Archinect - News

AIA embraces a pro-climate agenda

2019-09-05T13:00:00-04:00

The leadership of the American Institute of Architects organization has officially signed off on an ambitious climate agenda that was proposed during the organization's annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The so-called "Resolution for Urgent and Sustained Climate Action," introduced at the meeting by Betsy del Monte, an architect with Dallas-based Cameron MacAlister, aims to "prioritize and support urgent climate action to exponentially accelerate the 'decarbonization' of buildings, the building sector, and the built environment."

In addition, del Monte's resolution aims to craft new revisions to the AIA's collection of Public Policies and Position Statements in an effort to "engage its full membership, clients, lawmakers, and communities in a multi-year education, practice, and advocacy strategy."

Remarking on the organization's official ratification of the climate resolution, 2019 AIA President William Bates, wrote in a press release, “This is a defining moment for the Institute,” addi...

New York Times' latest Op-Doc takes a dive into the sewage systems of Mexico City

2019-01-07T16:17:00-05:00

The New York Times' latest Op-Doc—part of their series of short, interactive, and virtual reality documentaries—profiles Julio César Cú Cámara, whose job it is to dive into the sewers and water treatment plants of Mexico City. For the past 36 years, Cámara has been a sewage diver, maintaining the sewage system's pipes and pumps, clearing them of blockages and reducing the risk of floods. Directed by Mexican filmmaker Esteban Arrangoiz, the film shows, as Arrangoiz writes, "how through his work, a human being is capable of finding beauty, pleasure and the essence of his humanity inside the detritus." Check out the film below.

11 Reasons the UN Should Make Cities the Focus of Its Forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals

2014-04-17T13:44:00-04:00

Last week I attended the seventh World Urban Forum in Medellín, Colombia, where more than 20,000 city leaders, urbanists, and planners from more than 160 countries met to discuss the future of cities across the globe. [...] Unfortunately, a number of important countries, the U.S. and Canada among them, remain worryingly undecided about joining this widespread call for a city-specific SDG from countries as diverse as Germany, Colombia, and Ghana.

State of Alabama Bans Sustainable Development

2012-06-13T15:07:00-04:00

The folks in Alabama have just passed a law that says quite clearly that they don’t want anything to do with sustainability. Though they might not have any problem with clean air and water and all that, it seems to be the planning for it that is the problem. Because planning, after all, is apparently what communists do.