Archinect - News

How financial technology benefits from architectural design

2018-04-16T16:13:00-04:00

Design lies at the heart of both architecture and software. People continuously try to define what design is (which maybe means designers are not good at designing design), and the reason is perhaps because there is no single type of design but several. Here I’m going to talk about three that are relevant to both architects and fintech: blueprint-based design, recipe-based design, and systems design.

David Galbraith, previously featured in our Working Out of the Box series, explores what financial technology can learn from architectural design by diving into three design types. Galbraith has worked for Norman Foster and Fisher Park, and is currently a partner with Anthemis Group, a VC firm that focuses on financial services.

Faraday Future's $1 Billion electric car factory in Nevada stopped in its tracks

2017-07-11T13:25:00-04:00

This is the second and likely final time construction will be halted on the one million square foot plant, which according to The Verge, was going to be Faraday Future's way of competing with fellow electric car manufacturer Tesla.

Faraday Future's "FFZero1 Concept Prototype." Image: Wikipedia

As the article notes:

It was just five months ago that FF was claiming that it was finally restarting construction of its proposed factory in North Las Vegas, almost 11 months after construction was first halted amid the company’s ongoing financial woes. Now it looks like that factory will never be built, as FF is reportedly looking into pursuing less ambitious (re: cheaper) options.

UNStudio to redevelop former Deutsche Bank site in Frankfurt

2017-03-02T14:22:00-05:00

It's a double-win for UNStudio in a plan to revive the former Deutsche Bank site in Frankfurt, Germany. Almost a year after being selected to design the masterplan, the practice announced today that they also had the winning architectural proposal...The mixed-use project is a key component in reviving the former bank site, which has been closed to the public for nearly 50 years.

Take a peek at UNStudio's winning scheme on Bustler.

Woods Bagot to design Australia's AUD $1.85 billion World Trade Center

2017-01-19T18:35:00-05:00

World Trade Centers aren't just for the northern hemisphere anymore: Perth, Australia will become the recipient of a two-towered, $1.85 Australian dollar World Trade Center designed by Woods Bagot. The uneven towers (one tops out at 36 stories, the other 75) still need official approval by the State Government, which plans to thoroughly vet both the proposal and the backers themselves in the more severe sounding Stage Two section of the process. However, by virtue of clearing Stage One, things are looking good for the buildings (and, let's face it, for Woods Bagot).

Greek museums can't afford to keep the doors open

2015-07-09T13:51:00-04:00

Major public cultural institutions in Greece are on the point of collapse, say leading Greek art professionals, as concerns mount that the country faces insolvency after 61% of the population rejected bailout proposals earlier this week made by international creditors.

Student loan default rates don't tell the whole story

2014-09-24T12:44:00-04:00

This week, the U.S. Department of Education will release data on the percentage of borrowers who have defaulted on federal student loans over the last three years. Schools with high rates of default face consequences. [...] Is default the student’s burden? Or the institution’s? And the federal government doesn’t always consider a would-be borrowers’ credit risk the way private lenders can.

Cooper Union board votes for tuition to begin Fall 2014

2014-01-10T21:03:00-05:00

The Working Group plan puts forward a number of recommendations that are worth pursuing under any financial model. However, we believe that the contingencies and risks inherent in the proposals are too great to supplant the need for new revenue sources. Regrettably, tuition remains the only realistic source of new revenue in the near future.

Below is the entire email announcing the Cooper Union's decision to start charging tuition this fall, breaking the school's 153-year tradition.

Catch-up on the history behind the controversial move, explained in Archinect's 13 top issues of 2013: #5: Free Cooper Union

To: The Cooper Union Community
From: Richard S. Lincer
Date: January 10, 2014
Subject: Working Group Report

In late June 2013, an ambitious plan took shape to provide an alternative to a tuition-based financial plan for The Cooper Union. Authored by trustees, faculty, staff and alumni, this alternative came to be known as the “Working Group Report.” In December, the board began a rigorous review of the assumptions underlying the financial plan that had been adopted by the board in April 2013, and studied in depth the specific recommendations of the Working Group.

This review was conducted by everyone on the Board of Trustees with the assistance of the Huron Group, The Cooper Union’s financial consultants. ...

David Harvey: 'The financial crisis is an urban crisis'

2012-06-08T14:34:00-04:00

David Harvey, theorist and author of Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution, says that postwar capitalism can be understood with reference to the history of urbanisation and suburbanisation. Urban investment gets you out of a crisis but defines what the next crisis is going to look like, he argues. The emerging powers of the east are now in the midst of a massive urbanisation project and could fall victim to the same outcome.

Future Olympics: A Reusable, Floating Venue

2011-04-19T11:06:31-04:00

Inspired by artificial structures for marine environments, Burt developed a conceptual array of Olympic facilities, including a stadium, that could be transported along waterways and moored in major port cities.

Michael Burt, professor emeritus of architecture at Technion Israel Institute of Technology, has developed a proposal for a re-usable, floating venue to host Olympics events.