Deep beneath the streets of Clapham, London, in a former air raid shelter, Steve Dring and his colleagues are farming. Vertical farming, that is.
The company Dring co-founded, Growing Underground, is cultivating a wide range of vegetables and herbs in vertically-stacked trays in the confined space. It’s part of a growing trend in Europe and the U.S.
— Marketplace
Marketplace visits Growing Underground, a cutting-edge vertical farm inside a converted WWII-era air raid bunker 100 feet beneath London. "If we were growing peas out in the open, we’d have three crops a year," the company's cofounder Steve Dring tells the reporter. "Here, we get 62 crops a year... View full entry
The Columbia University Gradate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation has launched a new interdisciplinary research initiative called the Columbia GSAPP Housing Lab. The lab is to be led by GSAPP dean Amale Andraos. Architect and GSAPP associate professor Hilary Sample has also... View full entry
The president and his administration said last week that they plan on building between 450 and 500 miles of fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile border by the end of 2020, an ambitious undertaking funded by billions of defense dollars that had been earmarked for things like military base schools, target ranges and maintenance facilities. — The Columbian
The construction has commenced in Yuma, Arizona, where the 30-foot-tall fencing will replace existing shorter barriers. "The Trump administration says the wall—along with more surveillance technology, agents and lighting—is key to keeping out people who cross illegally,"... View full entry
Texas Central, the private company developing the Texas Bullet Train, announced it had signed a deal with Salini Impregilo, the Italian construction giant, and its American subsidiary, Lane Construction, to design, construct and install the 240-mile high-speed rail line using Japan’s Shinkansen trains. — The Houston Chronicle
The plan to build a 90-minute bullet train between Dallas and Houston still requires a number of local, state, and federal approvals before it can move forward. Nonetheless, backers of the project are raising funding for the initiative and setting out to complete early design work. Texas... View full entry
Under AB 68, homeowners who apply to build accessory dwelling units, or “granny flats,” can also apply to build a second, “junior” ADU on their property — the functional equivalent of statewide triplex zoning. While the new rules don’t allow the subdivision of properties for sale, they could unleash a “golden age” of ADU construction across the state, leading to a significant increase in housing supply. — California YIMBY
“The passage of AB 68 [...] fundamentally shifts the landscape for building new homes in our state,” Brian Hanlon, co-founder and president of zoning reform advocacy group California YIMBY said via press release, adding, “When the Governor signs these bills into law, almost every residential... View full entry
A month ago, Dr. Richard J. Williams of the University of Edinburgh expressed his views of the over-hyped shipping container design fad in The New York Times. Describing the fatal flaw in logic widely used to promote the use of shipping containers in recent architectural proposals, Williams... View full entry
Sanders railed against Trump’s housing policies and explained his own, which calls for federal investment of $2.5 trillion over the next decade and a national rent control standard. He said he will pay for the policy by establishing a wealth tax on the top tenth of one percent — or, according to his estimate, the wealthiest 175,000 families. — The Washington Post
Major points of the $2.5 trillion plan include: Establishing a national rent control standard that would cap rent increases at no more than 1½ times the rate of inflation or 3 percent, whichever is higher.Promoting legal protections for fair housing and taking steps to eliminate racial... View full entry
Located in McNeel Gallery at Giles Hall, the exhibition introduces and examines the historical, socio-cultural, religious and architectural influence people and events had on the design and construction of early African American church buildings constructed between 1800 and the 1920s. — MSU School of Architecture
According to MSU, the exhibition is part of a broader effort to highlight African American church houses throughout the South. View full entry
Architects are known for their distinct fashion sense. From the clean, minimalistic look to the striking and avant-garde, fashion's relationship with architecture is close and personal. Popular clothing brand COS is paying tribute to its Bauhaus-inspired design principles with a unique... View full entry
The California High-Speed Rail Authority and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) have reached a funding agreement that will bring $400 million in public funds to the Link Union Station project. Link US, as the project is widely known, aims to retrofit Los... View full entry
Rondeau and the architects said key factors guiding their thinking include working to open the museum to the city on its western, Michigan Avenue side, to Grant Park and the lake on its eastern side and even to the train lines that bisect what is, at about 1 million square feet, the nation’s second largest art museum, behind the Met. — The Chicago Tribune
Over coming months, Barozzi/Veiga will get to work crafting "a five-year, 10-year, 15-year plan" for the campus that envisions a way of opening up the campus, as Art Institute of Chicago director tells The Chicago Tribune. The effort is fueled by nearly $70 million in donations from... View full entry
US prefab specialist Katerra has added two contractors to its stable of companies: UEB Builders and Fortune-Johnson General Contractors.
The acquisitions allow the Silicon Valley company to expand its coverage of the US market. UEB Builders is a general contractor in Arizona that constructs commercial and residential projects. Georgia-based Fortune-Johnson specialises in multi-family residential projects. Both companies will adopt the Katerra brand.
— BIM+
According to Bim+, the acquisition will add 320 employees to Katerra's payroll, pushing the company's workforce to 8,500 individuals. In January 2019, the end-to-end building services provider also received an infusion of investment from Japan's SoftBank that raised Katerra's valuation to over $... View full entry
We have a very limited number of copies remaining from our first print of the third issue of Ed, Archinect's print periodical. To secure a copy before we run out, orders should be made soon. This latest issue features a diverse range of contributions by significant architectural... View full entry
Plans for what could become one of Downtown’s most unique-looking skyscrapers received unanimous approval today from the city’s planning commission.
With cantilevered swimming pools jutting out of its upper floors, the tower proposed for across the street from Pershing Square has been said to look like an in-progress game of Jenga. Commissioner Samantha Millman called it an “ambitious and audacious project.”
— Curbed LA
The Arquitectonica-designed 53-story hotel and condo tower with its precariously cantilevering glass-bottom swimming pools (hey, it's LA!) first appeared on Archinect last fall and quickly became the subject of much debate. Additional renderings were released in May this year. Image courtesy of... View full entry
In a recent news article from MIT News, architectural historian Timothy Hyde explains why "every building is ultimately a compromise.” Hyde shares, “It’s a compromise between the intentions of architects, the capacities of builders, economics, politics, the people who use the building... View full entry
