Archinect - News

Projected statistics on building for massive urban density in 2050

2018-08-27T13:28:00-04:00

If you live or work in a city, then you probably see the impact of growing urbanization every day—gridlock traffic, construction cranes peppering the skyline, soaring housing costs. Sure, these are major challenges and annoyances for city dwellers, but they also represent a huge opportunity for the global architecture, engineering, and construction industry: one that requires building the future for a 10-billion-person planet.

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 68% of the world population are projected to live in urban areas by 2050. Autodesk explores the implications for architectural growth in this timeframe with market research firm Statista. Take a look at the projected statistics on building for this massive upcoming urban density.

The world in 2065: what do social scientists think the future holds?

2015-11-13T11:36:00-05:00

There were great ideological battles in the past about work-life balance, but that was before ubiquitous streaming. I think happiness matters more than bitcredit, care dollars and the million other point schemes you could choose. Anyway, while I’m on holiday, as long as the geo-climactic conditions and my exertion levels show positive alignment, I get professional development credit and a dopamine rush! Everyone’s happy!

Sounds all sad.. Oh.., scratch that. Sounds bleak.

Book review: Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable Future

2015-04-22T18:40:00-04:00

I have to admit to a degree of wariness when I first opened Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World, a new book edited by Jared Green and published by Princeton Architectural Press. The introduction makes some bold claims for a rather slim book with little text. “We have the answers. We are both the cause of the problems and the solution to them,” Green writes with supreme optimism. The book is a collection of eighty projects that leading architects, urban planners, artists, critics and thinkers chose as a response to the question: “What gives you hope for the future?” The criteria for their responses stipulated that they must discuss a project they admire, not their own. And the results are as varied as one might imagine for a question that is both vague and expansive.

More than anything else, the responses highlighted the mutability of the term “sustainable” within contemporary architecture discourse. Some of the responses, such as that of Katrin Kling...