After a somewhat bumpy spring and summer, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) closed out the year on a positive note with three consecutive months of modest growth. A strong winter Architecture Billings Index Score for December: 52.5Project inquiries index: 58.7Design contracts index: 53.4 A new... View full entry
According to Architect's Journal (AJ), in a letter published in The Times, Norman Foster – writing as Lord Foster and president of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust – said the ‘power of architecture’ should be used ‘to express our political and economic ambitions’. It comes in... View full entry
two-dimensional materials will be the linchpin of the internet of everything. They will be “painted” on bridges and form the sensors to watch for strain and cracks. They will cover windows with transparent layers that become visible only when information is displayed. And if his team’s radio wave-absorber succeeds, it will power those ever-present electronics. Increasingly, the future looks flat. — The New York Times
Amos Zeeberg of The New York Times takes a look at the wide world of super-thin materials, a growing class of substances that have the potential to reshape humanity's technological capabilities. The materials include graphene, an incredibly strong and conductive "2-D form of carbon"... View full entry
With the new year already in full swing, it's time to take a look at some of the upcoming high-profile museum projects and anticipated expansions of major cultural institutions that are scheduled to open, or re-open, in 2020. The Art Newspaper has published an insightful overview of... View full entry
The Fair Housing Act [...] prohibits not only intentional segregation, but also policies and practices whose effect is to discriminate for no defensible reason, even if there is no evidence of a racial motive. Lawyers describe such actions as having a “disparate impact” on minorities.
Now, however, the Trump administration is about to put into effect procedures to make it virtually impossible to prove disparate impact, no matter how egregious a discriminatory policy or practice may be.
— The New York Times
Richard Rothstein, author of the influential book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, presents an opinion piece in The New York Times highlighting the latest multi-pronged efforts on the part of the United States Department of Housing and Urban... View full entry
President Trump is preparing to divert an additional $7.2 billion in Pentagon funding for border wall construction this year, five times what Congress authorized him to spend on the project in the 2020 budget. — The Washington Post
According to The Washington Post, the funding would give the government enough money to complete about 885 miles of new fencing by spring 2022, far more than the 509 miles the administration has slated for the U.S. border with Mexico. So far the Trump administration has completed... View full entry
There is cross-laminated timber (CLT), which looks like inch-thick strips of heartwood arranged like a Jenga set to produce a block that is pretty much the definition of the word solid. Or glu-lam, used to make structural beams that are like extremely strong plywood, and LVL—laminated veneer lumber—which makes excellent heavy beams and had formed the skeleton of the apartment building. — National Geographic
Saul Elbein dives into the growing industry of mass timber and talks with architects, both abroad and in the U.S., that are already using the new materials to design buildings of today. Elbein also chats with those imaging cities of the future, full of "standardized, customizable, mid-rise... View full entry
Architects Gabellini Sheppard Associates and developers Tishman Speyer have unveiled a series of substantial changes for the outdoor public realm areas associated with the Rockefeller Center complex in New York City. The proposal, presented to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission... View full entry
Grain elevators were once an icon of Canada’s west: often painted a bright boxcar red, they stood in towns across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. [...]
In the 1930s there were nearly 6,000 towers; now fewer than a thousand remain. The destruction, in many ways, mirrors the broader decline of rural communities in western Canada.
— The Guardian
For The Guardian, journalist Leyland Cecco on the struggle of small agricultural communities in Canada's prairie provinces to preserve their aging, wooden grain elevators as cultural heritage monuments. Restored Alberta Wheat Pool elevators at the Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre in... View full entry
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Today marks the 34th year the federal holiday has been observed, in celebration of the great civil rights leader. Dr. King fought against racial inequality through nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, seeking progress in the U.S. on matters of civil... View full entry
The Center for Architecture in New York City is currently presenting a collection of "superior public building projects" via a wide-ranging exhibition created in collaboration with the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) that seeks to celebrate some of the city's most... View full entry
The Getty Research Institute (GRI) in Los Angeles has acquired two collections of drawings and sketches by visionary architect Lebbeus Woods. Woods passed away in 2012 after a long career as a radical, inventive architectural designer who created thousands of fantastical visions for... View full entry
Back in 2015, Foster + Partners' design was shelved for a more favorable by the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). At the time, it looked like News Corporation and 21st Century Fox were slated to lease the building but backed out a year later. "Now that BIG’s quirky tower of stacked boxes has no takers... View full entry
Warner Bros. on Tuesday officially broke ground on a pair of Frank Gehry-designed office towers, which when completed will mark a major expansion of the Burbank-based movie and TV studio’s headquarters. [...]
The construction endeavor is part of a larger expansion of Warner Bros.’ footprint in the area that includes the acquisition of Burbank Studios.
— Los Angeles Times
The groundbreaking ceremony for the high-profile Second Century Project was joined by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Burbank's new Mayor Sharon Springer, Warner Bros. Chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff, and architect Frank Gehry himself. Yesterday, Gov. @GavinNewsom and Burbank Mayor Sharon Springer... View full entry
Drawing details is one of the foundational skills of an architect and the levels of mastery are seemingly endless. How does one communicate complex assemblies in two-dimensions? This is the constant question of the architect. Early on, it may feel unclear how to tap into this higher level of... View full entry
