warning that even a properly plugged well can leak in the future.”

5 key drivers of the healthy building movement

2017-03-26T20:20:00-04:00

The wide-ranging efforts include improving indoor air quality and even increasing activity levels of building occupants. Allen and colleagues at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have defined nine foundations for healthier buildings, such as better water quality, reducing noise, regulating temperature, and maximizing light.

As part of the Urban Expeditions series, Brian Howard explored some of the latest trends in green design, which go far beyond energy and water efficiency to issues of public health/wellness.

Looking back at a time when architecture was thought to be a cure for mental illness

2017-03-24T12:34:00-04:00

When the Government Hospital for the Insane opened in Anacostia in 1855, the asylum’s supervising physician, Charles Nichols, predicted that 50 percent of the mentally ill people treated there would make a full recovery. What made him so confident? The building. He’d designed it in accordance with the most cutting-edge theories of the day, which called for sunny, well-ventilated asylums in the countryside

The "Architecture of an Asylum: St. Elizabeth's 1852-2017" is a new exhibit opening at the National Building Museum this weekend. It looks at past theories that contended that design could have a major and healing effect on mental illness. Fresh air was encouraged, as was scattering patients across a campus.

While presumably nicer than precedents: “It turns out that’s not true. You can’t fix brain chemistry with architecture.”

Severe flooding in Peru exposes vulnerable architecture and infrastructure

2017-03-22T12:23:00-04:00

The worst flooding in two decades has struck Peru, causing a death toll of 72 people since the beginning of the year. The floods are caused by a series of “highly unusual rains” produced by the warming of surface waters along the country’s northern coasts. The waters have inundated hospitals and left villages in isolation, and are expected to continue to ravage the country for another two weeks.

The toll on the built environment has been severe. 115,000 homes have already been damaged. More than 100 bridges have been destroyed. The flooding has caused the drainage systems in cities along the coast to fail, creating pools of water that host dengue-carrying mosquitoes. In response, the Peruvian government has started to fumigate. Meanwhile, Lima hasn’t had water service since the beginning of the week.

The disaster has also caused a spike in prices—up to 5 per cent. Meanwhile, 22 inmates at a juvenile detention center have escaped. In the city of Trujillo, a cemetery flooded, exhuming b...

Are skyscrapers making you sick? A new £7 million study is trying to find out

2017-03-20T14:15:00-04:00

“More and more people are living and working in high-rises and office blocks, but the true impact of vibrations on them is currently very poorly understood,” states Alex Pavic, Professor of Vibration Engineering at the University of Exeter.

“Humans spend 90 per cent of their lives in buildings which vibrate non-stop, but there is still very little reliable information about the effect of structural vibration.”

To fill this lacuna, a £7 million study will look at the effects of skyscrapers on human inhabitants, with a particular focus on potential roles triggering motion-sickness, sleepiness and even depression.

When you’re in a skyscraper, you may feel stable but, in fact, the building is probably slightly moving in response to wind or external forces like nearby construction. This is especially true in buildings constructed after the 1970s, when floor slabs became thinner and lighter. Alongside wider spaces between columns, this means newer buildings tend to not dampen vibrations as ...

Using architecture to combat air pollution

2017-03-07T13:11:00-05:00

Birds fly in and out of the eight-storey "Green Office Building" in Shenzhen, China, because a third of its walls are completely open to the air. It's a clever natural design that enables the building to stay cool without air conditioners. Across town, in a vast campus known as the "Low Carbon Park", mist is sprayed into the air to cool the streets down and remove dust.

Experiments like these are appearing across China's cities, as part of a devolution of power designed to clean up smoggy air and meet energy targets to tackle climate change.

Asbestos is still making young people sick—40 years after it was banned

2017-03-03T12:43:00-05:00

According to reportedly baffled researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asbestos-related medical issues continue to plague younger people despite widespread efforts to reduce exposure.

While the largest increases in deaths related to malignant mesothelioma were witnessed in those over 85 years of age, a substantial number of people between the ages of 25 and 44 were affected. In fact, according to the report, the number of deaths due to asbestos-produced illness rose from 1999 to 2015.

In the 1970s, the EPA banned most asbestos-related products and the once-common material—used often for insulation—became much less prevalent. Yet, some 40 years later, people born after the ban are still getting sick.

"Although deaths among persons aged less than 35 years are of concern, we do not have information to understand potential causes," said Dr. Jacek Mazurek, lead author of the CDC report.

Perkins+Will release white paper that recommends avoiding antimicrobial products in buildings

2017-03-02T13:12:00-05:00

Perkins+Will have released a white paper that recommends avoiding including antimicrobial products in buildings. “Antimicrobial building products marketed as ‘healthy’ or beneficial to human health contain ingredients that may have adverse environmental or human health impacts, and alternative products should be considered whenever possible,” it states.

According to their research, antimicrobial products such as paints, door handles, flooring and kitchen countertops could enable the proliferation of so-called 'super bugs', or antibiotic-resistance microbes. They could also contaminate aquatic ecosystems and sometimes include suspected carcinogens such as formaldehyde. Their research echoes the position of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

From 1994 to 2014 the amount of antimicrobial consumer products in the market has sky-rocketed. Sometimes manufacturers add antimicrobial ingredients to serve as preservatives, while still...

Steven Holl designs a pair of white concrete buildings for a new Cultural and Health Center in Shanghai

2017-01-25T12:48:00-05:00

“To work on architecture for culture and health is a social commitment during these challenging times,” states Steven Holl. His proposal for a new Cultural and Health Center in Shanghai has just received approval. Comprising two buildings set in a public landscape, the project is intended to bring a cluster of new housing blocks together.

Inspired by Karl Popper’s 1965 lecture on the evolutionary model of free will entitled, “Of Clouds and Clocks,” the landscape design is “organized in large clock-like circles forming a central public space, the buildings are cloud-like in their porosity and openness inviting the public in.”

The Cultural Center will be constructed in white concrete and set on a base of transparent glass, containing a cafe and recreation rooms. A curved ramp provides look-outs. The adjacent Health Center, also made of white concrete, is intended to fit into the curving landscape. This structure will house a health and education center, a pharmacy, examination rooms, an...

Smog continues to choke Beijing

2017-01-04T13:18:00-05:00

The Chinese capital issued its highest red fog alert for a second day on Wednesday, keeping highways closed in and around the city which is already under a smog alert after weeks of choking winter pollution. China's weather bureau warned of visibility of less than 50 meters in some areas, leading many airports to cancel flights.

Air pollution is one of the most significant public health issues facing major cities around the world. Find out more here:

Another "airpocalypse" strikes China

2016-12-22T12:23:00-05:00

Tens of thousands of “smog refugees” have reportedly fled China’s pollution-stricken north after the country was hit by its latest “airpocalyse” forcing almost half a billion people to live under a blanket of toxic fumes. Huge swaths of north and central China have been living under a pollution “red alert” since last Friday when a dangerous cocktail of pollutants transformed the skies into a yellow and charcoal-tinted haze.

According to Greenpeace, the total number of afflicted people equals the populations of the United States, Canada and Mexico combined.

Air pollution is a major problem that affects nearly every city in the world. Find out more here: