General Electric Co said on Friday it plans to demolish a large power plant it owns in California this year after only one-third of its useful life because the plant is no longer economically viable in a state where wind and solar supply a growing share of inexpensive electricity. — reuters.com
GE's Inland Empire Energy Center, a 750-megawatt natural gas-fueled plant located in Riverside County, California, built in 2009 is shutting down 20 years early. The culprit? Affordable wind and solar energy, which are surging in California, and outdated technology. On most days, California... View full entry
In the face of increasingly destructive climate collapse, the University of Pennsylvania's McHarg Center for Urban Ecology is launching Design with Nature Now, a sprawling survey of some of the most inventive ecologically-driven landscape infrastructure projects from around the... View full entry
INT: Do you think sustainability in architecture is less of an issue in Japan?
KK: Historically, traditional Japanese architecture uses very sustainable designs that incorporate features such as natural ventilation instead of air conditioning, and things like that. But in the 20th century, as Western culture came to Japan, we forgot these kinds of designs. That’s what I’m trying to go back to.
— It's Nice That
"My dream is to start my own school and pass my lessons on to younger generations in the same way that Frank Lloyd Wright did with his School of Architecture at Taliesin [in Wisconsin]," Kengo Kuma told It's Nice That when asked about his future aspirations. "He has inspired me in many ways, but I... View full entry
US aircraft will be able to use San Cristobal airport, Ecuador's defence minister Oswaldo Jarrin has been quoted as saying.
The reported deal has prompted concerns over the potential impact on the environment and Ecuador's sovereignty.
— bbc.com
The BBC reports that under a new agreement with the government of Ecuador, United States military aircraft will be allowed to use an airfield on the island of San Cristobal to "fight drug trafficking." The islands are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their rich biological and... View full entry
Though the majority of the over 37,000 McDonald's outlets around the world hardly rise to the definition of "architecture," the company is no stranger to spectacular design: some of its first locations, built throughout the Midwest as early as 1955, were remarkable demonstrations of... View full entry
The Architecture Lobby (TAL) has put forth a set of guiding principles for architects to follow as debate over a potential Green New Deal takes shape across the industry. According to a recently-published memo, TAL is pursuing a four-pronged approach for envisioning how architects can... View full entry
London's Heathrow Airport has unveiled a transformative, Grimshaw Architects-designed masterplan proposal that could reshape the airport as well as its immediate surroundings. As part of the plan, airport authorities aim to open a third runway to the north of the London airport by... View full entry
Municipalities, in the interest of preserving open space, could once be counted on to take over troubled courses. But subsidizing golf has become a toxic political issue in most places. — chicagobusiness.com
Are the days of America's golf clubs numbered? Reading the news, it doesn't look too good. A recent Crain's report chronicling the ailing state of suburban Chicago golf clubs points out that while business was booming for the region's country clubs just a decade ago, the game has fallen flat in... View full entry
The BART Board of Directors approved a $50 million contract for up to 10 years to consultants HNTB Corporation, of Oakland, to advise and guide planning for the future Transbay Rail Crossing. — San Francisco Examiner
The San Francisco Bay Area is one tiny step closer to undertaking the construction of a new Transbay crossing between San Francisco and Oakland. The San Francisco Examiner reports that the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board of Directors recently approved a 10-year, $50 million contract with... View full entry
As part of a recently-opened exhibition envisioning the future of Paris's urban highway system, a team led by Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) has unveiled a dramatic, two-pronged vision for what the city's Boulevard Périphérique might look like in 2050. Ratti, working with research... View full entry
Materials scientists in China have developed an insulator that reproduces the structure of individual polar bear hairs, while scaling toward a material made up of many hairs for real-world applications in architecture and aerospace. Polar bear hairs are hollow, and the shapes and spacing of their hollow centers is responsible for their distinctive white coats, as well as being a source of incredible heat-holding capacity, water resistance, and stretchiness. — earth.com
Shu-Hong Yu, professor of chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of China and co-author of the paper titled Biomimetic Carbon Tube Aerogel Enables Super-Elasticity and Thermal Insulation published in the journal Chem, writes, “Polar bear hair has been evolutionarily optimized... View full entry
A proposed bridge over the 101 would allow mountain lions and other wildlife to cross safely over the freeway and improve their access to food and mates. — kcrw.com
Caltrans authorities working in Los Angeles County are pushing toward creating a $60 million wildlife crossing that will allow urban animals to roam throughout the region's mountainous geographies. The 165-foot by 200-foot crossing would span over US Highway-101 and Liberty Canyon in the city of... View full entry
A new audit conducted by the city of Portland, Oregon presents an alarming view into the contentious renovations currently being undertaken for the Michael Graves-designed Portland Building. Among a flurry of critiques aimed at the project organizers, the report states that changes performed to... View full entry
research from American and European scientists suggests that Texas — especially the waters along its coast — could be a pretty good place to store carbon from the petroleum industry. — Grist
In an effort to find new methods for storing carbon dioxide emissions, European researchers have been experimenting with injecting liquefied CO2 into the seabed surrounding former drilling sites in the North Sea. Studies so far show that leakages are minor and carbon sequestration potential is... View full entry
Dallas Area Rapid Transit has joined a national effort to explore how autonomous buses could shuttle people around cities in the future.
It is one of about a dozen transportation agencies that are part of the Automated Bus Consortium, which will research driverless buses and run pilot projects to better understand how they could be rolled out nationwide.
— Dallasnews.com
The consortium, whose membership includes the transit agencies of Los Angeles County and Atlanta, and the Michigan Department of Transportation, was created by AECOM and aims to begin testing a fleet of 75 to 100 full-sized automated buses in major cities by 2021 or 2022. Todd Plesko, Dallas... View full entry
