Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a lobbying group with the express purpose of advocating autonomous driving. [...]
"Self-driving vehicle technology will make America's roadways safer and less congested," [David Strickland, a former administrator of the NHTSA] said [...]
"The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards, and the Coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles."
— theverge.com
Lyft has also been in talks with General Motors (which is not a part of the Self-Driving Coalition) to put out its own group of autonomous for-hire vehicles. Models for Google's vehicles include both bespoke prototypes and Lexus SUVs, and Uber is developing its own testing grounds for self-driving... View full entry
If you want evidence that London’s renters are being taken advantage of, look no further than a new social media campaign. Launched Monday, the #rantyourrent hashtag encourages London’s overcharged and poorly housed tenants to visually detail the bad conditions they’re expected to put up with in return for large sums of monthly rent.
The results, detailed in a new Tumblr called Vent Your Rent, make for sobering viewing.
— citylab.com
More articles on London and the housing crisis here:The root of London's housing crisis lies beyond its bordersLondon's housing crisis is creating a chasm between the rich and poorLondon's Bleak Housing View full entry
The train will not come because the track does not exist, says the voice on the loudspeaker. You must believe as hard as you can.
Everyone on the platform ignores him. Your belief is not enough. It has never been enough.
Construction has just begun on the new Fuchsia Line, which Metro management says will solve all the system’s problems, and which is the only thing that anyone has allocated any funding for. It is entirely under water and plated in gold. It will be completed in 18 years.
— The Washington Post
Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post pens a maybe not-so-fictional tale about the “horrors” of the current state of the Washington Metro, which shut down last month.More on Archinect:A day in the life of a (fictional) architecture internFairy Tales 2016 winners highlight real architectural... View full entry
[Project leader Zena] Howard focuses on all of the aspects of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, but hones in on the porch, which happens to span 200 feet and it serves as an transitional space between the outside and inside of the museum.
“I think that the porch is…quintessential America,” [...]
“This project—not only given the scale, the complexity, the political and contextual sensitivities—is an amalgam of all the problems that we, as architects, love to solve”
— blackyouthproject.com
Related on Archinect:What architecture means to Zena Howard, project leader of the National Museum of African American History and CultureDavid Adjaye talks about woven architecture and his new D.C. museumObama to speak at African American history museum’s groundbreakingWatch: First Look at the... View full entry
An hour south from the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip, a tiny town in Nevada is up for sale.
Cal-Nev-Ari, Nev. (pronounced Cal-Nev-Air) is off a lonely stretch of Highway 95, surrounded by distant mountains and endless desert. The town isn't far from the California and Arizona borders [...].
If you can afford the $8 million asking price, you'll get the airstrip, the diner and the town's only casino. That includes a dozen old slot machines and a smokey bar. This place has character.
— npr.org
Related stories in the Archinect news: New Nevada solar plant can store heat from the sun for up to 10 hours – with molten saltFaraday Future holds groundbreaking ceremony for $1B Nevada factoryA look inside Tesla's growing Gigafactory: "It will blow your mind." View full entry
Inspired by recent conversations concerning architecture's engagement in social and humanitarian issues, as well as "Reporting from the Front", Alejandro Aravena's theme for this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, Archinect is adopting the special editorial theme of "Help" for the month of... View full entry
with the rise of these innovative areas, traditional-style dorms, characterized by shared bathrooms and two or more students living with one another in a single space, are becoming less frequent on campus, and will soon be discontinued altogether. [...]
living in a traditional-style dorm is important, especially for first-year students, because the living arrangements allow for greater communication between residents that may not necessarily occur in the newer dorms.
— kykernel.com
Related on Archinect:Luxury UK student housing is on the rise, and with it, gentrification fearsViennese student dorms may Passively House refugeesHomework and Jacuzzis as Dorms Move to McMansions in California View full entry
As the Nepalese government continues to face criticism for the slow pace of the country’s reconstruction, Nepal’s prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli announced today that the reconstruction of key heritage sites in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur is to finally begin, the Associated Press reports. — The Art Newspaper
A year after the devastating quake, there is some good news in Nepal. As this article notes,The World Monuments Fund (WMF) also announced today that it, in collaboration with American Express, was financing the rebuilding of the 16th-century Char Narayan Temple, which was reduced to rubble by the... View full entry
The observation deck won’t be finished for a few years yet. If you want to see the future of New York, walk north along the High Line, round the curve at the rail yards, and turn your back to the river. Amid the highway ramps and industrial hash of far-west Manhattan, a herd of cranes hoists I-beams into the sky. This is Hudson Yards, the largest private real-estate development in United States history and the test ground for the world’s most ambitious experiment in “smart city” urbanism. — Shannon Mattern | Places
Last year, I reviewed Mattern's book Deep Mapping the Media City, in which she delves into some of the issues surrounding so-called "smart cities." Check out the review here.For more on the implementation of surveillance and other technologies in the city, check out these... View full entry
Eleven people died while working on Olympic facilities or Games-related projects between January 2013 and March 2016, according to a report released Monday by Rio de Janeiro's Regional Labor and Employment Office.
The report, released by Elaine Castilho, the auditor for the Rio Olympic Games works, also notes that no workers died in the preparations for the 2012 Summer Games in London.
— ESPN
Related stories in the Archinect news:With the Rio Olympics opening in less than four months, sports federation concerned over problem with venuesBrazil's economy is a mess and its President is facing impeachment. Can Rio make it to the Olympics?"7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before... View full entry
Shelve your "bigger than a breadbox" jokes—literally. The BrickBox, a storage unit made from marine grade birch plywood, can be used a shelf, a room-divider, or even as porous furniture.Each unit has cut-out handles and nylon connectors that can lock into the grooves of other units without the... View full entry
strict zoning laws in the Bay Area make it almost impossible to significantly expand the housing stock there. [...]
As a result, the tech boom simply means that housing gets less and less affordable for anyone who doesn't work in tech or already own a home.
A lot of people are blaming the tech boom itself for the Bay Area's housing problems. But the technology boom is only a problem because the region's housing markets are functioning so poorly.
— vox.com
Related on Archinect:Man living in plywood "pod" in SF apartment told to knock it off by housing inspectorSilicon Valley is set to get over 10K more housing units – is this the beginning of the end of its housing crisis?Exceeding height restrictions to break a housing logjam in San... View full entry
Squalid, chaotic, overwhelmed: Piraeus is the first port of call for the thousands now trapped in the capital, on the frontline of Europe’s refugee crisis. Since the closure of Greece’s northern border and with it the Balkan migrant trail – a move that has resulted in more than 46,000 stranded on the Greek mainland – it has been emblematic of the country’s inability to cope with a situation few had envisaged. — The Guardian
"In passenger terminals never built to deal with a humanitarian crisis, facilities have been rudimentary, tensions high, and resources vastly overstretched."The article notes that the growing refugee population is putting pressure on Athenian society, which was already tense as the country... View full entry
Forget the life and death drama of heart transplant surgery—what about the insane pressure to expertly fold a piece of origami in under 15 minutes? Located in Japan's Okayama prefecture, Kurashiki Central Hospital is holding fierce recruitment competitions in which surgeons must assemble tiny... View full entry
I’m on a walking tour with two dozen international architects and urban designers, as we imagine a theoretical future for Havana. The walk is part of a charrette—an exercise that gives professionals and community members a voice on urban development when there is no formal mechanism to do so, as has been the case in crumbling Havana. [...]
As the Cuban government slowly loosens restrictions on private enterprise, one wonders if the gentrification of Havana is inevitable.
— Hakai Magazine
Related stories in the Archinect news:China and US compete to invest in a newly-opened CubaSelling Cuba (Gehry's already there)Airbnb now open for business in Cuba, despite anemic internet access View full entry