Archinect - News

Lizard tails are effective at producing building collapse prevention strategies, Spanish scientists find

2024-05-20T19:30:00-04:00

A group of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia say they have discovered a means for protecting buildings from structural collapse. In a new set of building science experiments conducted in June 2023, they carefully studied animal neurobiology.

El País tells us: “The team of scientists and engineers has devised a hierarchy-based collapse isolation system, the key to which lies in the implementation of structural fuses, which allow the building to be segmented in the event of a failure. According to Adam, this design philosophy is similar to fuse-based protection of electrical networks. His technique has been validated by a test on a real building — 15 by 12 meters in plan, with two 2.6-meter-high floors — using prefabricated reinforced concrete. It is the first solution of its kind to be tested and verified at full scale.”

The Endure project recently made the cover of the journal Nature. Engineering professor Antoni Cladera (who did not participate in the study) t...

What role do simulations play in the green design process, and in architectural careers?

2022-05-25T08:43:00-04:00

Last week, we reported on Barcelona’s mission to build a digital twin of the entire city on a supercomputer housed in a 19th century chapel. Speaking to Politco about the potential for the data-driven replica to aid Barcelona's urban development, the city’s Deputy Mayor noted: "We are in an emergency situation in which we no longer have time to make mistakes. To meet the 2030 climate goals, to be climate neutral by 2050, we have to get things right the first time around."

The digital twin project in Barcelona joins similar digital urban environments being built to replicate U.S cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, with the Las Vegas model specifically designed to "help Las Vegas building owners transition to net-zero carbon emissions."

With the ever-increasing ability of cities to capture real-world data, from traffic behavior to air quality to informal expansion, citywide digit...

Mississippi State University studio teaches the value of collaboration between its architecture and building construction science students

2022-05-20T13:27:00-04:00

Earlier this week, we explored the relationship between architecture and construction science disciplines through the lens of a Building Scientist position at Payette. While the two fields are commonly intertwined within professional practice settings, they are also being implemented in a collaborative design studio taught at Mississippi State University (MSU). Students from the school's architecture and building construction science departments worked together in a unique studio called the PCI Foundation Studio.

After receiving a special grant from the PCI Foundation in 2020 to incorporate "precast concrete into the classroom," MSU Architecture's Associate Professor Alexis Gregory allocated the $100,000 grant to be utilized within architecture courses at the school. This funding was used to develop the Spring 2021 PCI Foundation Studio.

Under Gregory's direction, sixteen teams of students from both departments worked together to develop a collaborative design-build project benefitt...

What a building scientist does, and how architects can become one

2022-05-18T11:51:00-04:00

Earlier this week, we covered comments by columnist Kunle Barker in the UK’s Architects’ Journal, who warned against the trend of offsetting emissions to achieve a “zero carbon” built environment.

“Offsetting is not sustainable,” Barker wrote. “In fact, it's not even close to being sustainable, and most worrying of all, it is allowing lazy, ego-driven designs to be accepted by us all. We must find an objective and fair way to assess if (and how) a building should be constructed. This is the only way the built environment can become part of the climate solution.”

Barker’s comments demonstrate the growing value of building science, and dedicated building scientists, as a means of addressing the question of “how” a building should be constructed.

Archinect Feature: Meet the Architects Designing Software to Fight Climate Change

While all architects possess at least a working knowledge of building science, such as structural systems and mechanical engineering, a building scientist is ta...

Editor's Picks #267

2012-06-04T23:21:00-04:00

Orhan Ayyüce penned Review: Carlson-Reges House, RoTo Architects. In it Orhan described how Carlson-Reges House has grown out of logistics and a "story within a story". Steven Ward waxed nostalgic about the fact that he had an "opportunity to visit this house with mr rotondi in 2003. stunning - and completely unique. there really could never be anything else like it. and the brewery is a magic little 'neighborhood'."

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Orhan Ayyüce penned Review: Carlson-Reges House, RoTo Architects. In it Orhan described how Carlson-Reges House has grown out of logistics and a "story within a story". Steven Ward waxed nostalgic about the fact that he had an "opportunity to visit this house with mr rotondi in 2003. stunning - and completely unique. there really could never be anything else like it. and the brewery is a magic little 'neighborhood'."

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, officially opened to the public on, June 1. Since Chinese officials had put Ai Weiwei on 'city arrest' in his hometown Beijing, he was not able to attend the ceremony together with his design collaborators Jaques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. Fred Scharmen’s first thought was "They really did make it out of cork!”
and bothands posts “Agreed about the lighting - pinholes through the water could've been cool..." However, Michael Jantzen thoug...

Building Science Pioneer Dr. Joe Lstiburek on the Good, Bad and Ugly Side of Buildings

2012-05-16T19:37:00-04:00

The term ‘building science’ is used quite often now in sustainable building circles, but much of what we understand of it can be traced back to the work of Dr. Joe Lstiburek, founder of Building Science Corporation. Many of the building standards today have his finger prints all over them, and his tough love criticism of building design is undercut with his wry humor and encyclopedic knowledge of building construction.

Leave your preconceived ideas at the door.