Amid the controversy that perpetually surrounds Planned Parenthood, it's easy to forget that the nonprofit organization is, first and foremost, a health care provider. It is the largest provider of sex education in the United States. Every year, 2.5 million people—men and women—visit its health centers for care and information. It administers life-saving cancer-screening tests and offers contraception. In some states, it's the only abortion provider... — FastCo Design
"In 2014, Planned Parenthood embarked on an ambitious collaboration with the global design consultancy Ideo to hatch plans that would help the nonprofit do what it does best: care for patients."For more design responses to public health challenges, check out these links:Turning the “ugliest... View full entry
Dr. Orr revealed that Denver won the bid to host this biennial event, in which student teams compete to design, build, and operate cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive solar-powered houses. [...]
The competition is planned to be staged near a new development close to Denver International Airport. The area around the 61st and Peña Commuter Rail Station is positioned to become a national model for sustainable, transit-oriented, greenfield development [...].
— solardecathlon.gov
Archinect coverage of previous Solar Decathlons:2015 Solar Decathlon winner Stevens Institute of Technology addresses post-Sandy resiliency with the SURE HOUSEStudents endure the final home stretch at the U.S. Solar Decathlon 2015Archinect Field Trip: Solar Decathlon 2013, Basking in Arrays of... View full entry
This post is brought to you by PPI. As an aspiring architect, you are required to pass the ARE for initial licensure in all U.S. jurisdictions.The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) have just released new information regarding their upcoming release of ARE version... View full entry
The culture at BIG is intense but in off-hours, blowing off steam dressed as your favorite comic book hero isn't uncommon. That's the boss armed with a gun full of tequila.
Bjarke Ingels: The way we work is maybe unlike certain architects that have a very particular style where it is the auteur. It has to be the design principal who makes the strokes of genius. I don't have to come up with the best idea. It is my job to make sure that it is always the best idea that wins.
— cbsnews.com
Looking for even BIGger news on Archinect? Here are a few recent stories to begin with:A closer look at BIG's West 57th Street "courtscraper"Serpentine unzips Bjarke Ingels' Pavilion and 4 Summer HousesBIG in Paris: Bjarke Ingels to design for Galeries Lafayette on Champs-Élysées View full entry
“If we do it right,” Gehry said at an event in September, “we can really make the High Line look like a little pishy thing.” Given that Manhattan’s elevated park, at merely 1/35th the length of the river, has helped transform the surrounding neighborhood into a playground for the rich, residents of LA’s river-adjacent communities are right to be concerned. — thenation.com
The LA River development project previously in the Archinect news:Mayor Eric Garcetti on Frank Gehry's plans for the LA River: "a cooperative, collaborative, regional approach"Does Frank Gehry – or his firm – have what it takes to save the LA River?Gehry enlisted to masterplan LA River... View full entry
Glue is the future of architecture. At least that’s how architect Greg Lynn sees it. And he’s not alone. “Mechanical assembly is already waning in many industries,” Lynn says. “An airplane now is glued together. A car now is glued together. Even a lot of appliances are being glued together.” So why not skyscrapers? — New Scientist
Related stories in the Archinect news:Love Letter to Plywood. By Tom SachsMIT researchers have created a new material that stores and releases solar energyUCL researchers present a new kind of self-cleaning nano-engineered window View full entry
Central Park Summer Pavilion Competition was open for international architects. The CPSP was envisioned as a meeting point for different cultural and leisure circuits, with the goal of using the same space for a broad range of daytime and nocturnal activities in a sustainable fashion that... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Physical paper may have given way to PDFs. Ink pens may have been replaced by stylus pens. What architecture firms don’t have to worry about being replaced or disappearing, however, are documents. From initial engagement contracts to drawings... View full entry
Have you heard the latest wisecrack about Harvard? People are calling it a hedge fund with a university attached [...]
Though the exact figure is hard to determine, experts I consulted estimate that over $100 billion of educational endowment money nationwide is invested in hedge funds, costing them approximately $2.5 billion in fees in 2015 alone. The problems with hedge funds managing college endowments are manifold, going well beyond the exorbitant...fees they charge for their services.
— the Nation
"The time has come for students to connect the dots between ballooning student debt, the poor treatment of campus workers, and the obscene wealth of hedge fund oligarchs."A rallying cry for a divestment movement to oppose hedge funds and their involvement with academia, the article discusses the... View full entry
"The People's Design Library is a digital library maintained by buildingcommunityWORKSHOP for anyone looking for help in improving their community. The three collections - guides, inspiration, and [bc] publications - provide practical advice and examples of the wide range of resources out there for citizens doing community work. It’s the right of the People to shape their city, let's exercise that right and have some fun doing it!" — buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
There are countless design, policy, and organizing guides created by different organizations to help citizens navigate how to make lasting change in their neighborhoods. We created The People’s Design Library to bring these resources together in one place. If you know of, or have created, a... View full entry
In a joint statement yesterday the Playa Vista, California-based Hyperloop Transport Technologies (HTT) and the Slovak Republic’s economy minister held out the future vision of the Hyperloop whisking passengers at 760 mph between Vienna in Austria, Budapest in Hungary and the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. A Bratislava-to-Vienna route would take just 8 minutes at full speed, while a Bratislava-to-Budapest route would take 10 minutes. — globalconstructionreview.com
Hyperloop previously in the Archinect news:MIT and TU Delft emerge victorious at Hyperloop competition; Elon Musk drops hint about "electric jets"Hyperloop, brought to you by AecomUnpacking the Hyperloop's lofty promises View full entry
Despite skewing Democrat, LGBT people are flocking to red states. It’s a sign that cities in the center of the country are becoming more accepting, but it’s also an indication that traditional LGBT safe havens are prohibitively expensive.
ConsumerAffairs.com analyzed U.S. Census data and Gallup polling information to model the movement of the LGBT community from 1990 to 2014. The overall trend is striking.
— the Daily Beast
"In 1990, the LGBT population was concentrated in coastal metropolitan areas and other safe havens—cities like San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Atlanta. By 2014, LGBT hot spots cropped up in some seemingly unlikely places: Salt Lake City, Louisville, Norfolk, Indianapolis, and other red... View full entry
Spring is just around the corner, and in the interest of new beginnings and rebirth, Archinect Sessions is taking this week off to get some much needed rest. The market is hot right now, and we're running on all cylinders just to keep up.We'll be back next week with a brand new episode, devoted... View full entry
A recently completed restoration project [of Spain's Matrera Castle] has provoked an incredulous reaction from some locals and a Spanish conservation group...
However, Carlos Quevedo, the architect who oversaw the restoration of the castle...pointed out that the project had been painstaking, professional, and legal...'I do think that some basic, accurate information can help avoid some of the prejudices that spring from a simple image.'
— The Guardian
Spain is having another cultural kerfuffle over the recent restoration of the ancient Matrera Castle in Cadiz. While locals and preservation groups are mocking and criticizing the makeover, architect Carlos Quevedo says that it was done to prevent further structural collapse.More about historic... View full entry
Workers, architects and engineers gathered Tuesday afternoon to celebrate a milestone in the construction of Los Angeles’ most notable skyscraper at the corner of Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard. The ceremony, known as the topping out, marks completion of the building’s central core: a pillar of concrete that rises more than 892 feet from the foundation.[...]
Upon completion, the Wilshire Grand will rise 1,100 feet and be the tallest building west of Chicago.
— latimes.com
LA's Wilshire Grand previously in the Archinect news:The daring men building LA's New Wilshire Grand towerDowntown LA to set record for world's largest concrete pour View full entry
