Archinect - Features

Woodbury Graduate Addresses the Importance of Water Infrastructure for California Droughts in Their Thesis WATER INFRA-CULTURE

2021-08-04T17:42:00-04:00

The Summer of 2021 has proven to be another challenging season. However, during this time, architecture students have continued to persevere. By adjusting, exploring, prototyping, and expanding their architectural perspectives, students have used the events taking place in their daily lives to push and challenge the issues facing the industry today. To learn more about these students and the work produced, we continue with our ever-so-popular Archinect Thesis Review series.

We begin our Summer 2021 iteration by connecting with Woodbury School of Architecture B.Arch graduate Khun Hein where he discusses his thesis, WATER INFRA-CULTURE. "Droughts are a significant concern in the present and future, which is exacerbated by ongoing climate change," shares Hein. "Extracting underground water from aquifers in desert conditions is necessary for humans to adapt to the changes we are experiencing in our climate [...] My thesis raises ethical questions and challenges our assumptions about it...

'Our Profession Is Both Popular and Ignored': Water Feature Studio Fluidity Design Consultants on Embracing the Niche

2021-05-19T11:46:00-04:00

Fluidity Design Consultants is a Los Angeles-based practice specializing in the design and engineering of water features. Established in 2002 by architect and founding principal James Garland, the firm has realized countless projects of all scales around the world in close collaboration with noteworthy architects and landscape architects.

For this week's Studio Snapshot, we connected with Garland to find out how operating a highly specialized business differs from conventional architectural practice, what particular staffing needs the team was experiencing, and what it was like to envision the first theatrical water feature ever installed on a cruise ship.

Kate Katz and Ryan Shaaban, Tulane University MArch graduates, Consider the Urban Grid's Relationship to Sea Level Rise

2020-06-26T12:00:00-04:00

Kate Katz and Ryan Shaaban are recent graduate students from Tulane University's 5-year M.Arch program. Together the two explore the impact of rising sea levels and alternative approaches to coastal city infrastructure. According to both students, their thesis "strives to change the perception of how we as humans relate to nature by accommodating the dynamic qualities of water into the urban grid network."

Archinect connected with Katz and Shaaban to learn more about their final thesis project, their experience transitioning to remote learning, and their thoughts on graduating during a global pandemic. Their project was selected to be featured in Tulane's 2020 Thesis Show and chosen as one of the top four presentations in their graduating class.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities had to adapt to a new virtual format, end-of-yea...

Water Wars: the Islamic State and the Mosul Dam

2014-08-28T14:48:00-04:00

Water has become a central focus for both the Islamic State and its combatants in the current struggle being waged over the large geographic area of northern Iraq and southern Syria. Previously overshadowed by the conflicts in Gaza and Crimea, the rapid emergence and expansion of the Islamic State (IS) has recently become the focus of international media attention, accelerated by the release and dissemination of a video depicting the execution of American journalist Steven Foley, allegedly by the IS.

Archinect - Features

Woodbury Graduate Addresses the Importance of Water Infrastructure for California Droughts in Their Thesis WATER INFRA-CULTURE

'Our Profession Is Both Popular and Ignored': Water Feature Studio Fluidity Design Consultants on Embracing the Niche

Kate Katz and Ryan Shaaban, Tulane University MArch graduates, ​Consider the Urban Grid's Relationship to Sea Level Rise

Water Wars: the Islamic State and the Mosul Dam

Kate Katz and Ryan Shaaban, Tulane University MArch graduates, Consider the Urban Grid's Relationship to Sea Level Rise