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
Four finalists have just been chosen from Phase I of the two-phase “For a Resilient Rockaway” (FAR ROC) design competition. The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), L+M Development Partners, The Bluestone Organization, Triangle Equities, American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIA New York) and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise) made the announcement at the Center for Architecture in New York City. — bustler.net
Launched in April, the FAR ROC competition sought ideas for developing an 80+ acre site called Arverne East into a new mixed-use, mixed-income, sustainable and storm-resilient community that will meet the new physical and regulatory challenges of waterfront development while maintaining the... View full entry
In a letter accompanying Thursday's filing, Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder...said...residents needed a clear exit from the "cycle of ever decreasing services".
"The only way to do those things is to radically restructure the city"
— BBC News
Jonny Dymond analyzes the news that Detroit has become the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy, with debts of at least $15bn. View full entry
It is one of the most drastic displays of a concerted government effort to end the dominance of rural life, which for millenniums has been the keystone of Chinese society and politics....All told, 250 million more Chinese may live in cities in the next dozen years. The rush to urbanize comes despite concerns that many rural residents cannot find jobs in the new urban areas or are simply unwilling to leave behind a way of life that many cherish. — New York Times
Danish non-profit organization Realdania Byg commissioned Vandkunsten architecture studio to design a holiday house that combines the most up-to-date construction techniques with local traditional materials. The architects designed and built a traditional house clad in seaweed—a material that was once used in hundreds of homes on then Danish island of Læsø, of which only 20 remain today. — Inhabitat
What if the rubbish was refabricated to become real urban spaces or buildings? If it is plausible to adapt current machinery, how much material is available? At first sight, any sanitary landfill may be viewed as an ample supply of building materials. Heavy industrial technologies crush cars or to automatically sort out garbage are readily available. 3-D printing has exhausting capabilities if adjusted to larger scales. — bbc.com
The director of the Madrid heritage department, Jaime Ignacio Muñoz of the Popular Party, explained to EL PAÍS that Apple had been instructed to change the flooring of the basement so as to “symbolically” trace the outline of these newly discovered walls.
The walls themselves will then be covered up again so the floor of the new store can be placed on top. The actual original foundations of the hospital will not be visible.
— elpais.com
The 750,000 square foot vibrant mixed-use tower will incorporate office, retail and residential space. There will be 430,000 square feet of office space, of which 155,000 square feet will be for TELUS. The development, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2017, will provide approximately 250 jobs for Calgarians, and engage local trades and companies to complete our vision. — about.telus.com
$400-million, 750,000 square foot LEED Platinum project to transform Calgary’s skyline with an architectural marvel, creating a dynamic community of blended urban living and working Calgary, AB – TELUS is reaching for the sky with a new architectural landmark in Calgary’s downtown core... View full entry
Behind that hyperrational menu of engineering options is a technocrat’s love letter to the maritime city. The charts and recommendations amount to a statement of faith that the waterfront is the city’s future as well as its past...But even if he did not have his legacy on the line, Bloomberg grasps an essential truth: This is a city built not just near the water, but over, under, and in it. — NY Magazine
Seven months after Hurricane Sandy Mayor Bloomberg has released 'A Stronger, More Resilient New York' a manifesto for a more resilient, waterfront metropolis. Justin Davidson reviews New York's 400 year history, during which it has embraced, spurned, ignored, harnessed, and feared the water... View full entry
Swedish Virserum Art Museum has announced the 2013 winners of Architecture of Necessity, the triennial for sustainable community building. Over the recent years, the manifesto, written in protest of a lack of ambition for sustainable community building, has developed into both an exhibition and an international triennial for sustainable community building. — bustler.net
As the dry, beetle-kill pine blew up in the West Fork fires, which have charred more than 110,000 acres, firefighters used helicopters and air tankers to divert the fire from valuable resources and dug a "dozer line" to defend the town of South Fork. In the Rio Grande National Forest, where rugged terrain presents dangerous conditions for ground crews, firefighters have battled the flames judiciously, on their own terms. — sgvbtribune.com
As the West Fork fires rage on in southwestern Colorado, local firefighters have come to understand the dangers involved with fighting fires in areas plagued with beetle-kill trees. Typically, after beetles attack and kill these trees, the dry needles become an ignition source. The real danger... View full entry
The simple, sustainable design of "A Recipe to Live" easily integrates with the lifestyle and landscape of the dairy farm town Taiki-cho in Hokkaido. Designed by students Masaki Ogasawara, Keisuke Tsukada and Erika Mikami of Waseda University, the project was the winner of the 2011 LIXIL... View full entry
London's Architectural Association School of Architecture and Foster + Partners have announced the winner of the 2013 Foster + Partners Prize, presented annually to the AA diploma student whose portfolio best addresses the themes of sustainability and infrastructure. The recipient is selected jointly by the AA and Foster + Partners at the end of each academic year.
This year’s prize has been awarded to John Naylor, of Diploma Unit 16, for his project ‘Bamboo Lakou’.
— bustler.net
The solution, or so the city’s traffic planners hope, is to encourage people to cycle for longer distances by creating the cycling equivalent of freeways, which will provide fast, direct routes of up to 22 kilometers into the center. A total of 28 highways are planned, providing 495 kilometers of dedicated bike tracks... Nine routes are under construction and should be completed by 2015 at a cost of 208 million krone, or $36 million, divided equally between central and local government. — nytimes.com
