Archinect - News

How does one design against "magic" used to trap self-driving cars?

2017-03-21T12:45:00-04:00

As if the challenges of politics, engineering, and weather weren't enough, now self-driving cars face another obstacle: purposeful visual sabotage, in the form of specially painted traffic lines that entice the car in before trapping it in an endless loop. As profiled in Vice, the artist behind "Autonomous Trip 001," James Bridle, is demonstrating an unforeseen hazard of automation: those forces which, for whatever reason, want to mess it all up. Which raises the question: how does one effectively design for an impish sense of humor, or a deadly series of misleading markings?

Elaine Chao wants speedier approvals for DOT's infrastructure projects

2016-12-22T16:22:00-05:00

Nominee for Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao laid out her vision for DOT should the senate confirm her, and it's heavy on lifting regulations while breezing past funding issues. According to Politico:

Chao said she wants to reduce "regulatory burdens when appropriate." And she hopes to speed up project approvals regardless of whether infrastructure programs get a funding boost. “With or without a new infusion of funds, it is necessary to look at the existing processes for infrastructure development and find more efficient ways to address bottlenecks in planning and permitting,” Chao said. That response indicates Chao isn’t assuming Congress will pass a large infrastructure spending package.

For more on Trump's political cabinet of curiosities:

The spectre haunting San Francisco

2014-04-17T12:05:00-04:00

The housing dynamic in San Francisco raises the capital intensity of consumption. That contributes to an increase in the capital share of income and to the stock of wealth in the economy. Zoning restrictions are a tool of the oligarchy, effectively. I'm only one-fourth kidding.

The author(s) examine the origins/causes of the growing housing/rent crisis in American cities, such as San Francisco.

h/t David Madden