The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is reporting today that architecture firm billings rose for the seventh consecutive month, with the pace of growth in April increasing modestly from March.
Overall, the AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for April was 52.0 [...], which indicates the business environment continues to be healthy for architecture firms despite continued labor shortages, growing inflation in building materials costs and rising interest rates.
— AIA
“While there was slower growth in April for new project work coming into architecture firms, business conditions have remained healthy for the first four months of the year,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “Although growth in regional design activity was concentrated... View full entry
While some were delighted that at least a small part of the architectural heritage of Robin Hood Gardens was being preserved for posterity, others were furious that the V&A – a so-called ‘arms-length’ body, governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Prime Minister – considered the estate valuable enough to collect, but not valuable enough to help save from demolition in the first instance. — frieze.com
The story behind London's brutalist Robin Hood Gardens reveals issues pertinent to our current housing crisis. Crystal Bennes unpacks the V&A's decision to preserve and display a section of demolished housing in this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, revealing condemnation of the building... View full entry
Housing is one of our most essential and cherished commodities. It is rightly one of our biggest markets, but unfortunately one of the most politicised, suffocating under quasi-socialist political interventionism. The loss of prosperity in our whole society is enormous. Not only because of poor housing provision, but because of its stifling impact on all economic activities. That’s why the need for a capitalist revolution is so urgent. — The Guardian
It's been a bit quiet around Zaha Hadid Architects principal and outspoken free-market evangelist Patrik Schumacher since his last big public statement calling for the elimination of social housing caused an overwhelming backlash, but now he's back with a new commentary piece on how to fix housing... View full entry
A hardscrabble half-mile stretch along the Chicago River's South Branch would become a vibrant neighborhood of cutting-edge architecture, parks and a riverwalk in the plans a developer unveiled Thursday for the last big piece of empty land near downtown.
Developer Related Midwest plans a transformation of the vacant, relatively isolated 62-acre site into a vibrant neighborhood of homes, restaurants, cultural institutions and businesses...
— chicagobusiness.com
The currently undeveloped site along Chicago's river has been named "The 78", declaring its scale large enough to add to the city's official number of 77 neighborhoods. The site is also rumored to be a contender for Amazon's HQ2 if the city is chosen, which would require reworking current plans. ... View full entry
If Uber is to get its “flying taxi” service off the ground, it will need dozens of launchpads and landing sites on rooftops around cities as a supportive infrastructure. At the ride-hailing company’s second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles, six architecture firms presented their winning designs of what these so-called “Skyports” could look like. And holy cow, these things look straight out of Star Wars. — The Verge
It was all futuristic sky towers, helipads, and beehive references this week when six architecture firms presented their "uberAIR Skyport" design proposals for Uber's autonomous flying taxi service in the not-too-distant future. According to the call for proposals, all facilities needed to be... View full entry
Spider silk has long held the title of strongest natural biomaterial, so scientists have been trying to harness it, mimic it and even improve on the recipe for years. Now, researchers at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a new biomaterial out of wood nanofibers that steals the strength record. — New Atlas
A new material called "super wood" is eight times stiffer than silk, which has been considered one of the strongest bio-based materials. KTH researchers found a new technique to "densify" wood where fibers assemble to make the cell walls stiff and strong, a process called cellulose nanofibrils... View full entry
Much is at stake for US and European companies enjoying revived trade with Iran following US President Donald Trump’s decision this week to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and impose fresh sanctions.
Hardest hit will be oil and gas firms, plane makers like Airbus and Boeing, and car makers.
But European engineering and construction firms, recruited in the last two years to help Iran develop its transport infrastructure, could lose out as well.
— globalconstructionreview.com
US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and impose new sanctions will drastically impact European engineering and construction firms and could restrict the availability of international finance for big schemes. After the nuclear deal was signed, Iran launched... View full entry
California just sent the clearest signal yet that rooftop power is moving beyond a niche market and becoming the norm.
On Wednesday, the Golden State became the first in the U.S. to require solar panels on almost all new homes. Most new units built after Jan. 1, 2020, will be required to include solar systems [...]. While that’s a boost for the solar industry, critics warned that it will also drive up the cost of buying a house by almost $10,000.
— Bloomberg
Rooftop solar panels are finally becoming an integral part of most new California homes beginning in 2020, however skeptics say that the move will further worsen the state's housing crisis. View full entry
What if buying a house were more like buying a car? Could the process of choosing between a Ford, Volkswagen or Nissan ever translate into picking between an Adjaye, Rogers or Assemble? Beyond the dream of ever being able to buy a house, the prospect of commissioning an architect-designed home is an impossibly remote prospect for most of us, a luxury confined to the glossy pages of Sunday supplements and Grand Designs. — The Guardian
The founders of Cube Haus have commissioned well known architects such as Adjaye Associates, Skene Catling de la Peña, and Carl Turner Architects to design modular homes at affordable prices. Targeting infill and backland sites in the London area, Cube Haus is looking to fill a small housing... View full entry
Neumann says that in 2018, that will mean WeWork will build more buildings, some that reimagine what’s already there, like the Lord & Taylor project, and others that WeWork and Ingels will design in their entirety. Then, in 2019, the company plans to start creating “campuses”–essentially, WeWork on a neighborhood scale. That could look like a several-block radius where there’s a coworking space, coliving residence, and a school all clustered together, all operating under the WeWork umbrella. — FastCo
BIG has shared with Archinect the following press release: WeWork announces Bjarke Ingels as Chief Architect to advise and develop the firm’s design vision and language for buildings, campuses and neighborhoods globally. Bjarke will maintain his role as Founding Partner and Creative Director at... View full entry
Kanye West's flirt with the architecture profession appears to take on a more 'It's complicated' kind of status—if you're willing to lend enough credibility to his tweet from yesterday, announcing "we’re starting a Yeezy architecture arm called Yeezy home. We’re looking for architects and... View full entry
Mid- or second-tier cities, loosely defined as those under a million people that aren’t regional powerhouses like Austin or Seattle, are increasingly seen as not just places to find a lower cost of living, easier commute, and closer connections with family, but also a more approachable, neighborhood-oriented version of the urban lifestyle that sent many to the larger cities in the first place. — curbed.com
Census data shows that smaller metros are seeing more migration from millennials while larger cities are experiencing slower growth. These smaller cities have been attracting new growth in part due to investing in green spaces and parks, upswings in local tech hubs, and downtown redevelopment. View full entry
As seas rise and coasts wash away, who owns the land that goes underwater? Versions of that debate are taking place in courtrooms, legislatures, and government offices, raising the question of whether and when climate change justifies seizing private property. The stakes are enormous, affecting not just ownership of offshore mineral and fishing rights but also potentially trillions of dollars of coastal real estate. — bloomberg.com
Climate change has left many rules governing real estate ownership murky. As sea levels rise this especially affects coastal property and laws hinging on high-tide lines. View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE Core. Your employees' billable hours are the lifeblood of your business, but they can also be a source of frustration. A recent AEC industry study pegged employee utilization rates--defined as the percentage of billable hours out of total hours worked--at around... View full entry
A plan to build a platform in a tropical lagoon caught heat from locals, and a campaign stoked by opposition politician Valentina Cross swept away their proposals for an inaugural colony. In February, the Tahitian government stated publicly that an agreement with the Seasteading Institute in 2017 was now outdated and non-binding. [...]
That leaves the Institute, and their movement, once again at sea, shopping for a new host nation willing to take on a partnership.
— CityLab
In her article for CityLab, writer Hettie O'Brien looks into the Seasteading Institute's promise of a libertarian offshore utopia in Polynesia and the challenges the movement has been facing recently. View full entry