Archinect - News

Your next role could be designing for increasing water demands with the US Bureau of Reclamation

2024-03-13T11:24:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Staff Architect at Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Architect at the US Bureau of Reclamation.

The role, based in Denver, CO, calls for an individual to “make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.” Among the responsibilities for the position, which requires a degree in architecture or a related field, will be developing designs for typologies such as hydroelectric powerplants, pump stations, and water and wastewater and treatment facilities.

Why the role interests us

The open role at the US Bureau of Reclamation offers us the opportunity to explore the role of a federal body responsible for the development of water infrastructure in the United States. Established in 1902, the bureau has constructed over 600 dams and reservoirs in the western United States,...

Arizona's state water supply loophole is causing a gold rush for multifamily construction

2023-11-14T12:31:00-05:00

Local leaders near Phoenix are placing limits on where new homes can be built, with the goal of protecting long-term access to water. But there's a significant loophole. [...] Policymakers may try again, and the governor has set up a task force on the issue. Ferris says the strength of Arizona's water law is that it links building decisions with water decisions. No other Western state requires cities to look a hundred years into the future.

Permitting of new subdivision construction has been curtailed in the Phoenix area over water scarcity, though a loophole over multifamily construction has led to a recent boom there as developers are still free to open state taps when needed in search of a requisite 100-year groundwater supply.

Small cities like Casa Grande and Buckeye are making the news as prolific cases, with around 3,000 and 6,500 new units permitted in each in the last two years alone. The official statewide need stands at 200,000 overall. Lawmakers are now trying to put a halt to the build-to-rent exemption in the face of a population influx and despite developer’s lobbying.

NPR on sponge cities, Kongjian Yu, and the future of flood mitigation

2023-10-10T13:46:00-04:00

Almost all of China's medium and large cities are now susceptible to floods. And [Kongjian] Yu says 60% of them experience flooding every year. Extreme weather from climate change is exacerbating the problem. So Yu has been evangelizing a solution he calls "sponge cities." That is, urban landscapes that are softer and purposely designed to absorb more water. Gareth Doherty, an associate professor of landscape architecture at Harvard University, says the concept is revolutionary.

The contributions of Turenscape founder Kongjian Yu to the development of the so-called “Sponge City” concept date to the mid-90s, stemming from a near-death experience in his childhood home of Jinhua. He says that by the end of the decade, roughly 80% of Chinese cities will now be adequately equipped by the measures. However, just under 10% of the country's mid- to large-sized cities had any plans to implement the concept by the start of the year, according to Reuters.

The need for better stormwater strategies has since been proven in New York City and other low-lying American metros, too, with $2.6 billion worth of funding specifically included in the 2021 Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to combat the problem. Copenhagen is seen as a world leader in the concept after experiencing a tumultuous 2011 cloudburst that led to a two-part system of expanded sewers and over 300 surface catchment projects.

Still, Yu says the reliance on concrete and technological solutions remains a...

RIOS unveils 100-year 'Hyper-Abundant City' concept at Seoul Biennale

2023-09-14T14:44:00-04:00

RIOS has released details of a new 100-year master plan included as part of its participation in the 4th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (SBAU), which takes place through the end of October in the South Korean capital.

The firm's concept for the 'Hyper-Abundant City' significantly alters the upscale Apgujeong district by incorporating the urban fabric of the adjacent Gangnam neighborhood while extending an existing connection to the Han River. Ecological plots revealing vertical villages that are inspired by Hanok architectural traditions are protected by shoreline islands which the architects say aid in managing stormwater runoffs and flood mitigation. Finally, the plots are connected to each other through an interlinking series of open spaces that permeate the site.

Rendering by Aesthetica Studio, image courtesy of RIOS

The river’s natural systems are relieved by the careful selection and placement of access points which minimize human activity while allowing land to...

Renzo Piano on the elemental approach to his newly-opened Istanbul Modern design

2023-06-13T15:14:00-04:00

If you are an architect, you have to understand what the genius of the place is, and you have to catch the spirit of the place, and Istanbul is about the water [...] And the Istanbul Modern is about a dialogue between the building and the water.

RPBW’s first project in Turkey comes as the country begins its rebuilding following the devastating February earthquake. Towards this concern, Piano says, “When you make a place for people for art and music, accessibility and safety are fundamental elements.”

A survey of his past work titled Genius Loci also “examines in detail the design process and structural components of Istanbul Modern’s new building” and remains on view in its first-floor library.

The museum opened to the public on May 4th.

Previously on Archinect: Renzo Piano’s Istanbul Modern museum opens in Turkey

San Diego engineering firm seeks an architect to help its clean water initiatives

2023-05-24T12:38:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Manager of Climate Action & Design Excellence at the American Institute of Architects, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Staff Architect - Wastewater Division at Parsons Corp.

The role calls for an individual to lead the company’s design efforts supporting their San Diego pure water project for wastewater and water treatment systems. Among the responsibilities will be to coordinate and manage design efforts for the company’s overall San Diego Pure Water project, and to manage specific design efforts for wastewater and water treatment facilities in San Diego City and County.

Why the role interests us

The open position at Parsons Corp offers us the opportunity to review the many initiatives underway across California with regard to water management. In March, we r...

FIU Architecture students are getting their feet wet thanks to this long-standing campus tradition

2022-11-17T17:45:00-05:00

This is the 33rd year the "Walking on Water" competition has been held at FIU as part of Professor Jaime Canaves’ Materials & Methods of Construction course. As reported by WSVN Miami , "Not many people can say they can walk on water, but these second-year architecture students at Florida International University need to do in order to get a good grade in the class."

Winners receive $1,000 plus another $1,000 bonus if they can surmount the record, while those whose shoes do not succeed can either swim the expanse in the event for a C grade or, "if they fell and gave up, it was a straight F," reports Dannielle Garcia of WSVN.

Walking on Water at FIU. Video courtesy of FIU The College Tour.

According to Canaves, “The purpose of the assignment is for the students to design and build shoes to be able to cross the lake 175 feet." Students were tasked with researching materials and "put them together and solve the problem of floating and walking, and if they’re successful, they get an A....

10 pools & ponds we liked this week

2022-08-27T11:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

Tip: Use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Maui Residence in Hawaii by Walker Warner Architects; Landscape Architect: Lutsko Associates; Photo: Matthew Millman

↑ HT Residence in Manhattan Beach, CA by Laney LA; Photo: Joe Fletcher

↑ GIORIO CASA Store in Xuzhou, China; Interior Design: CATANIAN; Photo: Jin Weiqi

↑ Diagonal House in Aveiro, Portugal by Frari-architecture network; Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio

↑ Modern Bungalow in Los Angeles, CA by RIOS

↑ Mountain House in Aspen, CO by RO | ROCKETT DESIGN; Landscape Architect: Lift Studio; Pool Design: Modern Design & Build; Photo: Draper White Photography

↑ Kohala Coast Residence on Big Island, HI by de Reu...

BIG and Barcode complete cantilevering residential building on Amsterdam waterfront

2022-07-15T11:39:00-04:00

Work has been completed on Sluishuis, a residential project in Amsterdam by Bjarke Ingels Group and Barcode Architects. The scheme, which comprises 442 homes, a public green roof garden, and maritime jetties, is defined by a cantilevered form meeting at a high corner.

Photograph © Ossip van Duivenbode

The architects describe the project as a “remarkable building with a unique volume that seems to float on the water thanks to the double cantilever.” Towards the water, the building’s untreated aluminum facade rises to meet at the cantilever, creating a gateway to the inner harbor at the building’s core. On the opposite side, the stepped form contains a stairway to the rooftop garden and private residential terraces.

Photograph © Ossip van Duivenbode

The 442 energy-neutral homes, which vary between owner-occupied and rental units, are designed for a variety of income levels and age categories. Typologies include compact studios, water sports apartments, and duplex penthouses. The steppe...

Cristina Iglesias’ Landscape and Memory taps into the forces lying just beneath our urban grid

2022-06-03T16:55:00-04:00

The Madison Square Park Conservancy’s second 2022 commission has opened with a new installation by Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias called Landscape and Memory.

In a harken back to the time when the eastern edge of Manhattan island was dominated by natural features like Collect Pond and other wetlands, Iglesias’ exhibition hinges on the arrangement of five subterranean bronze sculptures connected to a flowing stream whose presence is meant as a reminder of the unchanged ancient systems lying beneath the feet of 8 million New Yorkers.

Cristina Iglesias, Landscape and Memory, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy. Photo: Rashmi Gill.

"Madison Square Park has a rich history, witnessing and participating in several hundred years of New York City’s growth and evolution," the Conservancy’s Executive Director Keats Myer said of the significance of the site, which before the 19th century had been called Cedar Creek. “[Cristina’s] commission digs deep into this his...

10 examples of pools & ponds in architecture

2021-08-06T12:19:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

Tip: Use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Emiliano Rio Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by Oppenheim Architecture and Studio Arthur Casas (Oppenheim Architecture was also featured in Archinect's Studio Snapshots series); Photo: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Photography

↑ Hale Mau’u on Big Island, HI by Walker Warner Architects (the firm was also featured in Archinect's Studio Snapshots series); Landscape: David Y. Tamura Associates, Inc.; Photo: Matthew Millman

↑ Shou County Culture and Art Center in Shou County, China by Studio Zhu-Pei; Landscape Collaborator: The Design Institute of Landscape & Architecture China Academy of Art; Photo: Su Shengliang

↑ Crow...

Watershed moments: Derek Hoeferlin on managing 21st-century waterways

2021-06-14T14:38:00-04:00

From headwaters near Salem, Missouri, the Meramec River snakes 218 free-flowing miles, through 14 counties and scores of towns, skirting St. Louis before emptying into the mighty Mississippi.

Derek Hoeferlin grew up outside St. Louis, on a wooded hill close to the Meramec. As he commuted to school along Interstate 44, he’d cross the river and its sprawling floodplain twice or more each day.

“It’s always mesmerized me,” Hoeferlin recalls. “Something about its meandering made me daydream. Rivers don’t give a damn about north or south, east or west — or interstates for that matter. Water flows where water wants to flow.”

Today Hoeferlin is a licensed architect and chair of both landscape architecture and urban design programs in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. In many ways, rivers have become his life’s work. But the daydreams are tempered by a growing sense of urgency.

“Too often, architects are responding to emergencies,” he adds. “It’s triage work. But we need to be m...

Keeping Hong Kong flood-free

2020-07-29T17:58:00-04:00

The city's complex drainage system protects Hong Kong from once-disastrous flooding caused by seasonal typhoons. But will it be strong enough to withstand the effects of climate crisis?

CNN's James Griffiths on the challenges of building a vast rain water-draining tunnel network in one of the world's densest cities and how well it is prepared for ever-intensifying climate and security threats.

"At present, some rain is collected and reused for irrigation and flushing water, but most is still dumped back into the sea, a bitter situation for a city that imports over 70% of its fresh water from across the border in mainland China," Griffiths writes. "With rising temperatures potentially leading to greater water-insecurity around the world, Hong Kong's ability to do more with the water that literally falls upon it is more important than ever."

10 fresh examples of pools & ponds in architecture

2020-07-03T14:39:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

↑ Spring Road Residence in Ross, CA by Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects; Photo: Matthew Millman

↑ Oak Woodland in San Francisco, CA by Walker Warner Architects; Landscape Design: Ground Studio Landscape Architecture; Photo: Matthew Millman

↑ Suzhou Swan Harbor Park in Suzhou, China by Lacime Architects; Landscape: Shanghai Wendao Landscape Design; Photo: Schran Images & Pei Hao

↑ Art Villas in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica by Formafatal; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Pool House in Shelter Island Heights, NY by General Assembly

↑ Zhejiang Perfect Production Factory (Phase1) in Haining, China by gad · line + studio; Photo: ...

10 new examples of pools & ponds in architecture

2019-09-13T03:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

↑ Poolhouse & Gallery in Whitefish, MT by CTA | Cushing Terrell; Photo: Audrey Hall

↑ Beautiful "Island" Over Didang Lake in Shaoxing, China by HYP-ARCH DESIGN; Landscape Design: GVL (Greenview Landscape International Design Group); Photo: Anqi Liu

↑ Residence in East Aurora, NY by Bushman Dreyfus Architects

↑ Sukhumvit 91 House in Bangkok, Thailand by Archimontage Design Fields Sophisticated; Photo: Chalermwat Wongchompoo

↑ Laurelhurst Garden in Seattle, WA by Mw|works Architecture + Design; Landscape Architect: Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape; Photo: Jeremy Bitterman

↑ Casa CAF in Hidalgo, Mexico by Estu...

Chennai, India's sixth-largest city, is nearly out of water

2019-06-27T15:54:00-04:00

In India's sixth-largest city, lines for water snake around city blocks, restaurants are turning away customers and a man was killed in a brawl over water. Chennai, with a population of almost 10 million, is nearly out of water. In much of India, municipal water, drawn from reservoirs or groundwater, typically runs for only a couple of hours each day. That's the norm year-round. The affluent fill tanks on their roofs; the poor fill jerrycans and buckets.

Chennai, the Indian metropolis with a population estimated to be larger than New York City, is facing a grim water shortage, and residents hope that officials can come up with short- and long-term measures to prevent "Day Zero" — just like Cape Town famously did during its severe water crisis two years ago.

Tarun Gopalakrishnan, a climate change expert at the Indian Centre for Science and Environment told NPR that the situation was shocking but not surprising; a crisis as the result of "a toxic mix of bad governance and climate change."

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.

10 laid-back examples of pools & ponds in architecture

2018-12-21T14:28:00-05:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

↑ Kauhale Kai in North Kona Coast, HI by de Reus Architects

↑ Banyan Tree Anji in Baishuiwan Village, China by gad; Soft Furnishing Design: YANG & Associates Group; Photo: Xiao En

↑ O Cuatro Residence in Mexico City by MIGDAL ARQUITECTOS; Photo: Rafael Gamo

↑ The Import Building in London, UK by Studio RHE

↑ CRCC Chongqing City Park Sales Pavilion in Chongqing, China by aoe

↑ Lake Austin Residence in Austin, TX by A Parallel Architecture

↑ G'Day House in Vancouver, Canada by Mcleod Bovell Modern Houses

↑ Light Tunnel - Lishui Corporate Office in Lishui, China by Usual Studio; Photo: Tim Wu

↑ Forest <> House in No...

World's first underwater residence opens in the Maldives

2018-11-12T15:21:00-05:00

The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has opened the world's first-ever underwater hotel residence. More than just a room or a suite (this is the Maldives, after all, so luxury is the name of the game), the two-story villa is set more than 16 feet below the Indian Ocean. Its name is "Muraka," which means "coral" in the Maldives' local language Dhivehi.

Image: Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

With the cold and gloomy season quickly approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, many wish to escape to warmer, balmier settings. If the idea of sleeping under the water sounds like your kinda thing and a sweet $50,000 a night isn't too much of an obstacle, then a trip to the Maldives should be at the top of your itinerary. Conrad Hotels & Resorts recently completed a one-of-a-kind underwater residence, Muraka, that's now taking reservations (previously on Archinect).

Before you pawn away your grandma's Buick to scrape together the 50K, be advised though that a minimum stay of four nights is required.

View this post on Instagram Hold your breath and discover the beautiful harmony above and below the ocean. THE MURAKA, unlike anywhere else in the world. Check out the full video on IGTV. . . #TheMURAKA @alessia.zecchini @thomas.midulla @martin.kreuzer @americanexpress #ConradMaldives #AmexCenturion #AmexPlatinum #AmexLife
A post s...

Is that Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye floating in a Danish fjord?

2018-07-31T13:57:00-04:00

A five-tonne, 6m tall model of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye has been towed into a fjord in Denmark and subsequently sunk as part of a summer art exhibition. Created by Danish artist Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen, the installation appears as a half-submerged vision of a once visionary future. It’s also a critical comment on the importance of modernity today.

"The project is a critical comment on the current status of modernity after the scandals of Cambridge Analytica, the Trump election and Brexit," Danish artist Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen tells ICON Magazine.

"After these scandals, I think our sense of democracy and the public sphere has been distorted through the new use of digital technologies to manipulate elections. Our sense of Modernity has been 'flooded'. I sense the need to 're-state' our political institutions - because our old ones have 'sunk'."

The Floating Art 2018 festival is still running until September 2 in the Danish town of Vejle.

A 350-foot artificial waterfall gushes down this Chinese skyscraper. Because, why not?

2018-07-26T16:23:00-04:00

As more skyscrapers rise to fill the skylines of Chinese cities, it’s getting harder to come up with original designs to stand out. That prompted a novel idea: How about a 350-foot waterfall on one side of the building? The waterfall was built as part of the Liebian Building in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province in southwest China.

Fortune reports that "the waterfall has generated some local controversy because the electricity needed to power its four pumps costs 800 yuan, or about $118, per hour—although the building’s managers say that the waterfall will run only on special occasions and use recycled water from rain or the tap."

One way to beat the summer heat.

This underwater residence is currently being built in the Maldives

2018-05-03T14:34:00-04:00

A luxury Maldives resort is about to take the sleeping under-the-sea phenomenon to a whole new level. Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is building a $15 million two-story hotel villa, part of which will sit 16.4 feet below the surface of the Indian Ocean. The property, believed to be the world's first undersea residence, is under construction in the South Asian island country and is due to be completed in November.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

If you're traveling to the Maldives and just can't get enough of that crystal clear water, then you can soon even sleep beneath the Indian Ocean (and watch the fishies watching you): Conrad Hotels & Resorts, part of the Hilton group, announced plans for the, what it calls, first-of-its-kind underwater residence.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

"The undersea bedroom floor level sits five meters (16.4 feet) below sea level, providing uninterrupted views of the surrounding marine environment," the project description explains. "With the adoption of state-of-the-art technology, Muraka's distinct design is akin to Ithaa's [the nearby underwater restaurant] with the curved acrylic dome, which boasts 180-degree panoramic views of the wonders of the Indian Ocean's intricate marine life."

Water woes are creeping up on Phoenix, America's fifth-largest city

2018-03-22T16:01:00-04:00

Phoenix and its surrounding area is known as the Valley of the Sun, and downtown Phoenix – which in 2017 overtook Philadelphia as America’s fifth-largest city – is easily walkable, with restaurants, bars and an evening buzz. But it is a modern shrine to towering concrete, and gives way to endless sprawl that stretches up to 35 miles away to places like Anthem. The area is still growing – and is dangerously overstretched, experts warn.

With cities in the Desert West, like Las Vegas and Phoenix, rapidly growing in size and population, water is becoming an evermore hot commodity; all while the source of that water, primarily the Colorado River, is becoming increasingly unreliable due to climate change.

"And yet despite the federal Bureau of Reclamation reporting in 2012 that droughts of five or more years would happen every decade over the next 50 years," writes Joanna Walters for The Guardian's Overstretched Cities series, "greater Phoenix has not declared any water restrictions. Nor has the state government decided its official drought contingency proposal."

Snøhetta's much-discussed underwater restaurant breaks ground

2018-01-19T13:51:00-05:00

The announcement of Snøhetta's design plans for a below sea restaurant called "Under" was one of the most discussed projects last year. The project, with an expected completion date of March 2019, will be the world's largest underwater restaurant, and the first of its kind in Europe.

Courtesy of Under.

SubMar Group, an interdisciplinary group of companies, are heading the construction process for the project, which began this week. The company is responsible for all wave calculations and the marine operations in the project. They have dimensioned and planned the construction, the shipping and the subsea installation, as well as calculated what the construction must be able to withstand from the fierce natural forces.

Photo Credit: Aina Regina.

"The project is a nice mixture of madness and reason. You definitely have to be a bit fearless in order to create something this spectacular" said co-owner of Under, Gaute Ubostad.

For construction, the structure will b...

Under the sea: new Snøhetta-designed underwater restaurant in Norway will be Europe's first

2017-10-23T17:34:00-04:00

Snøhetta has certainly not forgotten its Scandinavian roots — after unveiling a number of smaller projects this year tailored to the Norwegian and Swedish terrain, like a boat tunnel, a treehouse hotel, and a readymade cabin, the architects today presented designs for "Under," Europe's first underwater restaurant located at the southernmost tip of the Norwegian coastline.

Snøhetta describes Under as a concrete periscope that guides up to 100 diners from the rocky tidepools near the entrance down to a champagne bar (marking the transition between the shoreline and Neptune's world) and further down to the restaurant with its large, 11x4-meter panoramic acrylic window gazing out to the seabed.

The volume of the building is simple and the exterior is mostly wrapped in a thick, rugged concrete shell designed to withstand harshest weather conditions and be a welcoming breeding ground for mussels and related marine life.

Whenever the ki...

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Pools & Fountains" Pinterest Board

2017-07-14T15:17:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Pools & Fountains.

↑ Casa Narigua in Nuevo León, Mexico by P+0 Arquitectura

↑ Regent Park Aquatic Centre in Toronto, Canada by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA)

↑ Beiqijia Technology Business District in Beijing, China by Martha Schwartz Partners; Photo: Terrence Zhang

↑ PRESTON in Venice, CA by OBERMEYER

↑ Folly Point in Gloucester, MA by BUTZ + KLUG Architecture

↑ Three Views / A House in Tehran, Iran by New Wave Architecture (Lida Almassian / Shahin Heidari); Photo: Parham Taghioff

↑ A+M Residence in rural Mississippi by archimania

↑ Morgan Phoa Library and Residence in Los Angeles, CA by SPF:a - Studio Pali Fekete ar...

Louis Kahn's floating concert hall, Point Counterpoint II, is facing demolition, and Yo-Yo Ma wants it saved

2017-07-13T16:02:00-04:00

Anchoring in large cities and small towns, in busy shipping lanes and at public parks, the barge opens like a clamshell to reveal a glittering concert stage. Audiences on shore delight in the music, much of it specially composed for Maestro Boudreau and his American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Louis Kahn was commissioned to design Point Counterpoint II, a unique floating concert hall, by conductor Robert Austin Boudreau in the mid 1960s. Launched in 1976, the 195-foot structure carried an orchestra up and down America's waterways for five decades. Robert Boudreau and his wife, Kathleen, have recently decided that they cannot keep running the barge. At the conclusion of the Orchestra's 2017 tour, it will be broken down to scrap in a Louisiana shipyard—despite the owner's best efforts to find a new guardian for the unique, mobile cultural institution.

Drawing of Point Counterpoint II, by Louis Kahn

Point Counterpoint II, Photo courtesy of American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Point Counterpoint II, Photo by josepha on Flickr

Point Counterpoint II, Photo courtesy of American Wind Symphony Orchestra

Yo-Yo Ma, a French-born Chinese American cellist, recently wrote about his admiration for Point Counterpoint II, i...

Amazon's patent for "Aquatic Storage Facilities" could turn lakes into underwater warehouses

2017-07-13T15:53:00-04:00

American e-commerce giant Amazon has filed a patent with the US patents office for a system for storing and retrieving goods in an underwater facility. When an item is ordered for delivery, a sonic signal is transmitted from a buoy to the warehouse, which activates an air canister that inflates a balloon, allowing the chosen product to float to the surface where it would be dispatched to the customer.

Just last month, Amazon made headlines when it filed a patent for a drone tower design, essentially a multi-level fulfillment center for unmanned aerial vehicles in densely populated areas.

Now a recent Amazon patent for "Aquatic Storage Facilities" has surfaced, allowing us a glimpse into the engineers' quest to overcome limitations in storage capabilities, tackle inefficient use of space in vast fulfillment centers, and eliminate the extremely long distances staff members or robots have to cover when fulfilling orders.

United States Patent Office

"Because today's online marketplaces offer a wide variety of items to customers [...]," the patent description explains, "fulfillment centers now include increasingly large and complex facilities having expansive capabilities and high-technology accommodations for items, and feature storage areas as large as one million square feet or more. Therefore, in order to prepare and ship an order that includes a large number or different types o...

Reiulf Ramstad's proposal for a multivalent, inspirational Ross Pavilion in Edinburgh

2017-06-29T14:55:00-04:00

While no one can claim that they understand where inspiration comes from, most would agree that it doesn't hurt to have an unfettered view of nature in an architecturally inventive setting. Norwegian architects Reiulf Ramstad are among the seven finalists in the Ross Pavilion International Design Competition to design a new cultural pavilion for Edinburgh's West Princes Street Gardens, and their plans reveal a glass-walled, timber-framed structure that attempts to harmoniously look toward the future while not alienating the centuries-old architecture surrounding it.

Image: Forbes Massie Studio

The result is a surprisingly timeless pavilion that encourages contemplation, relaxation, and an appreciation of the Gardens.

Image: Forbes Massie Studio

As the architects explain, "The Ross Pavilion will be the focal point of the city of Edinburgh and its many visitors, but it can also be a symbolic place for all of Scotland as well. The intervention into the Gardens ...

Singapore's Marina Bay Sands gets a spiffy state-of-the-art laser and water show

2017-06-01T14:05:00-04:00

Marina Bay Sands is set to unveil ‘Spectra’, a new entertainment experience with state-of-the-art light and water show in June. The city skyline will glimmer with a kaleidoscope of colours and lights each night with Spectra’s free-to-public outdoor light and water show displayed over the water at the Event Plaza along the promenade. Combining an array of state-of-the-art lasers, lighting, water effects and projections, the show promises to be a multimedia extravaganza [...].

"The show will also boast specially developed underwater LED fixtures that allow lights to show perfect whites and richer colour hues. Other state-of-the-art technology used in Spectra include a synchronisation software called timecode, which enables the soundtrack to trigger, down to the millisecond, all of the lasers, lighting, projections and water effects in harmony each time."

h/t CTBUH