Archinect - News

Modular design revolution behind Crystal Palace construction revealed

2024-09-19T14:43:00-04:00

The Crystal Palace was not only a marvel of Victorian ingenuity but also a symbol of Britain’s embrace of industrial progress and modernity, reflecting the nation’s aspirations on the world stage

The Guardian reports that the mystery of how the Crystal Palace was built in just 190 days has been solved, crediting the success to a highly innovative building process. Joseph Paxton, the architect, employed a modular design using prefabricated iron and glass components, which were mass-produced in factories. The building's structure relied on standardized parts, such as cast-iron columns and girders, which were quickly assembled on-site. This efficient, industrial approach reduced construction time significantly. Additionally, the design’s use of lightweight materials and the repetition of simple units allowed for fast and precise assembly, revolutionizing construction techniques and setting a precedent for future large-scale architectural projects.

Upcycled skyscraper earns 3XN a spot on Fast Company's 'world’s most innovative companies' list

2023-03-03T10:55:00-05:00

Copenhagen-based 3XN has been included in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2023 list. The 50-company-strong list is described by Fast Company as the “definitive chronicle of the novel ideas transforming business and society,” ranging from ChatGPT creator OpenAI to the art collective Mschf.

Sitting at number 32 on the list, 3XN was included “for upcycling an aging skyscraper into a modern office building,” referencing their recently completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia. The 46-story tower has set a high-profile precedent for adaptive reuse and upcycling in tall buildings, with 65% of the original 1976 structure retained including 95% of its core.

Image credit: Phil Noller

“[Quay Quarter Tower] proves that even something as massive as an outdated office tower can be upcycled into something beautiful and relevant,” Fast Company said. “As a growing number of towers age in cities around the world 3XN’s innovative design presents a vision for how to implement a replica...

Innovation-minded Ingeborg Rocker has been appointed Chair of Georgia Tech's School of Architecture

2022-08-31T06:07:00-04:00

The School of Architecture at Georgia Tech University has announced the appointment of Ingeborg Rocker as its new Chair and William Harrison Professor of Architecture effective September 1st.

Rocker joins Georgia Tech after working in the software industry and holding separate academic positions at the Harvard GSD between 2005 and 2020. She co-founded her own Boston and Hong Kong-based practice, Rocker-Lange, in 2006 and will now look to enhance the school’s highly-technical course offerings by leveraging a reputation for engineering and building science that has long been associated with the 137-year-old Atlanta institution.

“At its core, architecture is trans-disciplinary,” she explained in a university press release, “ranging from vision and design innovation to technical and material realization. It is a unique discipline that can be theo...

Zuckerberg's metaverse is only the latest chapter in big tech’s relationship with architecture

2021-11-10T11:14:00-05:00

Over recent weeks, Facebook’s rebranding and embrace of the metaverse has added a further dynamic to the role of digital space in our future lives. While the definition of the metaverse has been adapted numerous times since its coining in Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk novel Snow Crash in 1992, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg describes it as an immersive digital experience where users can “do almost anything you can imagine—get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create—as well as entirely new categories that don't really fit how we think about computers or phones today.”

The recent discourse surrounding the metaverse is of interest to architects for two reasons. Facebook is far from the first company to imagine or build a metaverse; adaptable virtual worlds have captured our fascination for decades through games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Sims, or World of Warcraft. In our previous interview with Kazys Varnelis from the Network Architecture Lab, we discussed ...

Bosnian man builds rotating house to give his wife diversified views

2021-10-15T13:50:00-04:00

To appease his wife wanting more diversified views from their home, 72-year-old Vojin Kusic designed and built a fully operational rotating house.

The unique project was born through the couple’s former home, which Kusic routinely remodeled to meet wife Ljubica’s desires. After altering the home so that the family’s bedrooms faced the sun, Kusic says his wife grew frustrated at not being able to see people entering the front yard, which faced away from the road because of the previous remodel.

As reported by Associated Press News, Kusic said, “I had to tear down the wall between our two bedrooms to turn them into a living room and move all (electrical) installations. It was a very demanding task, it took a lot from me, but I did what she wanted.”

With more desired remodeling, Kusic decided to build an entirely new house that could adapt to Ljubica’s needs.

“Once again, this time on the ground floor, I had to start tearing down some walls, at which point, to not wait for her to ch...

ZGF's Aggie Square development at UC Davis takes a step forward

2020-07-09T17:46:00-04:00

The first phase of a new ZGF-designed innovation district slated for the University of California, Davis campus has taken a step forward.

The 1.2 million-square-foot development will span 8.25 acres and is set to include 200 housing units, 500,000 square feet of science, technology and engineering spaces, 250,000 square feet of classroom and coworking facilities, and 30,000 square feet of commercial uses, all spread out across four buildings.

View of the new buildings surrounding Aggie Square.

For the private-public partnership project, coordinated between the university and developers Wexford Science & Technology, ZGF has designed a series modulated glass-wrapped mid-rise towers surrounding the development's namesake plaza. The buildings offer porous connections to the tree-filled plaza space, and feature arcades and ground floor commercial spaces.

The district is designed specifically to "co-locate private industry investment, robust 'innovation infrastructure' for startups, as w...

These are 'The 50 Most Influential Tall Buildings of the Last 50 Years'

2019-10-23T16:00:00-04:00

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has published a list of "The 50 Most Influential Tall Buildings of the Last 50 Years" ahead of its 10th World Congress happening in Chicago next week. Celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary this year, the high-profile roundup places special focus on the accelerated new phase of innovation that has been happening in skyscraper construction since the late 1960s.

"Across these examples, we see the arrival and departure of the distinct International and Post-Modern styles, as well as the overlapping parametricism and contextualism that dominates the contemporary scene," declares the CTBUH announcement.

Image courtesy CTBUH.

"We see the transition from symbols of North American corporate power to broadcasting devices for the arrival of entire cities and countries on the global stage. The importance of environmental sustainability takes on as important a role as cultural and economic longevity."

Besides the obvious picks (Burj Khal...

Mexican nopales could spur an eco-plastic revolution

2019-07-05T13:49:00-04:00

At the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac in Guadalajara, Sandra Pascoe has successfully used nopales to create biodegradable plastic. It was a series of trial and error for Pascoe, who first started by taking small pieces of dry nopal, which she would then pulverize and mix with other ingredients. But it was too slow a process and she found that the material oxidized too quickly. Eventually, she eventually starting using the liquid inside the prickly pear and found success.

Does the answer to the world’s plastic pollution problem lie in the thick, sticky sap of Mexican cactus fronds? Sandra Pascoe, a researcher at the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac in Guadalajara, Mexico, thinks so. Her team is busy finding ways to transform the syrup into solid, plastic-like materials that decompose without the need for complicated industrial processes and can be made from renewable materials.

Pascoe told Efe, “Basically, the plastic is formed from the sugars of the liquid in the nopal. That the viscous consistency allows for a solid material to be produced.”

Will synthetic polar bear hair revolutionize architecture?

2019-06-14T18:36:00-04:00

Materials scientists in China have developed an insulator that reproduces the structure of individual polar bear hairs, while scaling toward a material made up of many hairs for real-world applications in architecture and aerospace. Polar bear hairs are hollow, and the shapes and spacing of their hollow centers is responsible for their distinctive white coats, as well as being a source of incredible heat-holding capacity, water resistance, and stretchiness.

Shu-Hong Yu, professor of chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of China and co-author of the paper titled Biomimetic Carbon Tube Aerogel Enables Super-Elasticity and Thermal Insulation published in the journal Chem, writes, “Polar bear hair has been evolutionarily optimized to help prevent heat loss in cold and humid conditions, which makes it an excellent model for a synthetic heat insulator."

The Chinese researchers have experimented with creating hair-sized hollow carbon fiber tubes that can be spun into larger configurations called "aerogel blocks." These "blocks" can then be used as building-scale industrial materials, potentially as surface finishes or insulating material. The resulting material has been found to be not only lighter in weight than other aerogels, but can also function to repel water, retain heat, and stretch into flexible configurations, Earth.com reports.

Professor Yu added, “By making tube aerogel out of carbon tubes, we can design an anal...

Berkeley's housing innovation center launches cost-saving startup lab

2019-05-24T20:15:00-04:00

A growing number of entrepreneurs are leading the way, challenging our antiquated housing system and creating new ways for housing to be more equitable and affordable across the board. However, they need support navigating the complex policy environment and accessing the necessary capital. The Housing Lab will advise promising ventures while they evolve their business models and connect them with the industry leaders and capital to achieve greater scale.

In California, the collapse of proposed statewide legislation that would have eliminated single-family zoning and could have boosted density along transit corridors has left housing activists scrambling.

While state legislators regroup to tackle the structural issues, like zoning, underpinning California's housing crisis, the Terner Center for Housing Innovation is putting its money on...well, money. This week, The Terner Center, a partnership between the College of Environmental Design and the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, unveiled the nation's first housing innovation startup lab focused on lowering the cost of housing. The group has partnered with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and is currently accepting applications from existing housing innovation ventures that are ready to be incubated to success.

Applications for the inaugural cohort are due June 10th.

Urban design practice ecoLogicStudio harvests photosynthetic microalgae to help de-carbonize our cities

2018-11-09T14:24:00-05:00

The London-based architectural practice ecoLogicStudio, which specializes in bio-digital design, has developed a large-scale installation which stores and filters CO2 to help fight global climate change. Their 'urban curtain'—dubbed Photo.Synth.Etica—was unveiled this week in Dublin during the 2018 Climate Innovation Summit, where it covered the main façade of the Printworks building at Dublin Castle.

Composed of 16, 2 x 7 meter modules made from a digitally designed and custom made bioplastic, the curtain acts as a photo-bioreactor, harvesting light and carbon dioxide to feed living micro-algal cultures.

Photo.Synth.Etica by ecoLogicStudio © NAARO

"For example, when the Printworks building emits CO2, this is captured by each of our facade’s photo-bioreactors and feeds the living algae cultures within them" explains ecoLogicStudio co-founder Marco Poletto. And "when the sun shines, its energy is captured by the algae cells within the photo-bioreactors that are designed to form an urb...

What past designs for outer space can teach us about the future

2018-08-20T14:45:00-04:00

A drawing in [Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's] 1883 manuscript Free Space might be the first depiction of humans in orbital weightlessness. Four figures float in a spherical spaceship, each pointed in a different direction, disoriented... This basic design — primary thruster, secondary retro rockets, axial gyros for orientation — has been used by all crewed Russian and American spacecraft to date, including the International Space Station.

Looking back at the history of outer space design, Fred Scharmen brings past innovations into the present with applications for our future. Starting back in 1883 with the first design for humans in outer space (seen below), Konstantin Tsiolkovsky imagined a new way of thinking about spatial design.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Free Space, 1883. Image: Russian Academy of Sciences.

Scharmen follows this path of design up through 1975 with Princeton physicist Gerard O’Neill's project, funded by NASA, to develop habitats for civilization in space. A team of engineers, space scientists, physicists, artists, urban planners, and architects were assembled to create isolated and controlled interiors for humans to live in.

Bernal Sphere, 1975. Image: Rick Guidice/NASA Ames Research Center.

Habitats like the Bernal Sphere were created as exercises in imagining completely new systems of design. Scharmen advocates that these outer space design exercises are the key to innovation for design both on and...

A floating university by Berlin firm Raumlabor explores the future of architecture schooling

2018-07-30T16:31:00-04:00

Created by architects Raumlabor, the Floating University in Berlin invites students and experts from all over the world to explore solutions for future urban challenges. It’s said that the things we learn at university today will be outdated by the time we graduate. So what does a learning environment look like where students research cities of the future?

Berlin-based firm Raumlabor have created a floating university running through the summer months to explore new learning environment possibilities. Located in a rainwater basin in Berlin, the temporary structure is under constant development with students, professors, and experts implementing their ideas.

Floating University by Raumlabor, located in Berlin. Image: Raumlabor.

The floating university includes a library, workspaces, an auditorium with a pool, an experimental kitchen and bar, and a water-filtering system. Students are invited from the fields of architecture, design, arts, and sustainable technology to participate in this hands-on program. The University will be dismantled in September with all materials either rented and returned or used for upcoming projects.

UNStudio's new tech start up, UNSense, launches with smart city and solar brick innovations

2018-03-14T19:50:00-04:00

UNSense, a new arch tech startup based in Amsterdam, is being launched by UNStudio. Operating as an independent sister company to UNStudio, the company will explore and develop new integrated tech solutions specifically designed for the built environment.

UNSense explores new technologies related to the built environment. Image: UNSense.

The new tech innovation boasts a wide range of collaboration with data analysts, algorithmists, neuroscientists, policy makers, students, municipalities, sociologists, economists, data architects, business case modellers, financial specialists, architects and more.

CitySense will collect data through sensory digital infrastructure. Image: UNSense.

Initial technology solutions include CitySense and Solar Brick. CitySense collects data through sensory digital infrastructure in order to design experiences improving life in the city. Trials are currently running in South East Amsterdam and a number of other Dutch cities.

Solar Brick allows for massive ...

Is it time for maintenance to be valued over innovation?

2017-07-24T18:46:00-04:00

To shift our focus from innovation to maintenance would also create an opportunity for greater political consensus. Maintenance is an area of public policy where conservatives and progressives should see eye to eye.

As Andrew Russell and Lee Vinseljuly of NY Times point out, officials in federal, state and local government do not allocate the resources necessary for preventive maintenance. The authors argue that American conception of technology is narrow and immature—obsessing over gadgets and fetishizing innovation.

All varieties of American infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports, sewers — are in decrepit condition. Lead poisons the water systems of Flint, Mich., and hundreds of other cities and towns across the nation. The American Society of Civil Engineers considers 17 percent of American dams to be “high hazard potential,” including the one outside Oroville, Calif., that nearly collapsed in February.

It’s not just maintenance that our society fails to appreciate; it’s also the maintainers themselves. We do not grant them high social status or high salaries. Typically, maintenance is a blue-collar occupation: mechanic, plumber, janitor, electrician. There are white-collar maintainers (l...

This bacteria-infused concrete "heals" when cracked

2017-05-11T12:35:00-04:00

While there's no word on what would happen if someone skinned their knee on this bacteria-infused concrete, the premise is certainly intriguing in theory: concrete that patches cracks in itself for up to 200 years after its initial formation. Here's a brief video outlining the process:

L.A. Mayor Garcetti proposes gondola lift to the Hollywood sign

2017-05-09T19:36:00-04:00

To snap a photo of the Hollywood sign, tourists have clogged hillside streets and hiking paths, spurring battles in Hollywood Hills neighborhoods and in court over how people should be able to access the iconic landmark. Now Mayor Eric Garcetti has floated an alternative: Building a gondola to ferry visitors to the beloved sign.

Instead of having to evade trespassing laws (or take the long way around), those who want to visit the Hollywood sign up close may be able to simply take an aerial gondola lift if Mayor Eric Garcetti's recent remarks become a reality. As this article notes:

Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said in a written statement Monday that the mayor was "open to exploring ideas that ease congestion and encourages creative thinking when looking at ways to give Angelenos and tourists better access to the Hollywood sign and other iconic landmarks and destinations.”

Ceiling tile that wirelessly charges devices unveiled at CES 2017

2017-01-05T17:24:00-05:00

The days of having to purchase astonishingly expensive replacement charging plugs accidentally left behind on trips, or for that matter of lugging around charging plugs in general, may be over. At this year's CES in Las Vegas, licensing company Ossia is unveiling a drop ceiling tile that purports to wirelessly charge a variety of devices, depending of course on how close the device is to the tile. The more tiles, the chargier: up to four Cota Tiles can be combined to provide the maximum radius and charge to those battery-draining devices. As the press release explains:

Each Cota Tile contains Ossia's wireless power smart antenna technology that automatically powers Cota-enabled devices — from tablets to smoke alarms. Cota Tile has proven safe for operation around people, pets and plants. It is environmentally friendly and does not interfere with Wi-Fi or other wireless technologies while continuously streaming power to multiple Cota-enabled devices, even as they move around a room. C...

British construction criticised for lack of innovation by government report

2016-10-20T11:47:00-04:00

The review highlights the sector’s dysfunctional training model, its lack of innovation and collaboration, and its non-existent research and development culture. Low productivity continues to hamper the sector, while recent high levels of cost inflation, driven by a shortage of workers, has stalled numerous housing schemes as they have become too expensive to build.

When innovation runs shallow: What's the commotion with eVolo winner New York Horizon?

2016-04-08T20:46:00-04:00

“New York Horizon” would be virtually impossible to implement in the real world, given the actual urban landscape of the proposed site, which includes some of NYC's subway lines for starters. That being said, the criticism “New York Horizon” has sparked in recent weeks raises bigger questions — particularly involving the rise of “meme-tecture”, the cultural value of landscape architecture, and re-evaluating the setup of open ideas competitions.

Previously on Archinect:

2016 eVolo Skyscraper Competition winners revealed

2015 eVolo Skyscraper Competition winners imagine the potential of vertical architecture

2014 eVolo Skyscraper Competition Winners

What Separates Actual Innovators From Those Who Just Talk About It?

2015-06-01T11:21:00-04:00

"...we’re losing focus on the how and why of innovation. We throw the word around so casually that it’s starting to become synonymous with the idea itself. But let’s be clear: An idea is not innovation. Innovation is about matching need with execution. It’s about changing the conversation and following through."

Chief Innovator at PUP, Michael Bricker, pens a brief article on the need for stamina in the design field.

I and others have often argued here that "design" doesn't end after the initial concept sketch, that in fact this is where design begins: in the wrestling of the idea into reality and the multiple thousands of decisions that have to be made along the way.

Buckminster Fuller tells the tale on His Geodesic Life in a mini storybook-style audio interview

2015-03-17T13:40:00-04:00

Quoted Studios — the creators of the acclaimed animated interview series Blank on Blank — introduced The Experimenters, a brand new mini interview series that offers a peek into the minds of iconic figures in science, technology, and innovation. The first episode, which aired today, shines the spotlight on ol' Buckminster Fuller on His Geodesic Life. The other two episodes will feature anthropologist Jane Goodall and theoretical physicist Richard Feynman.

Like a storybook, the short film features a recorded audio interview with Bucky by renowned broadcaster Studs Terkel from 1965 and 1970. "Everyone aware of his work agrees that Buckminster Fuller is one of the original minds of our time," Terkel remarks in the introduction. Colorful animations by Jennifer Yoo accompany Fuller's distinctive run-on conversational style and maintain a sense of charm as Fuller talks about how his own environment — particularly his own personal struggles and painful experiences — catapulted his architect...

How Barcelona and Philadelphia Are Turning Procurement Upside Down

2014-07-21T15:38:00-04:00

Rather than laying out exactly what it wants to buy (say, bike lockers), Barcelona is laying out six problems it wants to fix (such as reducing bike theft). Responses could involve buying things, but they might also suggest new services, regulatory changes or any other means of accomplishing the goal. Anyone around the world with a creative idea, including startup companies or even individuals, has a shot at a contract and all the market legitimacy that comes with that.

Disposable architecture?

2014-04-17T13:23:00-04:00

I’d asked Stokes whether the technology challenges of designing a building to last 100+ years are more difficult today than they were in, say, 1900 — or if it’s as difficult, just different. He said the challenges might be more difficult today, but regardless, maybe technology is changing the solution: we shouldn’t try to design buildings today to last 100 years, but design them so they’ll last for, say, 20 years and then be replaced.

Seventy-six nominations listed for Designs of the Year 2014

2014-02-11T21:27:00-05:00

Nominations were announced for Designs of the Year 2014 -- the event where work from the "cool kids" in the big world of design are sure to be found [...] A total of 76 nominees include international stars, crowd-funded start-ups, and student projects. A winner in each category and one overall winner will be announced later this year. All nominations will be exhibited at London's Design Museum starting March 26 - Aug. 25, 2014

Here's a small selection of this year's nominated designs.

Architecture - MAKOKO FLOATING SCHOOL - Designed by NLÉ, Makoko Community Building Team Photo by NLÉ

Furniture - NEW INTERIOR FOR UNITED NATIONS NORTH DELEGATES’ LOUNGE (NEW YORK) - Designed by Hella Jongerius, together with Rem Koolhaas, Irma Boom, Gabriel Lester and Louise Schouwenberg. Photograph by Frank Oudeman

Graphics - CHINEASY - Created by ShaoLan Hsueh with Illustrations by Noma Bar. Photo by Brave New World

Digital - LEGO CALENDAR - Designed by Adrian Westaway, Clara Gaggero, Duncan Fitzsimons, Simon Emberton. Photographs by Adrian Westaway

Find the complete list at Bustler.

Six winners for the 2014 New Practices New York competition

2014-01-31T15:28:00-05:00

The AIANY New Practices Committee officially announced the winners of the 2014 New Practices New York competition at the Center for Architecture in New York this week. The portfolio competition acknowledges young architecture and design firms and promotes their innovative work. Qualified firms had to be founded no earlier than 2004 and be based in New York City's five boroughs.

Out of 64 entries, the jury selected six winners:

Pictured project above: NAMELESS Architecture

Bittertang

dlandstudio architecture + landscape

Fake Industries Architectural Agonism

form-ula

PARA-Project

Find out more about each winner on Bustler.

Images courtesy of the 2014 New Practices New York competition.

Innovators in California architecture take part in M&A exhibition, opening tomorrow in Long Beach

2014-01-24T17:55:00-05:00

Heads up to our Angeleno readers looking for weekend plans, come to the opening reception of "Materials & Applications: Building Something (Beyond) Beautiful, Projects 2002 - 2013", taking place on Jan. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m at the University Art Museum in Cal State Long Beach.

Starting tomorrow, the M&A exhibition will feature works of the most active, up-and-coming names in California architecture.

Below is a handful of the works in the show:

Bubbles by FoxLin

Fat Fringe by Layer

Light Frames by Gail Borden

Yakuza Lou by Eddy Sykes

Find the complete list of exhibitors and other details on Bustler.

Images courtesy of Materials & Applications.

Killing Architects wins New Generations film competition on the future of architectural practice

2014-01-14T15:19:00-05:00

In the ongoing discussion of the future of the architectural profession, New Generations has announced the Rotterdam-based firm Killing Architects as the winner of their first competition. All architects and creatives under 40 were invited to submit short films that show innovative forms of architectural practice and their own interpretation of the shifting role of the architect -- in both a construction industry and societal context.

Check out Killing Architects' winning response

Editor's Picks #349

2014-01-07T14:37:00-05:00

For the latest edition in The Deans List interview series, Amelia Taylor-Hochberg spoke with Sarah Whiting, Dean of the Rice School of Architecture in Houston, Texas.

Therein, Dean Whiting discussed her belief that one of "the biggest challenge faced by any architect today is how not to get squelched by ridiculously low budgets and a lack of understanding of architecture’s value", the unique Preceptorship year a signature part of RSA’s undergraduate program and their new one-year Master of Arts in Architecture program called Present Future.

Donna Sink was super-impressed "Wow, awesome interview and program sounds so great. It sounds like an intense and focused community yet one that respects each individual's passions and small areas if interest. Plus I LOVE that it offers a BArch with a year of internship! Great model".

News
Looking back on 2013, Christopher Hawthorne architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times wrote "it suggests that the idea around which I organized my r...

Philanthropic, SWAT team urbanism...

2013-12-29T21:44:00-05:00

"The organization, to be called Bloomberg Associates, will act as an urban SWAT team, deployed at the invitation of local governments to solve knotty, long-term challenges, like turning a blighted waterfront into a gleaming public space, or building subway-friendly residential neighborhoods...In a twist on the traditional business model of consulting, clients will not be charged".

Michael Barbaro reported that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is creating a high-powered consulting group, Bloomberg Associates, to help him reshape cities around the world long after he leaves office. The work will be a continuation of sorts for the Innovation Delivery Teams, a $24 million 2011 initiative by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help mayors effectively design and implement solutions to pressing challenges in their cities.