Archinect - News

Structure that uses sunlight to tackle the world’s clean water crisis unveiled

2021-05-03T12:07:00-04:00

Researchers at the University of South Australia (UniSA) have unveiled a structure aimed at tackling the global issue of water shortages. The cost-effective technique uses a floating module and highly efficient solar evaporation to extract freshwater from contaminated or sea water, potentially eliminating water shortages for millions of people around the world.

It is estimated that 1.42 billion people around the world are living in areas of high water vulnerability – a figure which is expected to grow in the coming decades due to the pressures of climate change, pollution, and shifting population patterns. In response, researchers at the UniSA’s Future Industries Institute have focused their efforts on a solution for eliminating water stress, with a focus on areas housing vulnerable or disadvantaged communities.

Led by Associate Professor Haolan Xu, the team has unveiled a structure that derives freshwater from seawater, brackish water, or contaminated water, through highly effi...

An investigation into the Genoa Bridge Collapse

2018-09-10T16:50:00-04:00

The collapse of the bridge — a signature of the port city, a source of deep civic pride, and an indispensable daily transportation link for thousands — has scarred Genoa and set off a bitter debate in Italy about who bears responsibility for the disaster and precisely what caused it. Those questions remain under investigation by the chief magistrate of the region, Francesco Cozzi, and a team of engineers, security and government officials.

The New York Times retraces in detail what led to last month's tragic collapse of the Genoa Bridge in Italy that killed 43 people.

Motorway bridge collapses over houses and buildings in Italy, leaving 20 dead

2018-08-14T16:29:00-04:00

A motorway bridge, running above houses, streets and railroad tracks in the center of Genoa, Italy, collapsed this morning dropping dozens of vehicles and leaving at least 35 dead and many more injured. Operations remain underway to clear the rubble as at least 30 vehicles sit trapped. Rescuers warn that the death toll may continue to rise as they pick through the debris.

"The collapse of Ponte Morandi is an immense tragedy for our city," said Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci, who told CCN that the collapse "was not absolutely unexpected." Deputy transport minister Edoardo Rixi also confirmed that the bridge had shown "signs of problems" in the past.

Constructed in the 1960s, when many of the country's viaducts, galleries and other infrastructure projects were built, the Ponte Morandi bridge was beginning to show its age. A cable-stayed bridge, the design featured two pretensioned concrete cables used on both sides of the pillar. Subject to corrosion, it may have made the bridge, which re...

The AIA urges lawmakers to reject rollbacks and issues seven infrastructure principles

2017-09-13T19:54:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects released a statement this morning, in light of damage wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, urging policy makers to reject any weakening of building codes. President Thomas Vonier advocated for state and federal legislators to reject attempts to roll back protections pointing out that "designing buildings to minimize damage from such natural disasters as hurricanes matters not only for public health, safety, and welfare; it also makes complete economic sense."

The AIA went on to remind that, like bridges and highways, America's buildings are infrastructure too, and as such, are crumbling. "Unless we include buildings in the discussion about our nation’s infrastructure renewal" the statement warned, "taxpayers will be stuck with decrepit community places, higher bills when repairs come due and structures vulnerable to disasters and threats."

Along with the above cautions, the AIA also released the following principles on infrastructure

Infrastruc...

Amid MTA's disastrous Summer, Cuomo moves forward with expensive plan to turn NY's bridges into a light show

2017-07-20T14:58:00-04:00

The project, part of a broader plan called “New York Crossings,” would outfit the MTA’s seven bridges and two tunnels — and the Port Authority’s George Washington Bridge — with pulsating, multicolored LED lights that can be choreographed with each other, with the Empire State Building and with One World Trade.

MTA's crumbling infrastructure has been making headlines since April and the situation does not appear to be getting any better for NYC transiters; three-quarters of the city's subway lines are plagued by chronic delays and frustrated riders continue to overcrowd the system.

While the parties involved point fingers and place blame every which way they can, New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has faced growing pressure to fix the system.

Among the list of complaints being lodged against the Chief of State, are critiques of his plan to turn the region's bridges into a choreographed light show in concert with the city's skyscrapers. The cost of the lighting scheme has not been revealed though an early internal estimate put the price tag at $350 mill. In addition, where funding will come from remains unclear—a spokesman for Cuomo stated that "this is definitively NOT being paid for by the MTA," though a meeting back in January had suggested otherwise. Regardless of who picks up the tab, c...

It's the infrastructure, stupid: benefits of using adaptable strategies to revamp the U.S.

2016-10-25T13:39:00-04:00

LIke everything else in the 21st century, infrastructure is no longer about big moves but rather about nuance, refinement, and creative strategy. This is the argument advocated by The Hill, which makes the case that all infrastructure projects should be resilient and made to serve multiple functions. As the article notes:

"In the wake of Hurricane Sandy there were calls for a flood wall around lower Manhattan. But the path the city, state and federal government took was far better – instead of just building a wall, they are creating a system of parks which will provide the same protection, provide additional greenspace for the city, and improve community cohesion by giving people public space to meet and socialize. Instead of gray infrastructure, the city will have a brand new park."

For more on infrastructure:

Norman Foster reimagines global infrastructure strategies in new essay

2016-09-22T13:36:00-04:00

Back in May, Foster + Partners unveiled their design for the Droneport, a modular shell-like structure that is constructed with local labor from earthen bricks and thin compressed tiles to create loading areas for food and medical-aid bearing transport drones. A version of the Droneport was built at this year's Venice Biennale (which is open until November 27th). Now, in the freshly unveiled thematic supplement to the 2015 Annual Statistical Report on United Nations Procurement, Norman Foster has written an essay which builds upon the idea of Buckminster Fuller's "trim tab" to help foster enormous change in Africa and other countries with relatively small, if holistically conceived, gestures such as the Droneport.

Norman writes: "There is a moral imperative to provide more globally available energy while seeking to conserve its consumption. The answer to this apparent paradox is to adopt a holistic approach to the design of sustainable communities in which the infrastructure and indi...

America has an infrastructure problem – and it's getting critical

2016-02-10T19:54:00-05:00

It would be helpful if there were another word for “infrastructure”: it’s such an earnest and passive word for the blood vessels of this country, the crucial conveyors and connections that get us from here to there (or not) and the ports that facilitate our trade (or don’t), as well as the carriers of information, in particular broadband... The word “crisis” is also overused, applied to the unimportant as well as the crucial. But this country has an infrastructure crisis.

Elizabeth Drew considers several recent books on American infrastructure, with an eye to both the material reality and the political system producing it. She concludes that fixing our infrastructural systems "may require even more widespread paralyzed traffic, the collapse of numerous bridges, and perhaps a revolt in parts of the country that have inadequate broadband."

"In other words, we may well need to incur more chaos and ruin and even deaths before we come to our senses," she writes.

Unfortunately, in the US, while infrastructure is falling apart everywhere, certain contingencies bear the brunt of this more heavily. The ongoing crisis in Flint, Michigan brings into sharp focus the socioeconomic and racial undercurrents of infrastructural collapse.

Interested in related issues? Check out these links: