Archinect - News

RIBA and Architects Declare announce program for Built Environment Summit 2021

2021-10-08T16:31:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in partnership with Architects Declare, has announced the program for the Built Environment Summit 2021, a two-day, partially in-person conference taking place on October 28 and 29, 2021.

The event comes following the publication of RIBA and Architects Declare’s Built for the Environment report, that details the role industry has and must have in tackling the climate crisis. The summit also arrives ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, which starts on November 1.

As stated by RIBA, “The summit is a call to action, bringing together professionals from across the international built environment sector to address the urgent need to drive changes in behaviour to reduce carbon emissions. We cannot meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature rise limit above pre-industrial levels without transforming the way we plan, design, build, operate, and adapt our built environment.”

New European hyperloop proposed running from Amsterdam to Frankfurt

2018-09-14T13:07:00-04:00

The UNStudio Futures Team (UNSFutures) recently announced plans for a 'Station of the Future' at the first edition of HyperSummit. Organized by Hardt Hyperloop, the summit took place in Utrecht, Netherlands focusing on urgency, research, and collaboration to realize a European hyperloop.

'Station of the Future' from Amsterdam to Frankfurt by UNSFutures © Plompmozes

The proposed hyperloop will run from Amsterdam to Frankfurt in 53 minutes. Using technology powered by solar panels, the hyperloop will produce no sound or environmental emissions and can provide the necessary energy to power itself.

'Station of the Future' modular diagram © UNStudio

The station has been envisioned as a series of tessellating components which can adapt to a range of possible contexts: city-centre, edge of city or adjoining an existing infrastructure hub, such as an airport.

MVRDV makes 5 proposals for resiliency in San Francisco Bay Area

2018-09-13T19:00:00-04:00

At San Francisco's Global Climate Action Summit yesterday, MVRDV presented a report offering 5 recommendations to Bay Area officials on the region’s plans for a resilient future. Their report, titled Too Much + Too Little, was created as part of the NL Resilience Collective. Below are the firm's 5 proposals for the city:

1. Update long-term plans to include water management and climate adaptation
2. Install a Bay Area Resiliency Commissioner
3. Understand your system
4. Develop a set of design principles for local communities across the bay
5. Start both big and small

Read the full descriptions for each recommendation here.

MAD’s tent-like conference center breaks ground in China's rugged mountains

2018-07-26T15:08:00-04:00

MAD Architects' new China Entrepreneur Forum Conference Centre has broken ground in the rugged, snow-capped mountains of Yabuli, located in northeastern China.

China Entrepreneur Forum Conference Centre by MAD Architects, located in Yabuli, CN. Image: MAD Architects.

The new centre will act as a permanent venue for annual summits hosted by the China Entrepreneur Forum (CEF) in Yabuli. CEF commissioned MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, to design a building that embodied China's entrepreneurial industry.

China Entrepreneur Forum Conference Centre by MAD Architects, located in Yabuli, CN. Image: MAD Architects.

Cited along the axis of a mountain, MAD designed a dynamic, tent-like structure defined by soft and sloping lines. The building reaches only 78 feet in height allowing the structure to quietly integrate into the surrounding landscape.

China Entrepreneur Forum Conference Centre by MAD Architects, located in Yabuli, CN. Image: MAD Architects.

Organized into four floors, the st...

Silicon Mountain: Summit developing a ski-resort for innovators and artists on Utah's Powder Mountain

2017-09-11T18:30:00-04:00

Construction began this summer on a public mountain town that will straddle a 10,000-acre site between three skiing bowls. In 2013, Powder Mountain was purchased by Summit, a company—or, perhaps more accurately, a collective—founded in 2008 by five 20-something friends who want to “catalyze entrepreneurship” and “create global change.”

The company plans to build 500 single-family houses along with a village for amenities and a place to house the organization's non-profit arm. The founders hope that the skiing mecca—an hour's drive north of Salt Lake—will become a year-round community for innovators and other creatives "to solve the world’s most pressing challenges, from environmental catastrophe to access to basic medical care" over a shared chairlift up the mountain.

Summit Phase I Master Plan.

Physical design will play a large role in creating this idyllic snow-capped development. To guide the construction, Summit has enlisted a diverse team of designers, land planners and architects from places like Studio MA in Salt Lake City, Skylab Architecture in Portland, and Saunders Architecture in Norway. The list of architects also includes Sparano + Mooney in Salt Lake City; Marmol Radziner in Los Angeles; Bicuadro Architects in Rome; Bertoldi Architects in Ogden, Utah; Olson Kundig in Seattle; Prentiss + Balance + Wic...