In this rapidly evolving socio-professional landscape, remote work is the talk of the town. In an ongoing survey, Archinect has learned that an estimated 78% of architectural professionals are working from home or have been given the option to work from home during the current COVID-19 outbreak... View full entry
Light, air, and hygiene [...] were the best treatment for tuberculosis at the time.
The design and construction of specialized sanatoria coincided with the advent of Modernism. Architectural elements like flat roofs, terraces and balconies, and white- or light-painted rooms spread across Europe. Not unlike the sanatorium, the new architecture was intended to cure the perceived physical, nervous, and moral ailments brought on by crowded cities.
— CityLab
The collective desire to cure and prevent the seemingly unstoppable tuberculosis epidemic through deliberate design choices had given tremendous momentum to a revolutionary movement in our fairly recent architectural past: Modernism. Staircase inside Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium. Photo courtesy... View full entry
The American Academy in Rome (AAR) has announced that it will be shutting down its campus in Rome in response to the novel coronavirus-19 epidemic. In a letter published to the AAR website, Mark Robbins,AAR President and CEO, writes, “In consideration of the safety of those residing in... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has published its latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) report, highlighting the healthy demand for design services on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally speaking, February's ABI numbers paint a rosy picture for the industry. This, of... View full entry
In 2019, Hangzhou-based One Take Architects completed the Mandala Pop-up Digital Art Museum, which was a temporary structure showcasing an immersive multi-media exhibition inspired by the Himalayan landscape and arts and culture. The architects envisioned the pop-up museum as a utopian, isolated... View full entry
In the latest turn of events in the ongoing saga over the future of the School of Architecture at Taliesin (SoAT), the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the group that owns and maintains the buildings used by SoAT, has announced that it will "allow its agreement with the School of Architecture to... View full entry
As part of Archinect's month-long Spotlight on Boston, we have selected ten of our favorite residential architecture projects in the greater Boston area uploaded to Firm profiles of practices based in the city. Next week, we will follow up with a look at Boston's outstanding academic and workplace... View full entry
A 3D-printer company in Italy has designed and printed 100 life-saving respirator valves in 24 hours for a hospital that had run out of them...The valve connects patients in intensive care to breathing machines.
The hospital, in Brescia, had 250 coronavirus patients in intensive care and the valves are designed to be used for a maximum of eight hours at a time...The 3D-printed version cost less than €1 (90p) each to produce and the prototype took three hours to design.
— BBC
Cristian Fracassi, a chief executive at Isinnova, an independent research institute in Italy, and mechanical engineer Alessandro Romaioli teamed up to aid the hospitals need for new valves. Partnering with Lonati, another local 3D-printing company, the group began printing to meet the hospital's... View full entry
Announced March 17th, NeoCon 2020, the conference held every June at The Mart in Chicago since 1969, has been postponed. It was originally scheduled to occur from June 8th to June 10th. In its statement, the conference states: The health and welfare of all NeoCon participants, as well as local... View full entry
The Internet is already demonstrating its indispensable value as the fourth utility. [...] However, this presents strains to online infrastructure as the number of simultaneous online collaborations increases dramatically. Service companies, businesses, and individuals must be prepared for continued strain on private and public networks. [...] Likewise, businesses must evaluate their infrastructure and policies to ensure they can support remote participation, both technically and socially. — Brad Kult, HGA
Brad Kult, HGA's Director of Technology Design & Planning, gives an overview on the increasingly crucial role of technology in order for businesses and schools to continue operating, amid social-distancing efforts to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Kult offers some helpful reminders for... View full entry
Pandemics [...] are anti-urban. They exploit our impulse to congregate. And our response so far — social distancing — not only runs up against our fundamental desires to interact, but also against the way we have built our cities and plazas, subways and skyscrapers. They are all designed to be occupied and animated collectively. For many urban systems to work properly, density is the goal, not the enemy. — The New York Times
Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, waxes wistfully over the inherent collectivity of urban life as the COVID-19 pandemic shuts down cities around the globe. Describing the current state of affairs, Kimmelman writes, “Today’s threat is altogether another... View full entry
Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) have said the UK construction industry is set to become ‘dramatically and severely affected’ from Coronavirus. In a joint statement released today, the two organizations warned the situation had ‘accelerated’ over the weekend.
They warned that construction sites across the country will have to close if the UK government chooses to put the country into ‘lockdown’ and takes measures to restrict the movement of UK citizens.
— The Scaffolding Magazine
According to The Scaffolding Magazine, Build UK said, the impact on construction’s supply chain, consisting of multiple layers of businesses, many of them small businesses with a significant amount of self-employed workers will be "catastrophic and unavoidable." Build UK and the CECA... View full entry
Robert Ivy, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has penned a letter to AIA members offering advice and resources for how firms and individuals can navigate the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The global spread of the novel... View full entry
A massive $170 million plan to overhaul the Gruen Associates-designed California Market Center (CMC) in Los Angeles has taken a step forward as developers Brookfield Properties have announced completion of the first phase of the project. Views of the overall complex, which was originally designed... View full entry
Cities around the world are taking necessary precautions to help contain and mitigate the widespread effects of the coronavirus strain COVID-19. And although the United States has slowly increased its efforts to keep the virus at bay, some cities handling looming uneasiness and building panic... View full entry
