Archinect - News

Harvard GSD online survey seeks architecture graduate visa holders to create snapshot of professional practice

2024-11-20T15:10:00-05:00

This semester, a group of students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design is taking a survey of U.S. architecture graduate visa holders in the workplace for a research project that's part of their coursework for assistant professor Jacob Reidel's "Frameworks of Practice" seminar.

They are inviting participants to answer a series of anonymous questions related to their experience as workplace visa holders. The aim, they say, is to produce a snapshot of how immigration status affects both entry-level career choices for architecture graduates and long-term career planning.

The students share: "The original idea came from conversations with peers about how, in the field of architecture, visa status makes workers feel like they are in a precarious position and our preliminary qualitative interviews have supported this. We hope that this research can draw attention to the situation and offer both workers and employers new statistics to work towards compassionate decision-making in offic...

Pioneering UC Berkeley professor Sim Van der Ryn dies aged 89

2024-11-18T16:06:00-05:00

Dutch architect Sim Van der Ryn, a pioneer of green architecture and a longtime professor at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, has died at age 89 according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He will be remembered for his experimental teaching methods and approach to designing buildings as ecological systems, both of which later became widely accepted as either field looked to embrace sustainability as its new baseline standard.

Van der Ryn's memorial page on the CED's website also credits his work with Murray Silverstein as leading the way for post-occupancy user studies. Dean Renee Y. Chow added her own context to his legacy at the school, saying: "Sim was one of the people who laid the foundation for CED’s ongoing commitment to resilience and environmental equity. He was focused on how to build in environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, socially just ways long before 'sustainability' was even a term in the architectural lexicon. His influence, on Berkeley and beyo...

Caltech's new Resnick Sustainability Center gets scientific from the outside in

2024-11-13T16:58:00-05:00

Caltech’s new Resnick Sustainability Center (RSC) has opened after the completion of an 80,000-square-foot design produced by the LA-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign.

The project, which had been marketed as an interdisciplinary and cohesive "makerspace" for Caltech scientists and engineering students, stands out thanks to an innovative building envelope shaped by an "undulating glass skim" that's noticeably distinct from other academic buildings on campus.

Image courtesy of Cannon Design

A language of diagonal sunscreen frits covering a low-E coated glass curtain wall and its supporting mass timber "gridshell" in the facade contribute to the building's impugned profile against the presence of the aforementioned older structures. The use of timber as a structural and aesthetic component also blends the atrium and walkways with a concrete shell core housing suites of research laboratories and academic spaces to make an elaborate yet wholly scientific composition from the outside i...

Studio Gang completes first French project behind cylindrical stone facade

2024-11-13T12:13:00-05:00

Studio Gang has completed its first project in France: the University of Chicago John W. Boyer Center in Paris. Located in the city’s 13th arrondissement, the new academic hub aims to energize the local neighborhood while integrating into the “urban and intellectual fabric of the city.”

Image credit: Fabrice Fouillet

Set on a corner site on Paris’s Left Bank, an area known for research and higher education, the center is the focal point of a new mixed-use development that includes residential buildings designed by PARC Architectes. The scheme’s signature brise soleil façade is comprised of 900 cylindrical stone batons, which filter light based on the interior function, offering privacy in study spaces while revealing public areas. Clad in Lutetian limestone, the batons echo Chicago’s main campus while rooting the building in Paris’s architectural heritage.

Image credit: Fabrice Fouillet

Image credit: Corentin Lespagnol

“The Center in Paris is designed as a...

UPenn Weitzman School extends dean Fritz Steiner's tenure to 2027

2024-11-11T08:00:00-05:00

The University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design has announced it will be extending the tenure of dean Frederick "Fritz" Steiner for two additional years through June 30th, 2027.

He joined the school early 2016 in part a protest of the controversial "campus carry" weapons policy that was enacted at the University of Texas at Austin. Since that time, Steiner has been credited with improving the school financial position and bolstered DEI efforts for both students and faculty.

Steiner, who also holds a prestigious Paley Professorship and teaches in the departments of city and regional planning and landscape architecture, said: “I couldn’t be prouder of the work that our faculty, students, and alumni are doing to build a better future. When you bring artists, designers, planners, and preservationists together, the possibilities are thrilling.”

Renowned architectural critic and historian Joseph Rykwert passes away aged 98

2024-11-08T10:01:00-05:00

British architectural historian Joseph Rykwert has died. The influential academic and writer who was considered to be a leading critical voice of his generation, taking aim at the banality of modernism and its encroachments on the urban sphere, lived to be 98 according to his New York Times obituary.

Rykwert was the 2014 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture winner and author of more than a dozen texts on architecture and design. He also enjoyed a long and successful tenure as the Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. His death follows the passing of colleagues Anthony Vidler and Jean-Louis Cohen last year.

Oregon researchers build prototype mass timber home that ‘fits together like gingerbread house’

2024-11-07T11:13:00-05:00

A research team in Oregon has unveiled a mass timber prototype home that seeks to showcase a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative to traditional home construction. Designed by the TallWood Design Institute, a collaboration between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, the 760-square-foot project was unveiled at an open house event on November 7th.

Image courtesy of the University of Oregon

The home, built from locally sourced mass plywood panels produced by Freres Engineered Wood, aims to address key issues such as affordable housing shortages, wildfire resilience, and economic sustainability. Unlike conventional timber construction, the home is constructed of mass plywood panels shaped to fit together like pieces of a gingerbread house, the team says.

Image courtesy of the University of Oregon

Through the project, the team imagines a future where a home could arrive in a flatpack ...

Get Lectured: Florida Atlantic University, Fall '24/Spring '25

2024-11-04T12:23:00-05:00

The School of Architecture at Florida Atlantic University is sharing its public speakers and events information for the new academic year as part of our Get Lectured series.

The poster below, designed by the school's Director, Joseph Choma, combines a layered graphic with a series of folded pleats. "The simple symmetrical crease pattern adds a subtle three-dimensional depth, while the graphic design provides another visual depth to complement and contrast with the folds," Choma told Archinect.

Image courtesy of Joseph Choma/FAU School of Architecture

The Fall semester's packed slate that has thus far seen speakers from UNC Charlotte, Northeastern University, and the Harvard GSD concludes on November 7 with a lecture from Zackery Belanger, a leading expert in architectural acoustics.

Image courtesy of Joseph Choma/FAU School of Architecture

Events begin again in the Spring '25 semester with a lecture from TU Delft’s Mariana Popescu on January 14. SCI-Arc’s Jenny Wu will visit campus on...

Architecture schools are hiring: Explore 24 academic job opportunities featured on Archinect Jobs

2024-10-31T12:48:00-04:00

This week's edition of our curated jobs roundup from the Archinect Job board highlights 15 architecture schools looking to add faculty, academic leaders, facilities staff, and fellows to their institutions.

Preparing for a new job? Be sure to follow our Archinect Tips series to improve your portfolio, resume, and interviewing skills and increase your chances of getting that next job.

Teaching Positions

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) seeks an Assistant or Associate, Architectural Design and an Assistant or Associate Professor, Architecture, Technology/Tectonic Culture in Providence, RI

Assistant or Associate, Architectural Design details: "The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Architecture department invites applicants for a full-time faculty appointment at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, to commence fall 2025. Rank will be dependent on professional status and teaching experience."

Assistant or Associate Professor, Architecture, Technology/Tectonic Culture deta...

Taubman College launches latest fellowship round for early-career designers

2024-10-30T08:52:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for an Art Director at the University of Southern California, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for fellowships at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.

The role, based in Ann Arbor, MI, is open to early-career scholars and practitioners "looking to deepen their work in a dynamic academic setting." The two-year fellowships will offer teaching opportunities, resources for project development, and collaboration with a wider research community, the school adds.

Related on Archinect: Taubman fellows exhibition investigates ecosystem simulations, public housing, and building fixtures. Image: 'Welcome Home' by Salam Rida. Image credit: Rowan Freeman

Why the role interests us

Archinect has previously reported on the design work of fellows from Taubman College. Earlier this year, we covered four fellow-led research projects on displa...

Searching for new architecture and design jobs? Michael K. Chen Architecture, MWA Architects, Brandon Architects, Heather Young Architects, and Perron Roettinger are hiring

2024-10-29T13:55:00-04:00

Look below for Archinect's latest curated selection of architecture and design firms currently hiring on Archinect Jobs. This week's featured employer highlight includes openings in New York City, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Costa Mesa, California, and Los Angeles.

For even more opportunities, visit the Archinect job board and explore our active community of job seekers, firms, and schools.

Michael K. Chen Architecture is accepting applications for a Junior Architect / Designer with one to three years of experience and fluency in Rhino and Revit in New York City. Interested candidates should also have strong drawing and graphic skills, including in AutoCAD and the Adobe Creative Suite. The firm is searching for individuals who are both self-sufficient and highly collaborative, organized, and detail-oriented.

Michael K. Chen's Reimagined Studio. Photo: Max Burkhalter

Design firm MWA Architects is hiring for an Architect/Laboratory Planner who has ten-plus year of experience, with seven ...

AA School of Architecture students construct timber 'Tree and Truss' structure using robotic fabrication

2024-10-29T12:19:00-04:00

A new student-led project from the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) that combines robotic fabrication processes with new software applications has been shared with Archinect as part of the school's Design + Make 2022-24 cohort.

Image: courtesy Design + Make course Architectural Association/Photographer Rafael Ferres Echavarren

The 'Tree and Truss' project is a mass timber structure made from locally sourced materials and designed to support the columns and trusses of a new lecture hall standing in Hooke Park on the school's Woodland Campus.

Image: courtesy Design + Make course Architectural Association/Photographer Rafael Ferres Echavarren

Together, the students say: "The project explores a hybrid structure that seamlessly transitions from natural geometry to engineered timber and regards the tree as column and the truss as beam as the fundamental points of departure. We design through making and aim to work with the material behavior of timber."

Image: courtesy ...

Columbia GSAPP's floating 'Cloud' installation seeks to unite a fractious campus

2024-10-24T19:08:00-04:00

Columbia GSAPP has shared details of its new student-led, temporary inflatable Cloud structure in Avery Plaza.

The installation culminates a two-semester seminar led by GSAPP faculty members Laurie Hawkinson and Galia Solomonoff.

Photo: Nicholas Knight/Columbia GSAPP

The temporary pavilion structure, which is made out of metallic foam fabricated by a Spanish manufacturer called Àrea Cúbica, "envisions a participatory experience that emphasizes the interconnectedness of peoples’ actions in shared spaces."

Photo: Nicholas Knight/Columbia GSAPP

Inside, seating is anchored by a cascading series of nets. The pavilion is 66 feet wide and suspended by 25 cables, emerging from a fourth-floor classroom window. Columbia says its appearance works to reframe "the relationship between Avery Hall and Avery Plaza, questioning notions of connectivity between interior and exterior spaces" while also "challenging boundaries of conditioned space."

Photo: Nicholas Knight/Columbia GSAPP

Beyond this good ...

Don't miss Tulane University's Gulf Coast Climate Futures Symposium, Nov. 1–2, in New Orleans

2024-10-24T14:48:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Tulane School of Architecture

Next week in New Orleans, the Tulane University School of Architecture will be hosting the two-day Gulf Coast Climate Futures Symposium in collaboration with the School of Engineering and supported by the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine Gulf Research Program.

Kate Orff, writer Nathaniel Rich, and David Waggonner will be among the invited speakers spread across three moderated panels, each bringing their own perspective on climate adaptation and decarbonizing the built environment.

The school says the symposium aims to consider the visions and tools that advance toward the targets set forth by the 2015 Paris Agreement. It will also serve as context and grounding for the basis of Tulane’s brand new cross-disciplinary Master of Landscape + Engineering (MLA-MS RCSE) program from Tulane's School of Architecture and School of Science and Engineering.

Two others — the newly launched Center on Climate Cha...

USC Architecture begins search for a new Art Director

2024-10-23T07:36:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for a Capital Projects Manager at the DC Public Library, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Art Director at the University of Southern California.

The role, based in Los Angeles, calls for an individual to “lead the direction of all materials and visual media produced by the school.” Among the responsibilities for the role will be overseeing the school’s visual brand identity across media and publications, as well as leading creative design projects according to the school’s brand. The school hopes to attract applicants from those with a “thorough understanding of digital media and evolving online platforms” as well as expertise in photography, typography, and printing.

USC studio environment. Image courtesy of USC School of Architecture

Why the role interests us

The open role at USC comes only weeks after Archinect interviewed the new Dean of the institution’s schoo...

Herzog & de Meuron, Rafael Viñoly Architects, SCI-Arc, and Arch11 are Archinect Jobs' latest featured employers

2024-10-22T08:00:00-04:00

For even more opportunities, visit the Archinect job board and explore our active community of job seekers, firms, and schools.

In New York City, international architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron is hiring for a Design Technologies BIM Manager with a minimum of five years of experience in architectural practice and three years of experience with BIM projects. Strong candidates have an expert knowledge of Revit and have strong supervisory, communication, and organizational skills. One should also possess experience managing multiple projects simultaneously.

Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron.

Architecture and planning firm Rafael Viñoly Architects is looking to add a Visualization Designer with three to five years of experience to its office in New Yo...

ACSA releases 'Where Are My People?' survey results focused on Queer identities in the architectural field

2024-10-21T11:06:00-04:00

In the interest of elevating the voices of different marginalized groups in every corner of the design field, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), in partnership with Emergent Grounds for Design Education (EGDE), has announced the next edition of their groundbreaking research series Where Are My People? dedicated to exploring the LGBTQIA+ community’s impact on architecture.

The newly announced Where Are My People? Queer in Architecture is organized into two sections. Part I looks at the intersectionality of queer identities while unpacking data findings both quantitative and qualitative to reach a "comprehensive understanding" of the significance of representation. After that, Part II centers on contemporary theory on gender and sexuality to encourage a critical dialogue about the ways in which architecture can establish more inclusive spaces apart from the binary.

EDGE's Michelle Barrett says they will combine to help "recontextualize how and why we need a...

Get Lectured: University of Oregon, Fall '24

2024-10-17T11:17:00-04:00

Today, the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Environment has shared its public events and lectures information as part of our Get Lectured roundups for Fall 2024.

This week has seen appearances from Bill Leddy and LEVER’s Thomas Robinson. The events continue over the weekend with the two-day Reynolds Symposium from October 18-19.

Next, professors Nico Larco and Kaarin Knudson will make their first Sustainable Design Urban Handbook presentation on October 23. Following that are three lectures by Ameyalli Mañon-Ferguson, Julie Eizenberg and Katherina Körber on October 25, November 11, and November 13, respectively. Nader Tehrani closes the term with the final lecture on November 18.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Get Lectured: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Fall '24

2024-10-15T11:05:00-04:00

Today we are continuing Get Lectured with a look at three speakers who will be visiting the Cal Poly College of Architecture and Environmental Design in San Luis Obispo this semester.

The CAED shares: “The 2024/25 Hearst Lectures is a series of discussions with designers, activists and professionals of the built environment whose work interrogate ecological, societal and material crisis. URGENCIES is a project that was organized to motivate conversations across the five CAED departments. Students and faculty are invited to participate in a conversation about how the built environment is interdependent on structures of power, colonization and extraction, with the hope that we can envision alternative futures together.”

Lecturers include Dan Koch of Allied Works (November 1); California College of the Arts professor Janette Kim (November 8); and botanist Peter Del Tredici of Harvard University (November 15).

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details t...

Get Lectured: University of Waterloo, Fall '24

2024-10-09T14:28:00-04:00

The University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture has shared its Arriscraft Canada Brick Speaker Series information for the Fall 2024 semester.

Upcoming events include a panel discussion on 'Climate Resilience Inspired by Monsoon Culture' with Turenscape founder and 2023 Oberlander Prize winner Kongjian Yu on Thursday, October 24. Following that will be a discussion on creating public space with Class of 1999 BArch graduate Rosa Chang on Friday, November 1. Yale University's Mae-ling Lokko closes the term with a look at the potential for climate adaptation and bio-based materials on Thursday, November 21.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Your next role could be teaching mass timber at the University of Oregon

2024-10-09T07:00:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for a Design and Construction Manager at the Eames Institute, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Assistant Professor of Architectural Design, Structures, and Mass Timber at the University of Oregon.

The role, based in Eugene, Oregon, requires an individual who will “have experience or show evidence of capacity to effectively teach structures for architecture students and lead research in mass timber structures.” The position will also involve research into new advances in sustainable materials, construction, and technology to produce eco-friendly, net zero, and low-impact buildings.

Related on Archinect: RIOS’ 42XX office design introduces mass timber architecture to L.A.’s Westside. Image credit: Pavel Bendov, ArchExplorer

Why the role interests us

The open role at the University of Oregon offers us the opportunity to look back on some of the significant research ad...

Editor's Picks #563

2024-10-07T21:02:00-04:00

ICYMI Niall Patrick Walsh started the State of AEC intended to "guide you through the latest analyses, indexes, and trends on how the architecture and construction industries are performing economically."

In reporting on the September U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut he pointed out "the Fed’s interest rate today sits at almost exactly the same level as it was in 2007, before a series of rapid cuts in response to the 2008 economic crash. Back then, the AIA’s Architecture Billings Index began a decline in January 2008 that lasted every month for two and a half years until July 2010."

Later, Niall also explored the impact of post-pandemic changes driving "what architecture studios are, and increasingly are not, commissioned to design". Will Galloway weighed in from Japan

"Interesting findings. I wonder if this is the new normal or still a period of settling into something new…Not sure where we will come down on this topic in the end, but I can imagine a quite different office set up in t...

Get Lectured: East Los Angeles College, Fall '24

2024-10-07T13:25:00-04:00

Get Lectured continues with a look at what’s in store this semester at East Los Angeles College (ELAC) in Los Angeles.

Guest speakers for the Fall academic term will include Jorge Gracia (October 23); Linda Taalman (November 6); Jimenez Lai (November 20). Each is free and open to the public beginning at 12:00 PM each day. The lectures will also be available on Zoom with the ID # 878 4737 2433 and Passcode 656604.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Get Lectured: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall '24

2024-10-05T10:00:00-04:00

The UW–Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning has shared its Fall speakers and lecture poster, designed by Milo Bonacci, to go along with our Get Lectured roundup for the new semester.

The upcoming lecturers for the term include Danny Martin and Jamie Timoteo (October 16); Andrea Dietz, Jessica Garcia Fritz, and Palmyra Gerakt (October 18); Lori Brown (October 25); Julie Emslie and Patrick Schloss (October 30); James Shields (November 01); Brittany Uting and Daniel Jacobs of HOME-OFFICE (November 08); the Indian practice A. Mridul (November 15); artist Vivian Beer (November 20); Rebecca Sanders and Bob Schneider (December 04).

Lecture poster design by Milo Bonacci, courtesy of UW–Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning

Vivian Beer will be hosting a special technical workshop and dialogue about public art on October 10 and October 11 respectively as part of the school's Making Public Art series.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and...

Robotic fabrication and hybrid structural systems are showcased in the University of Stuttgart's new ITECH Pavilion

2024-10-04T18:52:00-04:00

A team of researchers led by Achim Menges of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Jan Knippers of the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart has unveiled a new pavilion made using a novel combination of bio-based materials.

The hybrid structural system behind the ITECH Research Pavilion 2024 is composed of timber and natural flax fiber polymer composites (or NFPCs). Menches and his colleagues were guided by recent research into fiber-polymer composites. The complete assembly works via the compressive strength of timber and tensile properties.

Image courtesy of ITEK and ICD at the University of Stuttgart

The pavilion was erected within the university’s Stadtgarten. It covers an area of roughly 484 square feet and weighs almost 2,130 pounds. The pavilion's structural capacity was shown to be capable of withstanding 1.5 times its own weight and 1.5 times the outside wind load.

Image courtesy of ITEK and...

Get Lectured: Tulane University, Fall '24

2024-10-03T19:26:00-04:00

With the new semester in full swing, here’s a look at what's in store on the campus of our Archinect Partner School Tulane School of Architecture in New Orleans this Fall.

The slate of upcoming lecturers includes Carmen Trudell (October 7); Pankaj Vir Gupta (October 14); and Sara Bronin (October 28).

A pair of Teaching Fellows' Research Dialogues will take place on November 11. The interdisciplinary Desired Gulf Futures Symposium will also be held from November 1–2nd.

To discover even more upcoming events at the Tulane SoA, check out our recent Fall 2024 highlight for the school.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Featured academic job openings at 12 architecture schools

2024-10-03T12:45:00-04:00

Our latest weekly curated jobs roundup from the Archinect Job board highlights 12 architecture schools looking to add faculty, academic leaders, facilities staff, and fellows to their institutions.

Preparing for a new job? Be sure to follow our Archinect Tips series to improve your portfolio, resume, and interviewing skills and increase your chances of getting that next job.

Academic Leadership Positions

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) seeks a Director/Chief Executive Officer in Los Angeles, CA
"The next director will bring ambition and creativity to the project of leading SCI-Arc in its next chapter. They will possess a deep love for architectural thinking coupled with a commitment to pluralism of ideas and practices. Ideally experienced as both an educator and creative practitioner, this person will also have the financial acumen to ensure a sustainable future for SCI-Arc that is built on educational excellence, innovation, and financial stability."

Clemson ...

Tulane School of Architecture's Fall events feature Sarah Bronin, the What Matter's Here.?! exhibition, and symposia exploring the Gulf Coast

2024-09-24T15:23:00-04:00

The Fall semester is in full swing, and as part of our ongoing event highlight at Archinect Partner Schools, we’re taking a look today at what’s in store for the Tulane School of Architecture in New Orleans

Carmen Trudell of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Cal Poly SLO will visit campus on October 7th for a special invited lecture in the university’s Woldenburg Art Center, followed by the daylong symposium 'Green Infrastructure, Food Systems, and Building Climate Resilience in New Orleans' on October 10th.

The immersive exhibition What Matter's Here.?!, centering on material legacies across the Gulf Coast, just opened in the School of Architecture's Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design and will be on display until May next year.

What Matter's Here.?! Image courtesy Tulane School of Architecture

Another lecture presentation featuring Pankaj Vir Gupta of the University of Virginia will follow on October 14th.

Don't miss the school's Landscape ...

ETH Zurich researchers develop robotic process for impact printing earth materials

2024-09-23T12:32:00-04:00

Researchers at ETH Zurich have introduced a new robotic 3D printing method for cement-free low-carbon materials for a circular economy.

Using a technique called 'impact printing,' the team demonstrated a mixture of excavated materials, silt, and clay that was less dependent on additives for its structural strength due to the high-velocity deposition process. Their aim was to "increase the cost competitiveness of sustainable building materials through efficient and automated production."

Image: Girts Apskalns. Copyright: ETH Zurich - Gramazio Kohler Research, Chair of Sustainable Construction and Robotic Systems Lab

First, a custom printing tool was developed that can be integrated on multiple high-payload robotic platforms. The tool was then integrated with a high-payload Gantry system within the ETH's Robotic Fabrication Laboratory. The hardware is also compatible with an autonomous legged excavator system called HEAP, also developed by the Robotic Systems Lab. It has shown...

Engineers develop bone-inspired concrete for stronger structures

2024-09-19T13:33:00-04:00

Inspired by the natural architecture of human bone, engineers at Princeton University have developed a new cement-based material that significantly enhances the toughness of traditional concrete. This innovative material resists cracking and sudden failure, making it a promising solution for more durable and long-lasting architectural structures.

The research, led by Professor Reza Moini and Ph.D. candidate Shashank Gupta from Princeton's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was published in Advanced Materials. The study introduces a unique design that incorporates cylindrical and elliptical tubes within the cement paste. Mimicking the structure of bone, specifically the tubular osteons found in human cortical bone, this design allows the concrete to trap and delay crack propagation. This “stepwise cracking” mechanism absorbs more energy, reducing the likelihood of sudden collapse.

Architecture of cortical bone. a) Schematic cross-section of human femur bone illustr...

Archinect - News

Harvard GSD online survey seeks architecture graduate visa holders to create snapshot of professional practice

Pioneering UC Berkeley professor Sim Van der Ryn dies aged 89

Caltech's new Resnick Sustainability Center gets scientific from the outside in

Studio Gang completes first French project behind cylindrical stone facade

UPenn Weitzman School extends dean Fritz Steiner's tenure to 2027

Renowned architectural critic and historian Joseph Rykwert​​ passes away aged 98

Oregon researchers build prototype mass timber home that ‘fits together like gingerbread house’

Get Lectured: Florida Atlantic University, Fall '24/Spring '25

Architecture schools are hiring: Explore 24 academic job opportunities featured on Archinect Jobs

Taubman College launches latest fellowship round for early-career designers

Searching for new architecture and design jobs? Michael K. Chen Architecture, MWA Architects, Brandon Architects, Heather Young Architects, and Perron Roettinger are hiring

AA School of Architecture students construct timber 'Tree and Truss' structure using robotic fabrication

Columbia GSAPP's floating 'Cloud' installation seeks to unite a fractious campus

Don't miss Tulane University's Gulf Coast Climate Futures Symposium, Nov. 1–2, in New Orleans

USC Architecture begins search for a new Art Director

Herzog & de Meuron, Rafael Viñoly Architects, SCI-Arc, and Arch11 are Archinect Jobs' latest featured employers

ACSA releases 'Where Are My People?' survey results focused on Queer identities in the architectural field

Get Lectured: University of Oregon, Fall '24

Get Lectured: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Fall '24

Get Lectured: University of Waterloo, Fall '24

Your next role could be teaching mass timber at the University of Oregon

Editor's Picks #563

Get Lectured: East Los Angeles College, Fall '24

Get Lectured: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Fall '24

Robotic fabrication and hybrid structural systems are showcased in the University of Stuttgart's new ITECH Pavilion

Get Lectured: Tulane University, Fall '24

Featured academic job openings at 12 architecture schools

Tulane School of Architecture's Fall events feature Sarah Bronin, the What Matter's Here.?! exhibition, and symposia exploring the Gulf Coast

ETH Zurich researchers develop robotic process for impact printing earth materials

Engineers develop bone-inspired concrete for stronger structures

Renowned architectural critic and historian Joseph Rykwert passes away aged 98