Homebuilding could slump further in September in the aftermath of Harvey and Hurricane Irma, which struck Florida. According to Census Bureau data, the areas in Texas and Florida that were devastated by the storms accounted for about 13 percent of permits issued in the nation last year. — Reuters
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have held down home completions in Texas and Florida, but the hurricane's aftermaths are also likely to slow homebuilding in the coming months as resources are redirected toward repairs and rebuilding efforts rather than new construction. Labor shortages are also... View full entry
Beijing will suspend construction of major public projects in the city this winter in an effort to improve the capital’s notorious air quality, official media said on Sunday, citing the municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development.
All construction of road and water projects, as well as demolition of housing, will be banned from Nov. 15 to March 15 within the city’s six major districts and surrounding suburbs, said the Xinhua report.
— Reuters
"China is in the fourth year of a 'war on pollution,'" Reuters reports, "designed to reverse the damage done by decades of untrammelled economic growth and allay concerns that hazardous smog and widespread water and soil contamination are causing hundreds of thousands of early deaths every year." View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2017 Ready or not, it's the start of a new school year. Back for Fall 2017 is Archinect's Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to... View full entry
Albert Speer Jr, the son of Adolf Hitler's chief architect who had his own accomplished architectural career but struggled to distance himself from his father's legacy, has died at the age of 83.
The architecture firm he founded, Albert Speer + Partner GmbH, said Mr Speer died on Saturday in Frankfurt.
— dw.com
This post is brought to you by BQE Core. Have you ever wondered if you’re paying your employees less than they deserve? More importantly, how do you even assess your staff’s productivity and value? Knowing the utilization or efficiency of your employees can help gauge their productivity and... View full entry
The Government is spending four times as much – some £32bn—subsidizing private housing as it is building affordable homes for low income families, a report has revealed.
The study showed 79 per cent of the total housing budget is currently spent on higher-cost homes for sale, including through the controversial Help to Buy scheme, but just 21 per cent, around £8bn, goes to affordable homes for rent.
— The Independent
Carried out the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), the annual review shows a significant shift away from programs that build new affordable housing in favor of subsidization. The amount of government funding granted to the Affordable Homes Program has fallen to just £285 million, down... View full entry
This week holds a fantastic collection of talks, walks and exhibition openings to fill your days and evenings. From the artistic to political, this week is full of events which look towards our futures in terms of resources, skylines, and technology. Don't miss out on any London Design... View full entry
After decades of failed bids and one particularly humiliating loss to London in 2012, Paris has officially been named the host of the 2024 Olympics. Though the city plans on making the most out of its existing facilities, some new development will take place. One of such projects is the Dominique... View full entry
Out of over 2,600 entries, a multi-disciplinary consortium led by Fernando Romero / FR-EE was recently announced as one of the 10 winning teams in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge with the proposal “Mexloop”, the 330-mile Mexico-Guadalajara route. The Mexloop project builds on Mexico's... View full entry
The Russian President Vladimir Putin opened Zaryadye Park near Red Square on 9 September, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, creators of New York’s High Line, but what Moscow city officials are lauding as a “new symbol of Russia” preservationists are decrying as a travesty that impinges on the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral, two of Russia’s most sacred landmarks. — The Art Newspaper
Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Zaryadye Park proposal for an ambitious replacement of the colossal Soviet-era Hotel Russia near the Kremlin in central Moscow won the international competition back in 2013 with a "wild urbanism" concept. Rendering of DS+R's Zaryadye Park project in central Moscow... View full entry
It’s hard to escape the irony that the U.S., which will need something like 43 million new housing units to keep up with population growth in the next 35 years, is using space to build apartment-size garages, even as trends in ride-sharing and self-driving cars cast a measure of uncertainty on American car culture. — Bloomberg
Despite housing shortages and rent increases, 24% of the new homes completed in 2015 in the US included a garage for 3 or more vehicles. Since 1992, when the census started tracking this, more 3-car garages than 1-bedroom apartments have been built. With the ever-increasing need for housing, and... View full entry
Renault recently revealed their new concept for an autonomous vehicle that fully integrates into one's home. Called the Symbioz, the idea seems obvious enough—many models for self-driving vehicles have interiors that convert into arrangements typical of the living room and this one comes... View full entry
For nearly three weeks in the spring of 2008, residents and passersby near Convent Avenue and 141st Street in Harlem craned their necks to take in a peculiar sight. Positioned atop a 38-foot structure of crib piles, shimmies, and steel beams was a two-story yellow house originally built for Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury and future Broadway musical sensation. — Mental Floss
Built in 1802, the Hamilton House has been moved twice since then, first in 1889, and more recently in 2008 when it was raised on a 38-foot tall structure before being moved slowly down the street to St. Nicholas Park. The National park services considered cutting the house in half or removing... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2017 Ready or not, it's the start of a new school year. Back for Fall 2017 is Archinect's Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to... View full entry
The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning today announced Jeanne Gang, founding principal of Chicago-based Studio Gang, as the recipient of the 2017 Marcus Prize for Architecture. The $100,000 award honors architects "on a trajectory to... View full entry