Archinect - News

Tracing New York's waste management

2016-10-27T13:27:00-04:00

Each day, New York’s public garbage trucks collect nearly 7,000 tonnes of residential mixed solid waste. After finishing their routes, most of these trucks will deposit the garbage in one of New York’s waste transfer stations located throughout the city. From there, the garbage will eventually be loaded on to a barge or train and carried as far as 600 miles to its final stop. For most of New York’s mixed solid waste (about 80% of it by tonnage), this last stop will be a landfill.

"The remaining 20% will end up at a waste-to-energy plant, where it will be incinerated and converted into energy."

For more on the infrastructure of waste, follow these links:

NEXT Architects design a swooping "Mobius strip" bridge for Changsha, China

2016-10-26T13:39:00-04:00

The Dutch-Chinese firm NEXT Architects has a well-deserved reputation for designing eye-catching bridges. Their latest project, a bright red, Mobius strip-like pedestrian bridge for the Chinese city of Changsha, is set to become another jewel in their portfolio.

Credit: Julien Lanoo

185 metres long and 24 metres tall, the “Lucky Knot” bridge will span the Dragon King Harbour River in Changsha’s ‘New Lake District’ development. The bridge will offer views of the nearby Meixi Lake and the mountain range that surrounds the city.

Credit: Julien Lanoo

“The shape of the Lucky Knot was inspired by the principle of the Mobius ring, as well as by the Chinese knotting art. In the ancient decorative Chinese folk art, the knot symbolises luck and prosperity,” states John van de Water, partner at NEXT architects Beijing.

Additional images in the gallery.

More bridges:

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:

Third runway at Heathrow gets the go-ahead

2016-10-25T12:30:00-04:00

Ministers approved the long-awaited decision at a cabinet committee meeting on Tuesday. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling called the decision "truly momentous" and said expansion would improve the UK's connections with the rest of the world and support trade and jobs. Although Heathrow has always been the favourite among businesses, it has attracted the most opposition from MPs with constituencies near the airport or under flight paths.

The expansion which had been publicly opposed by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Tory MP for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith and Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson has been widely debated for years.

Funded with private sector cash the new runway will cost £17.6 billion but provide 260,000 more flights with an estimated boost of £147 billion to the economy over 60 years. However, construction is unlikely to begin until 2020 at the earliest.

Read more about Heathrow and UK aviation projects here:

One-to-One #43 with George Tsypin, stage designer behind the 2014 Sochi Olympics' opening ceremony and "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark"

2016-10-24T15:29:00-04:00

You probably don’t recognize George Tsypin’s name, but you’re almost certainly familiar with his projects. After training as an architect in Moscow, Tsypin moved to New York to study theater design, and it’s now safe to say millions upon millions of people have seen his work. He’s designed stage sets for the MTV VMA’s, operas, Broadway plays, and the 2014 Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony at Sochi, among many others.

Tsypin's work is now captured in GEORGE TSYPIN OPERA FACTORY: Invisible City, released on October 18 by Princeton Architectural Press. We spoke about designing for theatrical and mass media performances, and how his architectural training grounds his practice.

Our interview begins with Tsypin's account of working in 5Pointz, the infamous graffiti building in Long Island City. Special thanks to Princeton Architectural Press for helping coordinate the interview.

Listen to One-to-One #43 with George Tsypin:

iTunes: Click here to listen and subscribe to the new "Archinect Sessi...

Watch David Adjaye and James Turrell discuss light, space, and architecture

2016-10-14T18:40:00-04:00

Last week, the White House held its very own arts and culture festival in D.C., South by South Lawn (SXSL). Organizers arranged a list of panel discussions and programs that brought together a diverse troupe of creatives for a "festival of ideas, art, and action.” SXSL kicked off with a conversation between illustrious light artist James Turrell and award-winning architect David Adjaye, which was streamed live on The Creators Project’s Facebook Page.

"Over the course of their chat, which was moderated by LACMA director Michael Govan, the two artists unpacked their general philosophies on art, light, space, and culture, and discussed some of the influences that have driven their processes and works."

Video via The Creators Project.

Does the size of your firm affect your pay? Intermediate architect edition

2016-10-13T19:21:00-04:00

Since 2013, Archinect’s Architecture Salary Poll has collected information on job salaries and satisfaction. The data, submitted anonymously, is broken down into metrics such as firm size, location, position, years of experience, education level, etc. The results provide a helpful look at the state of architecture employment, and the factors that correlate both satisfaction and salary.

In line with Archinect’s October theme, XXL, we’ve broken down salaries by the size of firms. Is bigger better when it comes to where you work? Or do smaller firms provide better wages?

For intermediate architects, it seems size does matter—for the most part. With responses from over 300 architects, the average salary in a small-sized firm (1-15 people) shakes out to $51,776 per year, while at a large firm (201-500), the average salary is $64,109. In fact, as the firm size increases, so does the salary. The one exception is firms with 100-200 people, where the average salary is just $55,503.

In any case,...

If London Garden Bridge is cancelled, NAO report says taxpayers could lose £20m

2016-10-12T19:58:00-04:00

Ministers have repeatedly given more public money to London’s planned garden bridge, despite official advice against doing so, and risk losing more than £20m if the controversial project is cancelled, according to a report from the National Audit Office...The Garden Bridge Trust has yet to secure the necessary sub-lease on the area of the South Bank where the bridge will land, the report notes, while the main contractor [is] on standby and construction has been delayed for at least 18 months.

For previous news on this ongoing struggle:

London mayor Sadiq Khan blocks extra funds for garden bridge

Allies and Morrison propose an alternative to the garden bridge

London's garden bridge, the saga continues

Sadiq Khan investigates troublesome details in Thames garden bridge project

Groundbreaking for Calatrava-designed Dubai Tower — (potentially) the world's tallest building

2016-10-11T16:03:00-04:00

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid on Monday "broke ground" on the world’s tallest tower – a structure that will define Expo 2020 as the Eiffel Tower defined Paris for its 1889 World Fair. "The new tower sets another challenge in the history of human architecture – a race the UAE deserves to lead," said Sheikh Mohammed [...]. The futuristic design, chosen by Sheikh Mohammed, was by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls [...].

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Dubai's ruler, laying the foundation stone for the 'The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour' project on Monday. (Image: WAM)

The structure's final height has not yet been revealed — the 1km-high Kingdom Tower, currently under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is also reaching for the title of 'World's Tallest Building.'

The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour project previously in the Archinect news:

One of the iconic arches of the old Sixth Street Bridge in LA will be preserved

2016-10-11T13:48:00-04:00

Earlier this year, the Sixth Street Bridge, which spans the Los Angeles River and connects the Arts District to Boyle Heights, was demolished due to a structural issue known as “concrete rot”. Built in 1932, the bridge held an iconic status in the collective imagination of the city, particularly due to its easily-recognizable silhouette, formed by two swooping, steel arches. Now officials report that one of these arches will be preserved and placed somewhere in the new, 8-acre park that will soon be beneath the new viaduct, which is designed by Michael Maltzan and features ribbon-like, Y-shaped columns. The city also gave away around 1,000 pieces of the bridge as commemorative objects.

h/t the Eastsider LA

For more on the Sixth Street Bridge, check out these articles:

The absorbing design of China's anti-flood "sponge cities"

2016-10-11T13:08:00-04:00

Is flood mitigation the new frontier in urban planning? China, whose urban centers have regularly been experiencing infrastructure-shuttering floods, is actively encouraging its metropolises to start reshaping themselves to handle the new reality via the so-called "sponge city" program. As an article in The Guardian notes:

The sponge city programme takes inspiration from low impact development in the US, water sensitive urban design in Australia and sustainable drainage systems in the UK.

But nothing at this scale has ever been attempted before. “The sponge city programme is more comprehensive and ambitious,” says WenMei Ha, head of the China water management team at Arcadis, an international urban consultancy which was appointed to this plan by the government.

For more on flood mitigation and the entities trying to rise above it:

American firms aren't doing enough to reduce their carbon footprint, according to new report

2016-10-05T13:38:00-04:00

“We are simply not making significant strides in crucial metrics that predict building performance,” states Greg Mella, FAIA, Director of Sustainable Design at SmithGroupJJR and co-chair of the AIA 2030 Working Group, in a new report that gauges the progress made by firms voluntarily committing to reduce the carbon emissions produced by their buildings. “These findings should serve as a wake-up call to architects that there needs to be greater urgency to drive improved energy efficiency across their project portfolios if we are going to reach our ultimate carbon reduction goals.”

While a total of 152 firms submitted data, amounting to a 9% increase from 2014, the reports aren’t terribly impressive. A scant 4% of the total gross square feet (GSF) represented met the target of reducing carbon emissions by 70%. And just 10% of total GSF met the previous target—a 60% carbon reduction—representing a decrease of 4% since the last report. That being said, 614 design projects met the 60% tar...

Golden Gate Bridge needs additional $124M to build suicide barrier

2016-10-04T14:09:00-04:00

Roughly 25 people each year jump to their deaths from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, which prompted city leaders to authorize a plan to erect a kind of suicide-prevention stainless steel cable netting twenty feet below the bridge's deck. The netting, which is painted gray to blend in with the water below, has worked wonders on other suicide-prone perches, including the Prince Edward Viaduct. As Global Construction Review reports, the problem for the Golden Gate is that the bids for the construction have come in about $100 million more than the city anticipated (plus a +/- $20 million contingency fund). The project is on hold until January 9th to allow the city to hustle up the additional funding.

Other notable San Francisco design news:

An ambitious plan to overhaul Penn Station, by moving Madison Square Garden

2016-09-30T13:21:00-04:00

Penn Station is much more than a transportation center. As the heart of the Northeast Corridor rail system, it has the potential to link downtown to downtown along the Eastern Seaboard in a way far more economical, expedient and environmentally sustainable than air travel. But while the governor’s recently announced plan is a step toward this goal, more must be done. What we propose in addition is a completely new commuter station on the site of Madison Square Garden

The proposed plan for Penn Station's redesign comes by way of Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. Previously, Chakrabarti was the director of Manhattan's Department of City Planning under former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, where he also oversaw prior refurbishment plans for the station.

Previously, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had released a plan to bring Penn Station up to speed (it was designed for a third of its current 650,000 daily commuters). But while the Governor's plan, headed by SOM, is focused mostly on utility, Chakrabarti's plan (as he writes for The Times) aims to provide the city with a grand public space—by physically relocating Madison Square Garden (an idea that has been floated before) to honor the original station's legacy where travelers "entered the city like a god".

Related on Archinect:

Open Call for Submissions: "XXL"

2016-09-27T12:26:00-04:00

It’s going to be “yuge”. It’s an inflated descriptor thrown around a lot these days, but architects have always been trained to think big, whether laying out bathroom plumbing or master planning cities. Sometimes those ideas get built; sometimes others build on those ideas. This October on Archinect, we’re exploring the many ways architects go big, with XXL.

Our open call for submissions under XXL focuses on one of the biggest strokes of architectural expression: infrastructure.

》PROJECT SUBMISSIONS: Map It

Transportation infrastructure is getting an unanticipated overhaul. As new networks like on-demand or ride-sharing services begin to intermesh with older, more static ones, updated expectations of living and getting around have emerged. Speed, access, and sustainability are obvious concerns, as are how they’ll encourage (or prohibit) future urban development.

Whatever your chosen mode of transportation, create a fantasy transportation map in the city (or country, or planet) of your c...