Archinect - News

U.S., Canada, and Mexico update tri-national reciprocity agreement for architects

2024-10-08T19:22:00-04:00

A new tri-national Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) has been signed by the three largest North American groups representing professional architects in their respective countries.

The updated agreement between the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada (ROAC), Mexico’s Comité Mexicano para la Práctica Internacional de la Arquitectura (COMPIAR), and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) recognizes the competencies latent in the initial licensure/registration processes while removing several post-licensure barriers to eligibility.

Victoria Rodríguez Mosqueda, the President of the Federación de Colegios de Arquitectos de la Republica Mexicana (FCARM), said the latest MRA amendment "includes more accessible requirements that will increase its potential coverage, while reducing the economic burden."

The revised agreement pertains to the existin...

A lack of product standardization is hindering mass timber’s growth in North America, expert warns

2024-07-15T11:43:00-04:00

Product standardisation—or the lack thereof—is a major obstacle to mass timber adoption, especially in the lower-rise and mid-rise “sweet spots.” It comes as Europe is miles ahead of North America (Asia-Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand) in developing mainstream mass timber systems.

“They [North America] have a mature market where woodworkers and integration shops work alongside billet producers to service the market,” Adrian Mitchell told the outlet. “It is not about whose panel size got designed by the engineer into a project from the start, giving that manufacturer an advantage because no one else produces that panel size, which is happening here.”

Nevertheless, an increase in demand within the U.S. has led to forecasts that the total domestic market, which was valued at $179.4 million last year, will reach $655.6 Million by 2032, according to Yahoo! Finance.

On the comparative difficulty of family-sized apartment dwellings in North America

2024-05-24T12:04:00-04:00

One major consequence of this difference in design is that the North American double-loaded corridor buildings are much worse at providing family-sized units. To illustrate the point, we’ll go through the different sized apartments one by one, and compare the floor area and design. You’ll notice that the American plans have significantly more floor area for the same number of bedrooms, and have much more lightless interior space up against the common corridor to fill.

Stephen Smith is a former journalist and the Executive Director of the Brooklyn-based Center for Building in North America. His analysis of spatial challenges created by multifamily apartments and zoning conditions was featured recently in Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast. This is an adroit relaying of an issue affecting both developers and architects in pertaining markets and compliments an earlier 2021 report on post-pandemic trends in multifamily residential design from the website Propmodo.

Smith writes: "The merits of North American building and zoning codes can be debated, but the effect is clearly that apartments, in order to provide the same number of bedrooms and give everyone a window, must necessarily consume far more floor area than point access block designs possible in other countries. So if you’re looking for a family-sized apartment in the U.S. or Canada and finding that new buildings don’t have what you’re looking for, it’s not you, it’s not the architect, and it’s not ...

North American crane count drops 18% year-over-year

2024-04-14T08:00:00-04:00

Rider Levett Bucknall’s (RLB) latest crane count index report, a key indicator of economic activity in major sectors, has shown a marked decrease in the overall count from its previous edition. Calgary, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles have seen an increase in crane counts, with the majority (73%) active at either residential or mixed-use projects. However, on a year-to-year basis, the count is down 18% (a difference of 94 cranes) and another 9% when compared to its previous Q3 edition.

Conversely, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Portland, San Francisco, and Washington, DC have seen decreases in excess of 20%, while totals for Honolulu, Phoenix, Seattle, and Toronto have remained steady.

RLB states: "Despite the continued downturn in cranes, we remain cautiously optimistic. Ongoing investment in manufacturing and infrastructure will help offset any decline in privately funded projects in 2024. Overall, construction spending will be driven by public funding for manufacturing and in...

North American crane count experiences 10% decrease from Q1 to Q3 2023

2023-10-27T18:51:00-04:00

According to Rider Levett Bucknall’s (RLB) latest crane index report, the total number of cranes on commercial projects in North American cities has decreased by 10%, or by 51 cranes, from the first quarter to the third quarter of 2023.

Out of the fourteen cities surveyed, six experienced a decrease in the number of cranes by greater than 20%, two saw an increase, and six remained the same. RLB attributes the decline to the amount of projects approaching completion during this period. Additionally, as interest rates continue to rise, private-sector construction is showing signs of slowing down.

Toronto continues to feature the most cranes, with 240 cranes, over nearly 200 more than any U.S. city measured. Boston experienced a 122% increase in cranes, joining Toronto as the only cities that saw an increase in crane counts. Seattle led cities in the U.S. with 45 cranes, followed by Los Angeles with 30.

As noted by RLB, despite the dip in crane numbers, the residential sector contin...

North American crane count yields recovery, increasing 4.74% from Q3 2021 to Q1 2022

2022-04-12T15:00:00-04:00

The number of cranes in North America's major cities increased 4.74% from Q3 2021 to Q1 2022, recovering from the identical decrease from the previous Rider Levett Bucknall crane index report.

Rider Levett Bucknall’s (RLB) index measured five cities with an increase in the number of cranes, six that yielded little change, and three that saw significant decreases, dropping by more than 20%. In total, North American cities added 22 cranes in the first quarter of 2022, in which more than half were in the commercial sector. Toronto continues to host more cranes than any other city measured, with 252 in total. Other findings include hospitality construction seeing a 24% increase in cranes, and residential cranes making up 50% of cranes counted.

Previously on Archinect: North American crane count decreased by 4.5% from Q1 to Q3 2021

While the crane increase is a positive sign, RLB doesn’t expect this trend to continue. With supply chain issues and rising construction costs, namely the high price of steel, the index expects the crane count to plateau and remain steady.

Architecture and design firms are called to submit their best projects to the 2020 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition

2019-11-25T11:45:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition

*Update: Competition deadline has been extended to January 31st.*

Confindustria Ceramica (the Italian Association of Ceramics) and the Italian Trade Agency have just announced the official call for entries for the 2020 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition!

Now in its 27th year, the competition continues to recognize top North American architecture and design firms and design students for their creative use of Italian ceramic and porcelain tile.

Winning projects will exemplify top-quality design and demonstrate the superior technical and aesthetic qualities of Italian tile. An international jury of design experts will ultimately select winners in four categories: Residential, Commercial, Institutional, and Student. In a new initiative this year, Ceramics of Italy will introduce the People’s Choice Award, which allows the public to vote on the best projects. Projects can be both domestic and international new constructio...

Inspiration from Italian ceramic and tile push architects and designers to submit their best ideas

2019-01-28T13:36:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition

In its 26th year, the Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition challenges architects and designers to create outstanding works through the use of Italian ceramics and porcelain tile. A well known building material, ceramic and tile usage can be found through out architecture's historical timeline. As modern technology and advancement in building materials has progressed the beauty in ceramic and tiles still remains.

This year architects and designers are invited to submit their projects that utilize Italian ceramic tiles in an aesthetically beautiful, original, and functional way. Past winners of the competition include leading industry names such as Gensler, Cooper Carry, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Studio Libeskind, and more.

Last year's commercial category winner, Studio Libeskind, used 3D geometric-patterned stone tiles to accentuate the building's facade. The residential commission, Sapphire, was built in Berlin...

Call for Projects: Sign up now for the 2019 Ceramics of Tile Competition

2018-12-21T15:16:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition.

Each year, the Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition – hosted by Confindustria Ceramica and the Italian Trade Agency – recognizes the outstanding work of North American architects, designers and students who create imaginative spaces using Italian ceramic and porcelain tile. Now in its 26th year, the 2019 Tile Competition is accepting entries in three built categories – residential, commercial and institutional – and one student category.

Architects and designers are invited to submit their projects that utilize Italian ceramic tiles in an aesthetically beautiful, original, and functional way. Past winners include leading industry names such as Gensler, Cooper Carry, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Studio Libeskind, and more.

In the three built categories, projects can be domestic or international but must be designed by North America-based architects and designers, ...

A world divided: mapping border fences globally

2015-09-17T13:31:00-04:00

Europe will soon have more physical barriers on its national borders than it did during the Cold War. This year’s refugee crisis, combined with Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia, has seen governments plan and construct border walls and security fences across Mediterranean and eastern Europe... Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, 40 countries around the world have built fences against 64 of their neighbours.

The Economist takes a look at the world's borders, (mostly) new and old. Of the 40 countries that have built physical border walls since the fall of the Berlin Wall, 30 of those happened after 9/11, and 15 this year alone. Check it out the interactive graphic here.

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