Though the financial crisis put a crimp in Masdar City’s ambitions too, it's now expanding around its compact urban core, with a new apartment complex nearing completion and plans for 5,000 homes. And the international publicity the project received from the start helped break the resistance to green ideas throughout the UAE — National Geographic
For their Urban Expeditions (Exploring Sustainable City Solutions Around the World) series, Robert Kunzig examines the challenges and opportunities facing Dubai, which by 2050, plans to have the world's smallest carbon footprint. View full entry
Designed by Foster + Partners, Bloomberg L.P.'s new European headquarters in London has been dubbed as the “world's most sustainable office building”, the architecture firm announced. Housing Bloomberg's 4,000 London employees, the office building was rated as “Outstanding” in the BREEAM... View full entry
The Mars Science City structure will be the most sophisticated building the world, and will incorporate a realistic simulation environment replicating the conditions on the surface of Mars.
A team of Emirati scientists, engineers and designers, led by a team from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and Dubai Municipality, will carry out the project, in cooperation with internationally renowned architects Bjarke Ingels.
— Al Arabiya
The United Arab Emirates is set to begin work on a $136M project to build a city stimulating conditions of life on Mars. The project is a part of the country's Mars by 2117 strategy, launched earlier this year by HH Sheikh Mohammed, in which the Gulf state seeks to lead the global scientific race... View full entry
After the Sylmar quake, officials quickly updated building requirements to add more steel reinforcement to new concrete buildings. But there was no systematic effort by many governments around the world to address the defect in existing concrete buildings. — Los Angeles Times
California has numerous concrete buildings at risk of collapsing during a serious earthquake. The city of Los Angeles estimates having over 1500 buildings at risk. Structural engineers recommend accelerating the deadline for retrofit requirement. View full entry
Regardless of the pricey remediation, the 41-acre property has long been considered a key element to the large-scale ecological restoration of the LA River. The city purchased the G2 parcel in March, paying nearly $60 million. — Curbed
The city’s bureau of engineering recommends engineering firm WSP, with Landscape Architect Mia Lehrer, for the transformation of the G2. WSP and Lehrer are collaborating with Mujeres de la Tierra, a non-profit public health organization based in Cypress Park, on the project. Part of Taylor... View full entry
Completed last year, the wooden skyscraper opened its doors to 400 students at University of British Columbia (UBC) Campus in Vancouver. Designed by Acton Ostry Architects in collaboration with structural engineers Fast + Epp. The building is built of mass timber construction above one level of... View full entry
The criminal investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster may consider individual as well as corporate manslaughter charges. At a briefing on Tuesday morning, officers said individual charges were a possibility as well as charges relating to fraud, misconduct, health and safety breaches, and breaches of fire safety regulations. — The Guardian
Police consider both individual and corporate manslaughter charges in the Grenfell Tower disaster; the fire of a 24-story social housing tower in London. The tower's cladding was highly flammable and no sprinklers had been installed. View full entry
I’m particularly interested in how sustainable buildings might affect the experience of landscape differently — actually better, differently — because, as a human being, I’m hoping for more sustainable architecture, and, as an academic (and as an architect), I’m thinking the consequences should be revolutionary to architecture. — Places Journal
Unlike earlier technological revolutions — the development of the steel frame, or the invention of concrete — sustainability in architecture has not yet had any significant, self-identifying formal consequences. Instead, the experience of sustainable space has to be hyper-mediated. In his... View full entry
Beijing will suspend construction of major public projects in the city this winter in an effort to improve the capital’s notorious air quality, official media said on Sunday, citing the municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development.
All construction of road and water projects, as well as demolition of housing, will be banned from Nov. 15 to March 15 within the city’s six major districts and surrounding suburbs, said the Xinhua report.
— Reuters
"China is in the fourth year of a 'war on pollution,'" Reuters reports, "designed to reverse the damage done by decades of untrammelled economic growth and allay concerns that hazardous smog and widespread water and soil contamination are causing hundreds of thousands of early deaths every year." View full entry
It’s hard to escape the irony that the U.S., which will need something like 43 million new housing units to keep up with population growth in the next 35 years, is using space to build apartment-size garages, even as trends in ride-sharing and self-driving cars cast a measure of uncertainty on American car culture. — Bloomberg
Despite housing shortages and rent increases, 24% of the new homes completed in 2015 in the US included a garage for 3 or more vehicles. Since 1992, when the census started tracking this, more 3-car garages than 1-bedroom apartments have been built. With the ever-increasing need for housing, and... View full entry
But because of its unique setting and vulnerability to hurricanes, Monroe has long had stricter building codes than the rest of the state and has mandated some critical upgrades...Most importantly — homes must be elevated above the flood plain to allow storm surge, which is the deadliest part of a hurricane, to pass underneath living spaces. — Miami Herald
David Ovalle reports on how building codes and precast concrete homes, reduced property damage and shaped Hurricane Irma's impact, in the Florida Keys. Via @Bruce Sterling View full entry
Since 2005, when John Bela and his collaborators(Blaine Merker, and Matthew Passmore) installed the first Park(ing) intervention on a drab street in downtown San Francisco, the idea has gone on to enliven countless blocks around the world, and to enlighten countless urbanites, who get to enjoy spaces normally reserved for stationary cars. — CityLab
Parking Day advocates since 2005 for public access and alternative uses of parking space in cities. This now world wide event transforms parking spots into ephemeral public spaces every year on the third Friday of September. Projects include micro parks, installations by architects and artists... View full entry
Creative studio DFA is proposing a 712-foot public observation tower in Central Park that would double as a sustainable filtration system to clean the hazardous Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and turn it into a non-toxic, useable freshwater pond. Though meant to be temporary, the prefabricated tower would be the world’s tallest timber structure if completed, featuring a 56-foot-wide viewing platform and a glass oculus that showcases the tower’s functional elements. — 6sqft
Via DFAVia DFA Via DFAVia DFAVia DFA View full entry
The American Institute of Architects released a statement this morning, in light of damage wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, urging policy makers to reject any weakening of building codes. President Thomas Vonier advocated for state and federal legislators to reject attempts to roll back... View full entry
San Francisco is one of the many cities in the U.S. threatened by climate change. Scientific projections predict that sea level rise is likely to push tides upwards with accelerating force in the coming decades and a 2012 study estimated that the average high tide within San Francisco Bay could... View full entry
