Our original designs for the biomes – hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal cells supported by geodesic tubular steel – looked more like Waterloo, but we used ETFE foil, or ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, which was more transparent than glass but extremely lightweight. It uses 1% of the energy and carbon of glass. The difficulty was creating biomes that would interlock across a constantly shifting landscape. — The Guardian
The Eden Project with its famed geodesic biomes opened twenty years ago on March 17th, 2001 in Cornwall, England. Inside the tropical biome of the Eden Project. Photo: Hchc2009/Wikimedia Commons. View full entry
One thing we're looking at is this synchronization of thermal mass and buoyancy ventilation so buildings can work like termite mounds. We've developed these scaling rules where you choose your material and you define your free-running ventilation rate so you can design for that heat wave. — Pioneer Works
Architectural historian C. Kaye Rawlings and science journalist Dan Samorodnitsky chatted with Salmaan Craig about specific ways architecture can adapt to the realities of catastrophic climate change. For more watch him speak on; Biogenic Buildings at the Institute of Technology in Architecture... View full entry
Located at the intersection of sculpture and architecture, TOLO's XYYXXY Accessible Restroom is designed as a counterpoint to the “normative” bathroom. The plan takes the shape of a disfigured cross with a “non-gendered” toilet or urinal stall located at the end of each spoke. The impetus... View full entry
Petaluma, California, has voted to outlaw new gas stations, the first of what climate activists hope will be numerous cities and counties to do so. [...]
The Petaluma effort inspired groups like the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations — or CONGAS — which seeks to ban gas stations in Sonoma County, California.
— Axios
The ordinance will not shut down Petaluma's 16 operational gas stations but prevents them from adding more pumps and prohibits the construction of new gas stations. It is expected that the move will inspire more municipalities to follow the example, similar to Berkeley's 2019 ban on natural gas... View full entry
This week's list of featured online events from Archinect's Virtual Event Guide includes lectures, presentations, discussions, a conference, an award presentation, and a symposium. Are you hosting a virtual lecture? Presentation? Tour? Interview? Happy Hour? Submit... View full entry
Another project from the Rotterdam-based practice begins construction in San Francisco. MVRDV's latest mixed-use building named Building A is part of the city's new Mission Rock masterplan. The team designed a 23-story tower with undulating balconies that extend to the top of the... View full entry
This week's list of featured online events from Archinect's Virtual Event Guide focuses on Paul Revere Williams, climate and energery research, Taliesin West, and Lina Bo Bardi. Are you hosting a virtual lecture? Presentation? Tour? Interview? Happy Hour? Submit it for... View full entry
Conversation around the future of housing is a topic commonly discussed within architecture and urban planning circles. Firms large and small have postulated where issues within housing schemes lie and how the industry can address them. However, as architects continue to dance around solutions for... View full entry
Here at Archinect, we highlight academic events and lectures that provide insight and access to public programming created by architecture schools. Year after year, these events welcome various leaders and innovators within architecture, design, and its adjacent fields of study. While in-person... View full entry
In collaboration with the Getty, Pacific Standard Time (PST) recognizes exhibitions and programs that highlight topics relating to culture, education, visual arts, and science. In its third regional collaboration, the Getty's Pacific Standard Time series thematic overview includes... View full entry
It is no exaggeration to say that our present is the future that Dorothea Lange’s images foretold. The crisis of agriculture in the face of toxic capitalism and climatic disaster that is at the center of her famous photographs might also have served to focus and sharpen "Countryside: The Future," where it is occasionally a subject but more often merely an unstated subtext. — Places Journal
In "Countryside: The Future and the Past," Deborah Gans reviews Countryside: The Future, at the Guggenheim Museum, the multimedia culmination of years of interdisciplinary, globe-spanning research led by OMA's Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal, director of its think tank, AMO... View full entry
While the 2020 Venice Biennale was postponed, many look forward to what 2021 has to offer with the announcement of the event's opening date on May 22. Carrying on with the theme "How will we live together," Hashim Sarkis, curator of the exhibition, shared, "the world is putting new... View full entry
The National Landing Business Improvement District (BID) in Northern Virginia has outlined plans for creating what it says will be the most “well-connected downtown in the country,” following its selection as home to Amazon HQ2. — Smart Cities Dive
According to Smart Cities Dive, National Landing BID has presented "several public-private partnership projects, with costs totaling $4 billion, that will improve transit in National Landing, outside of Washington, D.C., which encompasses parts of Virginia’s Crystal City, Pentagon City... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects has issued its first statement on a policy decision by newly inaugurated U.S. President, Joe Biden. Publicly sworn in on Capitol Hill earlier today, Biden spent the afternoon signing executive orders, many of which will reinstate environmental regulations... View full entry
For the latest Studio Snapshot, Archinect spoke with Casper Mork-Ulnes, Founder and Principal of San Francisco and Oslo-based firm Mork-Ulnes Architects. citizen and Noah Walker both liked what they saw "That's some very nice work" aka "Wonderful projects." Mylla House, outside of Oslo, Norway... View full entry
