Archinect - News

Is a decline in U.S. government spending hurting infrastructure?

2018-09-10T16:14:00-04:00

In the second quarter of this year, investment spending by the federal government dropped below 1.4 percent of gross domestic product for the first time since the 1940s, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. OK, at 1.397 percent, it wasn’t much below, and federal government investment as a share of GDP isn’t exactly a closely watched economic indicator. But the decline through the decades is still pretty striking...

Justin Fox tracks the decline in U.S. government spending over the years, noting infrastructure investments have largely been replaced with spending on social insurance programs. With private investors taking the lead, Fox argues U.S. infrastructure suffers as there are many vital projects which private investors will never touch.

NEH announces $13.2 million in grants for cultural infrastructure

2018-08-10T18:04:00-04:00

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has just announced $13.2 million in grants for cultural infrastructure. 29 U.S. cultural institutions were awarded with matching grants including libraries, museums, archives, colleges, universities, historic sites, scholarly associations, and other cultural institutions which build institutional capacity for long-term sustainability. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation was among those awarded, receiving a grant of $576,106.

Will the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics truly be low-impact?

2018-07-12T16:04:00-04:00

The only profitable games in modern Olympic history, LA 1984 was a case study in public–private partnerships, corporate sponsorship, and municipal storytelling [...] It’s proof, say LA 2028 organizers, that the city can do it again: re-use the city’s wealth of existing and under-construction stadiums and athletic facilities, house athletes and the media at local universities, and host an Olympics that won’t require new publicly-funded infrastructure...

The Olympics have been promoted to cities as a vehicle for ushering in investment, attention, and urban growth. The reality, however, is often contradicting with failed developments and infrastructure left in the aftermath. As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 games, large questions remain on how this will impact the city with an affordable housing and a homelessness crisis.

AERIAL FUTURES release a new video exploring integration of airports and cities

2018-06-27T14:28:00-04:00

AERIAL FUTURES, a non-profit think tank exploring innovation in the architecture of flight, have created a new film titled Urban Constellations looking at the relationship between a city and its airports. Using NYC as a case study, this video asks how fragmented pieces of infrastructure can be reimagined more holistically, in order to simultaneously improve air travel and urban life.

The film features experts who discuss the challenges and opportunities for the future of NYC’s aerial infrastructure, drawing on the New York think tank’s focus on urban design and digital interfaces.

The next public AERIAL FUTURES event will take place on Thursday, July 19 at the Denver Art Museum. This edition, entitled Constructed Landscapes, will ask how airports influence the future of mobility and transportation.

US sanctions against Iran could negatively impact EU engineering and construction firms

2018-05-10T20:24:00-04:00

Much is at stake for US and European companies enjoying revived trade with Iran following US President Donald Trump’s decision this week to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and impose fresh sanctions. Hardest hit will be oil and gas firms, plane makers like Airbus and Boeing, and car makers. But European engineering and construction firms, recruited in the last two years to help Iran develop its transport infrastructure, could lose out as well.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and impose new sanctions will drastically impact European engineering and construction firms and could restrict the availability of international finance for big schemes.

After the nuclear deal was signed, Iran launched immense transit programs spending around $25 billion. Vinci and Ferrovie dello Stato have signed deals in Iran’s expanding rail and aviation sectors.

Infrastructure is not neutral; case studies of communities decimated by highways

2018-02-22T15:06:00-05:00

Making the case that infrastructure itself can be exclusionary is hardly straightforward. Many of the worst decisions in US planning were made decades ago to intentionally disenfranchise, marginalise and separate communities; policies such as redlining and “blight clearing” are well-documented embarrassments. But many decisions that segregated communities were unintentional. The stop sign and one-way street might seem benign, but they shape our lives in ways we sometimes don’t even realise.

Through focusing in on 5 case studies where communities have been obliterated by infrastructure decisions, the direct impact of highways and walls take on greater levels of meaning and urgency. The power of city planning also comes into greater consideration presently as the US takes on a massive infrastructure revitalization project.

"Too big to replace, too expensive to tear down", Miller emphasizes the importance of digging into the history of our country's development in order to understand past injustices, prevent future abuse, and address current issues as they stand right now.

An in depth look focuses on Detroit’s 8 Mile and historical Black Bottom neighborhoods, West Oakland in California, West Baltimore, and Jackson Ward in Richmond, Virginia. Arresting images of overlapping interstates where communities used to be reveal a truth many of us drive on in our everyday lives.

Please read Johnny Miller's full piece on how infrastructure decisions impact communities and are dir...

Trump to reverse Obama’s Federal Flood Risk Management Standard aimed at planning for climate change

2017-08-16T13:17:00-04:00

The White House confirmed that the order issued Tuesday would revoke an earlier executive order by former President Barack Obama that required recipients of federal funds to strongly consider risk-management standards when building in flood zones, including measures such as elevating structures from the reach of rising water.

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said would streamline the approval process for building infrastructure such as roads, bridges and offices by eliminating a planning step related to climate change and flood dangers.

Trump's new order will weaken environmental standards that guard against flood risk, saddling the federal government with the burden of paying for flood damage in the future. The executive order also promised “one Federal decision” for major infrastructure projects and setting a two-year goal for completion of permitting processes. Trump said every project would be assigned to a lead agency that would be held “accountable” for it.

“This order will put people throughout the country at risk by allowing developers to ignore potential hazards while muzzling the public’s ability to weigh in on potentially harmful projects near their homes,” Alex Taurel, deputy legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement.

...

Justice in Design: redesigning NY's most notorious prison

2017-07-14T19:00:00-04:00

Today, the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform—a multi-disciplinary group of experts convened by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito—released Justice In Design, a report that envisions an alternative to a single, centralized jail. It details how community-based jails, dubbed “Justice Hubs,” might function in an urban context to replace Rikers.

The Rikers Island Correctional Facility, a complex of 10 jails and about 10,000 detainees located northeast of LaGuardia Airport, has been one of NYC's most debated problems for decades—widely criticized for corruption, brutal mistreatment of detainees, and inhumane conditions.

Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform—a multi-disciplinary group of experts is proposing to shut down The Rikers and advocates for alternatives to single, centralized jails. The group released Justice In Design, a report that envisions an alternative to a single, centralized jail and details how community-based jails, dubbed “Justice Hubs,” might function in an urban context to replace Rikers.

"Developed in partnership with the nonprofit urban think tank Van Alen Institute, the design-based findings are a follow up to a March report that recommended a system of borough-based jails to replace Rikers, among other reforms to the city’s criminal justice system."

The d...

Crossrail unveils images of new Elizabeth line stations

2016-05-12T12:23:00-04:00

The Elizabeth line will link London and the South East from Reading to Heathrow with 10 new stations and upgrades to 30 existing stations.

Currently Europe's largest infrastructure project the £14.8 billion scheme began in Canary Wharf in 2009 and is now 75% complete. Services will begin in 2018.

Although the stations will have recognisable features uniting them; Crossrail have said that each station will have it's own distinctive character that reflects the heritage and local culture of the area.

The stations have been specifically designed to make travel as easy as possible with accessibility, comfort and safety in mind.

Mike Brown MVO, London's Transport Commissioner, said: “The TfL-run Elizabeth line will transform travel across London, reducing journey times, relieving congestion on the Tube network, and radically improving step-free access with brand new accessible stations. This exhibition will enable customers to really start to see what their new stations will look like whe...