Archinect - News

Studio Gang to design new sustainability commons at Stanford

2023-06-06T16:50:00-04:00

A new project led by Studio Gang will deliver Stanford University a home for the recently-established Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, called Stanford Sustainability Commons, at a site located on the western half of the school’s Palo Alto, California campus.

New York-based practices SCAPE and atelier ten will join the firm for the design of the Commons, which aims to help consolidate a group of interrelated academic disciplines in the hopes of enabling a “thriving habitat supporting the region’s larger network of living things.”

Jeanne Gang says: “The climate crisis is the most urgent challenge facing our world today. We are going to be working with Stanford to design a home for the Doerr School of Sustainability that can support the cross-disciplinary collaboration needed for generating climate solutions in all industries. At the same time, we are excited to model ways for the built environment to address this challenge head-on.”

An aerial view of campus courtesy of Flickr ...

LEVER and Atelier Ten seek to ‘debunk four mass timber myths’

2023-04-06T12:08:00-04:00

Portland/Los Angeles-based LEVER Architecture has published a new report in collaboration with engineering firm Atelier Ten addressing what the authors call “common myths about mass timber construction.” The report, in which the firms describe and debunk four myths related to mass timber, hopes to “promote a more nuanced discussion in the industry to truly capture the potential wood has to offer.”

The first myth addressed by the report is that “mass timber buildings are carbon neutral.” The team note that while mass timber construction can be an important pathway toward carbon neutrality, other critical factors need to be considered. In particular, the team warns that many aspects of a building’s life cycle are often not captured in analyses on carbon neutrality giving an “incomplete picture of the carbon footprint.”

For design teams seeking to achieve a carbon-neutral building, the report s...

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: opening delayed again due to Covid-19 fears

2020-12-23T15:11:00-05:00

The much-heralded opening of the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles has been rescheduled from 30 April until 30 September of next year [...] Los Angeles is in the grip of restrictions imposed by the state as coronavirus cases soar, making it difficult to envision greeting visitors as museums currently are closed due to pandemic concerns.

"We are putting the final touches on our stunning exhibitions and public spaces, and while we were ready and eager to welcome visitors in the spring, with the current surge of COVID-19, it would be irresponsible to maintain an April opening," said Bill Kramer, Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. "We know a new day is coming for us all, and when it does, the Academy Museum will be ready to offer our visitors the remarkable experience we have all been wanting."

The Renzo Piano-designed 300,000 square-foot museum campus on LA's Wilshire Boulevard was originally scheduled to open in 2017.

Renzo Piano's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures receives LEED Gold Certification

2020-11-04T16:14:00-05:00

Slowly, slowly, LA's new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is inching towards its anticipated completion.

The LACMA-adjacent, Renzo Piano-designed 300,000 square-foot museum campus on Wilshire Boulevard was forced to push back several official opening dates — most recently, the December 14 opening was rescheduled to now April 30, 2021 — but there appears to be continued progress at the site: the project was recently awarded LEED Gold Certification for its environmental concept.

Contributing to the rating were high-performance indoor environmental systems, solar power systems, waste reduction programs, easy public transportation access, a rideshare pickup and drop-off point, bike racks, a storm water reuse system that feeds irrigation for the museum’s landscaping, and Green Building Education content that will be accessible onsite and online after the museum’s opening.

Firms invo...

BIG unveils 28-acre master plan for Pittsburgh's Lower Hill District

2015-11-19T14:03:00-05:00

A meandering urban flow lies at the heart of BIG's master plan for Pittsburgh, which is appropriate since the plan's primary function is to connect the Hill District to the city's downtown core. Collaborating with West 8 (landscape architecture) and Atelier Ten (sustainability), BIG's master plan includes 1.2 million square feet of residential space and 1.25 million square feet of office, retail, and hotel space.

As Bjarke Ingels explained, "The masterplan for the Lower Hill District is created by supplementing the existing street grid with a new network of parks and paths shaped to optimize the sloping hill side for human accessibility for all generations. The paths are turned and twisted to always find a gentle sloping path leading pedestrians and bicyclists comfortably up and down the hillside. The resulting urban fabric combines a green network of effortless circulation with a quirky character reminiscent of a historical downtown."

In an attempt to incorporate the aesthetics of th...