Florida is largely seen as the U.S. state that is most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. But even uttering the term global warming in official communications can get employees at the state’s Department of Environmental Protection in trouble...“We were told not to use the terms climate change, global warming, or sustainability,” said Christopher Byrd, who worked at the DEP from 2008 to 2013. — Slate
On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott, an open skeptic of climate change (who is also openly, "not a scientist") denied the allegations. "Well, first off, that's not true," Scott told reporters. "At our Department of Environmental Protection, there's lots of conversation about this issue. From my... View full entry
Leading scholars from around the world will convene in Chicago, April 15–19, to present new research on the history of the built environment at the 68th Annual International Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians. But the conference isn’t just for academics. SAH aims to engage... View full entry
After a successful first run last June, Philadelphia University is inviting students, industry professionals, and all who are interested to enroll in the free massive open online course (MOOC), Principles of Sustainable Design. The graduate-level course, which starts today until April... View full entry
That unattractive strip mall on the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards ... will be razed in favor of a Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use development [...]
The state last year deemed the project to be L.A. County's first California Environmental Leadership Development Project.
To qualify developments must see at least $100 million in investment, achieve LEED Silver certification or better, and emit zero net greenhouse gases.
— laweekly.com
Beneath the vertiginous LED-strip lighting of Michael Maltzan's Billy Wilder Theater, a diverse audience gathered last Tuesday for a talk entitled "The Next Wave: Urban Adaptations for Rising Sea Levels." Co-presented by the Hammer Museum and UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and... View full entry
A wooden skyscraper that Austrian architects say will be the tallest of its kind in the world is to be built in Vienna next year. The 84-metre (276ft) HoHo project in the Seestadt Aspern area, one of Europe’s largest urban development sites, will house a hotel, apartments, restaurant, wellness centre and offices, and is expected to cost about €60m (£44m). — The Guardian
Designed by Rüdiger Lainer and Partner, the skyscraper would consist of 76% wood. The material choice, according to project developer Caroline Palfy of Kerbler, is largely ecological. While wood requires hewing down trees, its net environmental impact is far lower than concrete: construction... View full entry
You can't see it now among the overgrown cart paths and weed-choked lagoons but a championship golf course will soon rise in City Park [...] City Park's long-awaited, oft-delayed $24.5 million golf complex finally broke ground and will one day be a boon for the local golf community. — NOLA.com
Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune gushes over the slated-development and its 7,300-yard Rees Jones-designed course. Boasting "a new clubhouse, driving range and practice facility," project-designers hope it will attract the attention of the Zurich Classic. But not everyone is happy about the... View full entry
Spirit of Space, in collaboration with Trahan Architects, has created a short film featuring the award-winning design of the Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame and Regional History Museum in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The museum was recently awarded the prestigious 2015 AIA Institute Honor Award... View full entry
New York-based Thinc Design revealed their exhibition design for the USA Pavilion in the upcoming Milan Expo 2015 this May. Collaborating with Friends of the USA Pavilion, Thinc Design's exhibition highlights America's role in the future of the global food system, as a response to the Expo's... View full entry
For the latest edition of Deans List: Amelia Taylor-Hochberg, Editorial Manager interviewed Monica Ponce de Leon of University of Michigan's Taubman College. Therein, Professor Ponce de Leon admits she hates branding and describes how/why the school has "purposefully taken out of the curriculum... View full entry
What is the architectural legacy of May 1968? The question framed Süha Özkan’s talk last Tuesday at SCI-Arc, which he began by invoking his own memories of being a young man in Paris during that year's turbulent month of student-worker protests. “Let us be reasonable and ask for the... View full entry
Residents of the world’s most polluted city—New Delhi, in case you were still wondering—can now find out exactly how toxic the air in their neighbourhood is. [...]
“People are clueless about the air they are breathing. If there is fog, they think it might be pollution,” he said. “People will have this information on their fingertips now.” [...]
While the government figures out a way to bring pollution under control, this app could help people buy time.
— qz.com
Related View full entry
The aftermath of a deadly winter storm paralyzed much of the eastern United States on Tuesday and forecasters warned of the worst cold in two decades from another arctic front this week. — Reuters
From New England to the Carolinas and into the Midwest, winter has definitively come for much of the United States and forecasters are warning that the worst cold in two decades could be on the horizon:The National Weather Service reported temperatures in the negative 30's in Saranac Lake, New... View full entry
Female pumas kill more prey but consume less when their territories bump into human development, UC Santa Cruz researchers report in a new study based on monitoring more than two dozen pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The presence of humans -- homes, roads, and other development -- means pumas are fearful and stay on the move rather than returning to a kill site to fully consume prey, the study finds — ScienceDaily
The research utilized data from tracking devices that record not only a puma's movement but also increases in speed and other behavior that signifies hunting behavior. Looking at the actions of 30 animals, the scientists were able to discern, among other things, that, "Females killed 36 percent... View full entry
In July 2010, heavy monsoon rains flooded nearly 20% of Pakistan, producing a crisis later described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the worst disaster he had ever seen. The floods affected around 20 million people and claimed the lives of nearly 2,000. Ravaging infrastructure and... View full entry
