Archinect - News

An anonymous architect comments on the need for ‘degrowth’ in detailed manifesto

2022-08-15T09:00:00-04:00

Environmentalist blog Treehugger has published an exchange between the author of an anonymous new Twitter manifesto that outlines in 25 points the need to combat the capitalistic notion that endless growth is the only option for modern industrial societies. Patrik Schumacher and others are mentioned as examples of the industry’s bad side, with groups like Architects Declare and thinkers such as Tim Jackson, Jason Hickel, and Open City director Phineas Harper being cited as the clarions of a movement the latter says is more or less inevitable.

"We use 'degrowth' because, as architects, we sometimes get to control the consumption spigot a bit," shares the author and architect, who wished to remain anonymous during their conversation with Lloyd Alter of Treehugger. "Someday architects may be called upon, first and foremost, to make spatial interventions that create value for society and for future generations—more like caretakers or repairmen, and less as heroic form-givers who functio...

ASID projects future growth for interior design services

2020-07-06T15:08:00-04:00

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has published its latest monthly Interior Design Billings Index (IDBI) report, finding that the demand for interior design services is poised to grow considerably over coming months as businesses and institutions undertake additional interior retrofit projects as they move toward re-opening.

The report, published via the ASID website, finds that "while business conditions are still in contraction territory, the seeds of a recovery for interior design firms may be evident."

Previously on Archinect: "Architecture Billings Index: meager demand for design services continues."

The survey, like the American Institute of Architect's Architecture Billings Index (ABI), gauges new project inquiries, contract executions, and overall demand, and is measured using a similar scoring system whereby a score above 50 indicates a growth in demand. The survey for the month of May has a score of 43.5, up from 18.9 in April. The figure, according to ASID...

America's construction activity continues to show mixed signals

2019-10-13T15:00:00-04:00

"Construction spending in the commercial category, which encompasses retail space among other segments, is down nearly 12% on a year-over-year basis. Spending related to lodging, including new hotel construction, was down 0.7% for the month and is up less than 4% year over year. Spending in the power segment also decreased in August and is down 3.5% compared to the same time last year."

A recent report from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) looking at construction activity year-over-year shows a slight increase in construction spending for the year ending in August 2019. Total construction spending rose 0.3-percent relative to the same point in 2018, resulting in $773.8 billion of economic activity.

The report shows that private nonresidential spending is down nearly 2.8-percent from August 2018 while public non-residential construction spending is up 4.8-percent for the year.

ABC chief economist Anirban Basu tells Building Design + Construction, “All of this is consistent with a slowing economy, especially as measures such as industrial production and capacity utilization remain stagnant."

Basu added, “While this could be attributed to trade wars and a slowing global economy, construction dynamics are rarely so simple. Another likely explanation is that America’s growing shortage of skilled construction workers has driven up the cost of delivering c...

Labor Department: Manufacturing and construction job growth sags in 2019

2019-08-05T13:31:00-04:00

In particular, the new numbers confirm that there is a major slowdown underway in the creation of jobs making things: manufacturing, mining and construction. Those “goods-producing” sectors, as Labor Department classifications call them, added an average of 58,000 jobs a month in 2018. That is now down to 23,000 a month thus far in 2019 — and a mere 15,000 in July.

The New York Times reports that as most economic figures remain steady, a look at some of the "fine print" of recent economic data might be cause for concern, particularly within the manufacturing and construction sectors, which are seeing lagging job growth.

According to The New York Times, recent United States Labor Department figures indicate that a softening housing market and sagging investment in new construction have reduced the number of new construction jobs by 75-percent over the last year. Slowing growth has also hit the manufacturing sector, which is producing half as many jobs in 2019 as in 2018.

House Flippers are Cashing Out

2019-06-11T18:22:00-04:00

The number of homes that were flipped was actually down 8% from the previous year to a three-year low. And the number of investors engaging in home flipping has dropped 11% over the past year.

Life is hard for a home-flipper these days. As real estate prices have ballooned across the country, profit margins for renovated and re-sold homes have narrowed. As a result, the number of homes being flipped has fallen markedly in recent years. What does it mean?

Todd Teta, chief product officer at real estate data firm Attom Data Solutions told MarketWatch, “While the home flipping rate is increasing, gross profits and ROI are starting to weaken. If investors are seeing profit margins drop, they may be acting now and selling before price increases drop even more.”

Hyperloop One announces 35 semifinalists in 17 countries for its global challenge

2017-01-10T12:58:00-05:00

Whether you envisioned Hyperloop One as an overhyped pneumatic tube or an inventive way to transport cargo and/or passengers, 35 teams from 17 countries around the world have just been announced as semifinalists in the contest to create working transit corridors for the technology. The 35 proposed routes are sited in countries including Argentina, Poland, Australia, India, the U.K. and the U.S. (the full list is below). Finalists will be announced in May after three global showcase events where each team has the chance to demonstrate how their proposal will economically benefit their region. The showcases will be held in New Delhi on February 28th, Washington D.C. on April 6th, and London on April 27th. Twenty of the proposals currently have governmental or other funding sources already lined up.

Corridors in the semifinalist round include:
AR Buenos Aires-Cordoba
AU Sydney-Melbourne
CA Ontario (cargo)
CA Toronto-Montreal
CA Vancouver (cargo)
CH Shanghai-Hangzhou
DE Autobahn
EE Tallin-Helsi...

Manila's new "wavy" mixed-use tower opens in the city's booming financial district

2016-12-13T17:12:00-05:00

Despite recent geopolitical tensions, The Philippines is projected to have one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and one seeming indicator of that is the increasing number of tall corporate towers — some with, uh, distinctive designs — that are sprouting up throughout Metro Manila. Another one of those developments is the newly opened City Center Tower, a mixed-use building that will house the Philippine headquarters for major tenants like Google, Filipino telecommunications giant Globe Telecom, and American healthcare companies.

Designed by Brooklyn-based Carlos Arnaiz Architects (CAZA), who also has an office in Manila, the 30-story tower was completed this month in the booming Bonifacio Financial District. The building also features three floors of commercial retail and a rooftop restaurant. The building distinguishes itself by the "organic wave pattern" on its exterior facade, formed by a series of concentric circles that extend across the horizontal axes of each flo...

Trudeau stakes Canada's economic growth on architects

2016-08-23T14:09:00-04:00

With the U.S. presidential election coming up, a few Americans are considering moving to Canada, a move that actually might be lucrative if you're an architect. Responding to the forces of globalization, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is aiming to inject new economic life into his country by investing in traditionally brainy industries like architecture and accounting, as reported in this Bloomberg News article:

So if manufacturers won't do the heavy lifting, who will?

Enter Diamond. The world-renowned architect employs 180 people, including 140 architects, in an airy but respectfully renovated early 20th-century building in Toronto’s Fashion District. It was Canada’s education system that brought him to the country—he set up the post-graduate architect program at the University of Toronto in 1966—but his eye has always been turned outwards.

For more on architectural employment tips/trends:

Manchester's economic boom threatens its cultural identity

2016-06-09T07:27:00-04:00

Last year, Greater Manchester’s economy outgrew that of inner-city London. Further devolution of powers from Whitehall are about to be realised, and the campaign for the title of first elected mayor of Greater Manchester has picked up pace. However, Manchester is also about to contend with the capital in other ways. A major housing crisis lurks, and a growing deficit of office space needs to be dealt with. To make amends, Manchester’s skyline is heading for dramatic change.

Read more article concerning the housing crisis spreading across UK cities:

Connectivity matters most in global urban economic growth

2016-04-22T13:57:00-04:00

Cities are mankind’s most enduring and stable mode of social organization, outlasting all empires and nations over which they have presided...it is not population or territorial size that drives world-city status, but economic weight, proximity to zones of growth, political stability, and attractiveness for foreign capital. In other words, connectivity matters more than size. Cities thus deserve more nuanced treatment on our maps than simply as homogeneous black dots.

Global strategist Parag Khanna gives his outlook on the economic future of the world's megacities.

How Chicago's reviving Chinatown is building upon its history

2016-02-23T21:02:00-05:00

Most modern Chinatowns are serving less as a singular manifestation of Chinese-American life than as a central gathering place for people to experience Chinese culture...And indeed, Chinatowns themselves were often built on the ground of former ethnic enclaves that had organically dissolved...But as Chicago’s Chinatown demonstrates, this is not a predictable story. More than a hundred years after its founding, the neighborhood has a dynamism that can’t be neatly scripted.

As Chinatowns across the U.S. succumb to gentrification and shifting cultural preferences, writer Anna Clark spotlights the particular booming growth and expansion taking place in Chicago's Chinatown.

gmp to design new urban development in Shenzhen, China

2013-12-19T19:32:00-05:00

Architecture firm von Gerkan, Marg, and Partners won a large commission earlier this week to design a new urban development in Shenzhen, China. The 45-hectare project is part of an economic plan that China developed for the area.

"It comprises a transportation hub including five underground railway stations, a border control point and numerous commercial areas. Above ground there will be a range of tower blocks of different heights with apartments, shops and offices to form multi-functional city quarters."

Images © gmp

AIANY to host “Archinomics” discussion on Nov. 21

2013-11-13T15:26:00-05:00

Join the discussion on Archinomics: Effects of Predicted Global Economic Growth on the Architecture Profession on Thursday evening, Nov. 21 at The Center for Architecture in New York City.

Hosted by the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee, the two-hour discussion examines which countries are expected to experience the most economic growth and its effects on architectural global practice by the year 2020 and beyond. The event invites all architects, developers, and economists to share their opinions.

Attendants will get to engage on this pressing topic with featured speakers that include:

Joseph Brancato, AIA, Managing Principal, Gensler Architects
Giles Wrench, Managing Director international Desk, Jones Lang Lasalle
Jesse M Keenan, Research Director, Center for Urban Real Estate, Columbia University
Patrice A. Derrington, Chair, Global Real Estate Development Program, NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate

Archinomics is related to the exhibition Practical Global U...