"I haven’t seen anything quite like this," says Jules Boykoff, a professor and former professional soccer player who studies the impact of the Olympics on marginalized communities. "Typically, hostile architecture is more subtle." — WIRED
The worry that Los Angeles may attempt a full-scale homeless 'cleansing' ahead of the 2028 Olympics has always been present as the statistical realities make too apparent: At least 75,000 people currently live without housing in L.A. County. Now, the task for their advocates is to buck trends that... View full entry
The fight to curtail so-called megamansions was picked up recently by Realtor.com. They say the colloquial square footage "horse" has "already left the barn," adding the caveat that the typical American home size has increased by 150% between 1980 and 2018. Some other choice takeaways... View full entry
While the numbers are relatively small, these victories represent a massive shift in how designers see themselves: We went from being a privileged set of artisans to workers seeking solidarity with other workers in all industries. Learning from the workers and organizers who have put in the hard work before us, designers need to continue to take advantage of the current climate and organize more workplaces. — The Progressive Magazine
Chris Beck is an architect and member of the newly formed BA Union at New York-based Bernheimer Architecture, which recently ratified a collective bargaining agreement as the industry’s first union at a private-sector U.S. architecture firm. Writing for The Progressive Magazine, he says... View full entry
This year will be the first year in U.S. history that more than 500,000 new apartments are constructed, according to a new analysis of the 2024 rental market from RentCafe. The trend, which is anticipated to abate slightly in 2025, may again resurface by 2028 with exceptions remaining in... View full entry
Corrugated facade patterns were shown to reduce surface temperature on structures by up to 3.1°C (5.6°F) in a new experiment from a team of researchers at Columbia University. Their research into a scalable FinWall model, first published this spring in Cell Reports Physical Science, provided... View full entry
The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Client of the Year. The annual award recognizes clients who commission outstanding and transformative architecture.This year's list features four clients for their work on projects, including a special educational... View full entry
In Vijayawada, India, multidisciplinary design studio andblack design studio has delivered a unique preschool of organic forms and integrated landscaping that aims to reflect the school’s forward-thinking approach to education through its design. Image: Vinay Panjwani Called Cocoon, the facility... View full entry
Organizing at the community level and putting pressure on politicians can go a long way, but it’s not enough. Architects have to start seeing themselves as political actors with high stakes in the same way communities and unions do. Architects are workers and they depend on work.
The fight for climate justice, resiliency, and workers’ and tenants’ rights are only going to get harder in an era of political decay, cronyism, and systemic crisis.
— The Nation
The fight over congestion pricing and residential building retrofits in New York City are just a couple of the many flashpoints architects should involve themselves in heavily in order to better advocate for the profession, critic Kate Wagner writes. Rightly, she states, “The field’s most... View full entry
Following our previous visit to Tennessee-based HK Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Washington this week to explore the work of mwworks architecture + design. Founded in 2007, the Seattle-based firm has built a portfolio spanning architectural and interior design... View full entry
New research from the Italian University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli into the “hedonic quality” of bus terminals and their effects on users’ consumer behavior has shown an offsetting cost-benefit that correlates to better ridership where there is a higher quality of... View full entry
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Maine are leading interesting new engineering research into floor cassettes made using recyclable natural materials that are strong enough to be used in multi-story buildings. Thanks to experiments at UMaine's... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Details. Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to... View full entry
The walk can never be repeated, but it also can never be undone. You cannot fly a jetliner into a memory. In hindsight, the so-called art crime of the century has become a tribute to the lives of the 2,753 who were killed in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, and whose stories, too, will always live on. When I see a photo of Mr. Petit in the air, it suggests to me that the lost were able to bridge that distance, too. — The New York Times
Philippe Petit’s early morning stunt on August 7, 1974, helped sway public opinion in favor of the recently opened NYC World Trade Center towers, which struggled financially until the Port Authority changed course and allowed financial services companies to begin leasing space by the end of the... View full entry
New reporting on the transportation infrastructure strategy for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles from the local NBC affiliate has shown glaring gaps that may complicate the promises made previously by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti and other officials. The report found that ten L.A... View full entry
A dispute over the sale of original items from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower high-rise in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has produced a series of UCC statements against the building’s current owners by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. The nonprofit issued an update to its legal pursuit... View full entry
