Archinect - News

A look at the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential impacts on the Landscape Architecture community

2022-08-16T12:45:00-04:00

A new report from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has outlined the potential impacts and trade benefits of the provisions included in the Biden Administration’s recently passed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, that is set to be signed into law in the coming days.

The $369 billion bill includes many grants and other types of funding for a host of green GSA-owned properties, Federal Highway Administration projects, and affordable housing developments. Over on the ASLA’s The Dirt blog, Roxanne Blackwell and Caleb Raspler broke down what it might entail for the landscape architecture community in separate practice and client areas.

Among the relevant provisions included in the overall package are:

More than $4.5 billion to be directed toward water infrastructure (dams, water treatment facilities, etc.). This includes the $4 billion in drought relief funds, another $15 million to "provide technical assistance for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation, and r...

The U.S. government's wildfire prevention program could have unintended benefits for architects and the mass timber industry

2022-01-22T09:00:00-05:00

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service announced a $50 billion plan to fight wildfires. The goal is, in fact, to reduce wildfires. But one of the side effects may be a huge infusion of ecologically harvested wood into the supply chain for building materials. For architects, this firefighting tool could also be a new source of carbon-sequestering wood for sustainable building projects.

The timber industry is currently under tremendous strain to meet demands as suppliers face labor shortages that have triggered high prices for their clients, who are increasingly looking to build bigger and taller buildings using what is considered to be a more sustainable material.

The recent supply chain issues are making the rehabilitation program a windfall for the increasing number of firms in desperate need of timber that is at the same time ethically sourced and environmentally friendly. The Forest Service says it will treat about 75 million acres under the ten-year plan, which should produce about $150 billion worth of timber stock, according to pricing data taken from forest2market.com. Some have said they are optimistic for the changes it might entail for the industry’s overall decarbonization goals, valuing it for its potential to force architects to think more critically about incorporating the material into their designs.

“Oftentimes we’re trying to fit the forest and...

Trump pushes for increased logging in the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest

2019-08-29T09:00:00-04:00

President Trump has instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to exempt Alaska’s 16.7-million-acre Tongass National Forest from logging restrictions imposed nearly 20 years ago [...] The move would affect more than half of the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest, opening it to potential logging, energy and mining projects. It would undercut a sweeping Clinton administration policy known as the “roadless rule,” which has survived a decades-long legal assault.

The move comes as global awareness over widespread deforestation in the Amazon and other tropical regions around the world intensifies.

In Brazil, where land clearance and deforestation have increased rapidly this year under the country's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, smoke from the burning Amazon rainforest recently plunged São Paulo into sudden darkness.

Archinect's top picks for the London Design Festival

2016-09-10T01:07:00-04:00

London Design Festival is always a highlight of the city's cultural landscape, and this year is no exception, with a number of new events added as well as many returning exhibitions.

Here are Archinect's top picks for London Design Festival 2016:

London Design Biennale at Somerset House:

7-27 September. Open daily from 11AM. Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA Tickets on sale via Ticketmaster

The heavily anticipated London Design Biennale is launching this year for its inaugural exhibition. During its three-week takeover, the Biennale will showcase installations, artworks, prototypes, and designs from over 37 different countries and territories, all exploring the Biennale's 2016 theme: "Utopia by Design".

Highlights from the Biennale include:

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby's 14-metre, kinetic sculpture that highlights wind energy usage in the UK.

Lebanon's Annabel Karim Kassar's Beirut street scene. The work explores social interactions and use of space, through a s...

What California's 30 million dead trees mean for its future landscape

2016-06-15T15:23:00-04:00

CALIFORNIA WON’T BE throwing much shade this summer. It would need trees to do that. Last year almost 30 million trees died in the Golden State—and that number is expected to double or triple by the end of 2016. The high mortality rates come at a time when the state needs healthy forests most, with climate change looming always and a La Niña—El Niño’s dry hermana—on the way.

"The likely outcome? California’s landscape will radically transform, starting with a surge of wildfires that will trigger mudslides, diminished water quality, and the rise of new vegetation."

For more news from the dried out Golden State, check out these links: