The latest data from the Dodge Construction Network (DCN) indicates a 6% rise in total construction starts for February, reversing January’s declines to a new seasonally adjusted annual rate of $912.8 billion. During the month, residential and nonresidential building starts rose by 11% and 9%... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Enscape Enscape’s in-house architect and 3D artist, Samir Mujovi, explains that a big part of his job is creating projects for the company's product releases. These projects get used in Enscape's promotional materials, including the videos that have... View full entry
For the latest installment of Archinect's Studio Snapshots, Katherine Guimapang connected with Stephen Wilder, Principal of Think Wilder Architecture. Melvin L. Mitchell, FAIA, NCARB, NOMA was struck by the length of Wilder’s journey from school to licensure “Insightful. Pride-evoking (a... View full entry
British architect Sir David Chipperfield has been awarded the 2023 Pritzker Prize. The Pritzker jury described Chipperfield as a "prolific architect who is radical in his restraint, demonstrating his reverence for history and culture while honoring the preexisting built and natural environments... View full entry
The Biden administration issued another round of tariffs Friday on key industrial goods from Russia — including a 200% tariff on aluminum — as the country’s invasion of Ukraine crosses the one-year mark.
Aluminum tariffs were announced in addition to $2.7 billion in new duties on many metals and raw materials from the country. The tariff rates on most metals and metal products will double from 35% to 70% beginning April, and target “a crucial revenue generating sector of the Russian economy”
— Supply Chain Dive
Russia is behind China and India the world’s third-largest producer of aluminum and ranks fifth overall in terms of imports of the metal into the United States. Architects and builders have only recently come out from under 25% steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on certain countries by the... View full entry
After World War II, prompted by the Allies, Germany underwent an intense de-Nazification program. Not so Italy — there was no equivalent de-fascistization. The country is still filled with buildings and street names that evoke its 20-year dictatorship.
By not challenging the history of these monuments, the memory of fascism has been smoothly integrated into the Italian present.
— NPR
There are at least 1,400 monuments to the Fascist Mussolini regime spread throughout the country. The era's architectural legacy will, in lieu of full-blown removal, be placed in context according to the hopes of local historians and preservationists who say they want to fight back against the... View full entry
As a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred places were wholly destroyed, damaged, or looted by the Russian military.
The Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom presented this updated data on the impact of the war on Ukrainian religious communities on January 31 and February 1 during the Summit on International Religious Freedom (IRF Summit 2023) held in Washington, D.C.
— Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF)
The Institute for Religious Freedom reported Russia’s tactic of using churches for military bases and hiding spots. Clergy members have also been targeted as part of the longer-term goal of destroying the Ukrainian language and culture. (The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which accounts for 48%... View full entry
Chicago native and noted architectural photographer Lee Bey recently took PBS on a tour of his city’s overlooked South Side. Among the stops on the Sun-Times critic’s excursion were his former high school, pioneering local architect John Moutoussamy’s self-designed private... View full entry
The Chicago-based firm formerly known as Brininstool + Lynch has announced it is disbanding after being a mainstay on the city's architectural scene for 34 years. “While our hearts are heavy, we believe that there can be no Brininstool + Lynch without Lynch,” part of a statement from founding... View full entry
The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale officially announced its 89-strong slate of participants for this year’s exhibition titled “The Laboratory of the Future,” curated by the Scottish-Ghanaian architect and academic Lesley Lokko. Opening May 20th, the Biennale will run through November 26th... View full entry
The drama over the project provides a window into just how hard it is for the city to scale up its housing and shelter system, even as a recent report from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) estimated it would take more than 6,000 extra temporary and permanent beds to solve the crisis on the streets. It also puts into sharp relief how easily neighborhood opposition can derail a project, even when the funding and space is available — and the need is clear. — San Francisco Chronicle
The Mission district parking lot is scheduled to become an affordable housing development with construction beginning in 2025 and the tiny homes program was expected to fill the gap. “It's always the same hand wringing,” housing advocate Sam Moss told the Chronicle. “It’s... View full entry
The material is essentially free, or at least locally available for a fraction of the cost of concrete...Mud construction contributes little to global warming. And concrete tends to be a gateway, once people can afford it, to another fossil-fuel-guzzling invention: air-conditioning. — National Geographic
Peter Schwartzstein explores the work of folks such as Clara Sawadogo, Francis Kéré and Salima Naji who are trying to rekindle an interest in materials and methods that have a long tradition in Africa and the Middle East. View full entry
Three of the eight challengers to unseat incumbent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot have so far responded to a questionnaire issued by a coalition of local chapters of architects, landscape architects, and planners asking for their input on the Windy City’s built environment... View full entry
President Biden on Monday fired J. Brett Blanton, the federal official responsible for the maintenance and operation of the Capitol complex, amid bipartisan calls for his resignation, after an investigative report accusing him of misusing his position and revelations that he avoided the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. — The New York Times
Blanton, who had faced calls for removal over accusations about abuse of government property while in office, was only recently revealed to have been in absentia on the afternoon of January 6th. Speculation had remained over the President’s willingness to remove the AOC from the 10-year... View full entry
Arrest warrants have been issued in Turkey in response to the devastating earthquake that killed more than 34,000 people across the shared border with Syria last Monday. The BBC writes that a total of 113 warrants were issued to individuals within the country, reportedly including architects... View full entry
