Archinect - News

NYC plan to allow cannabis cultivation on public housing rooftops runs into federal hurdles

2022-04-19T17:34:00-04:00

At an April 9 panel discussion in Albany, Adams said his team was exploring whether the city could allow cannabis cultivation on the rooftops of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) facilities. The idea, he said, would be to employ NYCHA residents to staff and oversee the greenhouses as the state continues to roll out its recreational marijuana program for adults. “The jobs can come from NYCHA residents. The proceeds and education can go right into employing people right in the area.”

As part of its economic development agenda, the Adams administration has been pushing an ambitious pilot program for rooftop cultivation on federally-funded NYCHA public housing properties. The current laws, however, still classify marijuana as a controlled substance, leading to an inevitable impasse. An inbound decriminalization bill written by New York Democratic congressman Jerry Nadler could clear the way for legal grow operations on such property via an update to the federal guidelines, which a spokesperson for the mayor told Gothamist are held over from a pernicious era of public policymaking.

“[Federal] laws still on the books continue to harm the same communities that have been targeted for decades,” City Hall spokesperson Charles Lutvak explained. “The House passed legislation to this effect earlier this month, and we need those who are obstructing progress at the federal level to follow New York’s lead.”

Related on Archinect: Michael Kimmelman on some newer rays of light ...

StudioAC reunites with Edition Cannabis for the design of a second Dispensary

2021-03-28T08:35:00-04:00

StudioAC has reunited with contemporary cannabis dispensary Edition in the design of their second location on 764 St. Clair West in Toronto, Canada. Following the success of their first market, which was deemed “the world’s chicest cannabis shop” by Elle Décor, this second location takes great care in reproducing the hues, materials, and detailing used before. This allows for a continuity in design to emerge between the two shops, while allowing a uniqueness to emerge through the different interior articulation of the cement and the industrial fiberglass grates that build out Edition’s signature shelving and table centerpieces.

Fiberglass grate shelving. Credit: StudioAC

The more spacious layout of the second location also grants a greater deal of structural experimentation to occur at a larger scale. This allows for the fiberglass grates to act as both a bracing and support system simultaneously, according to the founders of StudioAC, Jennifer Kudlats & Andrew Hill. These grates se...

M-Rad designs elite cannabis industry members club in Downtown Los Angeles

2018-10-09T20:57:00-04:00

At a time when the cannabis industry is growing its commercial presence in Los Angeles, a new private members club for industry elites is setting up shop at 718 South Hill Street, in the heart of Downtown L.A.'s Jewelry District. Local architecture firm M-Rad was put in charge of redesigning the 85-foot-tall building, which will retain its historic characteristics and feature over 67,000 square feet of carefully curated space across seven distinct floors.

Green Street Agency, an L.A.-based creative agency that exclusively works within the cannabis industry, will be the flag tenant. Supporting tenants including Timeless Vapes, MOTA, and Vicente Sederberg will occupy three floors.

Rendering of the third floor, 718 South Hill. Courtesy of M-Rad.

Bird's eye view of the third floor. Courtesy of M-Rad.

The building will serve as a professional and community hub for entrepreneurs dedicated to “advancing the cannabis space”, giving members access to four levels of communal and private offi...

Electric Lettuce redefines the retail marijuana experience with a polished 1960s vibe

2018-08-07T17:37:00-04:00

As legalized marijuana begins to sweep the U.S, the rapidly expanding cannabis industry has ushered in a new era of high-design shops trading out tie-dye and Grateful Dead tees for smoking devices that look straight out of an Apple store and products wrapped in designs by Pentagram.

Electric Lettuce, a recreational dispensary with multiple locations across Oregon, delivers this modern stoner culture in spades. Deeply rooted in the 1960s—with a waiting lounge decorated in vintage cannabis paraphernalia where customers can listen to records spinning Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix—the store evokes a classic counterculture feel with a polished touch.

Photo by Lincoln Barbour.

The team behind the store—JHL Design working alongside branding agency OMFG Co.—have worked together before to deliver another one of Portland's fancy weed stores, Serra. Serra is a sophisticated, minimalist shop that one would reasonably walk into thinking it was a jewelry store. Electric Lettuce, on the other hand...

A cannabis business is buying a small town in California with plans to transform it into the first weed "infused" tourist destination

2017-08-07T14:12:00-04:00

Nipton, California has all the makings of a stoner heaven. There’s a general store, a hotel, a campground, an endless supply of delicious water, and—for those late-night giggles—a Castle Butt Road. Perhaps that’s why American Green Inc., an eight-year-old self-described marijuana “seed-to-sale innovator,” decided to purchase the 80-acre town (population six) and turn it into “the country’s first energy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination.”

The Gold Rush was the largest mass migration in U.S history with over 300,000 people arriving in California hoping to reap its benefits. Well over a century and a half later, many of the towns along the coast, once vibrant, have been left as ghost towns as anyone taking a road trip along the 5 can attest to. However, with the legalization of marijuana sweeping the coast, some believe the newly legalized industry can usher in a 21st century version.

One company, American Green Inc., is in the process of buying the town of Nipton, CA—a remnant of the California Gold Rush—in the hopes of turning it into a weed "infused" tourist destination. The town has a rich history, bustling from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries along with the mining industry, and even boasting a hotel that played host to the silent-movie star Clara Bow, who owned a ranch nearby.

Today, the town has a fluctuating population of 20 to 70 people and offers tremendous natural resources in the form of a Pleistocene-e...

Elevate your senses at the Church of Cannabis, a renovated 113-year-old Denver church

2017-06-28T15:55:00-04:00

A 113-year old church in Denver, Colorado recently reopened after a renovation [as the] new home and place of worship for the Elevation Ministries of the International Church of Cannabis (ICOC), better known as the Church of Cannabis [...] you must become a member in order to gain access at other times and enjoy the complete experience. Nevertheless, member or not, visiting the church in sober condition is quite the adventure.

Painted with mythological creatures in a hallucinating rainbow of colors, the International Church of Cannabis is a non-profit religious group whose beliefs are founded on “Elevationism”, which welcomes “adults everywhere who are looking to create the best version of themselves by way of the sacred plant” — at least from Thursday-Sunday from 1-3 p.m. during public access.Elevationism”, which welcomes “adults everywhere who are looking to create the best version of themselves by way of the sacred plant” — at least from Thursday-Sunday from 1-3 p.m. during public access.

Finnish University receives grant to explore industrial applications for hemp

2016-04-20T17:32:00-04:00

Turku University of Applied Sciences has received a grant of 70,417 euros to see if hemp could be used more in construction projects. The research will involve investigating the soundproofing and fireproof properties of the substance. Researchers will also look at how hemp decomposes and to see how it could be used as fertilizer - in order to determine how eco-friendly hemp's waste materials are.

The article is careful to note that hemp has far less THC than marijuana and is therefore not a psychoactive substance (obviously) – but the news still feels topical.

Hemp has been used for centuries for ropes, oils and textiles. But marijuana criminalization efforts in the 20th centuries seriously hurt hemp's brand (among other things). Now that marijuana is beginning to become destigmatized, there's been a renewed interest in hemp and its many potential uses.

"Hemp-based concrete is already marketed with names like Hempcrete and Canosmose, and is made up of a mixture of hemp fibres, lime and other materials," the authors note. "The mixture is not as strong as conventional concrete however and is used in conjunction with extra framing support."

Here's some other 4/20-related articles from the archives:

House of hemp? Pushing cannabis as a construction material

2012-03-26T15:04:00-04:00

Hemp Technologies said it wants to use hemp-based materials to construct a 500-square-foot structure at the ruins of Knapp's Castle near Santa Barbara. The principal material for the project is Hempcrete, made of the woody internal stem of the Cannabis sativa plant, which is processed into chips and mixed with a lime-based binder. That concoction is then sprayed on, poured into slabs or formed into blocks like concrete to create the shell of a building.