The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have co-published a new guide for architects on deep energy retrofits. But this is not just a technical design guide; instead, the report explains why deep retrofits offer architects a good business opportunity and outlines the financial arguments and incentive programs needed to sell retrofit designs to clients. — greensource.construction.com
Whether by accident or on purpose, we've all seen it somehow.The Eco-Porn Competition, which launched on August 11, is the latest in Reality Cues' series of tongue-in-cheek competitions that point out the tropes in architecture. The series gives entrants a chance to be sassy yet reverent with... View full entry
Randell Makinson, a forceful advocate for preservation of the rambling Greene & Greene bungalows that came to be seen as graceful emblems of early 20th century California, has died. He was 81. — LA times
Randell Makinson is an important force of the architectural preservation community not only for Los Angeles but for California in general before there was LA Conservancy and preservation boards. An authority of Greene & Greene Architecture who has written 5 books on their work and also... View full entry
On Aug. 11, the Illawarra Flame House of Team UOW Australia (University of Wollongong and TAFE Illawarra Institute) won the 2013 Solar Decathlon China. Co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Administration China, the competition challenged university teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy-efficient, and stylish. Participants included 22 teams from 35 universities, with students of over 35 nationalities in 13 countries. — bustler.net
In the latest edition of the Working out of the Box series Archinect interviewed Brooklyn-based designer & artist Doug Johnston. His current profession is creating "objects by stitching rope together" and he explains "I guess sometime early on, I realized that my design work wouldn't be... View full entry
Hyperloop is a new mode of transport that seeks to change this [transit] paradigm by being both fast and inexpensive for people and goods. Hyperloop is also unique in that it is an open design concept, similar to Linux. Feedback is desired from the community that can help advance the Hyperloop design and bring it from concept to reality. — Tesla Motors
CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, posted on the Tesla blog his proposal for an alternative to the California High-Speed Rail plan, the Hyperloop. The solar-powered transportation system is proposed to function somewhat like a pneumatic tube, where capsules of up to 28 passengers on air-bearings are... View full entry
It is, first and foremost, a visual and sound buffer placed between residents and the diesel trucks rumbling along the 103 Freeway to and from the Port of Long Beach.
But the wall, two fences stuffed with mulch generated from Long Beach tree trimmings, is also environmentally friendly; it will eventually be seeded with trees and shrubs that will leech vehicle exhaust from the air and transform the pollution into oxygen.
— presstelegram.com
According to data released by New York City last fall, the Bank of America Tower produces more greenhouse gases and uses more energy per square foot than any comparably sized office building in Manhattan. It uses more than twice as much energy per square foot as the 80-year-old Empire State Building. - Sam Roudman — Co.Design
The Bank of America tower in NYC, winner of Platinum LEED certification and (according to Bank of America) "one of the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise office buildings", is under scrutiny for its environmental claims, in a debate hosted by the Fast Company blog, Co.Design. A... View full entry
The Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand opened its doors to the public for the first time on August 6. Designed by Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, the cathedral is a temporary replacement of the original Christchurch Cathedral, the city's symbol that was destroyed by a 6.3-magnitude... View full entry
After two years of steadfast trial and inevitable error, Harvest Dome 2.0 was finally docked into the Harlem River at the Inwood Hill Park Inlet in New York during its debut last week. Created by husband-and-wife team Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO Architecture, the first Harvest Dome... View full entry
Tina Hovsepian of global architecture firm Callison was driven by the need to help homeless individuals in Los Angeles when she designed the first prototype for the "Cardborigami" shelter during her fourth year at USC's School of Architecture. Cardborigami, which has grown into a non-profit... View full entry
Almost no one in America has heard of the Alaskan village of Kivalina. It clings to a narrow spit of sand on the edge of the Bering Sea, far too small to feature on maps of Alaska, never mind the United States.
Which is perhaps just as well, because within a decade Kivalina is likely to be under water. Gone, forever. Remembered - if at all - as the birthplace of America's first climate change refugees.
— bbc.co.uk
In her recently published Op-Ed Ann Lui, reflected on the experience of receiving a jury citation, for her and her partner’s entry in the 2013 Burnham Prize Competition: NEXT STOP-Designing Chicago BRT Stations. She concluded "So submit the competition that doesn’t have a... View full entry
It works like this: people empty their latrines into a sewage receptacle (currently, latrines are often emptied into rivers), the waste gets funneled through a series of tubes and is pressurized at extreme temperatures, and the byproduct is clean, possibly drinkable water. Deshusses describes the process as “a pressure cooker on steroids.” — wunc.org
For the latest edition of the Working out of the Box series, Archinect spoke with Spain-based Brazilian Creative Director/Creative Consultant Gustavo Almeida-Santos of studiogaas. Therein, we learn Mr. Almeida-Santos is currently attending ETSAM in Madrid, where he is enrolled in a... View full entry
