“I give it two years, max [...] It will be US business interests that finally push congress into lifting the embargo – they’re all going crazy being shut out of this market.” American architects and developers are already queuing up to be first in line, ready to pounce on investment opportunities when the embargo drops. Frank Gehry sailed into Havana in December, aboard a streamlined yacht he designed for himself, here to “offer his expertise to Cuba” according to a government statement. — theguardian.com
“You know that Cuba is at the centre of attention of many people,” Gehry told the gathered crowd. “And in the immediate future it will attract many investors – particularly the tourism sector. But I am sure that you know to be careful with those projects.”Related stories in the Archinect... View full entry
Online job boards burst with ads recruiting “idea people” and “out of the box” thinkers. We are taught that our own creativity will be celebrated as well, and that if we have good ideas, we will succeed.
It’s all a lie.
— slate
Lean back in that Eames and rest your cup on that Noguchi – February is furniture month here on Archinect, and we're going to luxuriate in an overstuffed Fatboy of furniture-related editorial, including yours. Send us your furniture musings, interviews, reviews, designs, projects and... View full entry
Highlights include a detailed look at the stadium's swooping roof canopy, which was designed by HKS Architects. [...]
When completed in 2019, the $2.66-billion venue will offer seating for up to 70,240 NFL fans, as well as standing-room capacity for over 100,000 people at larger events. [...]
The stadium is one component of a much larger mixed-use complex that is being jointly developed by real estate firms Stockbridge Capital and Wilson Meany along with Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
— urbanize.la
Check out the video below for another look at "the NFL's biggest and most expensive venue, with a price tag well over $2 billion... the priciest sports venue in the nation's history" (Curbed LA) – aka, the new home for the recently-minted Los Angeles Rams (and potentially the San Diego... View full entry
California apartments with commanding views of the Pacific are now in danger of collapsing into the ocean.
Erosion blamed on El Niño rains is tearing away at the cliffs of Pacifica, just outside San Francisco. Drone footage shows how volatile the situation is, and how close to the literal edge some apartments are
— huffingtonpost.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:To better predict sea level rise, scientists resort to crowdsourcing and ask drone owners to help create dataHave these heavy rains alleviated the California drought?Officials Set Fire to House Teetering Over 75-Foot Cliff View full entry
For our 50th (!!!) episode, we discuss the biggest news items from the last week – everything from the latest BIG and DS+R shake-ups to a surprisingly controversial Seattle homeless shelter – and it's been a doozy. We take a look at:The "sphincter from which digital art issues" (according to... View full entry
Sweden intends to expel as many as 80,000 refugees and migrants who arrived in 2015 and whose applications for asylum have been rejected.
[...]
Sweden, which is home to 9.8 million people, is one of the European Union countries that has taken in the largest number of refugees in relation to its population. Sweden received more than 160,000 asylum seekers last year, and about 55 of those are expected to be given asylum.
— Al Jazeera
"The planned mass expulsion was announced as Europe struggles to deal with a crisis that has seen tens-of-thousands of refugees arrive on Greek beaches with the passengers - mostly fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - undeterred by cold, wintry conditions and deadly seas."Related:The... View full entry
After announcing last summer that it would "sunset" the term "intern" from its nomenclature, NCARB has now begun enacting that transition with the Intern Development Program, which will be renamed the Architectural Experience Program (AXP). The change will become effective on June 29 of this year... View full entry
The number of premature deaths attributed to particulate pollution has risen, government figures show.
According to Public Health England, the percentage of premature deaths attributable to minute particles known as PM2.5s rose to 5.3% in 2013 in England from 5.1% in 2012. The death rate in London rose to 6.7% from 6.6%. The figures follow significant improvements in air quality across England in 2010 and 2011.
— the Guardian
Related:New Delhi mandates odd-even car rationing to fight world's worst air pollutionReducing Turin's smog with free public transitBeijing's latest "airpocalypse" is bad enough for city to issue first ever red alertCar-free events significantly improve air quality View full entry
For almost a decade, transit ridership has declined across Southern California despite enormous and costly efforts by top transportation officials to entice people out of their cars and onto buses and trains.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the region's largest carrier, lost more than 10% of its boardings from 2006 to 2015, a decline that appears to be accelerating.
— LA Times
"Despite a $9-billion investment in new light rail and subway lines, Metro now has fewer boardings than it did three decades ago, when buses were the county's only transit option." Related: Eric Garcetti vs the Car: how LA's mayor plans to change the way Angeleños get aroundLA's freeway system is... View full entry
Bed bugs have developed a resistance to neonicotinoids, a group of the most widely used insecticides, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.
[...]
The newly found resistance to neonics has real implications for people who need to control the pest... Neonics are the most commonly used insecticide to fight the already elusive and resilient bed bugs, and if they no longer work, bed bugs will continue to thrive despite exterminators’ efforts.
— the Guardian
Related:Bed Bugs Found on N Train in NYArchitecture of the Anthropocene, Pt. 2: Haunted Houses, Living Buildings, and Other Horror StoriesThe viral "metropolises" of your skin View full entry
'My family has lived here for generations. We don’t want the money, we don’t want our house destroyed, we just want to live here,' Mrs. Zhang declared.
The physical re-facing of China is cutting some very deep social scars. Abuse of power, corruption, developers in cahoots with government officials, and the misappropriation of funds are rife throughout the eviction and relocation process, littering the country with the seeds of discontent.
— CityMetric
Wade Shepard digs into China's ongoing mass evictions and the country's laws that have long enabled such property seizures. While some families were lucky enough to receive compensation to give up their homes, the evictions have been the harshest for those who have lived in the same towns for... View full entry
The hamburger stand is part of southern California’s rich tradition of roadside architecture. These buildings are typically 100 square-foot boxes, with an outdoor window to order and pick up food. Next to the structures are rudimentary dining areas, often consisting of no more than a plastic tarp and a few fold-up chairs and tables [...]
The hipsterfication of LA’s hamburger stands may... prove the final chapter in the saga of these half-century-old structures.
— The Guardian
Related:Regarding the remarkable range of prefab, self-built, movable, and vernacular dwellingsL.A. City Council Officially Votes Norms Restaurant as "Historic and Cultural Landmark"Moments in Fast Food Urbanism: First Taco Bell may be demolishedGoogie: Architecture of the Space Age View full entry
SpaceX has selected Aecom ... to build its Hyperloop test track later this year [...]
The nearly one-mile-long test track will be built adjacent to SpaceX's Hawthorne, California, headquarters [...]
The test track's six-foot diameter steel tube will include a non-magnetic sub-track ... Cradled in place above ground, it will serve as a vacuum-sealed, high-speed proving ground for transport pod prototypes being developed as part of a SpaceX design competition.
— theverge.com
Aecom is also reportedly not committing to any one Hyperloop company by partnering with SpaceX for the test track – they're also linked to Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, one of the two hyperloop-happy startups based in L.A. (the other, Hyperloop Tech, is sponsoring the competition).And... View full entry
New York City once set the standard for subsidized housing. The city started out building and maintaining tens of thousands of apartments for working families, sponsoring job training and social programs. It ran a budget surplus. [...] Now the Village is like a gated playground for runaway wealth. Subsidized apartments all across town are converting to market-rate rentals and condos faster than City Hall can build affordable units or preserve old ones. — nytimes.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:NYC's public-housing woesThe promising affordable housing of Hunters Point SouthMy Micro NYC Apartment Complex Is Officially Renting View full entry
