Archinect - News

The Pentagon will install solar panel array as part of $55 million DOD initiative

2024-02-03T08:00:00-05:00

The Pentagon has announced it will be installing a solar panel array on its roof in a historic first that’s part of a new $55 million Department of Defense clean energy initiative at military installations in the United States and Germany.

The DOD has been active in attempting to mitigate the large carbon footprint caused by the U.S. military with similar conservation strategies for several years. The money for the new solar panels is being sourced from a larger Department of Energy program that will spend $104 million in total on 31 projects affecting ten other federal agencies. The DOD says this is necessary to bolster its energy resilience and defense operational capabilities while also improving the quality of life for service members living and working at bases full-time.

"We have a moral obligation to the people that defend our nation, to their famili...

ICON's latest military project will produce the largest 3D printed structures in North America

2022-04-11T18:01:00-04:00

The Department of Defense (DOD) has once again teamed up with construction technology company ICON to produce three residential structures for the Fort Bliss military installation in El Paso. At 5,700 square feet apiece, the DOD says they will represent the largest 3D printed structures in the Americas once construction is completed.

Companies had been prevented from even applying for DOD contracts until a recent change to the federal Unified Facilities Criteria (or UFC) allowed for the inclusion of 3D printing technology companies like the Austin-based startup, which immediately produced a design for a Marine Corps barracks facility at Texas’ Camp Swift Training Center.

Image courtesy of Logan Architecture.

Leapfrogging off of this past experience, ICON will again incorporate its patented Vulcan printer and Lavacrete material to create three separate barracks, designed by Austin-based Logan Architecture, that will be realized in a period of about ten months.

Photo courtesy of ICON

“T...

MVRDV and IBI Group among designers to turn former Marine Corps base into an expansive cultural hub in Southern California

2022-01-28T15:33:00-05:00

A diverse consortium of architects has been announced for a massive new development called Cultural Terrace on the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California led by IBI Group and MVRDV.

The firms will be joined by landscape architects Agency Artifact and the local women-run studio MAAM, with engineers from Buro Happold and Ryder Levett Bucknall serving in a consulting role.

Interior view of one of the existing military buildings. Image © IBI Group.

The 4,682-acre base was once home to Major League Baseball great Ted Williams, who was a Marine Corps aviator from 1943 until the end of the Korean War. The government deactivated El Toro in 1999, and it has since been converted into a popular TV and film location, as well as a fledgling public park, which the new development hopes to reinvigorate.

Exact uses for the Cultural Terrace are still being determined, but the 110-acre parcel of the Great Park may evolve in time to play host to a museum, library and...

Department of Defense plans climate adaptation strategies for military bases

2019-10-28T12:25:00-04:00

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is studying the ways in which it can update its departmental building standards in order to make military bases and other sites less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including the increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

During a recent joint hearing of the two House Armed Services Committee subcommittees, Robert H. McMahon, assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, told lawmakers, "As we look out over the last decade or two decades, the challenges and threats we face within our installations have grown dramatically."

McMahon added, "It's climate. It's the challenge we also face with regards to natural disasters, whether that be earthquakes, whether that be forest fires, whether that be deforestation or drought."

The efforts to guard against climate change-induced disasters by the military come as DoD officials work to meet a slew of "emerging threats" to military installations, including minimizing the...

Galapagos island to host US military base

2019-06-19T15:15:00-04:00

US aircraft will be able to use San Cristobal airport, Ecuador's defence minister Oswaldo Jarrin has been quoted as saying. The reported deal has prompted concerns over the potential impact on the environment and Ecuador's sovereignty.

The BBC reports that under a new agreement with the government of Ecuador, United States military aircraft will be allowed to use an airfield on the island of San Cristobal to "fight drug trafficking."

The islands are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their rich biological and ecological diversity. The plan has alarmed conservationists and Ecuadorian patriots, alike. The BBC reports, for example, that Ecuador's constitution regards the nation as "a territory of peace" and that the "establishment of foreign military bases or foreign facilities for military purposes shall not be allowed."

The extent of US military operations on the island is not yet known, but Telesur reports that the forces are expected to make "modifications" of some sort to the island, according to Ecuador's defense minister Oswaldo Jarrin.

US military 3D prints a concrete barracks prototype

2018-09-11T13:10:00-04:00

3D-printed construction seems a good fit for the military. The emerging technology is relatively portable and inexpensive, and could potentially even save lives if it means soldiers receive a safe barracks in a shorter time. With this in mind, the US Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) recently constructed a prototype concrete barracks in under two days with what it calls the world's largest 3D printer.

The US military 3D printed a basic barracks hut measuring 500 sq ft in just 40 hours at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Champaign, Illinois. The MCSC reported this technology reduced construction time from what would typically take 10 Marines 5 days to build a similar structure from wood. The military is currently conducting further research on incorporating 3D printed architecture in combat environments.

Megacities and the Future of Warfare

2017-05-15T00:14:00-04:00

The conclusions of the SSG research are clear: megacities are unavoidable, they are potentially the most challenging environment the Army has ever faced, and the Army is unprepared to operate in them...by 2030 there will be 662 cities around the world with at least one million inhabitants (compared to 512 today) and 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. The potential for operations in dense urban areas will rise correspondingly, presenting a challenge the Army cannot ignore.

Back in February, Maj. John Spencer made the case for why It's Time to Create a Megacities Combat Unit. A few days ago, he fleshed out the concept, by detailing "What would such a unit look like?"

Interesting to note, that rather than the more au courant image of a generic middle eastern/Arab city, the Major used a photo of Ho Chi Minh/Saigon for the essay published in Feb. Though the more recent essay, did use a photo of the rooftops in Cairo. Future mil-tech referenced includes; hover bikes, enhanced counter–unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) and soldiers skilled at Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA).

If you are interested in further U.S. Army Futures Ideation, check out SciTech Futures, where past exercises have explored everything from; Defending – and hacking – “Intelligent” buildings and Autonomous Infrastructure Destruction/Maintenance bots, to the simpler Crowd sourcing (of) innovation.

SHOP to design Syracuse University's National Veterans Resource Complex

2016-06-23T13:33:00-04:00

What should a National Veterans Resource Complex look like, exactly? SHOP Architects has been given the official opportunity to find out, courtesy of Syracuse University. The early renderings for this project, which the school in a release is careful to note "are conceptual in nature and may not reflect the final NVRC design" show a rectilinear, sloping tiered structure with a massive central open-air courtyard.

According to Syracuse University, the NVRC "will include classroom spaces to accommodate local and national veteran-focused programming. It will also house a conference center and a roughly 1,000-seat auditorium, which will be available for use by the whole campus and fills a critical space void."

The facility will be designed to be LEED-certitified.

News on other notable military/governmental-themed designs:

Monuments Men: U.S. Army struggles to recruit enough heritage specialists for conflict areas

2015-01-28T16:53:00-05:00

The US Army is looking to recruit the next generation of “Monuments Men and Women” to help preserve sites and cultural property in combat zones and to advise troops on heritage. [...] It is turning to museum directors, archaeologists and preservationists to fill these posts. [...] With extremist groups such as Islamic State using the destruction of cultural heritage as a tool of war, such expertise is needed more than ever.

Don't forget to register for YAC's Rome Community Ring competition

2014-12-22T18:14:00-05:00

Late registration began today for Young Architects Competitions' Rome Community Ring. If you want a chance to win, make sure to register by January 19, 2015 and submit your entries by January 26, 2015.

Students and professionals are encouraged to share their ideas on how to revive one of Rome's historical treasures, the 19th-century Forte Portuense, into a new cultural space for public recreation. Proposed designs must also include room for potential urban development. Built between 1877 to late 1881, Forte Portuense is one of several military fortresses and has remained preserved since military authorities abandoned the site in 1967.

Winners and cash prizes totaling €15,000 will be awarded when the competition ends in March 2015. An awards ceremony and exhibition will follow.

For more important competition details, click here.

Previous YAC competitions:

Wine Culture Centre

Post-Quake Visions

Marines To Conduct Training In Downtown LA

2014-12-08T14:16:00-05:00

It's not going to look like 'Apocalypse Now' by any stretch of the imagination. The Marine Corps has held similar training in recent years in Atlanta, Memphis and other cities. The military worked closely with the Los Angeles Police Department and notified property owners so no one will be caught off guard

Message and the purpose is clear. US Government is training for urban warfare and large cities are the training grounds. Once we are done with foreign urban centers perhaps the idea is to "bring it on home."

Of course, it's all under the disguise of fighting terrorism (or is it Ferguson?).

"There’s no terrorism threat out there that would be the reason that these exercises are being conducted, this is something that’s been kind of ongoing for a while. This is one location amongst many that the Marines are gonna be kind of exposing their people to.”

Touchscreen Landscapes

2014-10-31T17:24:00-04:00

This new, partly digital sand table interface developed for military planning would seem to have some pretty awesome uses in an architecture or landscape design studio. Using 3D terrain data—in the military's case, gathered in real-time from its planetary network of satellites—and a repurposed Kinect sensor, the system can adapt to hand-sculpted transformations in the sand by projecting new landforms and elevations down onto those newly molded forms.

What can ‘forensic architecture’ reveal about the conflict in Gaza?

2014-09-02T13:25:00-04:00

Weizman has also made a name for himself as the chief proponent of “forensic architecture”, by which he analyses the impacts of urban warfare for clues about the crimes that were perpetrated there. To Weizman, buildings are weapons. When he looks out across the landscape of the occupied Palestinian West Bank [...] he sees a battlefield. “The weapons and ammunitions are very simple elements: they are trees, they are terraces, they are houses. They are barriers.”

What Architecture Reveals About Secret Drone Strikes

2014-03-13T14:58:00-04:00

"It’s an attempt to really use architecture intelligence and design intelligence to unpack violations of international law," Weizman says of Forensic Architecture. Along with SITU Research, he and his team have developed a technique called video-to-space analysis to harvest spatial data from cell phone videos and photos, analyzing footage, sometimes from multiple sources, to model and recreate chaotic events to better understand what happened on the ground.

Bucky Fuller's war-shelters persist in peacetime thanks to New Jersey preservationists

2014-01-03T13:55:00-05:00

Conceived as low-cost, mass-produced shelters that could comfortably accommodate a family of four, the units, known as D.D.U.s, were manufactured in the early 1940s and distributed to military bases around the world. [...] Several institutions and individuals have expressed interest in acquiring Camp Evans D.D.U.s. “They’re important artifacts,” said Marc Greuther, chief curator of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., who hopes to exhibit one of the units with Fuller’s Wichita House.

Frank Havermans + Rietveld Landscape Unveil "Secret Operation 610" Thinkspace

2013-09-24T14:19:00-04:00

When aircraft Shelter 610 opens its ruthless doors, a monstrous black behemoth slowly comes driving out. The object revives the mysterious atmosphere of the Cold War and its accompanying terrifying weaponry. At an almost excruciatingly slow pace, the artwork uses its caterpillar tracks to cross the seemingly infinite runway.

Lending a new meaning to "think tank", the formidable Secret Operation 610 is now slinking its way across Airbase Soesterberg in the Netherlands. Both art piece and educational practice, the structure is designed by Studio Frank Havermans and Reitveld Landscape for SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public Domain. While the aesthetic is inspired by a Cold War military atmosphere, its interior serves as a research space -- conducted while Secret Operation 610 crawls across the landscape.

The "mobile sculpture" will first be home to students from Delft University of Technology, studying carbon-free and silent flight technology, but will ultimately be open to researchers from any discipline.

Check out Secret Operations 610 in action in the video below.

More on Secret Operation 610 from Studio Frank Havermans + Rietveld Landscape

A top-secret Czech bunker used by the Soviet army opens to the public

2013-08-27T15:34:00-04:00

A military bunker in Brdy that reportedly housed Soviet nuclear warheads during the years of the Cold War has been turned into an Atom Museum. It opened to the public last week attracting military buffs and historians from far and wide.

British artist Andy Goldsworthy is fascinated by US army's long history of tree planting

2013-08-16T20:23:00-04:00

“What I find so fascinating about the Presidio is that, in the heart of this military machine, there was a huge planting programme,” Goldsworthy says, referring to the fact that the park’s 300-acre forest was planted by the US military between 1886 and 1900. “They had quite a sophisticated sense of landscape,” he says. “They read the landscape in the way that sculptors do—or at least the way I do.”

Drone City - An Architectural Defense From Drones

2013-01-31T13:20:00-05:00

The idea for my final project, an architectural defense against drone warfare, came from the realization that law had no response to drone warfare. My own understanding of the ongoing [War on Terror pseudonym] as a civil rights issue is irrelevant, we only learn civil rights as a historical happening, not a current struggle. But architecture has a proud anti-legal tradition. Architecture is a way to protect people when law chooses not to.

Danish Architect Maps Every Plane, Helicopter Shot Down by Syrian Rebels

2012-10-22T17:29:00-04:00

a Danish architect and part-time aviation journalist is mapping each claimed shoot-down of Assad’s jets and helicopters, resulting in the first running tabulation of the cost — at least in terms of machinery — of the escalating Syrian air war. Bjørn Holst Jespersen’s map, sponsored by journalist David Cenciotti’s blog The Aviationist, marks 19 possible “kills” by rebel forces, as reported in the press or seen in YouTube videos.

Winners of Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS

2012-08-09T21:19:00-04:00

Architecture for Humanity has just recently announced the winners of its latest Open Architecture Challenge, [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS. The prestigious, bi-annual humanitarian design competition focused on re-imagining former military sites.

Iran ‘smart concrete’ to protect N-sites from US bunker busters

2012-03-20T12:23:00-04:00

Unlike conventional concrete, Iranian concrete is mixed with quartz powder and special fibers - transforming it into high performance concrete that can withstand higher pressure with increased rigidity. Due to its combination, the new Iranian-made concrete is an excellent building material with peaceful applications like the construction of safer bridges, dams, tunnels, increasing the strength of sewage pipes, and even absorbing pollution.

Weaponized architecture

2012-01-05T17:24:27-05:00

In Weaponized Architecture, architect Léopold Lambert looks at how architecture is conceived or instrumentalized as a political weapon. Lambert's study explores the power of architecture as a political weapon through history, from the wide 'boulevards' designed by Haussmann to allow for an easy movement of the artillery and cavalry in Paris to the mobile fences deployed by police forces during the G8 in Genoa to control mass demonstrations.

Architecture for Recovery: IDEO and Michael Graves Design a Home for Disabled Military Veterans

2011-11-30T18:07:10-05:00

Oftentimes, United States' military men and women carry the physical and emotional wounds of their service home with them, "find[ing] workarounds to cope with their surroundings based on individual capabilities and preferences." Today, IDEO and Michael Graves Associates see their work come alive as the U.S. Army Fort Belvoir and Clark Realty Capital unveil a new model for building accessible homes on military installations: the Wounded Warrior home.