Around the same time the new world record holder for tall mass timber buildings — the 25-story Ascent tower — is making its much-awaited debut in Milwaukee, another North American design proposal has been revealed in Toronto that would surmount the historic milestone by a... View full entry
Work has been completed on Sluishuis, a residential project in Amsterdam by Bjarke Ingels Group and Barcode Architects. The scheme, which comprises 442 homes, a public green roof garden, and maritime jetties, is defined by a cantilevered form meeting at a high corner. Photograph © Ossip van... View full entry
A historic milestone in the use of mass timber as a construction material is about to be passed as Korb + Associates Architects’ aptly-named Ascent tower is finally set to open tomorrow, July 15, in Milwaukee. Standing 25 stories and a total of 86.6 meters (284 feet), the tower is now... View full entry
The New York State Assembly and Senate have passed a bill barring the construction of schools within 500 feet of a highway. The Schools Impact by Gross Highways Act (or SIGH Act) was written to protect school-age children from air pollution. Under the bill, which will also apply to New York City... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects has released a statement criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that restricts the EPA’s authority to mandate carbon emissions reductions. The ruling, which decided the case West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, is described by the AIA as a... View full entry
Foster + Partners has completed work on Ombú, an adaptive reuse project in Madrid, Spain. The scheme, designed for Spanish infrastructure and energy company ACCIONA, sees the retrofit of a 1905 gas plant into an office building. Over 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet) of office space are... View full entry
Barack Obama was greeted by a packed house at the close of the Friday session of this year’s A’22 Conference in his adopted hometown of Chicago. Speaking to the capacity audience in a Q&A hosted by new AIA President Dan Hart, the two-term former U.S. President used his platform to touch... View full entry
A city is rising from the waters of the Indian Ocean. In a turquoise lagoon, just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the Maldivian capital, a floating city, big enough to house 20,000 people, is being constructed. — CNN
Called the Maldives Floating City, the first-of-its-kind development is a joint venture between property developer Dutch Docklands and the Government of the Maldives. Netherlands-based architecture firm Waterstudio, which focuses on large-scale, sustainable floating projects, is the architecture... View full entry
In a 2017 feature article for Archinect, NK Architects’ CMO Zack Semke set out the case for adopting Passive House design principles. “The genius of Passive House design is that it recognizes the building itself – its skeleton and skin – as a technology,” Semke wrote. “Powered by... View full entry
A project by researchers at Texas A&M University has received a $3.74 million grant for the development of resilient, 3D-printed building designs using a new green material called hempcrete. Its usage has the potential to lower the environmental impact of traditional construction methods and make... View full entry
The massive plot of land reserved for renewable energy production by an aging federal policy in Southern California’s Inyo County has finally gotten the go-ahead for development years after its initial announcement by the Obama Administration. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)... View full entry
In time for the start of summer, the global fraternity of Chief Heat Officers has grown as cities decide to commit themselves to full-time professionals from the subfield of public design in the face of mounting challenges caused by climate change. The city of Monterrey, in the Mexican state of... View full entry
Factory-produced homes can produce up to 45% less carbon than traditional methods of residential construction, according to new research by academics from the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University. A study found that two modular housing schemes designed by HTA Design, consisting of a total of nearly 900 homes, saved a combined 28,000 tonnes of carbon. — Building
The two schemes studied were the 44 and 38-story Ten Degrees towers in London’s Croydon borough, the world’s tallest completed modular building, and The Valentine, a 10-story student housing project in London’s Redbridge. Both were completed in 2020. The report found that... View full entry
In late 2021, we covered a study by researchers at the University of Plymouth in the UK, which found that living wall systems can reduce heat lost from existing buildings by 31%. The Plymouth study was symptomatic of a larger curiosity within architecture on the impact of integrating nature and... View full entry
ICYMI, Sean Joyner debunked Architecture’s Mythological Work Culture. Given the clear "disconnect between the traditional professional ethos and the advent of the current zeitgeist" he argues "It is time to value people over projects, individuals over industry, compassion over concept." Not... View full entry