Things are looking up (way up) this week for what may become North America’s new tallest building: Southern California-based firm AO announced in a social media post today that the Oklahoma City Council had approved the development team's request for unlimited building height for the proposed... View full entry
South Korea's Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism just announced that Thomas Heatherwick will be the General Director of its fifth iteration next year. Billed as Asia's biggest architecture biennial, the 2025 program seeks to explore "how to make buildings and cities radically more joyful... View full entry
When Melvalean McLemore earned her license to practice architecture in 2016, she was only the 16th Black woman in Texas to do so.
McLemore became the first Black woman president of the American Institute of Architects Houston chapter late last year [...]. While being first is exciting, McLemore said it was a bittersweet feeling.
“It’s a little bit sad to hear that someone is the first of anything in 2023, 2024,” McLemore said.
— Bisnow
Bisnow recently interviewed Melvalean McLemore, AIA Houston President, Moody Nolan Texas studio design leader, and a 2024 AIA Young Architects Award recipient; discussing her path to architecture and the lack of Black women in architecture. "There are still less than three dozen Black female... View full entry
Reflecting upon her activities during the recently passed Architecture Week in Detroit, AIA President Kimberly Dowdell outlined the need to engage with the key K-12 demographic in order to cultivate and better prepare the next generation of American architects to match the challenges they and the... View full entry
It's not too late to participate in our recently launched survey on the community’s perception of the current business conditions in architecture. The deadline to submit your anonymous responses is in 1 week. We will analyze your valuable insights and publish the findings on Archinect in the... View full entry
This post is brought to you by TECH Perspectives New York The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution, driven by the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). On June 20, 2024, Microsol Resources will host the TECH Perspectives... View full entry
A new report on California’s entrenched housing crisis from the state's independent Little Hoover Commission has identified the 54-year-old California Environmental Quality Act (or CEQA) as the greatest barrier currently in the way of architects and planners looking to meet the demand for... View full entry
One major consequence of this difference in design is that the North American double-loaded corridor buildings are much worse at providing family-sized units. To illustrate the point, we’ll go through the different sized apartments one by one, and compare the floor area and design. You’ll notice that the American plans have significantly more floor area for the same number of bedrooms, and have much more lightless interior space up against the common corridor to fill. — Center for Building in North America
Stephen Smith is a former journalist and the Executive Director of the Brooklyn-based Center for Building in North America. His analysis of spatial challenges created by multifamily apartments and zoning conditions was featured recently in Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast. This is an adroit relaying... View full entry
In case you missed it, we recently launched a survey to check in on the community’s feelings about the current business conditions in architecture. If you haven’t had a chance to fill it out yet, we’d love to hear from you! Your insights are invaluable in helping us gauge the current state... View full entry
Niall Patrick Walsh wrote the final (of 26 features) chapter of Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence. Therein “New contributions on the topic from Autodesk's Mike Haley and Superusers author Randy Deutsch are joined by earlier reflections from throughout the series by Richard Saul Wurman... View full entry
Over the past decade or so, bleacher stairs have become a ubiquitous marker of contemporary public architecture. It’s time for the trend to stop.
Its subsequent proliferation serves as a good example of how avant-garde design, or at least a consumerist version of it, filters down to the mainstream.
The broader point is that architects need to be more inventive as they plan new public spaces, and their patrons need to demand that those spaces are accessible for the entire population.
— The Dallas Morning News
The ubiquitous “bleacher stair” feature can be seen in designs for the Studio Museum of Harlem, Perez Art Museum Miami, and the new Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History (just by my count) and can be traced to Rem Koolhaas’ design for Prada’s NYC flagship in 2001, says... View full entry
A new report on the socio-economic situation in Gaza from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has established a baseline for rebuilding as a cease-fire deal that would end the seven-month Israel-Hamas war continues to be up in the air. The findings lay out the most realistic timeline for... View full entry
New York City construction worker fatalities have declined to record lows, according to a new report released by the NYC Department of Buildings. Construction-related deaths are now at their lowest point in the past decade despite an increase in injuries at job sites for the third consecutive... View full entry
Curator Carlo Ratti has announced the title and theme for next year’s Venice Architecture Biennale. The 19th International Architectural Exhibition will advance under the banner Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., a portmanteau title representing different forms of intelligence... View full entry
Fossil fuels will be banned from new and remodeled federal buildings under a rule finalized by the Department of Energy this week.
The rule stems from the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). Section 433 of that law says new federal buildings and those undergoing major renovations have to phase out "fossil fuel-generated energy consumption" by 2030. But that provision never went into effect because the Energy Department failed to finalize regulations, until now.
— NPR
All buildings (and vehicles) owned by the U.S. Government are currently under mandate to run on renewable energy by 2050. The EISA mandate was not fully effected until now because the DoE never finalized its regulations, NPR reported a year ago. Related on Archinect: Biden administration... View full entry
