Following a nine-month stretch of positive billings, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) showed no increase in design activity in January. [...] The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the January ABI score was 49.9, down from a mark of 52.7 in December. This score reflects a very modest decrease in design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 58.7, down from the reading of 59.1 the previous month. — calculatedriskblog.com
A new study by Thomas Laidley, a sociology doctoral student at NYU [...], uses satellite images to develop a new and improved “Sprawl Index,” which he links to a wide range of outcome measures.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that L.A. ranks as the least sprawling metro in the country, ahead of New York and San Francisco.
— citylab.com
Previously:Southern California not so sprawling after allThe U.S. Cities That Sprawled the Most (and Least) Between 2000 and 2010 View full entry
[...] "wooden textiles" by designer Elisa Strozyk are a beautiful and surprisingly simple rethinking of the idea of a textile—and they have some interesting implications for terrain modeling and even gaming [...] Strozyk writes that she wanted to find "a new tactile experience" for wood, which she achieved by producing wooden tiles that "are then attached to a textile base. Depending on the geometry and size of the tiles each design shows a different behavior regarding flexibility and mobility." — BLDGBLOG
A cash shortage in Rome could see the city’s fascist-era Square Colosseum sold to the fashion house Fendi, despite calls in the Italian capital to keep the building in state hands.
More than 70 years after the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro was built under the orders of Benito Mussolini it could soon be reinvented as a home for luxury goods.
— theguardian.com
A legal challenge is being launched in the High Court against plans to build a garden bridge over the River Thames in central London.
A south London resident claims Lambeth Council unlawfully granted planning permission for the £175m bridge.
Michael Ball, from Tulse Hill in Lambeth, fears its impact will be "devastating".
Lambeth Council said the bridge would potentially benefit "both the local and wider London economy".
— bbc.com
Previously View full entry
Faced with lawsuits and a growing mountain of damning research, New York City officials decided last month to ban solitary confinement for prison inmates 21 and younger. Just a few weeks earlier, the American Institute of Architects rejected a petition to censure members who design solitary-confinement cells and death chambers. [...]
What are the ethical boundaries for architecture?
— nytimes.com
Previously:Should Architects Design for Solitary Confinement?ADPSP and the Architecture of IncarcerationPrison design faces judgment View full entry
Female pumas kill more prey but consume less when their territories bump into human development, UC Santa Cruz researchers report in a new study based on monitoring more than two dozen pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The presence of humans -- homes, roads, and other development -- means pumas are fearful and stay on the move rather than returning to a kill site to fully consume prey, the study finds — ScienceDaily
The research utilized data from tracking devices that record not only a puma's movement but also increases in speed and other behavior that signifies hunting behavior. Looking at the actions of 30 animals, the scientists were able to discern, among other things, that, "Females killed 36 percent... View full entry
Architect Elizabeth Diller [...] stood on the Grand Avenue sidewalk Friday morning in front of the Broad museum, which she designed with her New York firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and is set to open Sept. 20.
Was she giving an architectural preview? Doing damage control? Trying to regain some influence over the narrative of the museum’s construction, which has been beset by delays, fabrication problems and legal wrangling?
The answer seemed to be some combination of the three.
— latimes.com
Previously View full entry
New Orleans is a city perfectly designed to warp time. [...]
In New Orleans, the city itself has responded to an unusual ecology, geography and relationship with randomness. What’s come out on the other side is something more akin to cobbling than calculation. And it has the effect of accordioning the way a given minute feels here.
— Re:form
h/t Citylab View full entry
As Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s drawings go on display at the RIBA, the search is on for the architect who might best restore the glory of his fire-damaged masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art. [...]
But the list seems to have been compiled too much on the basis of who has been there and done what when it comes to restoring historic buildings, rather than a real desire to find architects with the right sensitivity for the job.
— theguardian.com
Previously: Five firms shortlisted for Mackintosh Library renovation after devastating fire View full entry
In July 2010, heavy monsoon rains flooded nearly 20% of Pakistan, producing a crisis later described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the worst disaster he had ever seen. The floods affected around 20 million people and claimed the lives of nearly 2,000. Ravaging infrastructure and... View full entry
Mueller is the product of the "new-urbanism" concept: the idea that a built environment can create meaningful community. Planners minimize the supremacy of the automobile and shape the environment around pedestrians. [...]
One of the criticisms of new urbanism is that its communities look too much like a movie set — too quaint, too utopic. Yet Mueller feels real, with its ample greenways, eclectic yard art and Craftsman-style homes built with lots of native limestone.
— npr.org
There’s something strangely social about Zimoun's hypnotizing installation, referred to by its list of materials: 250 prepared ac-motors, 325 kg roof laths, 1.8 km rope. Currently on view at Knockdown Center NYC, the laths wiggle and bounce on a pre-programmed sequence, imitating an ambiance of... View full entry
After the opening fanfare and any historical revisitations aside, most buildings don’t get much press, and it can be easy to forget that the building is still alive – chugging along, doing its thing. But those peaks and troughs form the cultural impact of architecture on daily life, priming... View full entry
Living at land’s edge has always come with a certain amount of risk: storms coming off the ocean can be violent and proximity to water always carries with it a possibility of getting wet.
[...] in three communities on Staten Island, a New York State program to encourage managed retreat through homeowner buyouts has elicited strong interest and vocal support.
— urbanomnibus.net
