Archinect - News

DoD-funded study helps predict building maintenance costs using climate data

2024-10-22T16:17:00-04:00

A new study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) using climate data to predict the cost of maintenance for military facilities threatened by extreme weather events has outlined new approaches for estimating condition loss and reduction of services. The findings, which can be applied to civilian organizations with similarly large building portfolios, aim to "understand the risks that may be present in certain buildings and building systems" with the aid of a specially-developed damage matrix (or DAM).

The risk calculations from the DAM are then applied to specific facilities to compute potential damages.

Iowa State University associate professor Christina Patricola, who led the team national researchers, explains: "We calculate future changes in extreme weather based on climate model simulations and translate it to estimate how much certain components of a building are expecte...

Neri Oxman announces formation of OXMAN research practice in NYC

2024-09-27T15:41:00-04:00

Neri Oxman, the former MIT professor and winner of the 2018 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, has launched a new operation called OXMAN and based in New York City.

Promising a "radical new species of design practice," Oxman, who is collaborating with Foster + Partners on the realization of its 36,000-square-foot space on 11th Avenue in Manhattan, described it as a "design and innovation company that creates new technologies, products, and environments across a range of scales and applications, from the molecular to the urban scale."

Image: courtesy of OXMAN

Initiatives will be pursued in three main project areas and their corresponding platforms. Throughout, a press announcement for OXMAN states, the project will advocate for "synergy between biology and technology, moving towards products and buildings that are designed for the immediate and long-term well-being of human civilization and the natural world."

Photo: Nicholas Calcott, Courtesy of OXMAN

The first, Oo (pronounced 'O-Ze...