Archinect - News

New skateable furniture adds personal benefits a sense of 'pure gnar' to any office

2024-11-19T19:52:00-05:00

Believing "anytime is the right time to take a Skate Break," the Ontario-based designers known as the Zenga Bros. have produced what could be the ultimate furniture addition to any shred happy office space looking to add an eccentric touch.

Their new product line is aptly named 'Skate Brake' and fabricated by Christian and Benny Huizenga to incorporate different (and difficult) skating configurations that provoke a sense of "pure gnar."

Photo by Gordon Nicholas

The series consists of three different ramps (a desk, two modernist style lounge chairs, and a six-foot-tall lamp), a boardroom table, barrier bench, and a 11’x5’x8’ "Ramper Camper" micro house/electric truck complete with a wood stove and grindable bookshelf ledge.

Image courtesy Gordon Nicholas

"Skate Break is a project extracted straight from the dream realm by the Zenga Bros. and brought to reality through their craftsmanship. I’ve never had so much fun skating furniture," friend and former Olympic skateboarding competitor...

This cantilevering modular treehouse peeks into the Estonian wilderness

2023-10-02T12:00:00-04:00

Estonian studio Arsenit has completed an elevated timber retreat nestled in the trees close to the country’s largest waterfall. Named ‘Piil’ after the Estonian word ‘pilluma’ which means ‘peeking/looking,’ the 30-foot-tall prefabricated treehouse is elevated off the ground to minimize its interference with the forest surface while providing generous views across the Estonian countryside.

Image credit: Yifan Liu

The treehouse was designed to stand on one ‘leg’, which supports an accommodation module above. A discreet door provides access to the interior, with the cladding layer peeled back to reveal the metal structure supporting the cantilever. Both the leg and accommodation modules act as large steel trusses wrapped in pine cladding. While the leg module contains a staircase, services, and sports equipment storage, the accommodation module provides a living room and raised bedroom.

Image credit: Yifan Liu

Externally, the scheme is finishe...

andblack design studio creates a modular, prefabricated black box theater with multifunctional use

2023-06-22T17:37:00-04:00

Kanika and Jwalant Mahadevwala, architects and founding partners of andblack design studio, have created a multifunctional black box theater design that uses parametric models to "allow customization of several variables to achieve the specified volume." Their design prototype, Darwin Bucky, is a prefabricated kit of parts made of wood, aluminum, steel, and glass.

Designed for Abhay Mangaldas, founder of India-based startup Darwin, the lightweight modular panel design is a flat-pack system that emphasizes versatile on-site assembly.

Darwin Bucky assembly. Image © Vinay Panjwani.

According to the architects, Darwin Bucky is a "black box that can be used as an exhibition gallery, a town hall, an expo center, a performance arena, or even serve as a bar or a nightclub. It is designed to be placed in public gardens, exhibition grounds, or even in a city center."

Aerial view of Darwin Bucky site. Image © Vinay Panjwani.

Without the need for a ...

Nakagin Capsule Tower capsules see new life following building's demolition in 2022

2023-06-09T15:11:00-04:00

The removal and restoration initiative was led by the Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project, which was established in 2014. The landmark building, a beacon for the Metabolism architecture movement, was demolished in April 2022.

According to TokyoArtBeat, "After the demolition, 23 capsules were removed and restored under the supervision of Kisho Kurokawa Architects and Associates, and since March, they have been transported to the new locations."

Previously on Archinect: The fate of Nakagin Capsule Tower's pods is getting a little clearer in Toyko

Two capsules are reportedly heading to a project called "SHUTL" by Japanese entertainment company Shochiku. They will be reimagined as creative spaces where contemporary artists can exhibit work, sell art and crafts, and use them for events.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by 中銀カプセルタワービル保存・再生プロジェクト/Nakagin Capsule Tower (@nakagin_capsule_tower)

Another company, Yodogawa Steel Works, Ltd., ...

MVRDV's new demountable science building has over 120,000 reusable components

2023-05-25T19:36:00-04:00

Construction of MVRDV’s Matrix ONE project, a laboratory and office building in the heart of Amsterdam Science Park, has been completed.

The six-story, 140,000-square-foot structure is the largest of seven buildings that now make up the Matrix Innovation Center, a site for scientists and entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions for current and future issues.

Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola

As the main hub at the Center, Matrix ONE aims to be a guiding example to the other buildings at the Amsterdam Science Park. The building was made to be demountable, in which connections such as screws and bolts allow elements to be detached and reused. In addition, its floors are made using prefabricated concrete slabs with no fixed connections.

Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola

The platform Madaster was used to provide a material passport system that registers all the materials and products incorporated in the building. It provides insight into the carbon dioxide storage for over 120,000 ...

'Tiny house, big impact': Marina Tabassum shares her flat-packed vision with CNN

2023-04-04T14:17:00-04:00

Past Aga Khan Award winner and 2021 Soane Medalist Marina Tabassum was recently featured in a short CNN profile of her ongoing Khudi Bari project in the coastal region of her native Bangladesh.

The concept, which seeks to deliver mobile two-level residential structures to a largely landless population in the heavily flood-prone area, first came about in October of 2018 and was accelerated by a pandemic downturn that ground several of her eponymous studio’s other ongoing projects to a halt.

Tabassum says the bamboo structures (whose name translates to “tiny home” in Bengali) can be easily disassembled and transported elsewhere, relying on steel joints and metal corner braces for structural strength. The design is split into two levels, with the uppermost elevated about six feet above the ground plane to accommodate up to four people in the event of flooding.

Image courtesy Marina Tabassum Architects

According to MTA: “The architecture mimics traditional vernacular language of the Ben...

The fate of Nakagin Capsule Tower's pods is getting a little clearer in Toyko

2023-01-23T12:11:00-05:00

[Tatsuyuki] Maeda and other members of the nonprofit Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Regeneration project saved 23 capsules, which now sit in a warehouse in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. [...] Nakagin Capsule Tower is no longer, but Maeda is confident the restoration project honours the spirit of its creator. “Kurokawa intended for the capsules to adapt and change over time, depending on the environment, and if you think about it, this is exactly what is happening,” he said.

Maeda and his group had been fighting to have the tower properly restored before its demolition began last year. He told the Guardian: “[...] at some point next year it will be possible to see one of these pods in its original state somewhere in Japan.” Once it is, it will become the first among its former compatriots, which are supposedly forthcoming to yet-unnamed digital archives and public collections across the world.

Previously on Archinect: The Nakagin Capsule Tower pods… coming soon to a museum near you

“If one of the pods is left, then I could see myself putting it in a forest, or even inside my house,” he promised further. “But if that’s not possible, I’ll be happy just to be able to watch over them.”

Liv-Connected launches a modular approach to home design and a solution to the growing housing shortage

2022-08-22T16:09:00-04:00

New York startup Liv-Connected has released a modular approach to housing that tackles the homebuilding market's material and skilled labor shortages and limited housing inventory.

Cofounded by architects Jordan Rogove, Wayne Norbeck, Joe Wheeler, and healthcare professional Dr. Herb Rogove in 2019 (Jordan Rogove and Wayne Norbeck are also cofounders of NYC-based architecture firm DXA Studio), the endeavor aimed to seek a solution to disaster-relief housing that embodied a sense of permanence and resulted in an affordable, sustainable, and high-quality, health-centered solution to homebuilding.

Image courtesy of Liv-Connected.

The emergence of Liv-Connected reflects the commitment to homeowners' health and wellness and their team of architects and healthcare providers. "We started with the assumption that disaster housing could be so thoughtful that it might become permanent," shared Norbeck during a conversation with Forbes' Jennifer Castenson. "We were interested in the possibil...

Amid a surge in interest around modular design, architects can find new career paths

2022-06-29T11:07:00-04:00

Earlier this week, we reported on Nexii Building Solutions, a Canadian startup which The New York Times described as a “rising star” in prefabricated modular construction. The company’s $1 billion valuation, combined with the $155 million it has raised through funding rounds, demonstrates the surging interest in modular design as a tool in tackling housing affordability and carbon emissions.

Innovations in modular design have also featured heavily in our editorial throughout 2022, whether through an architectural kit-of-parts for public cultural venues, modular refugee shelters for those displaced by war in Ukraine, or office buildings that can be taken apart and reassembled in new locations.

In 2021, we dedicated a full feature article to the subject. The piece, titled For Affordable Housing, The Revolution Will Be Modularized, explored one architect’s vision for an industrial-scale solution to the affordable housing crisis; one which centered on shipping-container-sized modules c...

$800-a-month sleeping pods? One company thinks they are the solution to California’s housing crisis

2022-05-20T18:41:00-04:00

A new Silicon Valley startup is taking the charge put forth by the recent expansion of ADUs and other non-traditional forms of accommodation in the uphill battle to provide affordable housing to the millions of Californians struggling to find a way forward.

Business Insider recently took a closeup look at the San Francisco-based Brownstone Shared Housing, an eight-month-old company co-founded by former state auditors James Stallworth and Christina Lennox, that has designed a new stackable sleeping pod currently being modeled within single-family homes in Bakersfield and Palo Alto.

Similar to the sleeping capsules common to urban Japanese hotels and resorts, the four-foot-tall spaces can be scaled to hold up to 14 people and are being marketed by the company as an alternative to the high-rent, low-availability housing situation typical in the areas adjacent to Stanford University.

Virginia Tech team completes world-first observation tower with innovative low-carbon timber

2022-04-20T11:51:00-04:00

A team of students and faculty at Virginia Tech has completed an innovative observation tower in rural Virginia. The design and delivery of the project saw the development and certification of a new custom timber product, off-site prefabrication, and the discovery of the ruins of a historic building.

Photography by Kay Edge and Edward Becker

The project, formally titled the New River Train Observation Tower, was delivered to the city of Radford, Virginia. In 2018, the city commissioned Virginia Tech to design and build a train observation tower that would create publicly accessible views over the city’s New River and a historically significant railroad bridge. With a budget of $100,000, the city requested that the tower used clean-tech, low-carbon building products to showcase the city’s transition away from its industrial past.

Photography by Kay Edge and Edward Becker

The student/faculty team initially sought to construct the tower from cross-laminated timber (CLT) due to its durab...

OMA and Buro Happold reveal new video of modular hospital prototype

2022-04-12T09:00:00-04:00

One of the most promising recent healthcare infrastructure concepts has engendered an offshoot project that looks to expand on its original framework design.

As a product of the research done for their collaboration on the Al Daayan Health District Master Plan in Doha, OMA and Buro Happold have created a prototype for a low-rise hospital structure commissioned by the Hamad Medical Corporation.

Previously on Archinect: OMA and Buro Happold reveal designs for the Al Daayan Health District in Doha

Image © HMC

The prototype appears to consist of similar two-story-high modular units that can be adapted and reconfigured to allow for maximal variation and minimal costs. Scalable, self-sufficient, and built using a considerable amount of 3D printing technology, the design is a sustainable refresh to the important typology and hopes to see further use in other climates once the Qatari concept catches on.

Image © HMC

“Medical technology is advancing exponentially, leaving hospitals to...

Kyiv-based Balbek Bureau develops modular refugee shelters for displaced Ukrainians

2022-03-29T16:58:00-04:00

With more than 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country and another 6.5 million internally displaced, architects in Ukraine have been hard-pressed to put their skills to work by creating the necessary shelters and accommodations required for those uprooted by the brutal Russian war machine.

One such firm at the forefront of this effort is Kyiv-based balbek bureau, an award-winning 70-member practice whose peacetime portfolio ranges from retail and residential spaces to corporate offices, hotels, restaurants, and wellness centers. Led by its founder Slava Balbek, the team has pivoted to the refugee crisis with a new project for temporary housing titled RE: UKRAINE.

Rendered image © Balbek Bureau.

The modular town system is meant to provide a modicum of dignity for their fellow citizens via the expedited delivery of an adjustable set of structures centered around four basic elements: private rooms, public recreation areas, adequate kitchens, an...

IF_DO designed a modular office building that can be taken apart and reassembled elsewhere

2022-03-17T18:39:00-04:00

Humans have led nomadic lifestyles for thousands of years. We settle in one place, move to another–some of us never even settle at all. Our lives fluctuate, but save for the odd floating office or experimental walking house, our buildings remain anchored in place. Once they’re built, they only have two potential futures: demolish, or reuse. A new building in London, however, offers an interesting alternative: demount and move elsewhere.

The office building, designed by London-based architecture firm IF_DO, was made to be mobile, as it sits atop a “meanwhile space,” a location that hosts temporary buildings until the local council develops permanent plans for the space. This building will occupy the site in London's borough of Southwark for up to 11 years, after which it will be dismantled and reassembled elsewhere.

Photo: Mike Massaro, image courtesy IF_DO

The 3,000-square-foot structure consists of five timber and steel structural modules and contains 12 micro-units wrapped around a central shared space. The modules were prefabricated off-site and assembled on-site over five months. When the building is set to relocate, its steel connectors will be unbolted and the various timber elements will be unscrewed.

Image courtesy IF_DO

Learn more about the building here.

Apparently modular remote working pods are here to stay

2021-10-22T12:18:00-04:00

With the work-at-home lifestyle likely here to stay, people are taking things outdoors, creating spaces meant for privacy and comfort. [...] More than a year and a half into the pandemic, working from home seems like an increasingly permanent proposition. Nearly 80 percent of business leaders and 70 percent of the general public said people would likely never return to offices at the rate they did before the coronavirus [...]

Isolated working structures as small as 3x6 feet have been cropping up in high-density areas like London where the office and home have switched places, leaving opportunity at both ends for designers and manufacturers to meet the demands of remote workers whilst also providing space to answer cities' pressing need for affordable housing.

“You might find enlightenment or something from working in a tiny space,” one designer told the Times. Examples of the typology offer exciting glimpses into what could be the future of commuting for a large swath of the population. As many as 255 million people could be working remote full-time by the end of the decade.

The New York Times has more on the modular work pod revolution here.

Studio Malka Architecture adds modular vertical extension to French Embassy in Vienna

2021-10-13T14:57:00-04:00

French firm Studio Malka Architecture has announced a new project that will see the addition of a striking collection of curved, modular extensions to the French Embassy in Vienna, Austria.

Built in the early 20th century, the embassy is situated within two buildings that express an Art Nouveau style. The project calls on the refurbishment and vertical extension of the two units that are both modern and informed by the site’s history. The result was the decision to develop a light and modular extension.

As noted by the architects, the curved, shell-like components serve as more than mere ornamentation but as functional pieces, “in the daily use of its architecture.” The system, which Studio Malka Architecture says was created in ancient Egypt, collects, amplifies, and diffuses natural light throughout the entire building, as well as creates natural ventilation.

“More than a century after its creation, the project of the new French Embassy in Vienna reconnects with Art Nouveau’s f...

MVRDV transforms former U.S. military barracks with 'catalog' of residential dwellings

2021-08-27T16:46:00-04:00

MVRDV has broken ground on their Traumhaus Funari project in Mannheim, Germany, transforming a former U.S. military barracks into a suburban residential neighborhood. The design for the new neighborhood is shaped by a series of options and rules, intended to promote diversity in the streetscape by allowing residents to make meaningful choices about their homes.

Image via MVRDV

Funari is one of five districts forming the redevelopment of Mannheim’s Franklin quarter, which once housed a U.S. military base. For the scheme’s development, MVRDV partnered with prefabricated housing developer Traumhaus, who specializes in housing created from mass-produced, standardized elements. For Funari, MVRDV adapted this standardized approach to create a catalog of housing typologies, allowing residents to choose from variations in materials, sizes, interior layouts, and connections to external space.

Image via MVRDV

“Traumhaus has already shown how a systematic construction approach can increase a...

10 featured firms specializing in BIM and modular construction are currently hiring on Archinect Jobs

2021-07-29T17:46:00-04:00

As the month of July comes to a close, architecture firms continue to seek design professionals to join their teams. Here at Archinect, we follow employment and professional practice trends to provide our audience with the latest news and resources. As a trusted source in the architecture community, our industry-leading job board has been connecting job seekers with firms for many years.

For this week's curated job roundup, we're highlighting a number of open positions that focus on modular construction/design and BIM. Following are 15 relevant job listings currently listed on the Archinect Job Board.

Modular Construction and Housing

Elysian Fields Apartments (Built) Location: Los Angeles, CA. Image courtesy of Warren Techentin Architecture (WTARCH)

Warren Techentin Architecture (WTARCH) seeks a Project Manager/Project Architect
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Description: Warren Techentin Architecture [WTARCH] is an award-winning, design-forward, multi-disciplinary firm located in the S...

Six modules and an undulating roof come together for new residence by Young Projects

2021-06-23T18:29:00-04:00

New York-based architecture practice Young Projects has completed a 3,500-square-foot modular home located on a verdant, two-acre lot in Bridgehampton, New York.

Called Six Square House, the residence is made up of six 24’ by 24’ gabled modules that are arranged to align roof ridges and create continuity between the modules. In contrast, each module’s roof eaves flow upward and downward, resulting in a variety of undulating surfaces and perspectives across the exterior and interior of the home. The building is clad in deep gray, slatted Accoya wood, which works to highlight the roof’s dynamic edges and arcs. Its exterior wood cladding and wood roof cladding was designed and manufactured by reSAWN TIMBER co.

Six Square House sits adjacent to a historic 1850 farmhouse. The home is the nucleus of the property, surrounded by a new pool house, gunite pool, and ipe deck. The old farmhouse has become the guest home. Six Square House was designed as a contemporary counterpart to the farmho...

10-story apartment building in Changsha, China erected in 28 hours

2021-06-22T20:26:00-04:00

Chinese manufacturing company Broad Group has constructed a 10-story apartment building in just over a day.

Called the Living Building, the structure is located in the company’s headquarters location of Changsha, China. A timelapse released by Broad Group shows the apartment block being erected in just 28 hours and 45 minutes with the help of three cranes and a large team of workers.

Video via Broad Group on YouTube.

Broad Group specializes in manufacturing a range of air conditioning, heating, and prefabricated structural units. As stated in the project’s publicity video, the company has been developing factory-made steel buildings since 2009. Additionally, Broad Group claims that this is the world’s shortest construction period.

The Living Building was constructed using modular units that were made off-site in a factory. It was designed to be easy to transport and install. The structure is made of pure stainless steel, with each module sized at forty feet long, eight feet wide,...

Concrete corrosion and disrepair: Holding on to the Nakagin Capsule Tower

2021-05-11T19:30:00-04:00

The infamous Nakagin Capsule Tower has mesmerized architects, designers, and architecture enthusiasts for decades. Whether you're a fan of Japanese Metabolist architecture or not, many continue to share a fondness and adoration towards the mixed-use residential and office tower designed by Kisho Kurokawa in 1972.

Archinect's brief coverage of the tower and talk of its demolition in 2005 was a glimpse into the now sixteen-year discussion and debate regarding the fate of the Nakagin Capsule Tower. Recently, a report from the Tokyo Reporter shared the latest details regarding what is to come of Tokyo's well-known metabolism tower. According to the Tokyo-based news outlet," the management association for the tower has decided to sell it. The move clouds the future of the structure, which could be headed for demolition [...] A preservation push has been ongoing. But the management association for the building, which consists of capsule owners, voted to sell the building to the landowner ...

Spanish architecture studio DelaVegaCanolasso designs a 'Tini Office' perfect for remote work

2021-03-26T15:27:00-04:00

Remote offices took many forms last year, but the Spanish architecture studio, DelaVegaCanolasso, designed an office that focuses on mobility and flexibility. The "Tini Office" was developed for the 'TiniHome' series in Spain.

The prefabricated, 263.7 square foot (22-square-meter) module provides individuals with a fresh and isolated workspace that "brings them back to nature." Constructed out of recycled OSB wood with a corten steel facade, the minimalist office design can turn your backyard or vacant open space into a ready-to-use remote work area. Aiming to promote a customizable tiny office experience, the TiniHome series promotes sustainability, fast production, and ease. "You can choose that your 'Tinis' are totally self-sufficient, with solar panels + batteries, water tank, and septic tank," shares the Tiny Home series team.

UNStudio proposes a new meaning for 'smart living' with their latest residential project in Munich

2021-02-10T20:29:00-05:00

Conversation around the future of housing is a topic commonly discussed within architecture and urban planning circles. Firms large and small have postulated where issues within housing schemes lie and how the industry can address them. However, as architects continue to dance around solutions for "smart housing" and urban living, there are reservations on what that looks like specifically.

While housing issues vary worldwide based on their social, political, and environmental factors, firms like MVRDV, Sidewalk Labs, among others, have presented ideas that aim to reimagine residential developments and their so-called "smart" components. Recently, UNStudio announced the introduction of their latest residential project in Munich called Van B. They claim their prototype for modern city-dwelling will "cater to changing demographics and multiple family constellations. With its highly flexible apartments, outdoor and shared communal spaces, and striking facade, Van B offers a new form o...

The Architects Collective and Tavi Design Group have designed a six-story housing project that was assembled in six days

2020-07-24T12:29:00-04:00

Housing developer Ush has completed the assembly of a modular 80-unit housing project designed by The Architects Collective with landscape design by Tavi Design Group. in Los Angeles. The modular units came in complete with appliances, finishes, and fixtures. The six-story structure was assembled in just six days.

"When we chose to join the vibrant community of Westlake, we knew we would need to develop an apartment community that lived up to the neighborhood’s standards," said Drew Orenstein, CEO of Ush in a statement. “Whether the resident is a young professional in need of a studio for life on the go or a young family desiring a central Los Angeles neighborhood, 740 Alvarado was designed to meet their needs."

Plant Prefab installs four-unit housing complex in three days

2020-07-16T13:12:00-04:00

Modular home builder Plant Prefab has announced that it completed installation of a 11,054-square-foot, four-unit townhome development in Los Gatos, California in July in just three days.

According to Plant Prefab, The townhomes range in size from 2,650 to 2,902 square feet, and each include three bedrooms and four bathrooms. Designed with modern styling and underground parking, the development is also topped with solar panels and wood and stone finishes.

Rendering of the Los Gatos project.

In a press release announcing the project, project developer Jordan Castillo explains, “Building with Plant Prefab allowed us to significantly reduce disruption to the neighborhood. Building offsite also meant that we could work on the site and structure simultaneously. This was particularly beneficial in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Another installation shot.

The homes were constructed in Plant Prefab's Rialto, California factory and designed by Metro Architects.

Plant Prefab also ma...

Swiss architects construct a cylindrical modular structure for use as student housing

2020-06-05T18:16:00-04:00

Located on the outskirts of the University of Lausanne in Chavannes-près-Renens, Switzerland, the Vortex will house nearly 1,000 students and academic guests by the end of this summer. Designed by Swiss-based IttenBrechbühl, the building welcomed 1,800 athletes taking part in the Youth Olympic Games at Lausanne earlier this year.

The circular form of the architecture creates a vast inner courtyard that is more representative of a park or village square. A number of entrances provide access to this courtyard from the outside, creating an immediate connection to the outer countryside.

Each floor was constructed with modular "boxes," and are connected by a spiral ramp that moves throughout the building. The construction was completed quickly due to the prefabricated nature of the modular units. Each of the floors, except the ground floor, is identical in layout.

The result, is a monolithic mass built economically, sustainably, and timely, and one that will serve as a home for the stude...

COVID-19’s spatial impacts: Big or small?

2020-04-27T21:00:00-04:00

What will be the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the built environment? Of course, anything can happen and we should be skeptical of anyone offering predictions for what even tomorrow might bring, but that has not stopped architectural thinkers from positing the world as it might come to be.

A case in point, two dueling perspectives were recently published that offer differing visions of how our cities, daily lives, and homes might change in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Writing in The Los Angeles Times, author and architecture critic Sam Lubell highlights six aspects of daily life—modular construction, adaptive reuse, lightweight architecture, healthy buildings, work, and public spaces—that are likely to be impacted by the crisis.

Previously on Archinect: 2,500-bed hospital conversion at NYC’s Javits Center opens. Photo By: K.C. Wilsey, FEMA.

Among the least discussed arenas so far that might find new relevance amid the COVID-19 crisis, according to Lubell, is modular co...

Carlo Ratti Associati complete COVID-19 medical pod prototype

2020-04-21T11:51:00-04:00

Carlo Ratti Associati has completed and installed the first unit of CURA in Turin, Northern Italy. Previously reported on Archinect, we reported on the project, which stands for "Connected Unites for Respiratory Ailments" was spearheaded by Carlo Ratti Associati and Italian architect Italo Rota. The concept utilized shipping containers to develop a modular system of pods for treating COVID-19 patients. Met with confusion, some were uncertain of the feasibility of the proposal, but now the first steps have become a reality.

The plug-in Intensive-Care Pods converted from shipping containers have come to fruition in just four weeks following their initial launch. The speed of the design and production effort come as a result of an international task force that, in addition to designers from Carlo Ratti Associati with Italo Rato, include engineers at Jacobs and health technology company Philips for medical equipment supply.

Initial concept renderings.

With the goal to improve the efficie...

Carlo Ratti and collaborators propose CURA: emergency COVID-19 medical pods inside converted shipping containers

2020-03-30T17:47:00-04:00

In an effort to rapidly boost effective medical response to the devastating COVID-19 outbreak, an international network of architects, engineers, doctors, military experts, and NGOs have developed an open-source solution to convert shipping containers into plug-in Intensive-Care Units. A first prototype is currently being developed in Milan, Italy where the pandemic has hit especially hard.

The project, called CURA (Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments, and also "cure" in Latin), was initiated by Italian architect, engineer, and director of MIT's Senseable City Lab Carlo Ratti with fellow Italian architect Italo Rota.

Image courtesy of CURA/Carlo Ratti Associati.

"CURA is a compact Intensive-Care pod for patients with respiratory infections, hosted in a 20-foot intermodal container with biocontainment (thanks to negative pressure)," explains the project description. "Each unit works autonomously and can be shipped anywhere. Individual pods are connected by an inflatable structure...

Modular construction startup Katerra cuts 200 jobs to embrace automation

2019-12-13T17:08:00-05:00

Katerra Inc., a modular construction startup, got an $865 million cash infusion from investors led by SoftBank Group Corp. last year. Now, the company is shutting down a factory in Phoenix and cutting 200 jobs. The move will shift Katerra’s manufacturing away from Phoenix and into its highly automated and lower-cost factory in Tracy, California.

The company's mission is to "shake up the construction industry with a combination of efficient factories, prefab parts and modular construction units," Bloomberg reports. The Phoenix factory will remain open thorugh the end of the year and affected employees will receive a 90-day severance package.