New LA Mayor Karen Bass has elevated current City Planning Commissioner Jenna Hornstock to a newly-created post as the Deputy Mayor of Housing, according to the city's announcement on Wednesday afternoon. The appointment aligns with Bass’ comprehensive shakeup of the city’s existing... View full entry
For much of its recent history in mitigating climate change, Denver has concentrated on buildings’ operational energy — the energy needed to run basics like heating, air conditioning, lighting and hot water. That will shift in May, when Denver’s newly adopted green code takes effect, said Christy Collins, green communities specialist with the local government. — Smart Cities Dive
Denver’s new green code will make it so a building’s embodied carbon is considered. It will provide minimum requirements for the siting, design, construction, and plans for the operation of projects. Commercial projects in Denver are now required by law to choose around 10% of the green code... View full entry
MVRDV has released a series of proposals to respond to rising sea levels in Vancouver. Working as part of a North Creek Collective team, the Dutch firm produced a catalogue of options for adaptive buildings aimed to inspire other coastal cities to “undertake immediate action to adapt to climate... View full entry
Indonesia expects to begin construction in the second quarter on apartments worth $2.7 billion for thousands of civil servants due to move to its new capital city on Borneo island, an official said late on Tuesday.
Authorities have already started building basic infrastructure in the area, with an aim to start relocating some government administration and civil servants in 2024.
— Reuters
The 450,000-acre starter city’s initial residential program will include 184 apartment towers for a total of 14,500 government employees. AECOM and Nikken Sekkei are leading the development of its master plan towards an expected inauguration date to coincide with the country’s Independence Day... View full entry
There is new housing help in Sacramento with the city now offering free architectural designs, permit-approved, to build on your property. You can download the plans straight from the city website. The aim is to increase housing across the city. — CBS Sacramento
The available architectural plans are for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In this instance, they will come in three forms: studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. This move by Sacramento is meant to address the city’s housing crisis by providing property owners an incentive to build and... View full entry
Mayors across a variety of American towns and cities have used the U.S. Conference of Mayors to voice concerns about their ability to address the dual crises of housing affordability and homelessness. As reported by Politico, specific struggles shared by mayors include attracting investors... View full entry
London is getting an attractive new elevated parkway feature after planning approvals were granted for the proposed Camden Highline, the BBC reported on Friday. Running from Camden Gardens to Royal College Street near the King’s Cross transit hub, the parkway will transform a disused... View full entry
On Monday, Jan. 9, [Frank] McCourt scored a court victory when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff sided with proponents. Beckloff rejected a challenge to the unusual relationship between McCourt’s private company and the county’s public mega transit agency, LA Metro, which was struck without competitive bidding. — Los Angeles Daily News
The former Dodgers owner was behind the leadership team that had been selling the project under the guise of environmental concerns (the scheme does reduce traffic by about 3,000 cars for each of the stadium's 81 home games) after cutting an alleged sweetheart deal with Metro Chief Phil... View full entry
In January 2022, a team of developers, architects and environmental consultants began work on a 50-year project that — if completed — will become one of Denmark's most ambitious and controversial infrastructure schemes to date: A 271-acre man-made peninsula devised to shield its capital, Copenhagen, from rising sea levels.
But the multi-million dollar environmental project has drawn vocal criticism — primarily, and somewhat ironically, from those concerned about the climate.
— CNN
Despite its intent, Copenhageners have lodged multiple unsuccessful attempts at halting Lynetteholm’s construction in the European Parliament and national assembly. The design calls for a linear wall shielding 35,000 new homes that can be bolstered as necessary in what is called a “process... View full entry
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled an ambitious plan to help convert the city’s unused office spaces into apartment dwellings in an effort to bring online 40,000 new units of housing in the next decade. The plan, which includes a new study and 11 “concrete recommendations” made by... View full entry
At least 1,200 protesters were detained for questioning in the wake of the storming of Brazil’s capital buildings, a spokesman for the civil police said on Monday, as the authorities began dismantling the tent city where supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former president, had been camping out since he lost October’s election. — The New York TImes
Among the buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer reported to be damaged are the Palácio do Planalto (Presidential Palace), National Congress building, and the Supreme Court, which several outlets reported were the primary target of protesters that had camped out in the capital for weeks... View full entry
Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has been selected to lead the design of the new $12 million Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project, the studio unveiled via a press announcement on Thursday. The project’s brief calls for the creation of four gateway... View full entry
Following last week’s look at an opening for a Project Manager at site design group, we are using our first Job Highlights series of 2023 to explore an open position on Archinect Jobs for an Architect at the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). The... View full entry
Researchers from the MIT Senseable City Lab have produced a series of maps visualizing commuting habits across Chinese cities. Titled Potato Project, the study used mobile phone location data from 50 million individuals across 234 cities to understand commuting patterns between a person’s home... View full entry
Paris’ PietriArchitectes has shared images of their new 15-unit social housing development in the northern suburb of Aubervilliers. Completed towards the end of last year, 36 Ferragus is the key cog in a requalification operation for the city’s center. Currently, about two-thirds of... View full entry
