Archinect - News

New York City is still slow in meeting its 2030 solar pledge

2023-04-14T17:48:00-04:00

New York City has pledged to reach 1,000 megawatts of solar energy by 2030 — enough energy to power 250,000 homes, according to the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Justice. But state data shows that its current pace of installation will land short of that goal, leaving officials and advocates looking for ways to break down barriers to installation.

As Gothamist reported, 90% of the city’s energy grid is derived from fossil fuels. The effort to counteract this with rooftop photovoltaics is being stymied by the building codes and cost of installation, despite remarkable gains in solar capacity overall.

A proposed new program called Public Solar NYC could offer solutions, along with a slate of regulatory changes. The city’s tax burden is notoriously tough on low-income families, adding to the frustration that the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance's Daniel Chu and others feel as the deadline draws near.

“Most of the power plants in New York City are located within environmental justice communities with overwhelming numbers of affordable housing or NYCHA projects,” he told the blog. “They are currently missing out on the opportunities that other folks in wealthier communities and non-disadvantaged communities can take advantage of. We need to prioritize disadvantaged communities in the process of transitioning out and building t...

An MIT-born startup is pitching their idea for green roof additions to the Parisian skyline

2023-04-05T16:45:00-04:00

A new startup born out of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning has developed a green roof concept aimed at improving the quality of life of Parisians while addressing a host of environmental and urban health concerns for the ancient city of 2.1 million.

Roofscapes is the brainchild of Master of Architecture students Eytan Levi, Olivier Faber, and Tim Cousin. The trio all hail from France and met while studying as undergraduates at the EPFL Lausanne. Together, they see the concept as a way to “unlock” the potential of the thousands of pitched roof structures throughout Paris that have for centuries gone unused.

“We knew we wanted to have an impact on the built environment that was different than what a lot of architectural firms were doing,” Faber told MIT News for a recent profile of the venture. “We were thinking about a startup, but mostly we came to MIT because we knew we’d have a lot of agency to grow our skills and competency in adapting the built environment to the cli...

MVRDV launches digital tool that lays out design possibilities for Rotterdam's rooftops

2022-11-28T17:21:00-05:00

At the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, MVRDV’s computational design arm MVRDV NEXT, multidisciplinary planning organization Superworld, and the Municipality of Rotterdam announced RoofScape, a software that visualizes potential uses for rooftops in Rotterdam.

RoofScape was designed to be used by both professionals and citizens while being detailed enough to assist policymakers and urban planners. As noted in MVRDV’s press announcement, rooftops have become one of Rotterdam’s urban planning priorities. This program builds on prior work between MVRDV and the Dutch city, who launched Rooftop Catalog in 2021, a book containing 130 suggestions for how rooftops can be utilized to increase Rotterdam’s density. The suggestions range from providing more housing and leisure spaces to fostering biodiversity and energy generation.

Image courtesy of MVRDV

The software works by color-coding roofs by what uses they can support. The possibilities are determined through a wide range of ...

MVRDV's vibrant new Rotterdam Rooftop Walk is officially open. See the first photos here.

2022-05-27T13:13:00-04:00

MVRDV’s latest public installation is underway as Rotterdam Rooftop Walk officially commenced on Thursday, Ascension Day, in the nation’s second-largest city.

Image © Ossip van Duivenbode/MVRDV

The installation is conceived of as the studio’s decades-long experimentation with urban rooftop space and commemorating the start of Rotterdam Architecture Month, the 600-meter-long (1,968 feet) bright orange walkway made its debut for the press ahead of a public unveiling of the adjacent viewing platform called The Podium scheduled for June 1st.

Image courtesy MVRDV

Located on the pergola of the Het Nieuwe Instituut space designed by Jo Coenen in the city’s Museumpark district, the installation is first accessed via a set of 143 bright pink stairs and serves as a showcase for the coterie of creative professionals displaying the capacity for such spaces to be used for greenery, water storage, food production, and energy generation.

Image © Ossip van Dui...

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 ...

MVRDV's The Podium at Het Nieuwe Instituut seeks to showcase the role rooftops can play in urban design

2022-03-01T19:13:00-05:00

Expanding on its long and studied history of demonstrating the capacity for rooftop spaces to produce a better urban environment, MVRDV has now revealed plans for a bright, new, temporary event space on top of the Jo Coenen-designed Het Nieuwe Instituut that will serve as the heart and arteries of Rotterdam’s Rooftop Walk and Architecture Month this summer.

For a little over ten weeks, the 600-square-meter space can be accessed via a 143-step staircase leading into an elevated viewing platform on the pergola of the Instituut and is meant to engage visitors with an informative view of the neighboring Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and Museumpark in addition to its built-in program of creative inspiration.

Image © MVRDV

Rising to a height of 29 meters (95 feet), the temporary platform is meant to highlight the city's rooftops' amazing potential to reduce the sprawl as it provides Rotterdammers with the ability to pursue a host of green activities ranging from energy product...

10 green rooftop spaces we liked this week

2021-05-14T14:24:00-04:00

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 Rooftop Spaces.

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

↑ 500 West 21st Street in New York, NY by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)

↑ Vertical Loft in New York, NY by SKOLNICK Architecture + Design Partnership; Photo: Thomas Loof

↑ Jackson Tech House in Jackson, WY by Cushing Terrell in collaboration with Hoyt Architects; Photo: Gibeon Photography

↑ Tsuga Townhomes in Seattle, WA by Wittman Estes (the firm was also featured in Archinect's Studio Snapshots series); Photo: Miranda Estes

↑ ARTSPACE in Vienna, Austria by BEHF Architects; Photo: Hertha Hurnaus

↑ Mariposa1038 in Los Angeles, CA by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects (learn what it takes to work at this firm in Archi...

Rooftop trees planted at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

2020-04-13T13:44:00-04:00

Tree planting has commenced at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the anticipated art depot that will feature exhibition falls, a sculpture roof garden and restaurant, and expansive public grounds.

Photo by Fred Ernst. Courtesy of MVRDV.

As part of the tree installation, 75 large birches will be lifted 35 meters to the roof of the depot. The rooftop forest was designed in collaboration with MTD landschapsarchitecten from Den Bosch. The tree species are Betula pubescens, a soft birch that grows to ten meters and is said to be resistant to varying weather conditions.

Photo by Arjen Ketting. Courtesy of MVRDV.

Expected to remain standing for several decades, the trees will be maintained via a special watering system to ensure the soil will never dry out.

10 breezy rooftop spaces for your Friday inspiration

2019-07-12T07:00:00-04:00

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 Rooftop Spaces.

↑ Diane Von Furstenberg HQ in New York, NY by WORKac; Landscape: Town and Gardens; Photo: Elizabeth Felicella

↑ Park Avenue Rooftop in New York, NY by Murdock Solon Architects

↑ QUAD HOUSE in Beijing, China by ARCHISTRY design&research office

↑ Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School in Irvine, CA by LPA Inc.

↑ Harmony Apartment Renovation in Glyfáda, Greece by schema architecture & engineering; Photo: Nikos Alexopoulos

↑ M·Cube in Beijing, China by MVRDV; Photo: Seth Powers Photography

↑ The Ritz Carlton Moskau / O2 Lounge Terrace in Moscow, Russia by destilat Design Studio GmbH; Photo: Monika Nguyen

↑ SL11024 in Los A...

Amsterdam's Rooftop Festival shows off the boundless potential of the roofscape

2018-06-22T18:24:00-04:00

This evening, 20 rooftops across the city of Amsterdam have opened up their typically unused space in sky for a series of unique programming. Part of the city's Rooftop festival, these spaces will be hosting three-course dinners, live music, rollerskating, guided tours, and even a Symposium teaching participants how to maximize their rooftops, by making them greener and more accessible.

The event is being put on by ROEF Collective, an organization keen on celebrating the green possibilities of the urban rooftop landscape. Currently, only 2% of Amsterdam rooftops are in use. The five entrepreneurs behind the group are hoping to grow this number, with plans for 10% of rooftops in the city to be in use by 2025!

10 airy rooftop spaces for your Friday inspiration

2018-05-11T09:00:00-04:00

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 Rooftop Spaces.

↑ The Standard at South Market in New Orleans, LA by Morris Adjmi Architects

↑ Vancouver Convention Centre West in Vancouver, Canada by LMN Architects; Landscape architect: PWL Partnership Landscape Architects Inc.

↑ Birdhouse in Buffalo, NY by asap/ adam sokol architecture practice

↑ Peter's House in San Francisco, CA by Craig Steely Architecture

↑ Fifth Avenue Penthouse in New York, NY by Shenton Architects in collaboration with Sharmila McConnell and Christoper Stevens; Photo: Peter Murdock

↑ Row House 1 in Brooklyn, NY by Office of Architecture; Photo: Rafael Gamo

↑ Gates Family Foundation Offices + Roof Deck in...

Kohn Pedersen Fox's Brooklyn Point features the highest residential infinity pool in the Western Hemisphere

2018-02-06T14:15:00-05:00

A new development in downtown Brooklyn boasts a residential infinity pool atop the 68 story building. The tower, Brooklyn Point, was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and features luxury residences with custom interiors by Katherine Newman Design.

The heated, infinity edge pool is situated 680 feet above grade and will be open Spring through Fall offering wide-sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.

Rooftop infinity pool in Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates designed Brooklyn Point tower. Image: Williams New York.

Designed by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, the landscaped rooftop retreat also features a sun deck, outdoor dining area, changing rooms and showers, outdoor movie screenings, and a stargazing observatory.

On a related note: another high-rise infinity pool sparked one of the most epic comment discussion threads in Archinect history revolving around the safety of such a design.

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Rooftop Spaces" Pinterest Board

2017-08-25T20:32:00-04:00

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 Rooftop Spaces.

↑ Mayfair House in London, UK by Squire and Partners; Photo: Gareth Gardner

↑ J+K Residence in New York, NY by STUDIO V Architecture; Photo: David Rahr

↑ Ocean Deck House in Bridgehampton, NY by Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects; Photo: Matthew Carbone

↑ PH Fuentes in Monterrey, Mexico by P+0 Arquitectura

↑ Wooster Street Loft in New York, NY by Space4Architecture

↑ deckweiß in Berlin, Germany by brandt+simon architekten

↑ Tsinghua Ocean Center in Shenzhen, China by OPEN Architecture; Photo: Zhang Chao

↑ David Zwirner, 20th Street in New York, NY by Selldorf Architects; Photo: Todd Eberle

↑ Celtic Museum in Glauburg,...

New Rooftop Observatory launched at Bold Tendencies

2017-07-25T05:36:00-04:00

Peckham’s famous multi-storey car park has a new addition; a new viewing gallery created by Cooke Fawcett. The young practice, based in London’s creative Clerkenwell, was formed just two years ago, by directors Oliver Cooke and Francis Fawcett, after working on the Tate’s Switch House at Stirling-prize winning practice Herzog & de Meuron.

This project, a spectacular kiosk and viewing gallery for arts space Bold Tendencies, will not only provide breathtaking views of London but also act as an interactive setting for installations and specially commissioned art pieces. This arts-focused structure joins (and benefits from) Peckham’s famous rooftop hangout, Frank’s Bar. Over the past decade, the Peckham multi-storey car park has been slowly transformed by Bold Tendancies, through a programme of culture. Immersive public space and unique views have drawn over a million visitors south of the river, to this unlikely home of the arts.

Francis Fawcett: “For an avant garde cultural institut...

New $150M PTFE membrane roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium blocks the rain but not the noise

2016-09-06T12:59:00-04:00

Watch professional tennis, and you'll notice that silence makes up a significant part of the game, to the point where spectators can hear the bounce of the ball each time it lands on the playing surface. The acoustics of the new Rossetti Architects-designed roof for the Arthur Ashe stadium, which reportedly is amplifying crowd conversations when it it closed as well being so noisy during a recent rainstorm that according to John McEnroe it's "hard to hear yourself think," are problematic. Ironically, the 210,00 square foot PTFE membraned retractable roof was installed partly to avoid rain delays during play. As BusinessInsider.com notes:

"It turns out that even casual conversations among fans were amplified as the noise reverberated inside. The roof was eventually fully closed during the second set, and the atmosphere reportedly sounded more like a ballpark and not like a tennis venue the players are used to."

Bi-parting Fixed Fabric Shell

For more in sporty architectural news:

HOK wi...

Forget solar panels: Elon Musk is thinking "solar roof"

2016-08-11T12:41:00-04:00

Why place individual solar panels on top of a pre-existing roof when you could just build an entire roof with solar technology integrated into it? Elon Musk, CEO of the financially underperforming Solar City and Tesla, sees it as an obvious solution. According to CNNMoney, he said that "If your roof is nearing end-of-life, well, you've got to get a new roof anyway. And so, why not have a solar roof that's better in many others ways as well?"

Although details on the solar roof are still elusive, Musk did note in a blog post that he'd like to build the roofs by integrating SolarCity's technology and Tesla's home battery storage systems.

For more on Musk:

A video tour of MVRDV's "The Stairs"

2016-05-26T17:12:00-04:00

It's not exactly a staircase to heaven (more of a "symbolic arising of the city after World War II"), but the intimate rooftop views provided by MVRDV's "The Stairs" of Rotterdam are spectacular. Plus, the gleeful discussion of temporariness by architectural video duo #donotsettle's Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost is worth a watch alone, along with a cameo by MVRDV co-founding director Winy Maas:

Ten Top Images on Archinect's NEW "Rooftop Spaces" Pinterest Board

2016-04-01T18:26:00-04:00

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 brand new board Rooftop Spaces.

↑ A Hard Working House in London, UK by Urban Projects Bureau; Photo: Richard Leeney

↑ Hotel Básico in Playa del Carmen, Mexico by Central de Arquitectura

↑ Harrison Street in San Francisco, CA by Dawson and Clinton

↑ Sculptural rooftop & garden in Chicago, IL by dSpace Studio

↑ 930 Poydras Residential Tower in New Orleans, LA by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple

↑ Chelsea Roof Terrace in New York, NY by James Cleary Architecture, Landscape Design: Rumsey Farber Landscape Architecture; Photo: Jason Valdina

↑ DNA Model Management in New York, NY by Calvert Wright Architecture | Spatial Discipline; Photo: Bjorg Magnea

↑ Xafix House ...

The disappearing barsati, or rooftop dwellings, of Delhi

2015-12-21T17:33:00-05:00

Buildings in Delhi’s residential areas were restricted to two storeys, with construction permitted on only a fraction of the space on the third floor, so on top of homes, families built small dwellings for their own use, as accommodation for domestic staff or to rent out cheaply. Exposed to the elements, the single room on the top floor became known evocatively as the barsati – derived from the Hindi word for rain, barsaat.

"These apartments – generally, a small shack with a large terrace – afforded a new generation of urbanites cheap living space near the centre of town... But it’s a typology that, as land values rise and the population grows, is fast disappearing. While there are no official figures, anecdotal evidence suggests that in the 1980s, 75% of small rentable properties in many residential suburbs were barsatis – the same areas today have only a few dozen such properties, but many more apartment blocks."

A garden is the roof of a meeting room in a loft office by jvantspijker

2015-11-03T11:28:00-05:00

Jvantspijker urbanism architecture has redesigned the main space of an old steam factory in the Delfshaven neighborhood of Rotterdam, to become an open loft office. A central glass meeting room, with a pantry and stairs leading to the plant-filled roof organizes the large warehouse space in a single sweeping gesture, transforming it into a generous and optimistic working space.

The transformed office space is situated in a waterfront factory, called ‘De Fabriek van Delfshaven’. De Fabriek is a multi-tenant building in which a large number of creative offices are housed. In the last two years, this factory has become a vibrant working community where design studios, software companies and progressive small businesses are housed together in one of the oldest areas of Rotterdam.

The central design idea behind the transformation of the office was to keep the scale, transparency and lightness in place and to connect the office to the main atrium of the building. Therefore the central elem...

Moscow skaters reclaiming hidden spaces on top of Soviet-era buildings

2015-09-03T13:28:00-04:00

Moscow's landscape is filled with Soviet-era buildings, many of them shuttered after the privatisation programme of the Nineties. Built for the people's benefit, they are now shut away off from public access, patrolled by security guards, most of whom never dream of exploring the upper floors. But it is the roof of the Moscow pavilion that brings us here. Because of its concave shape the roof looks like a giant skate ramp. My friends and I want to see if it can perform like one too.

Head over to Calvert Journal for many more stunning photos by Pasha Volkov.

In other daring-Russian-kids news on Archinect:

Urban homesteading done right: Look at this hidden rooftop cottage in Manhattan

2015-06-18T13:45:00-04:00

Flying above New York City in a helicopter can be a beautiful thing, until you look down and see that someone has stolen and is living your dream life in a bucolic cabin on a rooftop in the West Village. Is there anything more enviable in the real estate racket of NYC than a house on a regular old apartment building's roof? [...] the porch is basically a glorified bulkhead over a hole punched in the ceiling of the family’s loft to make way for a nautical stairway that rises to a landing [...].

Require a little more luxury for your Manhattan rooftop abode? A mere $250 million could buy you this.

Old MacDonald had a farm (on a Toronto rooftop)

2015-06-10T14:53:00-04:00

Green roofs are nice, but rooftop farms are better. They’re the future of living architecture, say international green roof advocates who gathered in Toronto last week. [...] “We have a handful of agricultural green roofs and all of them are community projects,” like Eastdale Collegiate, Ryerson’s Engineering building and the Carrot Common, said Peck. “But we don’t have any commercial-scale agriculture on roofs — that’s the next thing.”

French parliament orders new buildings to switch to green rooftops

2015-03-25T17:29:00-04:00

Paris wants to consume 25% less energy and emit 25% less emissions by 2020. Paris is also the site of this year’s major United Nations conference on climate change. While France currently gets about 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy, and has lagged behind other European countries like Germany and Denmark in developing green technologies, it certainly seems to have some momentum headed into the important November conference.

It's not literally every single building in France. The approved law only requires the rooftops of new buildings in commercial areas to be fully or partially covered with either solar panels or plants.

A glimpse at Havana's rooftop dwellers as urban landscape transforms

2015-03-19T20:19:00-04:00

In overcrowded Central Havana and in the historic quarter, the shortage of places to live and play and find much-needed privacy pushed the city upward, spilling onto the rooftops.The technical term for it is 'parasitic architecture.' The Cuban government doesn’t encourage the practice, but in the city’s oldest and most dilapidated neighborhoods, longtime roof-dwelling families...were usually allowed to stay. The parasites became permanent.

Havana's rooftop-dwelling communities brace for more change -- at least in tourism -- in the bustling city below, as Cuba and the U.S. re-establish relations.

Rescuing Washington's Skyline

2014-10-20T17:10:00-04:00

Clinging to antiquated urban notions, the District’s building height regulations imagine a skyline filled with spires, domes and minarets.

The debate over the Capital's skyline should not pit preservationists against contemporary designers. In fact, regulations that take advantage of the rooftop space would contribute to the monumental character of the city.

Chinese School puts running track on its roof

2014-09-02T00:49:00-04:00

In use since September 1, 2014, an elementary school in Tiantai, Zhejiang province, built a 200-meter running track on the roof of its school building. In "School puts running track on its roof" Chinese architect Ruan Hao [LYCS Architecture], chief architect of the teaching building, said "that breaking the tradition of a running track on the ground might provide a solution for other schools with limited land."

The "No 2 Elementary School of Tiantai Chicheng district" - located near Hangzhou - is one of the 11 case-studies that is part of the "ADAPTATION - architecture and change in China"-exhibition - one of the 21 Collateral Events of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia - curated by prof. Marino Folin & MovingCites, and hosted by the EMGdotART Foundation at Palazzo Zen in Venice.

As part of the exhibition, and in co-production with China Daily Video, EMGdotART Foundation created a short documentary on the construction of this project called "Ruan...

Hong Kong, from the perspective of crazy, fearless Russian kids

2014-08-25T20:07:00-04:00

Safety regulations are weird. All the exits are viewed with cameras; each door is equipped with an alarm (or even two), which notifies the police and building security in case of an alert. However, usually you don’t need any permission to get to the business center, and all the doors are open during working hours Monday to Friday, all the alarms are switched off. So, if you are interested in city views from the height without having any problems with the police, just buy a ticket to Hong Kong.

Japanese Commuters Grow Veggies On Train Station Rooftops

2014-03-24T20:10:00-04:00

Rooftop farms have been established all over the world to enable growing food in dense urban areas. In Japan, a whole new kind of an urban rooftop farm was opened recently. Soradofarm is an urban agriculture project that uses the rooftops of train stations to accommodate urban gardens for waiting train passengers that want to use their transfer time to relax and train their gardening skills.

Rooftop Farms to Deal with Growing Food Crisis

2013-05-01T10:34:00-04:00

Some of the most densely populated cities across the globe are tackling population growth and food shortages by establishing more rooftop farms. Vertical farms are popping up on unused rooftops in cities across the globe and the outcome is extremely positive.