Archinect - News

Terner Center's report on construction defect liability turns a new page for California housing reformers

2024-07-26T11:48:00-04:00

The latest report from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation on the stasis of multifamily developments in California has identified existing construction defect liability laws as a barrier to enabling housing justice statewide.

This issue involves the risk taken on by developers of condominium projects and particularly affects BIPOC communities who are less likely to be homeowners than their peers. California’s policies are therein compared to others in the United States and Canada. The findings will help lead to legal reforms to increase homeownership and should be considered especially by architects working in the state's surging multifamily market.

British Architects Registration Board proposes reformed regulatory approach to architectural education and training

2023-09-08T12:18:00-04:00

The UK's Architects Registration Board (ARB) has published findings and recommendations from a three-month internal consultation aimed at suggesting a series of reforms to the education and professional licensure process for architects in the country.

The Board says it will now move to introduce new Academic and Practice outcomes along with some drafting amendments based on suggestions raised by the consultation's 672 respondents.

Under the proposed changes, the requirement that licensed architects obtain a Part 1 (Bachelor’s) degree would be waived. Part 2 and Part 3 would also be phased out by 2027, replaced by the new 49-pronged ‘outcomes’ path. A one-year-long independent commission aimed at developing further changes to the practical experience component of the process has also been announced after a majority of members surveyed (60%) expressed concerns over dropping the current two-year professional practice requirement.

Hugh Simpson, the ARB's Chief Executive and Registrar, ...

RIBA decries proposed ARB educational overhaul

2023-05-17T14:31:00-04:00

A statement from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has called into question the recent slate of educational overhauls proposed by the UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB) in February in the interests of removing barriers for entry into the field.

In our February 2023 reporting, RIBA’s President Simon Allford said he "[did] not see much change” caused by the reform measures, adding: "The ARB accreditation model does not allow the new courses we are supporting to create a more accessible and open and representative profession. Nor does it speed things up. We need to support courses that recognize and reinforce the need for core skills and competencies but also the essential requirement to equip the next generation to create ever-evolving and appropriately different models of practice."

Now, with reforms moving forward for approval in the ARB’s vetting process, RIBA has issued its own response to the organization’s public feedback prompt stating, “The five-year UK a...

Jean Nouvel designs 'dazzling and lasting' kitchen for Reform

2021-09-01T08:54:00-04:00

Jean Nouvel has collaborated with Danish design company Reform on a new kitchen unit, the first designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect. Described as “tight and minimalist, yet characteristically dazzling and lasting,” the kitchen is defined by an understated, art deco design language. The kitchen is available in black or untreated metal, both featuring a monochrome design activated by diffuse reflections across their surface.

Image: Reform / Jean Nouvel

The kitchen is constructed of steel imbued with vertical ridges, finished in a high gloss, reflective surface. The countertops are available in stainless steel with gray and black Fenix laminate, complimenting and accentuating the unit’s reflectivity.

Image: Reform / Jean Nouvel

“Jean Nouvel and Reform occupy different ends of the design spectrum,” Reform said in a statement. “Where Jean Nouvel concerns himself with creating ‘visual landscapes’, Reform is dedicated to delivering extraordinary, yet accessible kitchen desig...

Plywood boards used to protect New York establishments are repurposed into captivating sculptures

2021-05-25T17:52:00-04:00

Across New York City’s five boroughs, five new public art installations are on display, each made from salvaged plywood boards that were used for a much different purpose a year ago.

Be Heard by Behin Ha Design Studio.

The sculptural pieces were created as part of New York art nonprofit worthless studios’ Plywood Protection Project. The initiative sought and repurposed discarded plywood boards that were formerly used to seal and protect New York City storefronts closed due to the pandemic and last summer’s protests calling for justice and reform regarding systemic racism and police brutality towards Black Americans. worthless studios notes that during peak protest months across the city, prices skyrocketed to above $90 for a single 4’ x 8’ AC plywood board, and supply rapidly depleted.

In Honor of Black Lives Matter by KaN Landscape Design and Caroline Mardok.

Rather than l...

Fluxus assists HUD manufactured housing regulatory reform

2018-04-04T13:24:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has asked for public comments on the current and planned standards for manufactured housing. This action is taken following an executive directive to reduce the U.S. government’s overall regulatory complexity.

In January HUD announced a review of manufactured housing rules seeking public comments on identifying regulations which stifle affordable housing.

Fluxus LLC, a prefabricated building technology platform, has submitted the following comment for the HUD Regulations Division’s consideration in current and planned manufactured housing rules. The group identifies two main issues and offers two recommendations each to address these issues:

Problem Statement No. 1
The definition of HUD-code Manufactured Homes constrains its potential applications typologically, programmatically and aesthetically. According to the definition below, the HUD-code Manufactured Homes applies only to dwellings with an attached permanent chassis on which they are transported to the site in one or more sections.

Recommendation
1. Focus on creating outcome and performance based standards to replace overly prescriptive design standards.
2. Focus on code development cost of ownership not cost of construction

Problem ...

Has London finally found a Thames bridge that everyone can get behind?

2015-11-25T04:39:00-05:00

You wait years for a new bridge across the Thames then three come along at once. Joining the controversial garden bridge and a plan for a crossing between Nine Elms and Pimlico, both of which have fierce opponents, comes a proposal unveiled today for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and the Isle of Dogs in east London that hasn’t aroused a single objection – yet. There’s a good reason why: of the three plans, it makes by far the most sense.