President Donald Trump took a firsthand look today at the eight massive border wall prototypes that he had commissioned in San Diego for the “big, beautiful wall” he wants to build along the Southwest border, favoring a mixture of see-through capability topped with rounded concrete to make it impassable by climbers. — San Diego Union Tribune
It's been a busy Tuesday morning for Donald Trump today: after firing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via a 5:44 AM Tweet, he traveled to San Diego to personally inspect the 8 border wall prototypes that had been erected last fall mere yards away from the actual U.S. border with Mexico. One of... View full entry
ICON has developed a method for printing a single-story 650-square-foot house out of cement in only 12 to 24 hours, a fraction of the time it takes for new construction. If all goes according to plan, a community made up of about 100 homes will be constructed for residents in El Salvador next year. The company has partnered with New Story, a nonprofit that is vested in international housing solutions. — theverge.com
Today at SXSW, The first model is scheduled to be unveiled by Austin-based startup ICON. The company uses the Vulcan 3D printer in order to generate an entire home for $10,000 with plans to bring costs down to $4,000 per house. Using concrete rather than plastic, the model features... View full entry
The City quietly told developers this week that it will no longer fund a 150-unit affordable senior housing project proposed in the wealthy Forest Hill neighborhood, citing rising costs and neighborhood pushback. [...]
Neighbors have also railed against the project at community meetings since 2016 when the project was first funded, claiming impoverished tenants at the affordable housing project would endanger their neighborhood.
— San Francisco Examiner
Short on space, the city-state has since its independence been reclaiming land to build the nation and to rewrite 'unhygienic' episodes of its history. — Failed Architecture
In his essay for Failed Architecture, William Jamieson, a PhD candidate in Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, takes a look at Singapore's monumental land reclamation efforts since 1965, the ecological, urban, and cultural implications, and the inevitable erasing of heritage. ... View full entry
After 14 years as the Los Angeles Times' resident architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne is moving on to become chief design officer for the city of Los Angeles. Announced this morning, Hawthorne explained that "beginning next month, [he'll] be working in the mayor's office to raise the... View full entry
Speaking to the Guardian after the announcement of his award, Doshi said that architects and urban planners involved in low-income housing projects – as well as architectural education – needed to move away from their focus on the designer as individual to being far more collaborative, compassionate and invested in the dignity of those they house. — The Guardian
Study up on the impressive body of work of freshly minted Pritzker Prize laureate, Balkrishna Doshi, here. View full entry
This post is brought to you by the Vilcek Foundation When Vilcek Prizewinner Teddy Cruz first emigrated from Guatemala, he had no idea that San Diego was a border town. He did not speak English, and his relatives had warned him that going downtown would be risky and dangerous. "It took me almost a... View full entry
Designed by Michael Graves, the pioneering Portland Building is at once considered to be a postmodern icon as well as the "ugliest building in Oregon". A rectangular block of four, heavily ornamented, salmon and turquoise facades, the building can easily be likened to a small, fancy French... View full entry
On this week's show we are trying out something new by inviting on guest hosts to take over the mics. Our guest hosts today, Mitch McEwen and Marc Miller, are familiar figures to regular listeners of this podcast and readers of Archinect. Mitch is the principal of McEwen Studio, co-founder of... View full entry
The US construction industry may lose more than 28,000 jobs if Donald Trump’s plan to raise tariffs on imported steel and aluminium goes ahead, a pro-free trade think tank has warned. [...]
While Trump claims tariffs would create jobs in America’s steel and aluminium sectors, a Washington, DC, thinktank, Trade Partnership, warned that such a policy would “reverberate throughout” the economy, costing more jobs than it would gain as it pushed up the cost of the metals.
— Global Construction Review
Unswayed by warnings from top economists, industry groups, and members of his own party, Donald Trump today signed two tariff proclamations at the White House that will erect 25% and 10% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports respectively. While the administration claims that the import tariffs... View full entry
With its newest project, the MINI Living building in Shanghai, the car brand is continuing its venture into the urban living sector. The rental market in big cities across the world is an interesting addition to the list of urban challenges that it seeks to address with its MINI Living program. — Pop-Up City
Image: MINI"MINI LIVING will become a home for singles, sharers and families on short, medium-term and extended tenancies," a statement by the BMW-owned car(ish) brand explains the co-living concept. "The design and therefore the character of the apartment interiors is international, modern and... View full entry
That time of year is here again! Today, Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi was announced as the 2018 Pritzker Prize winner. Dubbed the “Nobel Prize” of architecture, the illustrious $100,000 prize also comes with a formal citation certificate and a bronze medallion based on the... View full entry
The heart of each community is the common house, or a space, where group meals are offered once or twice a week, together with activities and events. Houses are connected by pathways. Instead of a lawn mower in every garage, there often are no attached garages. Cars are exiled to peripheral parking areas, while a single, shared lawn mower suits the needs of everyone. — NYT
Tom Verde covers a new trend in retiring, not communes but cohousing communities. From Denver and Boulder, CO to Amherst MA or Davis CA, currently there are only 165 communities nationwide, but another 140 in the planning stages. View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) President Carl Elefante, FAIA, and EVP/Chief Executive Officer Robert Ivy, FAIA, released the following statement today in response to the Administration’s plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. "The Administration’s announcement of... View full entry
[...] historians were dumbstruck last week when Chase announced plans to demolish the 52-story glass-curtain-wall skyscraper, which opened in 1961, and replace it with an even bigger structure.
The news prompted two immediate responses. The first was an outcry by preservationists. That part was predictable; what is surprising this time around was their wistful sense of resignation.
News of the Union Carbide building's demolition a little over a week ago has incited commotion, yet there is a level of resignation to many of the outcries. Jeffrey Lieber takes a deeper look into why this relinquishment may exist around the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill skyscraper. The... View full entry