"In addition to working on a new ‘Net Zero Carbon’ standard for all new public buildings, the government also said it would oversee a ‘fundamental overhaul’ of building regulations to ensure that from 2024 all new homes use renewable or low-carbon heating," reports Architects' Journal... View full entry
Tom Bennett of Studio Bark was charged with breaching section 14 of the 1986 Public Order Act after his arrest earlier this year for his role in the mass demonstrations highlighting the planet’s growing climate emergency.
Arrested during XR’s blockade of Waterloo Bridge on Saturday 20 April, Bennett was among about 60 climate change activists entering their pleas for similar offences at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on (August 30th).
UK Architect Tom Bennett of Studio Bark was arrested during the April 20th Extinction Rebellion-led (XR) climate protests that gripped London and other cities. The protests, part of an "international rebellion" organized against climate inaction, were met with a heavy police presence in London and... View full entry
The Seattle City Council will consider a ban on natural gas for newly constructed homes and buildings, favoring the use of electricity for heating and cooking.
Councilmember Mike O’Brien plans to introduce legislation this week that would prohibit natural-gas piping systems in new structures, starting next summer. The ban would take effect for permitting on July 1, 2020, according to a draft of the legislation.
— The Seattle Times
If successfully implemented, the ban would position Seattle alongside Berkeley, San Jose, San Francisco as American cities that have recently banned new natural gas infrastructure. A 2016 report estimates that roughly one-quarter of Seattle's total greenhouse gas emissions come from... View full entry
Hudson Yards’ nonprofit arts center, The Shed, has been shunned by the fashion elite since developer Stephen Ross’ Trump ties were exposed in early August.
Sources say that Michael Kors, Vera Wang and the Academy of Art University were all slated to show their collections at the sleek, $475 million venue but have pulled out. Rag & Bone publicly nixed the space, which opened in April, right after news broke of Ross’ Aug. 9 Trump fundraiser in the Hamptons.
— New York Post
Fern Mallis, the mogul who created New York Fashion Week in the 1990s, told The New York Post that The Shed is “kind of over,” adding, “If you know people showing at The Shed, please tell me because I don’t know who is." The fallout comes after news broke in August that Stephen Ross... View full entry
Parisians with powerful cars might want to think carefully before showing off their rides. Parts of the city...are testing a "noise radar" system from Bruitparif that can pinpoint loud vehicles and, eventually, ticket them. The system uses four microphones to triangulate the origins of a sound and link it with CCTV footage to pinpoint whoever's making the racket. — Engadget
About 40 devices are in use. The testing will happen over the course of two years. "A draft law due for vote this fall will let local officials experiment with noise radar fines," reports Engadget. View full entry
You might remember AI SpaceFactory as the New York-based multidisciplinary design agency that took home first place in NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The team was awarded a $500,000 grand prize for their proposal entitled MARSHA. Expanding on lessons learned from MARSHA, the agency has... View full entry
A battle over proposed design and safety upgrades to an out-of-compliance "stramp" design by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson from the 1970s is taking shape in British Columbia, Canada. Simon Scott, the director of Erickson's Foundation, said of the late architect: "He wanted to make public... View full entry
Ever since its opening in 2009 the Millennium Tower has been slowly sinking, so far it's settled about 16 inches on its southwestern corner, causing the entire to tilt around 14 inches. Residents applied for a permit to perform a retrofit back in December 2018 and a plan is now in place to... View full entry
With abundant natural daylight, expanded food offerings, convenient parking, fitness options, and an on-site childcare facility, Walmart’s new 350-acre campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, has ample amenities to attract next-gen talent...It’s a connected and sustainable campus where associates are inspired to do their best work, a place that reflects the company’s culture, and a campus that seamlessly integrates into the fabric of the local community. — Gensler
Gensler has been named the Design Architect for the office buildings that will populate the new campus. The firm will also act as the Executive Architect for the overall campus design, leading a "team of consultants to create a campus that honors Walmart's history and amplifies the company's... View full entry
This week we’re joined by one of our favorite regulars, Fred Scharmen. Fred currently teaches architecture and urban design at Morgan State University's School of Architecture and Planning, and is the Principal and Co-Founder of The Working Group on Adaptive Systems. What brings him on... View full entry
"Academic studies show that promotions are still largely a reward for past performance, and that organizations continue to assume the attributes that have made someone successful so far will continue to make them successful in the future (even if their responsibilities change)," reads a recent... View full entry
Six months after breaking ground across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, construction has gone vertical for The Grand.
Over the past two months, a pair of tower cranes has been raised above the project site, which spans the full city blocked bounded1st Street, 2nd Street, Olive Street, and Grand Avenue.
— Urbanize Los Angeles
It has been exactly two months since the Gehry-designed The Grand development in Downtown Los Angeles completed a massive 15-hour foundation concrete pour for the project’s 39-story residential tower, and now, two tower cranes are driving the construction upwards, reports Urbanize LA. Related... View full entry
The assembly returns this fall at A+D on September 7, 2019 from 7:00-10:30pm. The recurring event is an unveiling of A+D’s new rotation of exhibitions. This approach to hosting simultaneous exhibition openings is an expression of our mission to join together a diverse community in celebration of... View full entry
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, will be returning to their 35-year-long role as volunteer builders for Habitat for Humanity. President Carter had undergone a hip surgery last spring, reports CNN, and had to take a break from his volunteer activities... View full entry
Now comes encouraging news of a Detroit program to take abandoned homes which can be saved into a land bank and then auction them off. The program is coupled with forgivable loans for repairs. — CNU
Detrroit is auctioning off vacant homes to "people who commit to fix them up and live in them." The implementation has supported Detroit's growing identity as a financially feasible place to "make a start with a home and a business." View full entry