Archinect - News

Freezing prisons: intentional design or unfortunate oversight?

2019-12-27T18:21:00-05:00

In a recent Vox report, writer Roxanna Asagarian delves into the troubling phenomenon of incarcerated individuals struggling to stay warm in their cells as temperatures drop throughout the winter season. Reaction from the public over the issue seems to be split with regards to how this inmate comfort should be handled.

Considering that prisons are often designed with the intention to deprive personal comfort in any sense, the issue of individuals being deprived of warmth isn’t unexpected.

Asagarian reports, "Because the US system of prisons and jails is so vast — including 50 state prison systems, the federal prison system, and nearly 3,000 jurisdictions that include cities, counties, and Indian reservations — and because there are no federally mandated laws on temperature control, American prisoners are exposed to a wide range of conditions. Even at the state and local levels, there are few laws around this, leaving incarcerated people at the mercy of the courts to implement prot...

A glimpse of the Warming Huts 2017 winning designs

2016-11-10T13:21:00-05:00

Recently concluding its 2017 edition, architects got to submit their most innovative designs for a temporary winter-hut installation. Once the winners are selected, they travel to Winnipeg near the end of January to bring their warming huts to life, and for all to enjoy during the winter months.

Winnipeg locals will get to see the latest winning designs of the highly anticipated Warming Huts Art + Architecture Competition next January, in time for the winter season. The 2017 edition recently concluded with three winners, a special invited installation by esteemed London-based artist Anish Kapoor, and another installation designed by local high-school student Sean Kohli from Nelson McIntyre Collegiate. Get a glimpse of the entries below.

Winner: “Greetings From Bubble Beach” by Team 888 from Chicago, Illinois

Winner: “Ice Lantern” by Lisa Tondino, Alexandra Bolen, Mathew Rodrigues & Drew Klassen from Nova Scotia, Canada

Winner: “Open Border” by Joyce de Grauw & Paul van den Berg from Rotterdam, Netherlands

2017 Additional installation: “On The Rails” by Sean Kohli, student at Nelson McIntyre Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Invited designer: “Stackhouse” by Anish Kapoor

More details on Bustler.

Previously:

"The Hole Idea" celebrates the simple joys of creating "spontaneous architect...

Restricted Areas: abandoned Soviet structures photographed in all their eerie beauty

2016-07-25T20:24:00-04:00

Danila Tkachenko is a Russian photographer whose series Restricted Areas crystallises the tendencies of many artists working on themes of the post-Soviet space. As Calvert 22’s Power and Architecture season demonstrates, there is a healthy interest in the abandoned or neglected buildings that once served as landmarks of Soviet ambition: the rack and ruin of utopia. What sets Tkachenko apart is the unforgiving simplicity of his compositions.

All photos from Danila Tkachenko's series Restricted Areas. For far more of these beauties, head over to Calvert Journal.

The Edmonton Freezeway may soon become a reality

2015-02-26T19:37:00-05:00

If all goes accordingly, Canada might get another ice-skating trail known as The Freezeway to turn Edmonton -- a city that can get average below-freezing winter temperatures up to five months in a year -- into a hot destination. Or more like a winter wonderland. Proposed by Edmonton-born graduate student Matthew Gibbs, the 11 km Freezeway is a climate adaptive trail that would enable users to skate to different parts of the city.

Gibbs got inspiration for the skating trail when former city councilor Tooker Gomberg suggested, perhaps lightheartedly, back in the 1990s that the city "crack the fire hydrants open in the winter and flood the streets so people can skate to work."

In the summer months, the Freezeway would become a greenway for bikes and walking. According to Gibbs, the trail would promote a more active winter lifestyle, winter programming and social activities, and an alternative method of sustainable transportation.

Since the Freezeway was one of three winners in the annual ...

Icy Storms and Freezing Temps Pummel the Eastern US

2015-02-18T15:01:00-05:00

The aftermath of a deadly winter storm paralyzed much of the eastern United States on Tuesday and forecasters warned of the worst cold in two decades from another arctic front this week.

From New England to the Carolinas and into the Midwest, winter has definitively come for much of the United States and forecasters are warning that the worst cold in two decades could be on the horizon:

The National Weather Service reported temperatures in the negative 30's in Saranac Lake, New York.
States of emergency were declared from Mississippi to Washington, DC, where the federal government shut down after getting hit with about 5 inches of snow.

According to NBC, Boston received more than 13 inches of snow, raising its total snowfall for this winter to 95.7 inches, a foot away from the all-time record. The city has spent more than $30 million on snow removal already this year, according to CNN. According to local news stations there, the MBTA (Metro Boston Transit Authority) is paying students, union workers, and anyone looking to make some cash $30 an hour to shovel snow. Prison inmates have also been enlisted to help remove snow, possibly for as little as 20¢ an hour (the med...

Harvard GSD to host talk on "Habitation in Extreme Environments: Alpine Shelter" exhibition this Friday

2015-02-11T18:58:00-05:00

Curated by Spela Videcnik, Rok Oman, and John T. Dunlop (Design Critic in Housing and Urban Development), the "Habitation in Extreme Environments: Alpine Shelter" exhibition currently at the Harvard GSD presents a prototypical alpine shelter that students designed in an option studio this past fall. A public lecture and discussion by Spela Videcnik will formally introduce the topic this Friday, February 13 at Gund Hall. The exhibition and lecture are free and open to the public.

Guided by instructors Spela Videcnik and Rok Oman of Ljubljana-based OFIS arhitekti, the studio focused on investigating architectural solutions and responses to extreme climatic conditions, specifically referring to the ongoing heavy wintry conditions that ravage the North region of the U.S. The students researched traditional European alpine settlements in an effort to find new architectural solutions fit for a North American context.

The prototype shelter that will be presented at this Friday's lecture prov...

Winners of Warming Huts v.2015

2014-11-26T18:51:00-05:00

The Warming Huts competition is back with its 2015 edition! The blind jury sifted through over 100 submissions from around the world for this season's most creative warming huts. The top three winning designs will be constructed at the Red River Mutual Rivertrail in Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. This year's competition awarded two Shelter category winners and one Installation winner.

(Above) SHELTER WINNER: This Big by Tina Soli & Luca Roncoroni from Dorebak Akershus, NORWAY

SHELTER WINNER: "The Hole Idea by Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited from Toronto, CANADA

INSTALLATION WINNER: Recycling Words by KANVA, from Montreal, CANADA

For more project details and other noted submissions, head over to Bustler.

Populous’ Fisht Olympic Stadium for Sochi Winter Games

2014-01-30T19:14:00-05:00

Olympic stadiums are nothing new for Populous, the global practice known for designing some of the world's iconic sports venues. With the Sochi Winter Olympics a few days away, we'll give a little headstart with a glimpse into Fisht Olympic Stadium -- which Populous was selected to design in 2009 -- before it makes its debut at the Opening Ceremony.

For more details, head over to Bustler.

"Stalactite" by APTUM Architecture - Warming Huts v. 2014 competition entry

2013-12-06T15:41:00-05:00

Here's a pretty cool Warming Huts v. 2014 submission we received from APTUM Architecture, based in the U.S. and Switzerland. As its name states, APTUM's warming hut proposal was inspired by stalactite formations that hang from the ceilings of caves.

Head over to Bustler to learn more.

Images courtesy of APTUM.

Warming Huts Competition v. 2014 winners

2013-12-05T15:07:00-05:00

It's that time of year again — when the Warming Huts Competition winners are announced, that is. Every year, the competition invites architects around the globe to develop their most innovative warming-hut designs. With no theme for v. 2014, the competition was met with a variety of submissions.

The international jury chose three winners out of 190 entries. As for the other three: one hut was selected for a separate University of Manitoba competition; one from an invited local architect (Étienne Gaboury); another hut — soon to be determined — will become a class project for Kelvin High School’s drafting program.

NUZZLES by RAW DESIGN INC. - Toronto
Red Blanket by Workshop Architecture Inc. - Toronto
Windshield by Kate Busby & Bella Totino - Vancouver
University of Manitoba winner: SKYBOX - Winnipeg
Étienne Gaboury's winner - Voyageur Hut
Kelvin High School - TBA

COLDSCAPES 2013 winning-design exhibition currently in Cleveland, Ohio

2013-11-19T15:26:00-05:00

From the COLDSCAPES design competition earlier this year, an exhibition of the winning designs is currently on display hosted by the Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative — a timely event as the weather grows colder in the U.S. Last Friday's exhibition opening also celebrated the book launch of "COLDSCAPES: Design Ideas for Winter Cities", the sixth volume in CUDC’s Urban Infill Book Series.

The COLDSCAPES exhibition will be open for one month at Star Plaza in Cleveland, Ohio.