Archinect - News

It's a 'Go' for ZGF's Space Shuttle Endeavour installation at the California Science Center

2024-01-31T12:12:00-05:00

ZGF Architects has completed the installation of the decommissioned Space Shuttle Endeavour and orbiter system as a part of their Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center expansion at the California Science Center museum in Los Angeles.

The unique project will culminate in a three-level level scheme that includes 150 different exhibitions, the largest of which, a 200-foot-tall central gallery space, is set to be used as a new permanent display for the 122-foot-long retired NASA orbiter.

Video courtesy California Science Center

Since July, the construction team at Exposition Park has been busy at work on the “Soft mate” phase of the “Go for Stack” installation process for the space shuttle apparatus. The same painstaking process that decades ago prepared the shuttle for its 25 launches into outer space was once again enacted at the site for the record first time in civilian history. Work to install the solid rocket boosters and external tank preceded the shuttle’s move into place before ...

Rearrangeable airplane interiors? They may actually be on the horizon

2017-02-09T12:39:00-05:00

Researchers armed with Ikea furniture, board games, and plastic-wrapped meals, wanted to know how people would handle themselves if airlines swapped those cramped rows of miserable seats for something more imaginative. They tested something A3 [the California-flavored startup-within-a-multinational-corporation at Airbus] calls “Transpose”—a conceptual modular cabin that offers a bevy of in-flight activities: a facial over here, a latte over there, a spin class up front.

Think that’s weird? Well, once the plane lands, a crew can pop out one interior and toss in a new one, moving things about to create the next flight’s passenger experience.

According to the article, this idea might not ever actually take off. There's a host of regulatory as well as logistical issues. But it's a serious project that Airbus has a dedicated team working on!

The Ehang passenger drone might be another way people will get around town someday

2016-01-08T19:54:00-05:00

The idea behind the Chinese-built 184 is that users will simply get in, power it up, select their destination using a 12-inch touchscreen tablet display, then press the 'take-off' button. The drone's automated flight systems will take over from there, managing tasks such as communication with air traffic control and other aircraft, obstacle avoidance, and of course navigation...

Self-driving cars, self-driving bikes, the Hyperloop slowly becoming a reality, what's next for urban mobility? Self-driving passenger drones, of course. Smart-drone enterprise Ehang unveiled a single-seat, battery-powered Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) called the Ehang 184 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The quadcopter was built for short-to-medium-distance personal transit, and users won't need a piloting license to operate it. Apparently, it'll be commercially available later this year for $200,000-$300,000, Gizmag writes. If this technology really *ahem* takes off, the FAA will surely have a field day regulating it.

Around the world in 80 minutes: Is a future of high-speed air travel coming soon?

2014-10-16T13:19:00-04:00

The reasons for designing and flying vehicles that are capable of global reach in the time taken to read the morning newspaper are technically attractive and militarily obvious. The economic and social justifications are perhaps less easily pinned down, but are nonetheless compelling. What will be the impact of treating Sydney as a commuter suburb for Beijing, or of being able to visit Antipodean gran for Sunday roast – with a serious prospect of being home in time for dinner and telly?

Frank Havermans + Rietveld Landscape Unveil "Secret Operation 610" Thinkspace

2013-09-24T14:19:00-04:00

When aircraft Shelter 610 opens its ruthless doors, a monstrous black behemoth slowly comes driving out. The object revives the mysterious atmosphere of the Cold War and its accompanying terrifying weaponry. At an almost excruciatingly slow pace, the artwork uses its caterpillar tracks to cross the seemingly infinite runway.

Lending a new meaning to "think tank", the formidable Secret Operation 610 is now slinking its way across Airbase Soesterberg in the Netherlands. Both art piece and educational practice, the structure is designed by Studio Frank Havermans and Reitveld Landscape for SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public Domain. While the aesthetic is inspired by a Cold War military atmosphere, its interior serves as a research space -- conducted while Secret Operation 610 crawls across the landscape.

The "mobile sculpture" will first be home to students from Delft University of Technology, studying carbon-free and silent flight technology, but will ultimately be open to researchers from any discipline.

Check out Secret Operations 610 in action in the video below.

More on Secret Operation 610 from Studio Frank Havermans + Rietveld Landscape

Norman Foster: To infinity and beyond?

2011-05-17T20:51:13-04:00

"As a designer I know that everything we've done -- everything I've done -- is to try to transform that experience to bring it back to what it was in the golden age of flight," says Foster. "To make it something that is a celebration, to make it a friendly, uplifting experience and in that sense to go back in time."

CNN interviews Norman Foster.